What does leading a Premiership rugby club teach you about running a business? Tom Tainton, CEO of Bristol Bears, has some answers worth hearing.

High-performance leadership looks different when the scoreboard is public, the fans are vocal and every decision is scrutinised in real time. But the fundamentals (team culture, community accountability, strategic clarity) aren't so different from any growing business.

Tom Tainton is one of the youngest chief executives in Premiership Rugby history. He shares what he's learnt building a high-performance organisation rooted in community, and why Bristol Bears see themselves as something bigger than a rugby club.

The episode also unpacks new Employment Hero research on UK regional business confidence: two in three UK business leaders would recommend their region as the best place to start a business. In the South West, 84% actively chose a local supplier over a cheaper alternative, the highest rate in the country.

What you'll learn:

• What high-performance leadership means when results are public and scrutiny is constant
• Why community accountability makes businesses stronger, not more cautious
• How Bristol Bears balance sporting ambition with commercial reality
• What the data says about regional business confidence across the UK

[00:15] Introduction [01:00] Tom's journey from fan to CEO of Bristol Bears [03:56] Separating emotion from the rollercoaster of professional sport [05:15] The three strategic drivers: rugby success, Bears Way and homegrown talent [08:32] Duty to Bristol: community as a competitive responsibility [09:01] Leading alongside Director of Rugby Pat Lamb [12:05] Monday all-staff meetings and the culture of accountability [13:04] Balancing growth ambition with financial sustainability [17:41] What tests Tom most as CEO [20:13] Protecting culture: love, voice and the thousand-piece jigsaw [23:16] Where professional rugby needs to adapt as a commercial sport [27:10] What Bristol Bears means to the city and beyond

Employment Hero works with ambitious businesses across the UK. See what's possible: https://employmenthero.com/uk/

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The UK skills shortage is squeezing SMEs harder than ever. Kelly Goddard, from Academy Training, explains how 2026's apprenticeship funding reforms can help.

Finding and keeping the right people is one of the biggest pressures facing UK small businesses right now. But most SMEs don't realise how much has changed, or how much government funding is now available to them.

Kelly Goddard is an Operations Manager at Academy Training, an apprenticeship specialist helping UK businesses use government schemes to upskill their teams and fill hard-to-recruit roles. She breaks down the 2026 reforms in plain English.

What you'll learn:

• How the Growth and Skills Levy works in practice and how SMEs can access it
• What the Youth Guarantee scheme means for hiring young talent
• Why apprenticeships aren't just for school leavers and how they help with employee retention
• The strategic case for upskilling as a response to the 2026 talent shortage

[00:11] Introduction: Kevin introduces Kelly Goddard [01:29] The state of the UK skills landscape for employers [03:03] Funding changes: what's different in 2026 (age threshold rising to 25) [04:46] Common misconceptions about apprenticeships [06:54] How the Growth and Skills Levy works in practice [09:31] Which sectors have the biggest appetite for apprenticeships [14:00] Apprenticeships and employee retention: the real business case [14:41] The triparty relationship: provider, employer and learner [15:52] The Youth Guarantee: what it means for hiring young talent

Find out more about apprenticeship funding for UK businesses: https://www.apprenticeships.gov.uk/ Employment Hero helps SMEs manage and develop their people. Try it for free: https://employmenthero.com/uk/

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Great workplace culture doesn't need a big budget. Lou Matthews, Founder of Culture Craft, shares the systems that make it real for SMEs.

Building a strong workplace culture is one of the most common challenges for UK small businesses, and one of the most misunderstood. Too many employers think culture is about perks, ping-pong tables or away days. Lou Matthews thinks that's exactly the wrong approach: culture needs to be operational, embedded into everyday behaviours, habits and systems, not treated as something separate from the work itself.

Lou is the Founder of Culture Craft, a consultancy helping SMEs build cultures that are practical, sustainable and genuinely felt by the people inside them.

What you'll learn:

• Why "culture as an operating system" changes everything for small businesses
• The concept of Anarchy Day: a low-cost, high-impact way to drive innovation
• How to embed culture into day-to-day systems rather than treating it as a one-off
• What UK SMEs can do right now to shape the future of work inside their teams

[00:18] Introduction: Kevin introduces the show and Lou Matthews [01:13] SME pressures heading into 2026 [03:22] Culture as an operating system: what that actually means [04:56] Does great culture need a budget? [06:01] The three things SMEs can do now: alignment, clarity and accountability [08:02] Wellbeing, Gen Z burnout and how HR teams can help [10:06] The Anarchy Day concept and why it works

Employment Hero helps UK businesses manage their people, from hiring to payroll, all in one place. See how it works: https://employmenthero.com/uk/

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