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Interview

John Cleese headshot

John Cleese’s guide to creativity and how it can transform your business

Comic genius John Cleese has some straight-talking advice on how to unlock your creativity and boost your business

Josh Dornbrack

Fraser Smeaton

MorphCostumes CEO: Learn to build trust quickly

Fraser Smeaton, co-founder and CEO of MorphCostumes, explains how a formative experience from his youth helped him succeed in business

Dougal Shaw

Mark Slack

How Mark Slack built a multi-billion business

In our latest podcast, we hear the story behind CMR Surgical, a robotics business valued at more than £2.3bn

Graham Ruddick

Co-founder of Monday.com Eran Zinman

Monday.com Co-CEO: Failing is part of our success

The co-founder and co-CEO of Monday.com explains how an appreciation of failure has driven him to build a multi-billion-dollar company.

Dougal Shaw

Volkswagen's "Ugly is only skin-deep" advert is an example of The Praftfall effect

How to use behavioural science to boost your growth

Behavioural expert Richard Shotton gives a masterclass on how to exploit the innate bias of humans and how you can benefit from The Pratfall effect

Sarah Vizard

Richard Harpin

Ask Richard: How to combine bricks, clicks and paper

Richard Harpin, the founder of HomeServe and Growth Partner and owner of Business Leader, answers your burning business questions
Fawn Weaver

Uncle Nearest: Business lessons distilled from bourbon

Fawn Weaver has built a global whiskey brand from scratch, and she’s distilled some important business lessons along the way

Dougal Shaw

Julie Chen

Cheeky Panda CEO: ‘Wear your brand’ to stand out

Julie Chen, co-founder and CEO of Cheeky Panda, on how to make an impact with potential customers and investors

Dougal Shaw

alex dupledge

How to build a business for the second time

In our new podcast episode, we speak to entrepreneur Alex Depledge about what is different when building a second business

Graham Ruddick

Richard Peake

Merchant Gourmet boss: Boring products offer big opportunities

Richard Peake, managing director of Merchant Gourmet, on bringing excitement to 'begrudged' consumer products

Dougal Shaw

Amy Knight standing in front of Must Have Ideas' warehouse

Must Have Ideas: The online retailer dominating social media and consumer trends

Gut feeling and a keen eye for customers has helped Must Have Ideas go from homebased start-up to an online success story

Josh Dornbrack

Jordan Schwarzenberger

Sidemen manager: I was C-suite at 20, it was hard

Jordan Schwarzenberger, manager of YouTube sensations The Sidemen, discusses the pitfalls of being a young leader

Dougal Shaw

Paperplanes letters

The power of paper in a digital age

Online marketers call people who live offline ‘the unreachables’ but Paperplanes co-founder Dan Dunn has shown that direct mail can still hit home

Dougal Shaw

TS Anil on a sofa

How Monzo became a £4bn business

When TS Anil took over as boss of Monzo, the digital bank was criticised for not having a business model. Now it is worth £4bn

Graham Ruddick

Fawn Weaver

Uncle Nearest founder: To disrupt a market, you have to understand it

Fawn Weaver, the woman behind the Uncle Nearest whiskey brand, shares her personal business advice

Dougal Shaw

Dame Stephanie Shirley blue jumper with books

Shattering glass ceilings: The life and legacy of Dame Stephanie Shirley 

From escaping the Holocaust as a child refugee to founding a groundbreaking tech company, Dame Stephanie Shirley's life is a testament to resilience, innovation and philanthropy

Josh Dornbrack

Logos of Puma and Serie A are seen on the Serie A official match ball Puma

A marketing masterclass from Serie A

In this episode of the Business Leader podcast, we get a marketing masterclass from the man tasked with making the top Italian football league the best in the world

Graham Ruddick

Paddy Fletcher

The unique funding strategy of a vertical whisky distillery

Paddy Fletcher, co-founder and co-CEO of The Port of Leith whisky brand, shares his personal business advice, explaining why he built a vertical distillery

Dougal Shaw

Sir Rocco Forte poses in a suite at Browns Hotel

How do you start again after losing your business?

The Business Leader podcast looks at the story behind Sir Rocco Forte's billion-pound businesses

Graham Ruddick

Clare Elford, the chief executive of Clue Software

Learning to lead: Transforming a legacy business

Clare Elford, the chief executive of Clue Software, tells the story of how she learnt to lead

Andrew Lynch

Ajaz Ahmed

AKQA CEO: The 21st century ad man

Ajaz Ahmed, founder and CEO of creative agency AKQA, shares his personal business advice, explaining why it's important to him to prioritise workplace diversity

Dougal Shaw

Jellyfish co-founder Rob Pierre

Rethinking management: The story of Jellyfish’s non-hierarchical model

Jellyfish co-founder Rob Pierre explains how he pioneered a system that ripped up traditional ways of managing and promoting people in favour of something more equitable

Sarah Vizard

Biscuiteers

Growth Stories: Treats galore

In this series, we look at the fast-growing medium-sized businesses driving the UK economy. Here, we profile Harriet Hastings and Biscuiteers

Andrew Lynch

Brad Bratley, CEO of First Mile

First Mile CEO: Don’t forget the power of internal competition

Bruce Bratley, founder and CEO of First Mile, shares his personal business advice, explaining how the company uses gamification to motivate customers

Dougal Shaw