エピソード

  • From elite sport to elite business: Bob Skinstad’s journey

    From elite sport to elite business: Bob Skinstad’s journey
    2025/12/18
    In this episode, host Josh Dornbrack speaks with Bob Skinstad, former Springbok and Rugby World Cup winner, about leadership, elite performance and transitioning from professional sport into business. He shares lessons from rugby, venture capital, consulting and building winning teams in high-pressure environments.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    39 分
  • The revival of Debenhams

    The revival of Debenhams
    2025/12/16
    The department store chain Debenhams was founded in 1778 but went bust in 2020, leading to thousands of job losses and the disappearance of one of Britain's best-known high street names. But now it is back, reimagined for the digital age. In this episode of the Business Leader Podcast, Debenhams chief executive Dan Finley tells the story behind this turnaround. Dan Finley was appointed the boss of Debenhams in 2022 after the brand was bought by Boohoo. Now he is chief executive of the whole Boohoo group, which has been renamed Debenhams. That has brought its own unique challenges...

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    45 分
  • Alibaba.com's president explains how AI tools let SMEs access global supply chains

    Alibaba.com's president explains how AI tools let SMEs access global supply chains
    2025/12/11
    It’s a magnet for side hustlers around Europe. The CoCreate event was held this November in London, the first time it’s come to Europe. It’s an event run by Alibaba.com, a global online marketplace for b2b wholesale trade. Small businesses use it to source in bulk products from manufacturers and trading companies to then sell to consumers themselves. Alibaba.com is part of Alibaba Group founded by Jack Ma in China in 1999. Alibaba.com now connects 50 million buyers with 200,000 global suppliers, many of them based in China. At CoCreate there are suppliers showing off their wares, including everything from robot vacuum cleaners to skincare products and fashion items. Dougal Shaw spoke to the entrepreneurs who flocked to this event before catching up with Kuo Zhang, the president of Alibaba.com, to find out how small companies can access global supply chains, with AI making the task increasingly sophisticated.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    23 分
  • Katharine Viner: The editor taking the Guardian into the TikTok age

    Katharine Viner: The editor taking the Guardian into the TikTok age
    2025/12/09
    Many prime ministers don’t make it to 10 years in office. US presidents only get eight at most to secure their legacy. Katharine Viner has had a decade and counting as editor-in-chief at the Guardian newspaper. She is also the first woman to hold the role. She’s made radical changes to an institution more than two centuries old, while returning it to profit. Dougal Shaw took a trip to the Guardian HQ in London to learn about the reader revenue model that took everyone by surprise, commercial innovations like The Filter and how she plans to attract younger audiences while navigating the perils of social media.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    35 分
  • Mountain Warehouse and Mark Neale

    Mountain Warehouse and Mark Neale
    2025/12/02
    The story of how one of the best-known high street chains was built. Mountain Warehouse now has more than 400 shops and generates more than £450m in annual revenue. But, as founder and chief executive Mark Neale tells Graham Ruddick, this story starts with a shop selling roller blades...

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    45 分
  • Thea Green: The beauty entrepreneur behind Nails.INC

    Thea Green: The beauty entrepreneur behind Nails.INC
    2025/11/27

    Thea Green, the founder of Nails.INC, is one of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs in the beauty and self-care space. Her early background was in journalism, but she spotted a gap in the fashion market back in the late 1990s – and grabbed the opportunity. When the world was crazy about everything “dot com” and coffee shops, she saw that the UK hadn’t caught up yet with the American trend for getting a regular manicure at nail bars. She first built her beauty empire around nail bars on the high street and in department stores. These days she presides over a multi-million-pound retail business that is based on innovative nail products like varnish, art packs and polishes. Last year Nails.INC was acquired by a private equity firm in a reported £30m deal. Thea Green remains at the top of the company she founded. Dougal Shaw went to her HQ in Mayfair, London to learn how she has evolved as a leader and what others can learn from her experience...


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    34 分