Conversations with Nickleby

The Rt. Hon. The Lord John Nash has spent five decades getting things done. He was one of the pioneers of British venture capital, co-founding Sovereign Capital and chairing the BVCA, focusing on UK service businesses and buy-and-builds, and he was one of Softcat's earliest backers. Softcat is now worth c.£4bn. With his wife Caroline he founded the charity Future, whose academy trust took Pimlico School from special measures to outstanding in just over two years. He then served as the Conservative Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools from 2013 to 2017 and later as the government's lead non-executive director.

In this episode, John explains why he has launched the Centre for Government Reform to prepare business leaders to run the British state, and what he saw inside a civil service that asked him to explain what a lease was. He also covers his campaign to raise the social media age to 16 and his work to stop the live-streamed abuse of children. Finally, he tells us how one blunt piece of advice after lunch with Nigel Lawson led him to back the business that became Softcat.

Sir Martin Sorrell built WPP from a small wire and plastic basket manufacturer into a $16 billion global advertising empire, one of the defining business stories of a generation. After leaving in 2018, he did it all again – launching S4 Capital, now eight years old and betting everything on AI-driven transformation of marketing.

A Harvard Business School graduate and the son of an immigrant family, Martin has weathered a cancer diagnosis, built and lost fortunes on the swings of the market, and still calls his life's work "unfinished business."

In this episode, Martin talks about starting over in his 70s, the funding mistake behind the Ogilvy deal that still stings, why AI will reshape marketing around outcomes rather than time, the near-impossible balance between family, career and society, and what he's learned about legacy from his father and grandfather.

Rohan Blacker is a serial entrepreneur behind three of the UK's best-known direct-to-consumer brands. After training as a lawyer and deciding it wasn't for him, he co-founded Deliverance in 1996, one of London's earliest food delivery businesses, long before “dark kitchens” had a name. He went on to found sofa.com, built on a $200k domain name bought back in 2005, which he and his co-founder sold to private equity a decade later. 

He then built and sold lighting brand Pooky, and is now building Schplendid with sustainability at its core.

In this episode, Rohan shares the story of buying sofa.com before anyone valued URLs, why he'll only ever run businesses he actually enjoys, the vertical integration lesson that cost him at exit, and how he's thinking about money, inheritance and legacy with three daughters of his own.

Harry Hyman founded  Primary Health Properties from a simple observation: GP surgeries were backed by one of the strongest covenants in the country, the NHS.

Nearly 30 years later, that insight has grown into a £6 billion healthcare property portfolio, over 1,100 properties and one of the UK's most successful specialist REITs.

In this conversation, Harry shares the story behind PHP, the lessons learned from navigating multiple economic crises, why discipline beats diversification, how he evaluates founders and investments, and what he believes the future holds for healthcare, property and quantum computing.
A fascinating discussion on conviction, capital allocation, long-term thinking and building a business that compounds over decades.

Dan Wagner is one of Britain’s most remarkable, pioneering entrepreneurs.

From building one of the world’s earliest internet businesses in the 1980s, to becoming the youngest CEO of a London-listed company, to losing almost everything after the collapse of a multi-billion-dollar venture, Dan’s story is one of extraordinary resilience.

In this conversation, Dan reflects on four decades of entrepreneurship, the rise and fall of Powa, the lessons learned from public failure, and why he believes AI represents the biggest technology shift of his lifetime. He also shares how Rezolve AI has emerged from the ashes to become one of the fastest-growing AI commerce businesses in the world.

Mike Jatania, CEO and Chairman of The Body Shop, co-founder of Aurea Group and previously CEO of Lornamead, joins us to share a career built on brands, acquisitions and long-term conviction.

From starting in a family trading business to completing 40 acquisitions and building a global portfolio across 65 countries, Mike explains how to scale through M&A, why control matters, and what it takes to revive legacy brands.

We also discuss the turnaround of The Body Shop, building a modern beauty platform, and how to create value through clarity, speed and execution.

Mike Clare, founder of Dreams, joins us to share the story behind building the UK’s largest bed retailer from a single store and £15k of cobbled-together capital.

Over 21 years, Dreams grew into a national brand, increasing revenue and profit every single year before being sold in a landmark deal just before the financial crisis. Mike reflects on the early days of relentless hard work, creative retail thinking, and the realities of scaling a business from salesman to CEO.

We also discuss life after exit — the challenges of sudden wealth, lessons from investing, philanthropy through the Clare Foundation, and why sometimes the best advice for entrepreneurs is simply: just get on and do it.

Roland Rudd, founder and Global Chair of FGS Global - $2bn straetgic communications firm, joins us to reflect on a career spent at the intersection of business, politics and reputation.

From building one of the world’s most influential strategic communications firms to advising FTSE 100 CEOs, Roland shares lessons on leadership, messaging and influence in an increasingly polarised world. We discuss the power of clear communication, why business leaders must sometimes speak out, and how geopolitics, AI and public scrutiny are reshaping corporate leadership.

From selling door-to-door at midnight to building a billion-pound insurance brand, Ryan Howsam shares the grit, focus and mindset that powered his journey. We cover how to spot overlooked markets, why most entrepreneurs give away equity too early, and what he learnt from meeting Trump, Starmer, and losing millions along the way.

From hot dog machines in sandwich bars to owning every major UK theme park concession, David Sanger built and sold two brilliant businesses — Rollover (the UK’s largest hot dog brand) and ScentAir (a global leader in scent marketing). A conversation on sales instinct, scaling without overcomplication, and why recurring revenue beats a business plan every time.