This week's guest is Jonathan Straight, founder and former-CEO of recycling solutions company Straight plc. Jonathan tells us how the business came about, the journey to becoming a plc, the crisis caused by over-trading and then the eventual sale of the company. And he discuss the important question, 'what do you wear after selling your business?' INTRODUCING JONATHAN STRAIGHT Jonathan is an award-winning purposeful entrepreneur and creative best known for founding the AIM-listed Straight plc...

This week I’m delighted to have Apprentice winner and North Studio owner, Rachel Woolford as my guest. Rachel explains all about launching her boutique gym just weeks before lockdown and the stress it caused her, reveals the secrets from behind the scenes of The Apprentice, tells us all about her time on the show and shares what it's been like since she was announced as the winner. INTRODUCING RACHEL WOOLFORD Rachel Woolford is the owner and founder of boutique gym North Studio which has...

This week’s guests are Marshall Frieze and Simon Williams who, for only three weeks a year, run a speciality pop-up shop. Hear why they do it, the unique challenges they face, how Covid turned EVERYTHING on it’s head and what the key is to the shop’s continued year-on-year improvement. INTRODUCING SIMON WILLIAMS & MARSHALL FRIEZE Simon Williams is the owner of SW Retail Consultancy Ltd. Having been in retail for nearly 30 years in various roles, he using his retail knowledge &...

Starts at 00.45 This week’s guest is Fiona Conor, Managing Director of Trust Electrical Heating. Fiona tells us all about her amazing & varied route to becoming a business owner, the ups and downs of registering a patent, the huge importance of brand, the need for a business coach to vomit on…. and how to stop your ‘leaky bucket’ and increase your lead conversion. INTRODUCING FIONA CONOR Fiona Conor, is Managing Director at Trust Electric Heating and boasts three decades of experience in...

This week we speak to green banking start-up, Tred. Peter & will discuss where the idea of a green bank account came from, the secret tip that worked for improving their network connections, how the first round of testing changed the business strategy, the positives and negatives of a wait list and what it feels like to secure £1m of funding. We also get taught how to reduce the carbon footprint of your business. Win a Tred water bottle. Listen to the episode then answer the question at...

This week’s episode is slightly different as we meet one of the Leeds business community’s most well-known faces, Colin Glass OBE. Colin shares his expertise on a variety of business topics including what makes a great business founder, funding options available for businesses, what is a NED and why you might need one, what sweat investment is and, of course, how to be a great networker. INTRODUCING COLIN GLASS Colin is a Chartered Accountant who started his own practice, Winburn Glass...

This week we speak to Nigel Botterill, Founder of Entrepreneurs Circle. Nigel tells us why bootstrapping is the WRONG way to run a business, how incompetence launched his most successful business, the day he found £500k missing from his business bank account and the bedroom business that went multi-million pound in months. He also gives a 'how to' that, to quote Nigel, is "the most powerful 'how to' that you have ever had on the podcast." INTRODUCING NIGEL BOTTERILL Nigel Botterill - serial...

In this week’s episode we talk to Alistair Maiden, founder of legal tech company, Syke. Hear business tales and learnings from the legendary Ken Morrison, Alistair’s eureka moment for the business, how the business grew to an eventual multi-million pound sale in the US plus the hard changes that needed to take place after sale. Plus, what’s it like buying an abattoir? INTRODUCING ALISTAIR MAIDEN Alistair began his career as a lawyer, practising commercial and technology law for several years....

In this week’s episode we speak to local property developer and interior designer, Christine Yorath. Christine talks us through her property career, plus how she started a skincare business when returning from Vancouver, the almost accidental launch of a successful property letting business and teaches us how to avoid getting stabbed in the back in the office. INTRODUCING CHRISTINE YORATH Christine Yorath is an interior designer, property developer and consultant to property developers. She...

If you’ve ever considered, or want to learn more about, growing your business by acquisition, you’ll want to listen to this week’s guest, Jon Graves, Founder & CEO of Northern Telecom. Jon has grown his business by 7-fold in three years via 13 acquisitions. In part two of our discussion Jon shares with us some of the good, and bad, acquisitions that he’s done, talks us through the need to systemise his pre-pack DD, discusses the difficulties and processes in integrating acquisitions and...

If you’ve ever considered, or want to learn more about, growing your business by acquisition, you’ll want to listen to this week’s guest, Jon Graves, Founder & CEO of Northern Telecom. Jon has grown his business by 7-fold in three years via 13 acquisitions. Jon tells us all about his acquisition strategy, shares the learnings from some of his early mistakes and gives us all a great ‘how to’ when it comes to buying businesses via a pre-pack. He also tells us about his ultimately disastrous...

In this week’s episode we speak to Jamie Bentley, CEO of Stephenson Personal Care. Jamie tells us all about how it feels to take over as fifth generation in a family firm, selling in the states looking like a cross between Tim Nice-but-Dim and Hugh Grant, the feeling when landing your first million dollar deal and how a brilliant ‘train set’ analogy sparked his Eureka moment. Plus he tells us about a great opportunity to get MBA students to work on your new business idea. INTRODUCING JAMIE...

