The Bottom Line

Evan Davis hosts the business conversation show.

The next generation of mobile technology - 5G - will be rolled out from 2019. It will enable faster streaming on our mobile phones and tablets and speed up the 'internet of things', allowing thousands of computers to 'talk' to each other. The fifth generation mobile network also has applications that could be used in public safety and healthcare. But will the UK build the infrastructure - installing more fibre and small communications masts - to benefit from this new technology? Joining Evan Davis for the debate will be:

Derek McManus, Chief Operating Officer at Telefonica UK, which owns O2.

As children few of us have had experience of running a business. But this week we'll be hearing from four teenage entrepreneurs who have been honing their business skills in one case, since the age of 6. Evan Davis hears their stories.

GUESTS

Kate and Annie Madden, Co-founders, FenuHealth

Henry Patterson, Founder and Director, Not Before Tea

Rebecca Patterson, Not Before Tea

Akshay Ruparelia, Founder and CEO, Doorsteps.co.uk.

Radio 4’s Bottom Line and Briefing Room will combine in a special hour-long programme examining the economic and political future of the EU once Britain has left. Evan Davis meets Jean-Claude Trichet – former president of the European Central Bank – and is joined by a panel of business leaders from across the EU. David Aaronovitch will look at the politics of the EU and its future direction. France’s President Macron has outlined a vision of a profoundly transformed and more unified EU. But do all the EU’s members support such a vision? And what might a more integrated bloc on its doorstep mean for Britain?

The tech giant Apple has just spent five billion dollars building a campus in California's Silicon Valley. It's not alone in its architectural ambitions. The new Facebook HQ in London features trees, grass and plants. So what does a corporate headquarters tell us about a business? Is it an opportunity for a company to show off its wealth and attract the best talent or is it folly? Evan Davis and guests explore what the latest trends in corporate architecture reveal about our business leaders.

Guests:

What is strategy and why do businesses need it? What distinguishes a good strategy from a bad one or a non-strategy? Not to be confused with goals or a company's ambition, strategy is a word that is often mis-used and misapplied. But in reality it can make the difference between success and failure - especially if it's adaptable to changes in the market. Evan Davis looks at where companies have got strategy right and where it's gone badly wrong.

GUESTS:

Michael Jacobides - Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at The London Business School.

Jacqueline de Rojas, President of Tech UK

Ann Cairns, President of International Markets, MasterCard.

Are 'ethical' businesses all they're cracked up to be? Evan Davis and guests discuss the newest type of certification in ethical business, the B Corp, and ask if it'll catch on.

GUESTS

Katie Hill, Executive Director, B Lab UK

Wendy Chapple, Associate Professor in Management and member of the Responsible and Sustainable Business Lab, Nottingham Business School

Jean-Cristophe Laugee, Vice-President, Nature and Cycle Sustainability, Danone.

What has happened to Margaret Thatcher's dream of creating a nation of shareholders? Over the last decade there's been a big increase in the amount of foreign ownership. ONS figures show foreign investors now own over fifty per cent of shares listed on the stock exchange. Evan Davis and guests discuss why this has happened and whether it matters.

GUESTS

John Dawson, Founding Partner, Statera

Gillian Karran-Cumberlege, Founder, Fidelio Partners

Gervais Williams, Fund Manager, Miton Group.

Evan Davis and guests discuss why some restaurant chains thrive and others fail. Why are so many chains closing down branches now?

GUESTS

Paul Campbell, Founder, Hill Capital Partners LLP

Angela Hartnett, Chef and Owner of Murano, Café Murano and Merchants' Tavern

Sarah Willingham, Entrepreneur and Investor.

Evan Davis and guests discuss the relationship between three important pillars of modern society: science, business and the consumer. Is the public right to be suspicious of business and the science it's selling? Why do some us fear GM foods, nanotechnology, AI and gene editing?

GUESTS

Jackie Hunter, Chief Executive, Benevolent Bio

Justin King, Vice-Chairman and Head of Portfolio Businesses, Terra Firma

Kriti Sharma, Vice-President of Artificial Intelligence, Sage.