Local Heroes Podcast

Paul Mort is known for his energy, honesty and no-nonsense approach to business and life, but behind the success is a story very few people know. In this episode, Paul opens up about building a business from nothing, surviving depression and suicidal thoughts, rebuilding his life, and the mindset shifts that changed everything. He talks about learning to sell, embracing discomfort, becoming alcoho...

What happens when you lose everything, and have to rebuild your life from the ground up? In one of our most powerful conversations yet, Claire Liddle shares her extraordinary journey from childhood trauma and alcohol addiction to prison, recovery, and building a thriving bakery business that’s changing lives. Claire speaks with remarkable honesty about growing up with abuse, the spiral into addict...

This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan sit with Carley Armstrong of Sunderland - producer, filmmaker, and one of the hardest-grafting people in North East film right now. She's gone from runner to script supervisor to producer the hard way, building her own company while refusing to leave the region that made her. Hendon born, Hendon loyal - the kind of place she can still knock on a...

<span;>This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan sit down with Andy Haddon - beekeeper, baker, accidental troublemaker, and the man Charlotte Crosby once crowned "the David Attenborough of the Stottie." <span;>Andy's the founder of Big River Bakery in Shieldfield, but that's only where the story lands. <span;>We start with bees - the waggle dance, the venom that kills...

This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan sit with Bobzilla - artist, muralist, DJ, photographer, and a man whose own mum still refuses to call him anything but Robert. The name itself is a tale. Born Robert Page (yes, both off Led Zeppelin), he became Rob, then Bob courtesy of a big lad called Robbie, and finally Bobzilla on a drunken night when a mate needed a DJ name and turned himse...

This week, Chris and Dan set out to talk about what’s been happening in their lives and somehow end up covering everything from decorating disasters and DIY injuries to family diaries, old letters, horror films and the stories that shape who we are. Dan shares his ongoing battle with decorating, including drilling through his own foot, near misses with electrics, and why he may never become the DI...

This week on the Local Heroes podcast, Chris and Dan sit with Cal Byerley of Restaurant Pine - and Gordons (plural) steal the show. Gordon, the podcast mascot, is named after a rock star, carved from a sculpture celebrating Mary Ann McCann's escape from slavery and destined for a bag stool at a Michelin-starred restaurant. Not bad for a bench. There's also a dog called Gordon - named after Ramsay...

This week on the Local Heroes podcast, Chris and Dan sit with Rob Sampson, the man behind "Gan for bait, like?" One of the North East's most-followed food voices, the conversation that wanders from Capri Sun smuggling tactics and a wonky table nicknamed Gordon, all the way to foie gras at the old Cafe 21. Rob talks us through how a lockdown creative itch, fed by Anthony Bourdain, years of writing...

This week on Chris and Dan sit down with Jo Feeley, co-founder of TrendBible, the Newcastle based trend forecasting agency helping some of the world’s biggest brands understand what people will want next. From growing up in rural Northumberland to building an internationally respected futures and trend forecasting business, Jo shares how curiosity became a career, spotting patterns in human behavi...

This week Chris and Dan are joined by comedian Lauren Pattison, one of the sharpest stand-up voices to come out of the North East in the last decade. From doing her first gigs at 18 in Newcastle to becoming an Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee and touring internationally, Lauren talks honestly about the strange reality of growing up through comedy, while everyone else was off travelling, she was doin...

This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, we’re joined by Toby Davison, the man behind North Shore Coffee, one of the North East’s fastest-growing specialty coffee brands. From selling coffee on the Quayside with a small setup to building a multi-site business with cafés, vans, and a roastery, this is a story of graft, instinct, and backing yourself when there’s no clear plan. We get into how it all...

This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, we’re joined by Teesside’s very own Matt Ord, a straight-talking grafter turned business leader helping shape the future of the region. From growing up in Middlesbrough to carving out a career without a clear path, this is a conversation about instinct, resilience, and making things happen when there’s no blueprint. Matt shares his journey through early graft...

