The Innovation Podcast

Technology is at the very centre of our lives and has an impact on everything we do from how we spend our free time to how we look after our health, from addressing climate change to tackling a global pandemic. Therefore developing it in the right way is crucial – yet fraught with potential pitfalls.In this podcast Shreekant Mehta, SVP Energy Sector, and Paul Williams, Principal Consultant, discuss how having the right commercialisation strategy is, arguably, the most important aspect of any ...

With a series of factors – from social media to the power of brand – shifting consumer preferences and buying habits, businesses must respond if they are to compete, stay relevant and succeed. Now, being a responsible business take centre stage of any corporate strategy whether driven by a requirement to fulfil increasingly stringent legislation to deal with greenhouse gas emissions, waste and energy efficiency or directly responding to changing consumer demands. Whatever, the driver, people ...

Taking on one of the biggest of subjects, join Caroline Potter as she explores some of the exciting technologies, practices and processes that can be applied to the sustainability challenge. Companies that are at the sharp end of our environmental and social problems will struggle to maintain their market position in the not-too-distant future and not being sustainable poses a huge risk. Focusing on packaging, plastics and microplastics, Caroline talks through not just the problems but the ex...

Growing, producing and delivering the food and drink we consume involves a complex web of suppliers, manufacturers, farmers and retailers, all of which are under pressure to deliver goods on time and budget. They must manage their costs and resources efficiently, be sustainable, look after their staff, and create robust and trustworthy supply chains. While these pressures are nothing new, what has changed is the need for food and drinks companies to respond to the challenge for fear of being ...

With plenty more mouths to feed – there will be some 10 billion people on this planet by the middle of the century – how can we produce enough food to sustain us, and the environment upon which we so heavily rely. The World Resources Institute says that there’s a 56% food gap – between what we currently produce now and what will be needed, demanding almost 600 million more hectares of land. Join Alun James and Simon Norman as they explore examples of how companies can make radical and sustain...

Why, for so many years, has there been such little effort, research and investment gone into developing new products and technology focused on making women’s lives better? For years, the status quo has been maintained, leaving many women at the mercy of outdated practices in what has historically been a male-dominated world. But things are changing. Join Erica Kantor and Eileen Buttimer as they explore some of the new investments, advances in technology and an innovative “femtech” start-up co...

There is both an art and a science to all product development but how do you make sure you create the best product you know consumers are going to love? Science can tell us plenty about a product that a consumer panel may struggle to articulate. But given the messiness of the human experience, science has its limitations also. Join Simon Norman and Emma Gubisch in this podcast as they explore the role of sensory science and consumer insights when it comes to product development.

There are plenty of good examples of servitisation out there - companies that have found a way to make it work and haven’t looked back. They’ve found ways of building long-term relationships with customers and they are creating plenty more value along the way. But, there’s plenty of things that can go wrong – there’s investment needed along the way, there’s recruitment to think about it, there’s a need to work out how best to make money from the switch to servitisation. Join Alun James and Ro...