Podcasts

Today is Black Friday. Last year sales exceeded the £1 billion mark, but this year experts expect the figure to be much higher. To find out more about this Jinan Rahma spoke to Gordon McKinnon, Operations Director at Intu Group and started by asking him if Black Friday has become an important day for UK shoppers.

UK Christmas spending is to hit a record £77.6bn in 2016 according to the Centre for Retail Research Food, booze, presents and relatives --- it's easy to see how the cost of Christmas soon starts to add up. New research from Nationwide reveals that the average person is spending half their monthly salary this season. However, despite the festivities, it's not the happiest time of the year, with a noticeable rise in arguments. To find out more, Olivia Demetriades was joined by financial expert Jasmine Birtles and began by asking whether we're spending too much over the festive period.

It's the 18th annual Amazon Growing Business Awards on Wednesday. Triumph over adversity, exporting triumph and rural success will be just some of the themes celebrated. To find out more about this Jinan Rahma spoke to Hunter Ruthven, part of the team that hosts the Growing Business Awards and started by asking him about the awards. She also spoke to Katy Moss, Managing Director of Trent Refractories Limited who are shortlisted for the 'Triumph Over Adversity Award' at the Amazon Growing Business Awards.

In his Autumn Statement earlier this week, the chancellor Philip Hammond highlighted the government's plans to develop the economy's existing strengths, despite anticipating tougher times ahead. With an emphasis on increasing productivity, the chancellor announced a £23bn investment fund, plans to fund the boosting of management skills and the injection £400m into venture capital funds, allowing for £1bn worth of new investment for small businesses. To discuss the Autumn Statement in more detail and how it can help young people become more entrepreneurial, Simon spoke to Michael Mercieca, the CEO of Young Enterprise.

Is the eight hour workday outdated and irrelevant today? Stephan Aarstol is CEO of Tower Paddle Boards, named the fastest growing company in San Diego and author of a book called The Five-Hour Workday. Not only has he written the book on five hour workdays- but in 2015 he put his employees on a 8am to 1pm workday for three months and says that the switch had an enormous, positive, and lasting impact on all of them.

Today is Black Friday with shoppers around the country rushing to get a bargain online and in store. But how has Black Friday impacted our traditional Christmas shopping habits? Simon spoke to joined by Don Williams, Retail Partner at KPMG UK.

The economy grew by 0.5% in the three month since our vote to leave the EU. That's according to the latest GDP figures from the Office for National Statistics. The ONS reported that June's vote to leave the European Union has had a 'limited effect' on the economy so far. To find out more about this Simon Rose was joined by John Hawksworth, chief economist at PwC

Welcome to the This is Money and Share Radio podcast, presented in partnership with NS&I. This week of course the top financial story was Philip Hammond’s first, and indeed last, Autumn Statement. Just what state are the country’s post-Brexit finances in, and crucially what would the Chancellor offer to help his much referenced ‘Jams’? In the end those ‘just about managing’ certainly received a few headline policies but with predictions pointing towards low growth, high borrowing and high inflation many argue Jam spending has been spread too thin. There were also some losers with those enjoying salary sacrifice perks and letting agents coming into the crosshairs, as well as in fact the Autumn Statement itself which will now be scrapped. So what will all this mean for the pound in your pocket? Georgie Frost joins editor Simon Lambert and reporter Becky Rutt to answer just that. Also on the agenda this week they discuss Black Friday and for a slightly different purchase the opportunity to buy a road legal Formula 1 car. This is Money is presented by Georgie Frost in partnership with NS&I.

Share Radio teams up with Claer Barrett, personal finance editor of the Financial Times, for Serious Money. On this edition, she was joined by Share Radio's Steve Clarke as they disentangled the Autumn Statement.

Helal Miah, Investment Research Analyst at the Share Centre, reviews this week's stock market activity with Share Radio's Steve Clarke. They take a look back at Kingfisher,Compass & Marstons. They also look ahead to Merlin Entertainments, Sage & RPC.