The Bottom Line

From budget airline seats to insurance, Evan Davis discovers the secrets of pricing.

How does a can of Italian tomatoes reach the supermarket shelf and a car manufacturer receives its parts in time? Evan Davis finds out about the hidden transport networks that bring goods from around the world to our high street shops and factory floors.

Joining Evan to discuss the business of logistics are:

Paul Dyer, CEO of DHL Supply Chain

Producer: Julie Ball.

The UK space industry is growing faster than the wider economy. Its application is broad - from manufacturing satellites, earth observation projects, to advanced research and design for space exploration. The government aims to capitalise on all this activity and wants the UK to have its own space port for commercial flights and satellite missions. The programme will hear from the country's top small satellite manufacturer and from a firm developing a revolutionary hypersonic propulsion engine. Evan Davis's guests are:

Catherine Mealing-Jones, UK Space Agency

Producer: Lesley McAlpine.

We spend a third of our life at work so it's inevitable that relationships blossom, whether it's a one night stand at the Christmas party or one that becomes a long term partnership. How do companies handle the issues that can arise from office romance? Evan Davis and his guests discuss the solutions.

GUESTS

Neil Morrison, Director, Strategy, Culture and Innovation. Penguin Random House

Helen Farr, Partner, Employment Law Group, Fox Williams

Danielle Harmer, Chief People Officer, Metro Bank.

How can people running charities balance doing good, maximising income, while retaining public trust? The sector is undergoing changes in regulation in the wake of scandals involving fundraising and governance. Evan Davis meets the experts. Taking part are: the chairman of the new Fundraising Regulator, Lord Grade of Yarmouth; Jayne Clarke of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and Simon Gillespie from the British Heart Foundation.

The care home business is heading for a crisis according to Evan Davis's guests in this edition of The Bottom Line.

The cost of providing care in this labour-intensive business has increased significantly because of the introduction of the National Living Wage. The fees paid by local authorities on behalf of poorer residents no longer cover the cost of providing accommodation, food and staffing. Care homes make up the shortfall by charging higher fees to privately funded residents. Social care analyst William Laing tells Evan Davis that private payers subsidise publicly funded residents by, on average, £8000 per annum. But this is not an option in less affluent areas with a shortage of fee paying clients.

John Ransford of the HC-One group provides care for mainly publicly funded residents. He tells Evan that 24 hour care for the elderly has to be provided for less than the cost of a night in a Travelodge.

Evan's guests believe that the care sector's business model is unsustainable. Find out what they think will happen next.

Guests:

Dr. Jane Townson. Chief Executive Officer, Somerset Care Group

John Ransford, Non-Executive Director, HC-One

William Laing, Founder and a Director of Laing Buisson, Healthcare Intelligence Company

Producer: Julie Ball.

Brexit means the UK government will have to negotiate trade agreements with the EU and the rest of the world. Trade deal experts share their tips with presenter Evan Davis.

Guests include:

Janice Charette, Canadian High Commissioner to the UK

Producer: Julie Ball.

If the word auction conjures up pictures of a man with a gavel in a packed room shouting 'going, going, gone' - think again. These days governments and businesses rely on complicated online auctions to buy and sell. Auctions are also the preferred mechanism for the allocation of radio spectrum licences to mobile phone companies and the selling of mineral rights. Auctions come in a huge variety of forms, and the precise design can have a dramatic effect on the outcomes. Do you know a sealed bid from a "combinatorial clock" auction? Evan Davis and guests discuss the business of auctions.

Guests include:

Producer: Lesley McAlpine.

The future of the car industry. How car manufacturers are joining forces with "ride hailing" companies like Uber and why the future might be driverless. Evan Davis and guests discuss.

Disruptive technology has made seismic changes to several business models: think Apple iTunes and the music industry or Netflix and our television viewing habits. It seems that the car industry might be next. Unlike their predecessors, car manufacturers are joining forces with the technology companies. Google with Ford, Uber with Volvo, General Motors with Lyft, pooling their expertise and resources. Joining Evan Davis on the programme are three guests who will talk about the hopes and fears for the industry and what this will mean for the rest of us.

GUESTS

Georg Ell, Director, Western Europe, Tesla Motors

Matteo de Renzi, CEO, Western Europe, Gett

and

Dr. Eberhard Zeeb, Senior Manager, Function and Software Driving Assistance, Daimler

Producer: Julie Ball.

Evan Davis and guests explore the fast moving world of selling to 18-24 year olds. Collectively, that age group has billions to spend. Individually, many are strapped for cash. So how do companies get their attention and their money? The answer seems to be: market your brand using social media. Link up with a celebrity with millions of followers and watch the money roll in. That's the theory. Forget old style television adverts. That age group isn't watching the box - they're on their mobiles. Joining the programme will be: Josephine Hansom from Youth Sight; Philip O'Ferrall, Viacom International Media Networks and Simon Beckerman from Depop.

Producer: Lesley McAlpine.