Podcasts

We are being urged to check our energy prices and consider fixing, as experts warn that gas and electricity prices are likely to continue rising in 2017 by as much as 5%. According to energy comparison website Energyhelpline.com, over the past six months the cheapest energy prices have risen from £734 a year in June to £870 a year now. This all comes as customers of Big Six energy provider EDF are facing the first bill hike in three years as power costs rise. To find out more, Sue Dougan spoke on the line to Energyhelpline's Mark Todd.

As Donald Trump prepares for his presidency he has been naming officials and speaking out against the Central Intelligence Agency. It comes after FBI director James B. Comey and the director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. agreed with a CIA assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election in part to help Donald Trump win the White House. Share Radio's Colin Bloom discovered what the president elect's latest moves might mean, by speaking with Ross Anderson of the University of Cambridge.

Alex Lydall, Senior 360 FX dealer at corporate forex broker Foenix Partners, joined Share Radio to discuss the market reaction to the U.S. Federal Reserve announcement of a three interest rates hikes in 2017, and what can we expect from President-elect Trump going forward.

Big Sofa, a technology company of just over thirty people, is preparing to float on Aim, the debut investment market, and may begin trading next week. The founders apparently started the business seven years ago travelling the UK, interviewing consumers to get some insight into customer behaviour. They quizzed people on a large inflatable sofa, and videoed the results, believing the insights they got were better than those from more conventional research. But it was all a bit laborious transcribing the content, so today Big Sofa uses clever software that mines all the info. Simon Lidington, CEO of Big Sofa, joined Share Radio to discuss.

Investors have had to be smart to steer their way through the markets this year. There have been some great opportunities for returns but of course people can and have lost all their gains and more through poor calls and bad timing. It can be a lot more fun and you can certainly learn a lot about running a portfolio if you are part of an investment club. Dary McGovern, a member of the Sensatus Investment Club and Managing Director of Timetotrade, a company that produces investment software, joined Share Radio to discuss investments in 2016.

With declining sales and some well publicised product disasters, 2016 was a difficult year for smartphone manufacturers. But analysts are predicting 2017 could be even tougher even as one old name, Nokia, prepares to enter the market once again. Share Radio's Robert Van Egghen reports.

Pharmaceutical companies are in the news again being accused of unreasonable price hikes. This time it's Actavis UK, who have been accused by the NHS of overcharging for a "lifesaving" drug by raising the price more than 12 thousand percent. This follows similar situations such as Pfizer being charged a record 107 million dollar fine for allegedly overcharging for an epilepsy treatment, and the Martin Shkreli scandal, when the U.S. Pharmaceutical Executive bought the rights to Daraprim, and raised the price more than 50-fold. Share Radio's Matt Cox has been investigating these price hikes. He spoke to Dr Amit Roy pharmaceutical analyst and founder of independent investment research firm Foveal.

OwnerSellers is a revolutionary concept in selling property and businesses, where people can list their property or business absolutely free. Linda heads to their office down in Ickenham, to meet with MD Rupert Cattell

Blippar are a leading visual discovery app using augmented reality and artificial intelligence to unlock interactive experiences from the physical world. Linda visits Covent Garden for an innovative AR shopping experiment and to meet with Danny Lopez, to find out how this British company is leading the way in AR branding and merchandising.

This week Nick looks at the gig economy in 18th century Britain, with Judy Stephenson, a researcher in economic history at Wadham College Oxford. Lord Baker slams the government's education policy as inadequate to the needs of industry. What does the fourth industrial revolution mean for business? We find out with Rob Hiron of Kronos and finally Gerwyn Davis, Labour Market Analyst at the CIPD, talks to Nick about shared parental leave.