Dominic Taddei, CEO of Mortgage Advice Bureau, joins Alex and Alan on the latest episode. Having started the business almost 20 years ago, Dominic has some great insight and stories into what it was like navigating both the financial crash and the pandemic in an industry that was acutely affected by it. Mortgage Advice Bureau is now one of the biggest Scottish firms in the industry, and for Dominic a large part of this is down to being content in both your work and personal life. This isn't just something he lives by, it's something he believes is important for the whole team to perform to its full potential. Hear more from Dominic for some great insights!

This week on Edinburgh Business Stories, we heard from Struan Mackenzie, Managing Director of HiFi Corner, Scotland's longest established specialist audio retailer.

Established in Edinburgh in the late 1960s, HiFi Corner now services clients all over the UK. Struan decided to start working for his family-run business after realising school and academics just wasn't for him. But working for his family proved to be a little more challenging than some might expect, and through it he learned many valuable lessons.

Struan talks all about the experience of being part of a family business and having a family business coach, the impact of a changing world on the company, dealing with stress and overworking, and how he turned around a very difficult time for the business.

This week on Edinburgh Business Stories, we heard from Jamie Taylor, owner of Taylor Roofs, a roofing repair and replacement company based in Bathgate.

After a rocky start in school, Jamie decided to start his own business. And 11 years ago, Taylor Roofs was born. Jamie has since grown the business to a team of over 30, and as a self-dubbed "learning machine", has learned many valuable lessons over the years, far exceeding his own expectations coming out of school.

Jamie also shared his take on the challenge of balancing work and family life, and building a business that runs without him by building a strong team with all the skillsets needed to sustain and grow a flourishing business, as well as implementing systems and processes that ensure it runs like a well-oiled machine.

In this episode, we're chatting with Eddie Backler, Chairman of Charles White, a professional property management company founded in 1840 by Charles White I.

After studying electronic engineering at university in Scotland, working in the oil industry in Venezuela, and travelling around West Africa, Eddie met his wife and decided to give up the expat lifestyle for life as a business owner.

So in 2001, Eddie took over Charles White, as Charles White V was looking to retire. Since then, he has taken all the things he has learned from his years of travelling and working overseas and applied it to his role as Chairman for Charles White. And boy, does he have some gold to share!

So sit back and enjoy another great story from an Edinburgh-based business!

In this episode, we're chatting with Darren Auld, CEO and Co-Founder of ClearSky Logic, a UK-based software partnering business.

Darren founded ClearSky Logic in 2018, along with CTO Phil Telfer. The business has since grown from 2 to 30, and continues to grow rapidly, despite plenty of setbacks along the way.

Darren shares how he went from introverted software developer with a passion for solving people's problems, to hosting his own podcast and leading a growing team.

Enjoy another great story from an Edinburgh-based business!

For the third episode of our podcast we're chatting to another business that began life in Edinburgh: Bright Care. Tim Cocking is the founder and Managing Director of at-home care company, Bright Care. Like many businesses in the past few years, it wasn't easy for Tim and his team to traverse the difficulties laid out by the COVID pandemic. The care industry was particularly hard-hit, and this meant changes had to be made to secure a positive future for the business. From Viking analogies to the one attribute Tim looks for in new hires, there are plenty of great stories that shed some light on what life has been like for businesses during a turbulent period for their industry. This led to difficult decisions for Tim, and reveals some of the hard reality that business owners are often faced with. Enjoy another great story from an Edinburgh-based business!

Episode 2 of the Edinburgh Business Stories podcast sees Alex and Alan chatting to another business that has become a UK-wide brand after starting life in Edinburgh! Sam Brennan, founder of FRESH Car Valeting, knew that starting his own business was the right path for him from a young age. So, he left school, started making contacts (at first his dad's friends!) and began washing cars! Since then he's quickly grown his car valeting company, which now has franchises right across the country. This is clearly in no small part down to Sam's commitment to the business, his work ethic, and creating an environment where his team feel valued and well looked-after. It's not always been a smooth path for Sam and his business - it rarely is for any successful entrepreneur! - but this has given Sam an appreciation of the people around him, and has developed a leadership style that encourages growth and improvement. From championing success and supporting his team to make sure they have all they need to achieve success, to introducing wellness days for when things get a bit hectic, Sam's leadership and way of working have certainly been a breath of FRESH air! For anyone wanting a great story on scaling a business in just a few short years this is a great episode to get into!

The first episode of the brand new Edinburgh Business Stories podcast is here! Alex and Alan got the chance to speak to Teddy Lee, founder of Edinburgh-based restaurant Maki & Ramen. Teddy's restaurant has grown from a single shop to one of the most recognisable chains in the Scottish capital. It's testament to his hard work and commitment to his enterprise, but, like most success stories, Teddy also owes a fair bit to luck! It was always Teddy's dream to own a restaurant, and he's spent a large portion of his life gaining experience as a chef around the world. This gave him all the knowledge and skills a top chef needs, but the business side of things was something he had to get to grips with whilst being thrown straight into the deep end! From last-minute trips to Japan to funding from a professional poker player, hear how Maki & Ramen has grown in a short amount of time from its modest beginnings to the best-selling restaurant in St James Quarter!

We learn best through stories, and it's this idea that sparked the idea for the Edinburgh Business Stories podcast. Alex Richards, director of content creation company YouMore, and Alan Smith, a business coach with ActionCOACH, will be chatting with some great guests who have started amazing businesses in and around Edinburgh. Motivated by a mutual love of story-telling, they want to get a real insight into the journeys of some of the best businesses that Scotland's capital has to offer! There will be some businesses whose names you are already familiar with, and some that you probably won't be, but they all have amazing stories to tell! It's the details that you might not find on their Instagram page or website that Alex and Alan want to hear - these are the golden nuggets of information that reveal so much about the reality of running and growing a successful business. Edinburgh is full of innovative, interesting businesses with incredible stories to tell. Make sure you subscribe to the Edinburgh Business Stories channel to hear from Alex and Alan's guests and learn about the journeys that some of your favourite businesses have gone on to get where they are today!