Chris Bax, co-founder of Bax Botanics, tells us how this ‘professional tree-hugger’ husband & wife team launched an outdoor experiential business, and then their award-winning alcohol-free gin-like drink. You get to meet Ebenezer, Edith and Hefzibah and hear how Chris feels that getting liquid on lips is the toughest part of the business, along with a great piece of advice in the ‘How to’. You’ll have to listen up to find out who the Hollywood A list actor was that Chris failed to...

In part two of her interview Carrie Rose of Rise At Seven discusses the exit of her co-founder, re-structuring the business to reflect the aim of generating demand and then capturing demand, bringing a management and support team in, establishing an American office, a basic ‘how to’ to improve your company’s SEO and Carrie’s key learnings from her business journey. INTRODUCING CARRIE ROSE Carrie Rose, is founder and CEO of one of the fastest growing agencies in the UK & US - search-first...

Hear how Carrie Rose went from launch to £7.2m turnover in four years, winning 80 awards in two years on the way, how she turned down Lord Sugar, the importance of brand and company culture, the importance of processes and systems, the issues she encountered managing exponential growth and how she copes with managing staff older than herself. There's also a great 'how to', in building your own personal brand. INTRODUCING CARRIE ROSE Carrie Rose, is founder and CEO of one of the fastest...

What does it feel like when you’re the best in the world at something, and then can’t do that anymore? In this week's episode we speak to Rugby League legend Jamie Peacock MBE, who is now a business coach and motivational speaker. Jamie tells us how the skills and habits that took him to the top of the tree can help you in your business, how captaining a team helps with presentation skills and he shares with us how to build confidence (and dealing with Imposter Syndrome) amongst other great...

What does it feel like when you’re moved out of the family business that you’ve run for 25 years? In this week's episode we speak to Michael Michaelson ex-CEO of CLC finance. Michael, very candidly, talks us through what he calls his ‘rags to riches to rags story, how the banks caused him ‘2 years of hell’ and how difficult it can be to finally let go. He talks to us about the importance of people and communicating in the business world plus there’s a great ‘How to’ when it comes to dealing...

In this week's episode we speak to Zandra Moore, CEO of PanIntelligence. Zandra shares with us a super cheap and really effective marketing tactic that she used and that can get your business noticed, the triggers that brought about a successful Series A funding round, why she didn’t change her business card when she was promoted to CEO, the key role an incubator played in her journey and the need for support and structures for female founders. Plus there’s a great ‘How to’ when it comes to...

For this week's episode, we took the time to look at the highlights from episodes 11 - 20. £20m businesses crashing.... identifying the perfect business.... an amazing new business pitch.... how to be a great boss.... drug-dealing arrests and more.... There are some great learnings and fascinating business tales. If you've not yet listened to an episode, or have but missed a few, give this one a listen. Have a watch or listen; If you'd like to listen to, or watch, the whole episode of any of...

For this week's episode, we took the time to look at the highlights from episodes 1-10. Perfect business plans.... the Simon Cowell effect.... bootstrapping.... how to run a tech project when you're not a techie.... 'tweaking' pre-launch customer research... not being first to market... the problems of Brexit and more.... There are some great learnings and fascinating business tales. If you've not yet listened to an episode, or have but missed a few, give this one a listen. Have a watch or...

In this week's episode we speak to Alex Craven, CEO and Co-founder, founder of The Data City. Alex tells us about the sale of Bloom Agency, the harsh lessons learnt when selling a business, how and why the business sale went so badly wrong, half a million pounds worth of contracts without trying with his new business, data City and how ADHD and the risks it encouraged affected Alex’s business journey INTRODUCING ALEX CRAVEN Alex founded a digital agency and MarTech company in 1999 and sold in...

In this week's episode we speak to Alex Craven, ex-Founder of Bloom Agency and now CEO and co-founder of The Data City. Alex tells us about the launch of his first business, Bloom Agency, one of the first digital businesses in the UK, ​w​hat Alex describes as a mind-bending receivership meeting​, getting rid of 385/400 clients​ and the huge growth triggered by 2008 financial crash​. INTRODUCING ALEX CRAVEN Alex founded a digital agency and MarTech company in 1999 and sold in 2016, Alex has...

In this week's episode we speak to Russell Bisset, founder of Northern Monk brewery. Russell explains to us the key role his Grandmother played in launching the business, the importance of collaboration in business, particularly in the early days and the different challenges that direct to customer, off-trade and on-trade bring. He also shares with us his ‘Apprentice Challenge’ solution to big business problems. And he explains how a focused brand positioning can help your business to...

This week we speak to Martin Wolstencroft, Founder & CEO of the company behind Banyan, Manahatta or Box. Amongst other things, Martin discusses the four features you must have to ensure your business is a success. He also tells us how he re-mortgaged his house and put EVERYTHING on the line to launch his first bar in Headingley, why and how he streamlined 10 different bars into three distinct but complimentary brands, his advice, and questions, for anyone wanting to run their own business...

In this week’s podcast we meet Jacob Hill, MD of Offploy. Jacob tells us all about his start-up at the age of 19 that brought him business awards and £300,000 of angel investment but also talks about the mistakes made that brought it all crashing down. He then shares with us the story of his arrest and subsequent prison sentence that changed his life forever, and the positives that have subsequently come from it. He also explains how you can access a pool of top quality staff with exceptional...