When Rolls-Royce went bust in February 1971, it was a national disaster. One commentator likened it to discovering "Westminster Abbey had been turned into a brothel". At the root of the failure was an expensive and risky project to build a large jet engine, the RB211, to power one of the revolutionary new widebody jets that were about to take to the skies. In the second of our two part series, we look at the aftermath of the bankruptcy, how Rolls recovered, and ask whether - far from a disaster - the bankruptcy (and the decisions that led up to it) were actually the making of the highly successful company we know today.

The show is made in partnership with The Library of Mistakes who are offering a 25% discount on their Advanced Valuation in Financial Markets course to listeners. Just follow this link https://www.libraryofmistakes.com/how-to/ and enter ALTIF25 into the box marked promo.

Presented by Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins.

Produced and edited by Lulu Goad for Podot.

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

When Rolls-Royce went bust in February 1971, it was a national disaster. One commentator likened it to discovering "Westminster Abbey had been turned into a brothel". At the root of the failure was an expensive and risky project to build a large jet engine, the RB211, to power one of the revolutionary new widebody jets that were about to take to the skies. In this two part series we look at the question of whether - far from a disaster - the bankruptcy (and the decisions that preceded it) were actually the making of Rolls Royce. In this first part we look at the lead up to the collapse and the project to build the RB211.

The show is made in partnership with The Library of Mistakes who are offering a 25% discount on their Advanced Valuation in Financial Markets course to listeners. Just follow this link https://www.libraryofmistakes.com/how-to/ and enter ALTIF25 into the box marked promo.

Presented by Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins.

Produced and edited by Lulu Goad for Podot.

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

How did Bernard Arnault go from running a construction company in Lille to being Europe's richest man? Neil and Jonathan look at the moment that changed everything for Arnault, the man they call "the Wolf in Cashmere": the audacious takeover of LVMH.

The show is made in partnership with The Library of Mistakes who are offering a 25% discount on their Advanced Valuation in Financial Markets course to listeners. Just follow this link https://www.libraryofmistakes.com/how-to/ and enter ALTIF25 into the box marked promo.

Presented by Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins.

Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.

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

When a debt crisis unfolds behind closed doors, who really has the upper hand? Taking in a range of characters – from Donald Trump to Philip Green, the Barclay brothers and the private equity firms – this is a potted history of how some of finance's biggest names have turned reneging into an art form. In this live recording of A Long Time in Finance, hosts Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins, joined by insolvency expert Edward Starling, lift the lid on some of the murkiest manoeuvres in modern finance.

The show is made in partnership with The Library of Mistakes who are offering a 25% discount on their Advanced Valuation in Financial Markets course to listeners. Just follow this link https://www.libraryofmistakes.com/how-to/ and enter ALTIF25 into the box marked promo.

Presented by Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins.

With Edward Starling.

Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.

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

Kodak, the photography company George Eastman created in the late 19th century, was built on restless R&D and bold innovation. So why did it flunk the shift from chemical to digital photography - having invented the first digital camera. We talk to the inventor, Steve Sasson about how his brainwave almost killed a company.  

The show is made in partnership with The Library of Mistakes who are offering a 25% discount on their Advanced Valuation in Financial Markets course to listeners. Just follow this link https://www.libraryofmistakes.com/how-to/ and enter ALTIF25 into the box marked promo.

Presented by Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins.

With Steven Sasson.

Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.

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

Welcome to a new series where we look at big businesses and what led to their big break or failure..

ASML is the biggest European company you’ve never heard of and the Continent’s only true tech giant. But how did this seemingly anonymous Dutch business come to be the world’s biggest producer of key machinery used in printing semiconductors? It involves Americans, all conquering Japanese exporters, and rednecks beating the crap out of Toyotas with sledgehammers. Listen to the Turning Point and we’ll explain.  

For tickets to our upcoming event visit the Weekend of Mistakes and use the offer code ALTIF_offer at checkout.

Presented by Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins.

With Brian Potter.

In partnership with the Library of Mistakes.

Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.

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

It was supposed to bring in the cash to revive Britain's creaking railway network. But then it all went wrong for the listed network owner. A series of tragic accidents undermined public confidence, beginning the slow unravelling of rail privatisation as a whole. Neil and Jonathan talk to Gerald Corbett, one time boss of Railtrack, about the privatisation project, the accidents, and what went right and wrong.

The show is made in partnership with The Library of Mistakes who are offering a 25% discount on their Advanced Valuation in Financial Markets course to listeners. Just follow this link https://www.libraryofmistakes.com/how-to/ and enter ALTIF25 into the box marked promo.

Presented by Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins.

With Gerald Corbett.

Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.

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

It's often seen as the point where the City dumped its old gentlemanly mores ("My word is my bond") for a new "win at all costs" culture - one that the UK's new regulatory regime singularly failed to quell. But what was the Guinness Scandal of the 1980s all about, why was it important, and what were its consequences? Forty years on, we talk to author Nick Kochan about "Deadly Ernest" Saunders, boss of Guinness, the share-trading scandal, and the massive legal (and medical) swamp that followed. (Spoiler alert: it involves an actual medical miracle).

The show is made in partnership with The Library of Mistakes who are offering a 25% discount on their Practical History of Financial Markets course to listeners. Just follow this link https://www.libraryofmistakes.com/how-to/ and enter ALTIF25 into the box marked promo.

Presented by Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins.

With Nick Kochan.

Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.

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

Everyone knows that Britain once built almost all the world's ships, and now builds almost none. But what were the steps by which this mighty activity disintegrated? And no less importantly, how did it climb so high in the first place, when the US was the world's biggest ship building nation in the early 19th century? What are the economics of shipbuilding and do we need to build them? We explore the rise and fall of a great industry and all these questions with Brian Potter of the Institute for Progress.

The show is made in partnership with The Library of Mistakes who are offering a 25% discount on their Practical History of Financial Markets course to listeners. Just follow this link and enter ALTIF25 into the box marked promo.

Presented by Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins.

With Brian Potter.

In partnership with the Library of Mistakes.

Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.

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

In the 19th century, Britain transformed itself into the workshop of the world by harnessing the power of coal and steam. Now a new energy revolution - that of renewable power - looks set to turn the UK into something closer to a workhouse inhabited by the destitute. But how did it all happen and why did politicians buy into it? We look at how Britain fashioned a disastrous energy trap for itself, and ask if there's any way out.

The show is made in partnership with The Library of Mistakes who are offering a 25% discount on their Practical History of Financial Markets course to listeners. Just follow this link https://www.libraryofmistakes.com/how-to/ and enter ALTIF25 into the box marked promo.

Presented by Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins.

Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.

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