Podcasts

Adam talks to city lawyer Clive Halperin from GSC on the life cycle of a business and what the key events throughout that life are that may need the help of a business doctor. From the legal entity at conception to the growth stages and problems with accessing finance or sacrificing equity for investment. They also discuss the issues that can lead to the death of a business and also discuss why businesses rarely have the equivalent of a health check.

Recent decades have seen radical change in the way that conflict is dealt with in UK workplaces. Collective industrial action has been replaced by pursuit of individual employment rights through litigation, via Employment Tribunals (ETs). Richard Saundry is Professor of HRM & Employment Relations at Plymouth University Business School. He has written extensively on workplace conflict and brings a wealth of experience, including time spent at NUM HQ at the start of the 1990s. Peter and him consider why employees in certain types of firm report higher levels of conflict; whether ‘vexatious’ ET claims represent a significant cost to firms and discuss how conflict is resolved in the modern workplace. In this modern setting, what role is there for the union movement and what are the implications of Brexit?

In this special edition of the Weekly Economics Podcast from its Archive, the issue of climate change is back on the global news agenda. We explore some of the possible solutions, debate what real action looks like and how those most affected can be the most powerful agents for change. It’s easy to feel defeated when the environmental crises we face are so immediate and huge. But action is urgently needed. David Powell, Environment Lead at the New Economics Foundation, takes over hosting duties and is joined by Alice Bell, Director of Communications at 10:10, and Asad Rehman, Executive Director at War on Want.

Dr Andy Cope is a psychologist who has written extensively about the power of positive mood and thought and runs The Art of Brilliance, delivering workshops on the topic of ‘happy’. He lectures widely, and has worked with the workforces of some leading organisations – IKEA, DHL and Toyota among them. He favours smiley-face t-shirts rather than suits, and says that only about 2% of the population are stand out happy and positive, and that we can learn a lot from them if we allow ourselves to catch their ‘contagious poistivity’. He’s also a children’s author.

If your smartphone has ever run out of better, Hugo Tilmouth has the solution for you. His company, ChargedUp, is establishing a system enabling people to borrow portable batteries, much in the same way as they do bikes. He discusses the venture with Simon Rose, explaining how it came about, how it works and how the company hopes to expand in the future.

It seems the likelihood of leaving the EU with no deal is increasing — in fact it’s now 60 per cent, according to Trade Minister Liam Fox. Also on the up in recent weeks has been the proliferation of apocalyptic scenarios about what this might mean. Planes won’t fly, we’re told, there will be shortages of medicines and food - some claim that basic products like cheese, butter and even sandwiches could become “luxuries” after Brexit. At the same time, leaving without an agreement would require a tremendous amount of planning and preparation - and there are many legitimate concerns and warnings worth listening to. Today we’re joined by the IEA’s Chief Economist Julian Jessop and Senior Counsel Victoria Hewson, to discuss how the UK is preparations for such eventualities and how seriously we should take the dire warnings about what this would entail.

Professor Tim Evans of The MIddlesex Business School examines China's authoritarian plans to reshape the world, looks at what Turkey's monetary woes may mean economically and strategically and wonders why the recent protests in Romania have not opened the rest of the EU's eyes to the true nature of the government.

Ian Forrest of The Share Centre looks back at recent numbers from Kingfisher, Antofagasta, Hikma Pharmaceutical and Admiral and casts his eye ahead to forthcoming numbers from Persimmon and NMC Health.

James Cameron-Wilson casts his eye over a thriving UK box office. He reviews the new number one film, The Meg, a Sino-American co-production starring Jason Statham, apparently a one-time Commonwealth Games diving competitor. Also in the spotlight is The Darkest Minds, a film in the mould of The Hunger Games and the Divergent series. And out for home release, James highly recommends the horror or sci-fi thriller A Quiet Place, which he considers one of the best films of the year.

Steve Caplin asks us to believe that he and other electric cyclists are as fit as those who use leg power to pedal their bikes. He also looks at the huge IT problems caused by the Japanese Emperor abdicating next year, at Amazon banning customers who return too many items, at anonymised data that is far from anonymous, at a mass butter spreader and at a way of packing clothes more tightly in suitcases.