Edinburgh Business Stories

Join us as we chat with Allan Nelson, tech entrepreneur and founder of For-Sight, on this weeks episode of Edinburgh Business Stories! Allan's entrepreneurial journey began in his 20s with technology as the central theme to his career. Successfully founding three startup companies, he has mastered the process and provides solutions to the communication challenges faced by his clients. You could sa...

Rodger Green, Founder of Spotless Commercial Cleaning, Brightwater and Brightwaste, joins us for a chat on the latest episode of Edinburgh Business Stories! Rodger shares some of his business insights, stories and the keys to his success. Listen to how he is able to run three wildly successful companies! Are you subscribed to Edinburgh Business Stories? ✅ Make sure you don't miss an episode and s...

Graeme Smeaton joined us for a chat about Royal & Awesome, AFG Media and, of course, morph suits! Hear all about the successes, trials and tribulations of the business that grew from nothing to £10 million in just 3 years - and all after a night out gave them the idea for their business!

Leah Hutcheon, Founder & CEO of the award-winning scheduling solution Appointedd, joins Alex and Alan for the latest episode! As well as building a brilliant business with a multi-million pound turnover and clients in 167 countries worldwide, Leah is an ambassador for Women's Enterprise Scotland and Entrepreneurial Scotland. This position has seen her advocate for women in the tech industry an...

Alasdair Rankin is the Managing Director of Aitken Turnbull Architects, an architectural practice based in Edinburgh, Galashiels and Dumfries. Founded in 1887, Aitken Turnbull has seen many shifts over the years. Alasdair first joined the practice as an architect 13 years ago, but since becoming Managing Director, he has led the business through many exciting transitions. Beginning life as a gener...

Tony Crolla, owner of some of Edinburgh's favourite restaurants, joins Alex and Alan for this episode. Tony has been in the hospitality industry for over 40 years, first working for his father before taking more responsibility on with age. This led to him and his wife, Angela, expanding and opening new restaurants throughout the city. Now Tony's focus is switching to allowing his sons to cut their...

Andy Kerr, Managing Director of McHardy group, joins us for this episode of Edinburgh Business Stories. Working in the financial advice industry Andy heads up a business with an annual turnover of more than six-million pounds. This wasn't always his goal in life, though. We had a great time hearing Andy's story, from dreams of being a milkman in primary school through to the motivation to go his o...

Dominic Taddei, CEO of Mortgage Advice Bureau, joins Alex and Alan on the latest episode. Having started the business almost 20 years ago, Dominic has some great insight and stories into what it was like navigating both the financial crash and the pandemic in an industry that was acutely affected by it. Mortgage Advice Bureau is now one of the biggest Scottish firms in the industry, and for Domini...

This week on Edinburgh Business Stories, we heard from Struan Mackenzie, Managing Director of HiFi Corner, Scotland's longest established specialist audio retailer. Established in Edinburgh in the late 1960s, HiFi Corner now services clients all over the UK. Struan decided to start working for his family-run business after realising school and academics just wasn't for him. But working for his fam...

This week on Edinburgh Business Stories, we heard from Jamie Taylor, owner of Taylor Roofs, a roofing repair and replacement company based in Bathgate. After a rocky start in school, Jamie decided to start his own business. And 11 years ago, Taylor Roofs was born. Jamie has since grown the business to a team of over 30, and as a self-dubbed "learning machine", has learned many valuable lessons ove...

In this episode, we're chatting with Eddie Backler, Chairman of Charles White, a professional property management company founded in 1840 by Charles White I. After studying electronic engineering at university in Scotland, working in the oil industry in Venezuela, and travelling around West Africa, Eddie met his wife and decided to give up the expat lifestyle for life as a business owner. So in 20...

In this episode, we're chatting with Darren Auld, CEO and Co-Founder of ClearSky Logic, a UK-based software partnering business. Darren founded ClearSky Logic in 2018, along with CTO Phil Telfer. The business has since grown from 2 to 30, and continues to grow rapidly, despite plenty of setbacks along the way. Darren shares how he went from introverted software developer with a passion for solving...

For the third episode of our podcast we're chatting to another business that began life in Edinburgh: Bright Care. Tim Cocking is the founder and Managing Director of at-home care company, Bright Care. Like many businesses in the past few years, it wasn't easy for Tim and his team to traverse the difficulties laid out by the COVID pandemic. The care industry was particularly hard-hit, and this mea...

Episode 2 of the Edinburgh Business Stories podcast sees Alex and Alan chatting to another business that has become a UK-wide brand after starting life in Edinburgh! Sam Brennan, founder of FRESH Car Valeting, knew that starting his own business was the right path for him from a young age. So, he left school, started making contacts (at first his dad's friends!) and began washing cars! Since then...

The first episode of the brand new Edinburgh Business Stories podcast is here! Alex and Alan got the chance to speak to Teddy Lee, founder of Edinburgh-based restaurant Maki & Ramen. Teddy's restaurant has grown from a single shop to one of the most recognisable chains in the Scottish capital. It's testament to his hard work and commitment to his enterprise, but, like most success stories, Ted...

We learn best through stories, and it's this idea that sparked the idea for the Edinburgh Business Stories podcast. Alex Richards, director of content creation company YouMore, and Alan Smith, a business coach with ActionCOACH, will be chatting with some great guests who have started amazing businesses in and around Edinburgh. Motivated by a mutual love of story-telling, they want to get a real in...