Podcasts presented by Simon Rose

Worried parents are spending an average of £17,400 to help their children kick-start their careers. To find out more about this Gregor Watt spoke to Catherine Stewart, a savings expert at Scottish Widows and began by asking whether she was surprised by the findings.

The number of agency workers is set to reach one million by 2020 if current growth trends continue. This is according to a report by the Resolution Foundation entitled "Secret Agents: agency workers in the new world of work". The think tank estimates a full-time agency worker gets £430 less than an employee in the same role. To discuss the findings in more detail, Simon spoke to Dan Tomlinson, a researcher at the Resolution Foundation.

With yields on government bonds near record low levels and returns on cash almost non-existent, are investors turning to early stage companies to help boost their investment returns? Research from SyndicateRoom shows that many retail investors are taking on more investment risk in order to boost the returns of their investments. Simon was joined by Goncalo de Vasconcelos, chief executive of SyndicateRoom.

The Business of Film with film critic, James Cameron Wilson looking at the biggest winners and losers at the box office this week.

Do you know your brass monkeys from your bairns? Or do those words make no sense at all to you? According to research from train company, CrossCountry, despite officially sharing the same language, Britain is far from a United Kingdom when it comes to what comes out of our mouths. It revealed that almost half of us struggle to understand regional words or phrases. Olivia Demetriades spoke to Professor David Crystal, a linguist, academic and author to find out more. She began by asking why we struggle to understand people from different parts of the country.

Fashion accessories brand, Skinnydip London has picked up the coveted Small Business of the Year award at the eighth annual Nectar Business Small Business Awards. To find out more about the awards Gregor Watt spoke to Sarah Willingham star of Dragon's Den and one of the judges and started by asking her about the quality of the candidates this year.

Every week on The Entrepreneur Show we speak to the interesting people behind businesses. This week it's the turn of Dr Bayju Thakar, Co-founder and Director of Doctor Care Anywhere a leading digital healthcare company.

It's time for A View from the Valley - our regular update from the US on the world of entrepreneurs and business. Simon was joined by Jeffrey Pfeffer, The Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business They focused on Donald Trump- and specifically how his business background could impact his presidency and how he leads the country.

Does Santa really exist? According to analysis of nearly three decades of data by Schroders, stock markets are more likely to rise in December than any other month. The research, which covers the world's largest markets, adds to the debate over the existence of the "Santa Rally", an alleged effect often dismissed by seasoned investors. To talk about this in more detail, Simon spoke to Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at the online traders, IG .

The UK's construction sector grew faster than expected in November, confounding some pessimists. Markit's purchasing managers' index for the construction sector rose to 52.8 in November, above expectations of 52.2. A figure above 50 denotes growth in the sector. There's been growth for three consecutive months now, suggesting the weaker period after the Brexit vote was just temporary, as opposed to a long-term trend. To discuss the figures in more detail, Simon spoke to Tim Moore, Senior Economist at IHS Markit.