Be Inspired

What are the demand drivers for infrastructure investment right now? In this episode of the Be Inspired series, Duncan Ball, CEO of BBGI Global Infrastructure discusses the projects they are involved in from roads to healthcare, and the steps they are taking to embrace ESG and empower staff. Duncan also discusses why listing on the London Stock Exchange was the right fit for BBGI and their investors, and the benefits of internal management for the business.

How can smartphones bridge the gap in financial inclusion? In the latest episode of Be Inspired, Jesse Moore, CEO and Co-Founder of M-KOPA explains how their business model financing smartphones and facilitating digital micropayments to underbanked customers across Africa works, their impressive growth, and how they are building deeper financial relationships with their customers. Jesse also talks about the moment in his early career in the not-for-profit sector that inspired him to start the business and why access to smartphones has such an immediate financial impact on their customers.

In what ways can businesses leverage AI technology to support their customers’ needs? In this episode of the Be Inspired series, Jacyn Heavens, CEO & Founder of Epos Now, sits down with us to discuss how they bring technology to merchants, allowing them to successfully operate their businesses. Jacyn talks about utilising cloud and AI technology, the process of scaling their business to the US, Europe and LatAM, and how they achieved exponential growth without raising external capital. 

Having seen the investment banking and finance world from the inside as well as the pharmaceutical industry, James Harrison, Founder and Group CEO of Cycle Pharmaceuticals joins Julia Hoggett, CEO of the London Stock Exchange to discuss how CyclePharmaceuticals is improving the quality of life for patients with rare diseases around the world. James explains how their business model aims to provide life-long treatment to patients, how they are approaching acquisitions and measuring success, and how they are providing free medication to patients in the developing world.

In this episode of the Be Inspired series, Andy Osmant, CEO of Cambridge Mechatronics explains the countless use cases for the company’s shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators, from smart phone cameras to insulin pumps, and how they decided which markets to target. Andy also delves into their experience changing business models to also sell semiconductors, and how being part of the Cambridge ecosystem has supported the growth of the business. 

What does great customer service truly look like? In this episode, John Roberts, Founder and CEO of AO World, talks about creating a customer centric ecosystem and how his company values work towards this goal. John also discusses how he approaches mistakes and decision making, as well as why he is such a big advocate and investor in young people.

How can you keep your entrepreneurial fire burning? In this episode, Julia Hoggett, CEO the London Stock Exchange joins Rishi Khosla, CEO and co-founder of OakNorth to discuss his career journey, from building a data and analytics company to OakNorth, a UK bank for scaling businesses. Rishi also delves into the value that growth companies bring, how he has maintained his entrepreneurial drive and measuring OakNorth’s impact.

How do you build culture while scaling a fast-growing business, and what potential does this unlock? In this episode of the Be Inspired series, Julia Hoggett, CEO the London Stock Exchange talks to Matthew Scullion, CEO of Matillion tells us how the company grew to its current size, how they identified this gap in data engineering that Matillion now solves and the advantages of establishing company values early on. Matthew also discusses why he is so passionate about CMIT and creating the perfect playbook for UK capital markets.

How should you approach funding to kickstart your company’s success? In this episode of the Be Inspired series, Oluwaseyi Sosanya, CEO & Founder, Gravity Sketch gives advice to founders fundraising for the first time and discusses how they successfully closed a series A funding round as well as his experience setting up business in the UK as an American CEO.