Cafe chain Bob and Berts looks set substantially grow and expand its store numbers more than 100 across the UK over the next few years, according to its co-owner, Colin McClean. After setting up its first cafe in Portrush in 2013, it's grown to a store footprint of 21 locations across the UK. Now, it's setting its sights on setting up between eight and 10 new cafes a year. But it’s also looking at new locations in Derry, Belfast and Enniskillen. And Colin tells John Mulgrew it's adapted amid the pandemic, with a new app, takeaway and delivery. That's now around 12% of the firm's overall business.

The office is unlikely to be the same again. It’s evolving and moving towards an environment of collaboration, and needs to be an attractive proposition to bring workers away from their make shift home offices, and into our cities. John Mulgrew speaks to Ronnie Crawford, director of design and fit out firm, Calibro about growing its reach across the SME market in Ireland, an office environment changed forever, pivoting during the pandemic as on-site work stopped overnight, and heading into 2022 with a strong pipeline.

Northern Ireland’s agri-food sector is now worth more than £5bn, and employs more than 100,000 people. In the last two years, it’s grappled with both the pandemic and Brexit – the latter still having a major impact on food producers and exporters here. In this episode, John Mulgrew speaks to Michael Bell, executive director of the Northern Ireland Food and Drink Association about a rollercoaster over the last two years, the 10-15% of its members which are continuing to find it extremely difficult post-Brexit, and why there's a growing risk of more bare shelves in the run-up to Christmas.

Michael Stewart says the hospitality sector is now facing a staffing “crisis”. And he’s also keen for businesses to start bringing workers back to offices in order to help build back footfall and the city centre. The president of Belfast Chamber, and hospitality stalwart, says the Executive must move away from the “work at home” message, and on the loss of major high street names, he says much of the decline was on the cards, pre-pandemic. But he’s positive about Belfast’s future, and says it can come back stronger, and better than before.

Northern Ireland’s economy could be bolstered by a deals led recovery and increasing interest from foreign direct investors, according to PwC's NI regional leader Kevin MacAllister. He says “there is lots of liquidity in the system” and we are now starting to see businesses to look at engaging in deals and acquisitions. In this episode he also chats about moving into its new £87m office development in Belfast, why returning to the workplace will be part of the future, and increasing interest from FDI.

Hospital waiting times are never far aware from the headlines here. And now, an Irish firm is aiming to use artificial intelligence in order to help decision makers reduce those times, and as a result, improve health services across the UK, Ireland, and eventually beyond. In this episode, editor John Mulgrew speaks to Naomh McElhatton of Cork University spin out, Stimulai. Formerly marketing director with recruitment giant Staffline, and a former events company chief, the Co Tyrone woman says the company is seeking initial seed funding of around £500,000, and wants to hire between 15-20 staff across a range of areas. In this episode, we also hear about the changing face of some sectors, including hospitality, the roadmap back to pre-Covid growth and why it could be time to take a look at our curriculum to ensure the right training and skills for the jobs of the future.

It’s been a difficult and challenging year for Invest NI, as it has for most of us. Kevin Holland joined the organisation as chief executive just a few months before the global pandemic sweeped across the globe. Exports and sales among firms it works with slumped in the last year, while FDI stalled at the beginning of the pandemic. He says Invest NI will “certainly change as a result of the changing environment”. On Brexit, he says it’s too early to say whether businesses are largely seeing a positive or negative outcome as a result of the NI Protocol. But on Northern Ireland’s former silver bullet, reducing corporation tax, he says it’s no longer an active selling point for FDI. But he also says it’s further down the list for company priorities when eyeing Northern Ireland.

From a predicted 10% surge in house prices, which could be set to continue in 2022, a surge in hiring partly fuelled by people leaving certain careers and finding new ones, most sectors witnessing rising orders, albeit coming from a low base, to massively rising costs, and the resilience of firms still keeping their heads above the water. In this episode John Mulgrew chats to Ulster Bank’s chief economist in Northern Ireland, Richard Ramsey, about the overall economic landscape we are now in, across the sectors and industries, and what lies ahead amid a continued period of uncertainty for many out there.

Alan Foreman is chief executive of B-Secur, a technology firm which is at the forefront in changing how we assess our own health, and put more of it in our own hands. In this episode, Ulster Business editor John Mulgrew chats to Alan about the firm’s FDA approval in the US – which will be its biggest market focus, including early stage discussions around US investment, continued hiring here, using technology to face the challenges of health care around the world in a post-Covid environment, and why he thinks Northern Ireland is next on the list for a big tech boom.

Belfast could become a modern green city such as Copenhagen or Helsinki and see a “massive increase in its competitiveness” on the world stage due to its unique position post-Brexit, the former chair of the BBC has said. Sir Michael Lyons is heading up a commission examining how Belfast and Northern Ireland can grow and expand. He speaks to John Mulgrew about its latest findings and what's needed to make Northern Ireland a truly attractive prospect for investment.