The Business Leader Podcast with Sir Richard Harpin

Steve Jobs. Jeff Bezos. Taylor Swift? A new book makes a compelling case for why the world’s biggest pop star belongs in the pantheon of business masterminds.

In this episode, Josh Dornbrack talks to Harvard Business Review senior editor Kevin Evers to explore the bold strategic decisions behind Taylor Swift’s rise, from redefining fan engagement to mastering reinvention in a disrupted industry. Her $2bn Eras Tour wasn’t a fluke, it was the product of long-term thinking, relentless innovation and "anti-fragile" leadership. Tune in for sharp insights that will change how you think about strategy, brand and customer connection.

Business Leader is a membership community for ambitious CEOs and founders of mid-sized UK companies, designed to help them grow with purpose through strategic support, peer-to-peer learning, expert coaching, and high-impact events. Sign up for our Business Leader newsletter here.

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Pip Murray founded Pip & Nut in 2013. Her original peanut butter recipe was based on a power snack she developed at home to help her prepare for long runs as a keen jogger. She wanted a natural recipe that avoided additives and palm oil. Her recipe proved such a hit with friends that she saw the potential to turn it into a business idea, believing there was a gap in the market. Peanut butter is, she discovered, a “permitted indulgence” for consumers. Twelve years later, you will find her jars and other products in most supermarkets.

The brand has retail sales of more than £25m and employs more than 30 people. Pip Murray explains to Dougal Shaw how she took her idea from the kitchen table to supermarket shelves, through food markets, rigorous product testing and a few failed product ideas along the way.

Business Leader is a membership community for ambitious CEOs and founders of mid-sized UK companies, designed to help them grow with purpose through strategic support, peer-to-peer learning, expert coaching, and high-impact events. Sign up for our Business Leader newsletter here.

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Udemy is the San Francisco-based company changing how we learn new skills. Udemy offers online courses ranging from how to use Microsoft Excel to how to build high-performing teams. Now it plans to use new AI technology to provide personalised coaching and training. In the latest episode of the Business Leader Podcast, Graham Ruddick meets Udemy chief executive Hugo Sarrazin to talk about its plans and the challenges of scaling-up a new tech giant

Business Leader is a membership community for ambitious CEOs and founders of mid-sized UK companies, designed to help them grow with purpose through strategic support, peer-to-peer learning, expert coaching, and high-impact events. Sign up for our Business Leader newsletter here.

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What does Greggs look for in a shop location? What is the state of UK high streets? With more than 2,600 shops in the UK, Greggs is ideally placed to answer these questions. In a bonus episode that follows-up our main podcast interview with Roisin Currie, Graham Ruddick speaks to the Greggs chief executive about shops and high streets...

Business Leader is a membership community for ambitious CEOs and founders of mid-sized UK companies, designed to help them grow with purpose through strategic support, peer-to-peer learning, expert coaching, and high-impact events. Sign up for our Business Leader newsletter here.

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What is the secret behind the success of Greggs? How has this Newcastle-based bakery chain grown into a business with more than 2,500 shops and celebrity fans all over the world? Graham Ruddick travels to Greggs HQ in Newcastle to speak to chief executive Roisin Currie and find the answers...

Business Leader is a membership community for ambitious CEOs and founders of mid-sized UK companies, designed to help them grow with purpose through strategic support, peer-to-peer learning, expert coaching, and high-impact events. Sign up for our Business Leader newsletter here.

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Tired of cookie-cutter LinkedIn posts and empty personal branding advice? In this episode of the Business Leader Podcast, Josh Dornbrack sits down with Amelia Sordell, an online marketing expert and author of The Personal Branding Playbook, to uncover the truth about building a personal brand that actually works.

Forget chasing viral fame – Sordell reveals how authenticity, clear goals and strategic content can transform your reputation into a powerful business tool. Whether you're a CEO, founder or just starting your career, you’ll learn how to leverage your personal brand to win clients, attract talent and open doors you never thought possible.

Business Leader is a membership community for ambitious CEOs and founders of mid-sized UK companies, designed to help them grow with purpose through strategic support, peer-to-peer learning, expert coaching, and high-impact events. Sign up for our Business Leader newsletter here.

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Allica Bank has been Britain's fastest-growing company over the last few years according to a collection of different reports that track this. This growth has been driven by Richard Davies, the chief executive, who arrived at Allica in 2020 from Revolut to what was effectively a blank sheet of paper - the bank had a licence and funding, but its founder had departed and it made only £5m of loans. Since then Allica has been transformed into a thriving digital bank for small and medium-sized businesses. At the heart of this transformation has been an approach inspired by what Davies has learned from his varied career and a book, The Geek Way, that provides a playbook for modern businesses...

In this episode of the Business Leader Podcast, Graham Ruddick speaks to Richard Davies about the story behind Allica, why small and medium-sized businesses need a better bank and the outlook for the UK economy.

Business Leader is a membership community for ambitious CEOs and founders of mid-sized UK companies, designed to help them grow with purpose through strategic support, peer-to-peer learning, expert coaching, and high-impact events. Sign up for our Business Leader newsletter here.

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The UK economy is stagnating, productivity is falling and fewer than one in 20 promising businesses goes on to become a large company. So how do we fix this? It is a question that politicians, economists, and investors are struggling to answer. But there are solutions. The Business Leader team - Graham Ruddick, Sarah Vizard, Dougal Shaw and Josh Dornbrack - get together to discuss the state of play and the way forward. In the process they preview the new edition of Business Leader magazine and the Business Leader Summit...

Business Leader is a membership community for ambitious CEOs and founders of mid-sized UK companies, designed to help them grow with purpose through strategic support, peer-to-peer learning, expert coaching, and high-impact events. Sign up for our Business Leader newsletter here.

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David Abrahamovitch founded the Grind coffee brand in 2011 in Shoreditch, east London. Its pink branding made the company stand out in our coffee-obsessed world and it has built a cult following. Grind now has more than 14 physical locations serving coffee and food, as well as a huge roastery where it prepares its coffee. It has also expanded into a direct-to-consumer offer (which sends its compostable coffee pods to homes) and is in supermarkets. Dougal Shaw went to meet David Abrahamovitch at Grind's headquarters in Shoreditch, a stone’s throw away from the original café where it all began, to find out how he built his coffee empire and its loyal customers

Business Leader is a membership community for ambitious CEOs and founders of mid-sized UK companies, designed to help them grow with purpose through strategic support, peer-to-peer learning, expert coaching, and high-impact events. Sign up for our Business Leader newsletter here.

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LinkedIn is the leading social network for businesses around the world. Now it wants a stake in real-life interactions too. Dougal Shaw has been given exclusive access to its new Experience Centre, which has just opened in central London, where he meets Janine Chamberlin, head of LinkedIn in the UK. The space is designed to foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing in the new world of hybrid work. Chamberlin explains her personal remit in the UK, the way LinkedIn has evolved from primarily a recruitment platform into a place for sharing original content, especially in video, the impact of AI – and much more.

Business Leader is a membership community for ambitious CEOs and founders of mid-sized UK companies, designed to help them grow with purpose through strategic support, peer-to-peer learning, expert coaching, and high-impact events. Sign up for our Business Leader newsletter here.

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