Big Business Briefs

Heather Noble & Tracy Jones present Big Business Briefs (formerly The Business Community), Episode 173.

If you like what you hear then perhaps you would considering buying us a coffee (we love coffee!), or a book (we also love books!) www.buymeacoffee.com/tbcpodcast

Heather Noble & Tracy Jones present Big Business Briefs (formerly The Business Community), Episode 172.

If you like what you hear then perhaps you would considering buying us a coffee (we love coffee!), or a book (we also love books!) www.buymeacoffee.com/tbcpodcast

Heather Noble & Tracy Jones present Big Business Briefs (formerly The Business Community), Episode 171.

If you like what you hear then perhaps you would considering buying us a coffee (we love coffee!), or a book (we also love books!) www.buymeacoffee.com/tbcpodcast

Heather Noble & Tracy Jones present Big Business Briefs (formerly The Business Community), Episode 170.

If you like what you hear then perhaps you would considering buying us a coffee (we love coffee!), or a book (we also love books!) www.buymeacoffee.com/tbcpodcast

Heather Noble and Tracy Jones of The Business Community having a chat about whatever takes their fancy.

The challenge is to only talk for 10 minutes max!

Visit our website www.bigbusinessbriefs.com

If you like what you hear then perhaps you would considering buying us a coffee (we love coffee!), or a book (we also love books!) www.buymeacoffee.com/tbcpodcast

Heather Noble & Tracy Jones present The Business Community, Episode 169.

If you like what you hear then perhaps you would considering buying us a coffee (we love coffee!), or a book (we also love books!) www.buymeacoffee.com/tbcpodcast

Kevin Plank, Under Armour, Rebel Ideas and Starting A Business at 40plus

So often when we hear of budding entrepreneurs, and we have profiled quite a few over the years, we usually think of young go getters with new ideas and masses of energy who embark on a focussed journey to success. But is setting up a business at a young age a sure-fire route to success or is there something to be said for gathering experience and knowledge first?

Online publication, Inc.com featured an article which suggests that older can sometime be better. A study of 2.7million business start ups threw out some interesting data which turns the ‘start early’ idea on its head. It’s an interesting article and certainly food for thought.

Former Olympic table tennis player Matthew Syed has turned his hand to writing in recent years and we have talked about his book Black Box Thinking in the past however, his latest offering is encouraging us to think differently.

Rebel Ideas, The Power Of Thinking Differently explores some of the reason why man makes mistakes, sometimes with world changing consequence, and he uses the art of storytelling to help us understand the points he makes.

His live virtual book launch at the start of Covid 19 provides an insight into the way he thinks and demonstrates to us the many reasons why his book is worth reading.

Since Heather heavily invested in sports clothing company Under Armour via Revolut she’s been keeping a close eye on billionaire founder Kevin Plank in the hope that some of his luck might rub off on her significant investments.

Plank set up the clothing giant almost by accident and it has literally taken over as one of the most sought after brands for stylish exercise. Even if you aren’t familiar with the brand you will know it if you see the logo. Planks story is an interesting one and could probably be put in the young entrepreneur category we discussed earlier.

If you like what you hear then perhaps you would considering buying us a coffee (we love coffee!), or a book (we also love books!) www.buymeacoffee.com/tbcpodcast

Neurodiversity, Emma Bridgwater and Becoming by Michelle Obama

Most of us, when thinking about diversity will be thinking about a diverse workforce having people of mixed ages and gender, include people who are both disabled and able bodied and from different backgrounds but maybe we should be thinking deeper about the elements of our brains which differ and this is where neurodiversity comes into play.

The conditions of ADHD, Autism, Dyspraxia, and Dyslexia make up ‘Neurodiversity’. Neuro-differences are recognised and appreciated as a social category on par with ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or disability status.

Building a team where people think in different ways can provide in depth, robust and creative results in a way that a group of likeminded ‘conventional’ individuals could only dream of. This week we take a look at what we mean by neurodiversity and the benefits businesses can take from a team which is neurodivergent.

It’s been a while since we reviewed a biography or autobiography so we decided to take a look at Becoming by Michelle Obama. Her story from a simple childhood to the wife of the President of the United States is a interesting one and she, successful in her own right, speaks candidly about how she came to be at that stage in her life.

If you get the chance to listen to the audio book, her voice is soothing and very easy to listen to. She tells her story very well. We also took time to watch the documentary Becoming too which show us more of how she operates as she carries out her book tour.

Female businesswoman Emma Bridgwater takes us back to Tracy’s roots in Stoke On Trent and The Potteries.

Founded in 1984 the business grew to become the household name that it is today and alongside her husband they grew the business from a turnover of around £30,000 in year one to £8million in 2009 and £11 million in 2010, employing 180 people in a sector that had been shrinking year on year as cheaper imports put many of the original potteries out of business.

If you like what you hear then perhaps you would considering buying us a coffee (we love coffee!), or a book (we also love books!) www.buymeacoffee.com/tbcpodcast

Brewdog Culture Troubles, Cal Newport and HSE Stress at Work

They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity and you have to hope this I true for Brewdog who have been in the press recently as a result of some former (and current) staff have claimed that it is perhaps not the great place to work that we might be led to believe.

This week we take some time to reflect on what has been said, what the business has to say in response and ponder what comes next.

Our review this week is of some newly issued guidance from the Health & Safety Executive around work related stress. There is an extensive catalogue of resources from management standards and guidance, to talking toolkits and posters all of which are well worth a look.

We have mentioned Cal Newport in a previous episode when we reviewed his book Deep Work but we both thought he was interesting enough to mention again in our profile section. Not because of the work he has done in business necessarily but because of his prolific writing and down to earth approach to life. His website is a great resource and his podcast and blog provides us with the opportunity to think differently.

If you like what you hear then perhaps you would considering buying us a coffee (we love coffee!), or a book (we also love books!) www.buymeacoffee.com/tbcpodcast

Happy Sexy Millionaire, Fleur Robinson and The Job Market feature this week.

As we all know, one of the many areas of the UK, affected by Covid19 has been the job market and maybe not in the way we might imagine.

This article on LinkedIn highlights some of the areas most impacted including female workers, part time workers feel they are clinging on the part time roles that may cease to exist once the end of the furlough scheme is upon us. However, conversely there is a predicted skills shortage and the need for wage hikes to retain key staff who may have taken time to reflect on their work life balance during Covid19 and are demanding more flexible working arrangements or as a result of EU workers heading to their original country of origin post Brexit both of which may leave employers having to work harder to attract and retain frontline staff and key workers.

In any case, it seems likely to set ripples through the coming months.

Our review this week is of a book written by someone we profiled earlier in the year. Happy Sexy Millionaire by Steven Bartlett, founder of Social Chain provides insights into Bartlett’s career and the not only the secrets of his success but how he has arrived (at the grand old age of 28) at his dream of being Rich, Good Looking and Happy.

Finally, we move into an area that neither of us knows much about but nevertheless another development in the running of Wrexham AFC. Not content with being taken over by Hollywood stars they have now appointed their first female CEO Fleur Robinson. After a spell at Bolton Athletic Robinson looks set to shake things up at Wrexham and is already working her magic in building connects with the local and wider areas.

If you like what you hear then perhaps you would considering buying us a coffee (we love coffee!), or a book (we also love books!) www.buymeacoffee.com/tbcpodcast