The Better Business Show

This week we’re in the company of Rob Drake-Knight, co-founder of the super ethical and fully traceable t-shirt business Rapanui. How does this Isle of Wight-based manufacturing company continue to innovate, using the power of technology to boost its impact in the world. We also have an incredibly exciting announcement to make – which sees The Better Business Show launch its very own business with...

Gregor Gomory hopes to leverage the 'perfect storm' brewing as ocean waste hits the mainstream of environmentalism. His business, ByFusion, makes building blocks out of ocean plastic waste – and he wants to open source how they might be used in communities everywhere. Elsewhere this week, Vikki Knowles helps digest the week's happenings from across the better business world. And Joss Tantram concl...

From old decommissioned fire hose and parachute silk, to tea and coffee sacks and show leather scraps, Kresse Wesling has made it her lifetime mission to rid the world of waste, one small step at a time. And she’s doing it, all the while running a luxury goods business bringing stunning items to market. Find out the hows, whys and wherefores during this week’s show. Elsewhere, our news round-up fe...

Andy Middleton gives a resounding 'yes' in response to the question posed in today's show – can play help to create a better world? Through his organisation TYF – an adventure and activities-based business located on the Welsh coast – he believes getting people away from their desks in towns and cities and better connecting them to the natural world is the best way to encourage innovative, creativ...

There's a problem with plastic – from the way it is made to the way it is disposed of. But there is a better way. There is a better way of creating plastics by sucking nasty greenhouse gases out of the air, combining it with oxygen and forming pellets that can be used to form a range of plastic products. Meet Mark Herrema, CEO of New Light Technologies, a company truly shaking up the manufacturing...

This week, we're in the company of Heidy Rehman, founder and managing director of Rose & Willard, an ethical and feminist British womenswear brand based in London. This is a company which has made pieces for Jennifer Aniston and Gemma Arterton. This is a company that pays interns. This is a company that makes sure its models eat properly. This is a company with the lowest carbon footprint in the f...

This week, we're in the company of Bibi Bleekemolen, impact development manager at Fairphone, the smartphone business with a difference. How did this campaigning organisation go from banging the drum on supply chain ethics, to launching a smart smartphone with a super transparent supply chain – no mean feat of the often murky world of conflict minerals and widespread human rights abuse? We ask Bib...

This week, we catch up with some of the world's best environmental and business journalists to find out what companies and start-ups are getting them most excited right now? Plus, all the latest sustainable business news with Vikki Knowles, including adidas, Marks & Spencer, China's wacky new buses and the UK's Brexit debate.

This week, we meet Charlotte Sewell from Cook, the frozen food business doing more than most to create true social impact, whether in employing ex-offenders or helping staff to fulfil their dreams. Plus, our news round-up features Marks & Spencer (and it's first human rights progress report), the beer company making edible packaging, the problem with cement, and non-EU Norway's tough stance on def...

This week, we are in the mountains of Austria with global beer maker Heineken, to meet the team behind the world's first zero carbon brewery. Reducing the pollution associated with its more than 160 breweries worldwide is a key priority for the business. In fact, by 2020 carbon emissions coming from its beer production will be cut by 40% should it meet internal goals. Michael Dickstein, the compan...

This week, we're in the company of Adam Garfunkel, MD of Junxion – one of the UK's first 100 registered B Corps – to find out what that even means and why you might want to go down the same route. Plus, this week's news round-up features monkey-dating with the Body Shop, bricks made from old cigarette butts and the new vodka made from San Francisco's fog.

This week, we meet Mobisol – a German solar energy business with an awesome business model for scaling up clean energy use across Africa. And if they can get drones to deliver units in remote villages and towns, the game changes forever. Plus, we play 'Lovable Brand or Fake Corporate Imitation', catch up on Kansas City's new sustainable streetcar, get to grips with Mars' new energy commitments and...

Meet Simon Biltcliffe, the man at the helm of Webmart, a successful print management company that combines both Capitalist and Marxist ideals to running his business that cares just as much about emotional and intellectual value as financial. Plus, this week's news round up, including sustainable seafood, Waitrose TV ads, Emma Watson's dress and wastewater-treating earthworms.

This week we meet Nick Davies, founder of Neighbourly.com, the social network for social good. Find out how this unique platform is creating positive change across the UK. Plus, our news round-up features new London mayor Sadiq Khan, solar-mad Etsy and Ikea's new range of products.

Meet Kuli Kuli, the US-based business making use of the moringa plant to create a range of energy and health bars. We're in conversation with Lisa Curtis, the CEO, who explains why moringa is a plant that has the potential to not only change the health and dietary habits of those in the West, but also the lives and livelihoods of farming communities across the developing world. Our 10-minute news...

Creating new products, services and business models fit for the 21st century demands risk-taking. This week, we chat to Matthew Turner, author of Successful Mistake to discuss how companies can fail fast – and leverage mistakes to build better, stronger businesses. We also catch up with Vikki Knowles for all the latest news, this week featuring: Earth Day, Fashion Revolution, Marks & Spencer and e...

This week, we are in the company of James Williams, a start-up entrepreneur who hopes his idea – to incentivise people to charge their electronic devices at times of the day when clean energy systems are at their most productive – has legs. We also catch up with Vikki Knowles for the latest news from across the world of sustainable business, featuring Boeing, Levi Strauss and the new solar cell te...

Another fascinating start-up this week: Tumalow combines solar PV with battery energy storage and software to get rid of those pesky customer demand charges. We're in conversation with the CEO William Gathright. Also, we catch up with Jake Backus, former customer sustainability director at Coca-Cola, to find out why companies find it so hard to talk about green issues with Joe Public.

This week's guest is Tara Button, the founder of Buy Me Once, a website selling only products that have been designed to stand the test of time. It's one of a growing number of businesses which are standing up to the epidemic of over-consumption, encouraging people to think before they buy, and favouring quality over quantity.

This week, we meet Lenny Mendonca, owner of Half Moon Bay Brewing Co., the Californian business that is using Nasa technology to produce beer using water that has passed through sinks and showers. Recent taste tests give the beer the thumbs up. Now, it's up to Lenny to convince the regulators to show similar positive – and help reduce the pressure on businesses still reeling from a prolonger droug...

Meet Tom Cridland, the international fashion designer shaking up the market for ethical fashion, putting fairness and transparency centre stage – and offering a 30-year guarantee on his t-shirts and sweatshirts for starters! Also, this week's news round-up, featuring Jeremy Rowsell, Unilever, Indiegogo and the UK Budget.

Out of the studio and on location this week for Resource Event at Excel, London – meeting the great and good interested in disrupting how companies see 'waste'. Featuring, The Great Recovery Project, Riversimple, Purifying Glasshouse and Alex Bellos.

This week we're in conversation with Greg Lavery, a man who has used his many years in sustainable business consultancy as the foundations for Rype Office, a company disrupting the way companies buy – and get rid of – office furniture. Plus, Vikki Knowles is on hand with a round-up of the week's better business news, featuring EasyJet, IKEA and Italian cyclists!

Money, money, money. Meet Ian Monroe, co-founder of Etho Capital, an investment management company at the heart of the emerging fossil fuel divestment movement – and proving to the investment community that putting your money into socially responsible companies does not have to negatively affect returns. Find out how and why the tide is turning.

This week, we meet Eben Bayer, the co-founder of Ecovative, the US business growing packaging and building materials out of mushrooms. Yes, mushrooms. Intrigued? Tune in to find out how and why this company is shaking up the building materials sector.