How to be a CEO

Zahra Bahrololoumi is CEO of Salesforce UK & Ireland, dubbed the world's number one customer relationship management software company. The company has committed $4 billion towards AI innovation and growth in the United Kingdom over five years, and it’s building the company’s first AI Centre based in London.Zahra herself has been named one of the best-known female leaders in the UK, and in this episode Zahra discusses how AI is ‘top of the agenda’ for businesses, why more investment is needed in digital skills in the UK, and how hugely talented women in tech can reach the top.For more interviews, news and analysis, go to the business page here or pick up the Evening Standard newspaper. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nicola Hodson is CEO of multinational corporation IBM. It is the largest industrial research organisation in the world, and has been making headlines for its computer technology for decades. Today though, the company is firmly in the midst of the AI revolution and Nicola has been put in charge of continuing to push forward their artificial intelligence offering. In this episode Nicola reveals a variety of use-cases for AI today, how they are focused on ethics, and why businesses want to use the technology to help employees and boost productivity.For more interviews, news and analysis, go to the business page here or pick up the Evening Standard newspaper. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jonathan Raggett is CEO of Red Carnation Hotels, an international hotel group designed to offer guests a luxurious, bespoke experience. It has accommodation in places including the UK, Switzerland and South Africa. In this episode, Jonathan explains his ‘back to the floor’ scheme for managers, and reveals how the business is adapting to new challenges around sustainability, maintaining a good reputation online, and providing the right career pathways for his staff.For more interviews, news and analysis, go to the business page here or pick up the Evening Standard newspaper. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kate Nicholls is the CEO of UKHospitality: the lead trade body for the hospitality industry in the UK. It represents more than 750 companies operating around 100,000 venues, in a sector that employs 3.5 million people. In this episode Kate discusses how the sector's still recovering from Covid-19, why a VAT cut is the single best way to boost hospitality right now, and why she hates the term 'staycation'.For more interviews, news and analysis, go to the business page at standard.co.uk/business, or pick up the Evening Standard newspaper. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this edition of How to be a CEO we’re talking to the boss of AXA UK and Ireland, Tara Foley. She took up the position last year, so there’s lots to talk about there, including what her plans for her first year are. We'll also be looking at their recent survey, looking at who is starting up small businesses right now, and what challenges they're facing.We’ll also be looking at the AXA Start-up Angel competition, which is run in partnership with the Evening Standard and gives budding entrepreneurs the chance to win capital, and get first-class mentoring. There are six opportunities to win, including two top prizes of £25,000 to fund your business idea, and you’ll get mentoring from the AXA Startup Angels along with business insurance for a year. Entries close on June 2nd 2024. For more details, and Ts and Cs, head over to the website.For more interviews, news and analysis, go to the business page at standard.co.uk/business, or pick up the Evening Standard newspaper. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this edition of How to be a CEO, we’re talking to Octopus Money CEO Ruth Handcock to get tips on sorting out your finances when you’re trying to start a business. In this episode, we're talking about:Why people think they’re bad with money, but many aren’t any worse than othersWhy the cost of living crisis “feels like it’s got worse” for many people How to sort your personal finances and start a business at the same timeWhy there are fewer start-ups founded by working class peopleWhy you should take your credit card details off AmazonWhy talking about money is so importantWhy Ruth took the job as CEO of Octopus Money, and what she thinks the job really isWhat she did on day one and how the job’s changed since thenThe value of offering financial advice as a workplace benefitRuth will also be appearing at the Watercooler Event, which is being held alongside the Evening Standard’s SME Expo at Excel London on the 23rd and 24th of April. Tickets are free. Click the links to find out more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Continuing our SME season, looking at successful start-ups, we speak with 2011 The Apprentice winner Tom Pellereau, whose business is thriving, 13 years later.Tom’s beauty innovation business Stylideas has made millions since launching in 2012, in part thanks to Lord Alan Sugar’s support and investment.In this episode we talk about:What Tom would have done if he didn’t make it on the showTom reflects on his record as the first Apprentice finalist to lose eight tasks How Lord Sugar has supported Tom’s businessThe impact of the pandemic on StylideasHow Tom has had to adapt to managing peopleTom explains how he deals with copycat productsWhy Tom is focusing on the UK and EuropeTom’s mission to make skin therapy tools more accessibleCan Tom become bigger than James Dyson?For more interviews, news and analysis from the Evening Standard's business team, go to standard.co.uk/business or pick up the newspaper. How to be a CEO is released every second Monday, hit your follow button so you never miss out. