The GAIN Industry Leaders Podcast

This week's guest on our podcast is Sophie Cornish - MBE, two-time author, multiple award winner, founder of Not On The High Street and Managing Partner of the brilliant womenswear brand Busby & Fox! In this episode we chat about starting Not on the High Street from her kitchen table, why Busby & Fox was the perfect opportunity for her, creating amazing shopping experiences for women aged...

For our latest podcast episode, we spoke to Rohan Blacker, Founder of Pooky and previously sofa.com. In this episode, he shares more about taking the jump into entrepreneurship after a career as a solicitor, standing out in 2022, building businesses in digital's early days and the hilarious story of how he got the sofa.com domain name.  We hope you enjoy this episode! 

Jo Tutchener Sharp founded Scamp & Dude in 2016, after being separated from her children during a lengthy stay in hospital undergoing life-saving brain surgery. What initially started as a kidswear brand has now grown into womenswear and they're loved for their purpose-driven, super-power infused clothes. In this podcast episode, Jo shares more about her story, how Scamp & Dude began,...

We're so excited by this week's guests, Mandy Watkins and Rupert Youngman, the duo behind fashion and lifestyle brand, Hush.  In this episode, we hear more about how Hush started, their growth and their plans for the future. Plus, we discuss fast fashion and sustainability, building teams, design inspiration, and lots more.  We hope you enjoy this episode! 

Mehul Tank is the CEO of Scandinavian brand, Georg Jensen and former CFO of British Womenswear brand, Hobbs. In this episode, Mehul shares his career journey via CFO to CEO, Georg Jensen's exciting story, the importance of connecting online and retail experiences, and so much more. ​ We hope you enjoy this episode! 

What makes a successful leader?  Drax Executive have undertaken the largest study of its kind across Europe to identify a framework of behaviours that the most successful high-growth businesses possess in their leadership teams.  In this episode, Samuel presents a fascinating perspective on leadership, informed by data. We discuss the four key behaviours of leaders, the importance of cur...

Seasalt is having a moment. CEO Paul Hayes has just announced that the brand is set to hit £100m in sales and that a huge 56% of sales are now online - not bad for a business that started life selling workwear to local farmers and fishermen. Listen to Paul tell Sorcha O'Boyle about how he set the business up for growth, why they don't discount and what lies ahead for one of the most successful UK...

Dr Anna Persaud is the CEO of This Works, the skincare brand that works with your body clock. With a PhD in biochemistry, Anna brings her clinical expertise and commercial experience to the podcast this week and gives her take on the most exciting developments in skincare and how This Works is taking on its US expansion. Enjoy!

Join us for a chat with our first travel brand! CEO of the Leger Shearings Group, Liam Race, sits down with Sorcha O'Boyle to talk through how Leger acquired Shearings during the height of the first lockdown, how it feels to have tour buses back on the road, and what lies ahead for the travel industry. Enjoy!

Founded in 1970, Jigsaw is a signature British fashion brand that has weathered the shift to omni-channel and embraced the challenges of the changing High Street. In this episode, Sorcha O’Boyle caught up with Beth Butterwick, Jigsaw’s newly-named CEO, to hear about how she fell in love with fashion, what it’s like to lead a heritage brand as it digitises – and what she’s learned about taking risk...

RIXO is the breakout brand of the last few years. It's been called everything from a cultural zeitgeist to an instant classic from the moment it exploded onto the fashion scene in 2015. In this episode, we met founders Orlagh McCloskey and Henrietta Rix to hear about how they launched the brand, what they're working on at the moment, and what success means to them. 

Women’s fashion brand Wyse London is taking the world by storm. For this episode, we sat down with founder Marielle Wyse to learn about the early years of Wyse, how and why she shifted the brand from a wholesale to a direct-to-consumer model, and where she gets her inspiration. Marielle’s story is a fascinating one about how a brand can adapt quickly to the Covid-19 pandem...

What do most D2C CEOs overlook? How can Boards and NEDs help CEOs to do their job better? And what will the High Street look like in 2030? We sat down with Meg Lustman, former CEO of Hobbs and now mentor and coach to direct-to-consumer CEOs and senior leaders to hear her take on these questions and many more. This episode is jam packed full of insight and advice from one of retail's most respe...

What's it like to transition from CFO to CEO? What's the simplest way to find out what needs to change in your business? And how does a 135-year-old direct-to-consumer brand adapt to keep up with digital transformation in the modern marketplace? We sat down with Nathan Smith, CEO of Whittard of Chelsea, to learn the answers to all of these questions and more in this week's episode of the Industry...

Hotter Shoes is leading the digital transformation on the High Street. Listen to CEO Ian Watson share how he and his team have digitalised the business and encouraged their customers embrace new technologies across their stores, their app, and online. Hear how Ian left school at 16 but has become a great advocate for education and learning (he's currently doing a Doctorate at Warwick Business Scho...

Freddie's Flowers is on a mission to bring beautiful cut flowers to homes all over the UK and beyond. Tune in to hear Ted Bell give his take on what it takes to bring a business from start-up to launch and how his experience at Abel & Cole brought him to Freddie's Flowers.

Dune London is one of the UK's most enduring and well-loved footwear brands. In this episode, we caught up with Daniel Rubin, Founder and CEO of Dune London to learn what key ingredients make up a successful brand, how Dune is leading the way in digital transformation, and why he still crosses the road to see what's new and exciting in shop windows. 

Join the first episode of the Industry Leaders Podcast as we sit down with Maria Hollins, joint-MD of Ann Summers. Learn what inspires Maria, what she learned during her time at ASOS, and what advice she'd give her younger self.