This week on Local Heroes, we’re joined by South Shields’ own Matty and Matteo Minchella - coming from one of the North East’s best-known hospitality families and now building a marketing agency focused on real growth. From early graft in family-run restaurants and ice cream businesses to helping brands scale through strategy, this is a straight-talking conversation about what it really takes to b...

This week on the Local Heroes podcast, Chris and Dan are joined by Ian Waller of the formidable Restaurant Pine. Ian works closely with his friend and co-founder Cal Byerley, the man who convinced him to make the move to the North East, and together they’ve built one of the most exciting and unique restaurants in the country. In this episode, Ian shares the story behind that journey, from early da...

In this week's Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan sit down with Roger Crosby for a deep-dive into music, graft, and growing up in the North East - from chaotic working men’s club gigs and near-breakthrough moments in the industry to the foundations of what would become Crosby’s Catering. We explore the reality of chasing music, including lessons from legendary manager Chas Chandler and a pivotal...

This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan talk to Kema Kay – actor, musician, writer and proud Newcastle creative – about his journey from the West End of Newcastle to landing a speaking role in Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake and building a career in the creative industries. Kema shares the reality of starting out as an extra on film sets, the class divide within the industry, and the mome...

This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan sit down with the dynamic brewing duo Sam and Red Kellie of First & Last Brewery. On the eve of the launch of Taste of Northumberland - an exciting new initiative celebrating the very best of the county’s food, drink, and hospitality - Sam and Red reflect on what truly matters: place, provenance, and community. From their early days of home...

n this episode of Local Heroes, Chris and Dan sit down with producer, manager and music supervisor Tarquin Gotch, whose career bridges Hollywood, rock music and the North East of England. Tarquin has worked with some of the biggest names in entertainment, including John Hughes, Brian Johnson (AC/DC), Jimmy Nail, Stuart Copeland, Sting, and bands such as XTC and The Beat. Along the way he’s crossed...

This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan sit down with regional TUC secretary Dave Pike to unpack what modern trade unionism really looks like. Representing 800,000 unionised workers across 48 unions, Dave explains how the movement has evolved beyond outdated stereotypes — and why, at its core, it’s still about one simple idea: we look after each other. From organising his first workpl...

This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan talk to award-winning portrait photographer, Chris Owens about building a career behind the lens and finding your voice in a changing industry. From his early days learning in the darkroom to adapting through the digital revolution, Chris reflects on how discipline, curiosity and human connection shaped the way he sees the world — and why photog...

This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan sit down with the godfather of North East hospitality - Terry Laybourne. From washing prep boxes on his very first day in a kitchen to opening Queen Street in 1988 and helping shape the region’s dining scene, Terry shares the story of how a working-class lad from the west end of Newcastle became what he calls a “food engineer.” He talks about th...

This week’s Local Heroes Podcast - Chris and Dan talk to SAFC legend and incredible human, Gary Bennett. From scoring on his debut at Roker Park to becoming one of the most respected voices in North East football, Gary shares a life shaped by Sunderland AFC and the community around it. He explains why the club is more than a team - it’s the heartbeat of a city - and how recent years have rebuilt p...

This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan meet Drew and Abbie - people brought together through life-changing injuries and conditions, and whose stories are celebrated in the recently screened film Hands on the Wheel, directed by Dan Prince and produced by Local Heroes. What begins light-hearted quickly turns into a powerful and honest conversation about rebuilding a life after disabili...

This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan talk to the all-weather Jen Bartram, weather broadcaster, communicator, and proud North East native. Like our very own average host, Chris, Jen was born in South Shields and raised in Hebburn – like all good humans. What begins as a nostalgic, laugh-filled chat about growing up in the North East quickly becomes a thoughtful and revealing convers...

Chris and Dan go rogue this week on the Local Heroes Podcast, serving up nonsense and beautifully unnecessary disruption. No guests. No structure. Just two mics, endless rabbit holes, and zero resistance to going off track. From spoon solos and imaginary North East super-groups to curry v gravy debates, Chris confessing to a lifetime of fashion crimes, and Dan putting Darren and Keith (Keeath) fir...