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're continuing our SME season on How to be a CEO with solo round the world sailor Pip Hare. In this episode:Pip's 30 year journey to become a round the globe sailorWhat is “flow state” and how did it help her accomplish her dream?The problems trying to make her way in the sailing world as a young womanThe “knackered old boat” she had to use to sail solo around the worldWhy winning was less important than “outperforming my boat”The importance of keeping perspective on her achievements in times of stressHow to stay calm when your boat breaks down in the middle of the ocean with no-one to helpWhy she’s the ultimate home worker, and the advice she can give to businessesPip’s going to be appearing at the Watercooler, a two day event about workplace wellbeing being held alongside the Evening Standard’s SME Expo on April 23rd and 24th at Excel London. To register and get FREE tickets to the Watercooler go to watercoolerevent.com, and and to learn more about the SME Expo, head to smexpo.co.uk.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Continuing our season looking at the SME market, we're looking at what happens when you're start-up is a hit? What do you do next?  Joining the show is Making Moves founder and CEO Tobi Crosbie. His office space rental company is about to celebrate its tenth anniversary, having come through the pandemic-induced era of home working. In this episode we talk about: Why Tobi sold his flat to start up a new companyHow he encouraged people to work for a small firm The big deal that changed everythingIs home working on its way out?How do you celebrate ten years in business?What's next for the company? For more interviews, news and analysis from the Evening Standard's business team, go to standard.co.uk/business or pick up the newspaper. How to be a CEO is released every second Monday, hit your follow button so you never miss out.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of How to be a CEO we’re continuing our series looking at start-up success stories.Pockit is a London-based fintech, serving customers left behind by mainstream banks. It was launched in 2014, has more than 900 thousand customers, and last summer it raised ten million dollars in funding – but it hasn’t been all plain sailing.Its CEO Virraj Jatania spoke to the Evening Standard’s business editor, Jonathan Prynn about:How Virraj’s childhood growing up in a family business shaped his entrepreneurshipWhy seeing the struggles of people restricted from mainstream banking made him want to launch PockitThe chance meeting with Sir Alex Ferguson that led to him becoming an early investorHow his role as CEO changed as the company scaled upWhat happened when a big funding round collapsed just as the pandemic arrivedHow the Wirecard scandal led to a crisis at PockitThe “two primary objectives” he has for the company’s futureHow to be a CEO drops every second Monday. Hit your follow button to make sure you don’t miss an episode. You can read more from Jonathan Prynn at standard.co.uk/business Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kickstarting a season of shows looking at the SME market, we speak to Theo Paphitis, the former Dragon's Den star whose retail group includes companies like Ryman Stationery, Robert Dyas, Boux Avenue and London Graphic Centre. He's also the man behind the phenomenally popular Small Business Sunday network, which he started from his kitchen table in 2010. In this episode we talk about:Why starting a business makes you “bounce out of bed in the morning” How to deal with the curveballs when they come an SME’s way.Why you should wear your business scars as a “badge of honour”Could he do today what he did when he first started out as a young man?The simple tweet that started the Small Business Sunday phenomenonHow he overcame “incredible shyness” to develop a network when he first started in businessThe “chance network meeting” that led to Ryman Stationery helping him out in his early daysWhy he runs the Theo Paphitis Retail Group as a small, family businessWho’s really making money from online retailing… and why it’s not the retailers?Why retailers need to “have a reason to exist” to get people through the doorRyman's "unique" approach to disrupting the greetings card marketWhy business rates are "the most unfit tax known to man"Theo will be appearing at the Evening Standard's SME Expo, where there’ll be 4,000 SME founders and decision makers hearing from keynote speakers and joining in the workshops and networking events taking place over the two days. It’s free, go to smexpo.co.uk for more details.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Formerly group CEO of Barclays, Antony Jenkins is the founder and CEO of 10x Banking. It's a tech company created in 2016 with an ambition to “build better banks”. In this conversation we talk about:• The future of banking•The influence of big tech in finance with innovations like Apple Pay•Why he founded 10x Banking with his own money and the difficulty developing new technologies•The ageing banking technology and why it’s difficult to replace•How neobanks are able to take business away from traditional banksFor more interviews, news and features, check out standard.co.uk/business or pick up the Evening Standard newspaper. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Polly McMorrow is CEO of McCann London, part of one of the biggest advertising agencies in the world. Clients include Xbox, Aldi, Just Eat and Wimbledon. In this episode we talk about:What her New Year Resolutions for business areHow to make a great marketing campaign Why she nearly turned the job down as soon as she was offered itThe future of marketing  For more interviews, news and analysis go to standard.co.uk/business or pick up the Evening Standard newspaper Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's been an extraordinary year, with extremely challenging conditions for businesses large and small across all sectors. In this edition of How to be a CEO we're joined by the Standard's business editor Jonathan Prynn and Business and Tech correspondent Simon Hunt.  