When an investor pulled the plug on a £3m cash injection for Joanna Jensen’s fledgling business, it could not have come at a worse time. The Childs Farm founder was just about to launch in two of the UK’s biggest high street stores, and was also going through a divorce and moving out of the family home with her two young daughters. Joanna tells Evan Davis how the last-minute let-down taught her who she could trust in business and what she needed to look for in a future financial partner.

Producer: Georgiana Tudor

(Image: Photographer: Emily Patrick. Copyright: Joanna Jensen)

When Nick Grey started his cordless vacuum business 20 years ago he took a big risk by handing a lot of control to a much bigger rival. The entrepreneur, who’d designed and built prototypes in his garage, tells Evan Davis about that decision and the moment he knew it had really paid off.

Production team:

Producer: Simon Tulett

Image: Photographer: Jack Pope. Copyright: Gtech

Zak Brown didn’t graduate high school – he was thrown out for fighting - but he loved sport. He watched his first Formula 1 race when he was 10, and became captivated by the cars, sound and speed. An appearance on a teen version of Wheel of Fortune, aged 13, won him some Cartier watches that he would later pawn for $1000, using the money to buy a go-kart and launch his racing career. But when it became clear he wouldn’t reach the heights he hoped for, he had a big decision to make. He tells Evan Davis about his path to becoming boss of one of the biggest names in motorsport.

Production team:

Producer: Osman Iqbal

Which business leader, or company, has had the most outstanding 12 months? What's been the biggest disaster or blunder? Evan Davis and guests look back over the business highs and lows of the last year.

Evan is joined by:

Sir Martin Sorrell, executive chairman, S4 Capital;

Production team:

Producers: Georgiana Tudor and Osman Iqbal

It's an industry that has few fans, but how does it really work, and will there be enough spaces in future for the UK's growing fleet of cars?

Evan Davis looks under the bonnet of a much-maligned industry to find out where the money goes and why motorists have to pay in the first place. The government has been clamping down on 'cowboy' operators - can this, along with technology like Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras, make car parks fairer?

With changing travel patterns post-pandemic, and growing restrictions on cars in towns and cities, we ask whether car parks can stay profitable. And, if more of them are repurposed into flats or other uses, will motorists face even more competition for spaces, and higher prices, in future?

Evan is joined by:

Adam Bidder, managing director, Q-Park UK and Ireland;

Production team:

Producer: Simon Tulett

What does it take to grow a new enterprise? Evan Davis hears about the decisions behind creating a multi million-pound business.

Evan is joined by:

Care homes are to be barred from recruiting overseas staff, as part of government plans to cut net migration, but will the sector be able to tempt enough British workers to take their place?

Evan Davis asks two providers how they plan to adapt, why it's so hard to recruit and retain local staff, and what the care home sector might look like in the future.

Also, if low pay really is one of the biggest obstacles to new hires, what would a fairer, more attractive level be?

Evan is joined by:

Raina Summerson, group CEO, Agincare;

Production team:

Producer: Georgiana Tudor

Few things in working life are as familiar or as dreaded as presentations, but done well they can persuade and even inspire. So what are the tricks to getting them right?

From nerves to narrative, Evan Davis explores how structure, delivery and storytelling shape the way ideas land, and why clarity and connection matter more than ever.

And is there still a role for the much-maligned PowerPoint slide?

Evan is joined by:

Abi Eniola, practitioner, RADA Business;

Production team:

Producer: Osman Iqbal

Cyber criminals have seriously damaged some household names recently - M&S, Co-op, North Face, Harrods - but what really happens behind the scenes when a business is hacked?

Evan Davis speaks to the former head of information security at Royal Mail about the major attack it suffered in 2023 - from the initial alert and the eye-watering ransom demand, to the media leak and the long, slow rebuild.

Plus, how should you negotiate with hackers, how sophisticated have they become, and how do they choose their victims?

Evan is joined by:

Jon Staniforth, former Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Royal Mail;

Production team:

Producer: Simon Tulett

Discussing pay is one of society’s big taboos - it’s just not the done thing to ask other people what they earn. And it can be even more hush-hush in the workplace - we’re not told to keep quiet, but somehow everyone does. And yet, most of us would love to know what our colleagues earn.

So would lifting the lid on salaries trigger resentment and frustration, or be a tool for fairness and accountability? Evan Davis explores the pros and cons of pay transparency — from closing gender pay gaps to boosting retention – and speaks to one boss who’s tried a radical approach.

Is it the next frontier in corporate accountability, or does the culture of secrecy still serve a purpose?