Inside the Workroom Podcast

The Fair Work Agency launched in April 2026 with new powers to enforce employment rights. Its CEO, Lisa Pinney MBE, joins us to tell UK SMEs exactly what to expect.

The Fair Work Agency is the UK government's new enforcement body, created under the Employment Rights Act 2025 to bring existing enforcement functions together into one place. For UK employers, especially small businesses, understanding what it does, what triggers an investigation and how to reduce your risk isn't optional.

Lisa Pinney MBE is the Fair Work Agency's Chief Executive. She spent over 20 years at the Environment Agency in senior enforcement and regulatory roles before leading the Mining Remediation Authority as CEO. She brings practical experience of how government enforcement bodies work, not just in theory.

What you'll learn:

Setting unrealistic growth targets doesn't just hurt results. It breaks your team's trust in you. Alex Olley, Co-Founder of Reachdesk, learnt that the hard way.

After Reachdesk raised $43 million in a Series B and delivered 600% growth, the board asked for more. Alex said yes without properly interrogating whether it was achievable. What followed cost him trust with his team. He talks through what he did to turn it around, and what he'd tell any leader facing the same pressure from investors or boards.

Alex Olley is Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer at Reachdesk, a B2B gifting platform that's scaled through some of the toughest conditions in the tech sector. He's also a Forbes Business Council member and Executive Member at Pavilion.

Research from the CIPD Good Work Index shows workers with poor managers are 50% more likely to say work harms their mental health, a reminder that this isn't just a performance issue.

What you'll learn:

Charlie Boss stepped in as CEO of Bristol City FC with a three-season Premier League plan, a head coach to replace and a fanbase watching every move. Here's what he learnt.

The first weeks in a new leadership role are unlike anything else. Decisions stack up fast, trust has to be built quickly and the pressure to deliver is immediate. For Charlie Boss, that reality played out in full public view.

Charlie arrived with nearly a decade at Disney, senior roles at the Jockey Club (including Cheltenham Festival and the Grand National) and experience at Southampton FC through relegation and then promotion back to the Premier League. None of that fully prepared him for what came next.

He shares what he did immediately: aligning the board on a clear vision, bringing his direct reports together to present a three-season plan built around three pillars: football success, developing talent from within and becoming the number one sports brand in the region.

What you'll learn:

[00:00] Introduction [01:14] What the first four weeks have been like [02:04] Why things moved fast: board alignment from day one [03:59] The three-pillar club plan: football success, developing talent, number one sports brand in the region [05:42] What makes football leadership unique [07:24] Lessons from the Jockey Club and horse racing [10:17] What goes into making match day actually happen [13:16] People, culture and the biggest opportunity at Bristol City [17:17] The fan advisory board: making supporter voice structural [24:31] Final question: how Charlie wants supporters to feel

Employment Hero helps UK businesses build the HR and people processes that high-performance leadership needs. Book a demo: https://employmenthero.com/uk/request-a-demo/

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What does leading a Premiership rugby club teach you about running a business? Tom Tainton, CEO of Bristol Bears, has some answers worth hearing.

High-performance leadership looks different when the scoreboard is public, the fans are vocal and every decision is scrutinised in real time. But the fundamentals (team culture, community accountability, strategic clarity) aren't so different from any growing business. 

Tom Tainton is one of the youngest chief executives in Premiership Rugby history. He shares what he's learnt building a high-performance organisation rooted in community, and why Bristol Bears see themselves as something bigger than a rugby club.

The episode also unpacks new Employment Hero research on UK regional business confidence: two in three UK business leaders would recommend their region as the best place to start a business. In the South West, 84% actively chose a local supplier over a cheaper alternative, the highest rate in the country.

What you'll learn:

[00:15] Introduction [01:00] Tom's journey from fan to CEO of Bristol Bears [03:56] Separating emotion from the rollercoaster of professional sport [05:15] The three strategic drivers: rugby success, Bears Way and homegrown talent [08:32] Duty to Bristol: community as a competitive responsibility [09:01] Leading alongside Director of Rugby Pat Lamb [12:05] Monday all-staff meetings and the culture of accountability [13:04] Balancing growth ambition with financial sustainability [17:41] What tests Tom most as CEO [20:13] Protecting culture: love, voice and the thousand-piece jigsaw [23:16] Where professional rugby needs to adapt as a commercial sport [27:10] What Bristol Bears means to the city and beyond

Employment Hero works with ambitious businesses across the UK. See what's possible: https://employmenthero.com/uk/

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The UK skills shortage is squeezing SMEs harder than ever. Kelly Goddard, from Academy Training, explains how 2026's apprenticeship funding reforms can help.

Finding and keeping the right people is one of the biggest pressures facing UK small businesses right now. But most SMEs don't realise how much has changed, or how much government funding is now available to them.

Kelly Goddard is an Operations Manager at Academy Training, an apprenticeship specialist helping UK businesses use government schemes to upskill their teams and fill hard-to-recruit roles. She breaks down the 2026 reforms in plain English.

What you'll learn:

[00:11] Introduction: Kevin introduces Kelly Goddard [01:29] The state of the UK skills landscape for employers [03:03] Funding changes: what's different in 2026 (age threshold rising to 25) [04:46] Common misconceptions about apprenticeships [06:54] How the Growth and Skills Levy works in practice [09:31] Which sectors have the biggest appetite for apprenticeships [14:00] Apprenticeships and employee retention: the real business case [14:41] The triparty relationship: provider, employer and learner [15:52] The Youth Guarantee: what it means for hiring young talent

Find out more about apprenticeship funding for UK businesses: https://www.apprenticeships.gov.uk/ Employment Hero helps SMEs manage and develop their people. Try it for free: https://employmenthero.com/uk/

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Great workplace culture doesn't need a big budget. Lou Matthews, Founder of Culture Craft, shares the systems that make it real for SMEs.

Building a strong workplace culture is one of the most common challenges for UK small businesses, and one of the most misunderstood. Too many employers think culture is about perks, ping-pong tables or away days. Lou Matthews thinks that's exactly the wrong approach: culture needs to be operational, embedded into everyday behaviours, habits and systems, not treated as something separate from the work itself.

Lou is the Founder of Culture Craft, a consultancy helping SMEs build cultures that are practical, sustainable and genuinely felt by the people inside them.

What you'll learn:

[00:18] Introduction: Kevin introduces the show and Lou Matthews [01:13] SME pressures heading into 2026 [03:22] Culture as an operating system: what that actually means [04:56] Does great culture need a budget? [06:01] The three things SMEs can do now: alignment, clarity and accountability [08:02] Wellbeing, Gen Z burnout and how HR teams can help [10:06] The Anarchy Day concept and why it works

Employment Hero helps UK businesses manage their people, from hiring to payroll, all in one place. See how it works: https://employmenthero.com/uk/

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