Simon Says

In season 2, episode 22, Simon talks to James Davidson. James started his career at Unilever, gaining extensive experience in operations and management. After 6 years, he embarked on an expedition in Central America volunteering with Raleigh International, during which he realised the power of a strong purpose coupled with an entrepreneurial approach.

On his return to the UK, he joined Innocent Drinks, where his role as Head of Supply Chain was key in supporting the company as it grew rapidly in the UK and across Europe.

Following 7 years at Innocent, James joined a co-founding team to work on a new pet food idea: providing tailor-made pet nutrition at affordable prices. CEO James and his team have grown tails.com since 2014 into a business that is creating and leading, a new, direct-to-consumer category in pet food and that attracted investment from Nestle Purina Petcare in 2017. Since then, James led tails.com’s expansion into Europe launching in an additional eight European countries in 2020.

In episode 6 of PEP Talk, Simon talks to Avin Rabheru. Avin is an entrepreneur, early-stage investor and non-executive director. He is the Founder and CEO of Housekeep.com, which became the UK market leader in the £10 billion house and office cleaner market 3 years after launch. The business has raised two VC/angel investment rounds, winning Deal of the Year in 2014, and has since raised cleaner earnings 2x and received 250,000 5* customer reviews. Housekeep has won multiple awards including Service Business of the Year and Avin was named a StartUps Young Gun in 2016. The Financial Times named Housekeep the 6th fastest-growing business in Europe in 2019. Prior to launching Housekeep, Avin was a venture capital investor and remains an active angel investor, with 40+ investments in consumer technology businesses. Prior to this, Avin worked in strategy consulting, investment banking and read PPE at Oxford University, where he won the Harold Wilson prize.

In episode 21, Simon talks to Yat Siu. Hong Kong blockchain gaming group Animoca Brands claims unicorn status recently and it's time to hear the full story from the founder, Yat Siu himself live from the StartmeupHK festival.

In this special edition episode, you will learn about Hong Kong and innovation that empowers technology startups.

In this special edition episode, you will learn how to start a business in Hong Kong and the benefit of doing business in Hong Kong.

In this special edition episode, you will learn about Hong Kong, crowdfunding for female entrepreneurs and the benefit of doing business in Hong Kong.

In this special edition episode learn about Hong Kong, the Great Bay Area, the benefit of doing business in Hong Kong and all there is to know about FinTech.

In season 2, episode 20 Simon talks to Liz Johnson. Liz is a gold medal winning Paralympian and disability campaigner. Since retiring from the sport, she has set up two organisations that aim to close the UK's disability employment gap (28.6%). The Ability People is the first disability-led employment consultancy, which works with organisations from HSBC to Chelsea FC to transform their approach to diversity. Podium is a jobs marketplace designed for disabled freelancers, which launched last year to connect diverse talent to remote employment opportunities which meet their needs.

In episode 6 of PEP Talk, Simon talks to Alex Stephany. Alex is the Founder and CEO of Beam, the world’s first platform to crowdfund job training for homeless people and support them into skilled work. Since launching in 2017, Beam has raised more than £1.5m in donations, helping hundreds of homeless people start work in sectors facing skills shortages. Beam has won numerous awards including Best Tech for Good in Europe and Best Financial Inclusion Startup in Europe from MIT. Before Beam, Alex was CEO of JustPark where he led the largest ever crowdfunding round for a tech startup at the time. An expert on the sharing economy, Alex has authored a book called The Business of Sharing, which was published by Macmillan in 2015. He has also advised the Mayor of Seoul on collaborative technology.

In season 2, episode 19 Simon talks to Myles Hopper. Myles is one of the co-founders of Mindful Chef. A professional nutritional coach and former Fitness First Ambassador, Myles studied at one of the world's most respected nutrition education programs and qualified as a Precision Nutrition nutritional coach. Having worked in the health and wellness industry for over a decade, Myles is able to draw upon real client data and experience. Myles runs Mindful Chef’s community, brand partnerships and B Corp programme.