What's going to get better in 2024?What sectors will thrive in the next twelve months?The opportunities in sectors like tech, hospitality and financeHow will AI evolve, and will it still dominate the conversation?Is social media going to change even more?Why is Jonathan "optimistically pessimistic" about 2024? For more interviews, news and analysis go to standard.co.uk/business Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a special edition of How to be a CEO, in support of the Evening Standard and Comic Relief’s Winter Survival Campaign. To donate go to comicrelief.com/winterdonate. The campaign continues until December 22nd.Running a business in a cost of living crisis is hard. Imagine running a charity? Samir Patel’s the CEO of Comic Relief, which last year raised fifty million pounds to help causes addressing poverty and injustice. But the crises just keep coming, and economies around the world remain volatile. So, in all that, how do you persuade people with less money in their own pockets to give you something?  In this episode we talk about: •How Comic Relief believes charity can be fun and the need to inspire hope•The constant change required to stay relevant•How global crises are affecting donations to the charity sector•The shocking deprivation this year's Evening Standard & Comic Relief Winter Survival campaign is trying to tackleFor more on the campaign go to standard.co.uk. To donate, go to comicrelief.com/winterdonate Get more interviews, news and analysis at standard.co.uk/business Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It was 2002 when entrepreneur Nick Woodman first set up his GoPro business, something he calls today "the realisation of a dream".What was only intended to be a small, niche business offering a new way of filming for surfers, grew into a household name synonymous with action cameras for extreme sports, adventuring and capturing footage in all conditions.In this episode Nick tells us about his 21-year journey with GoPro, how he deals with competition in the secctor, the company's ethos of helping creators do more, and his future plans for the brand. In this episode:Nick's belief in 'a great deal of lucky timing'Why he was 'terrified' of hiring people at the startNick's fear of competition and what he does to stay on topPlans for desktop video editing software, and AI to make editing easier'Stay tuned' for new types of camera from GoProWhy being passionate about a business is key to successFor more news, interviews and analysis go to standard.co.uk/business. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Graham Bell took the reigns at B&Q in 2018, and has seen the company through a rapid evolution. In this episode we talk about: His first day on the job and what his priorities wereHow the Covid pandemic turbocharged their developmentWhat the company's priorities are nowHow customer demands led to them opening smaller storesWhy he's grateful to the person who bought the diy.com URL all those years agoFor more interviews, news and analysis, go to standard.co.uk/business Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Twenty years ago Richard and his twin brother Anthony Joseph set up their company, Joseph Joseph, with an idea to revolutionise tasks in the home. Simple things like making better chopping boards for the kitchen, ironing boards that fold, and all sorts of ways to tidy up those kitchen drawers. Of course, not everything worked out. Yet, even with a few missteps here and there, Richard’s now CEO of a company that made a pre-tax profit of 20 million pounds last year, with 75% of their sales coming from outside of the UK. Not bad for a couple of brothers whose first steps into the international market involved loading a small car with chopping boards and driving around Europe for three weeks. In this episode we talk about:·      How Joseph Joseph was formed·      The kitchenware buyer that saved the company with one order·      Why Richard’s been buying up their old designs on ebay, and what they’re worth today·      Why product prices are “quite far down the track” during development·      How their homes are all full of prototypes of failed experiments·      The “gremlinesque” story of the spring-activated potato masher that didn’t go to plan·      How online reviews have transformed how they listen to customers·      How they got to a point where 75% of their sales are internationalFor more interviews, news and analysis, go to standard.co.uk/business. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Charlie Bigham is the founder of the food company that bears his own name. Created in 1996 in his own kitchen, it now employs 700 people and sells dishes from chicken and mushroom pies you put in the oven to pan-fried Pad Thais. In this episode we talk about: Why he gave up his career as a management consultant to pursue his own businessThe importance of keeping things simple, from business ideas to recipesWhy it would have been harder to set up a company like his in France or ItalyHow the business is adapting to new technology and AIFor more business interviews, news and analysis, go to standard.co.uk or pick up the Evening Standard newspaper.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When BT Business was officially launched in April this year, Bas Burger was the man entrusted to take the reigns. He’s in charge of 24,000 people, and a multi-billion pound strategy to make the UK’s broadband infrastructure fit for the future. In this episode we talk about:·      Why BT Business had to be created and why he wanted the top job·      Why a CEO should “ask questions and not give answers for as long as you can”·      The challenges it faces to make the UK prepared for the AI revolution·      Why every company’s a digital company and what that means for technology demand·      How Canadian ice hockey legend Wayne Gretsky’s influenced his strategy·      The importance of knowing “what’s not going to happen” in the future·      Why the UK’s “arguably” fallen behind Europe in digital communication·      How he was first made a CEO at the age of 31, and how fast he had to learn·      Why as a student he spent all his money on a plane trip from the Netherlands to the UK to get his first ever jobFor more business interviews, news and analysis go to standard.co.uk/business, or pick up the Evening Standard newspaper. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.