Podcasts

When we think of startups, perhaps the East London tech hub springs to mind. But why should entrepreneurship be all about the city? Doug Stidolph has a vision - to inspire more people to take charge of their lives and embrace adventure, and has recently started Action Academy. He joined Georgie in the studio.

New figures show that ebook sales are falling while paperback sales are on the rise. The shift is particularly being driven by younger generations, who seem to be losing interest in reading on screens. More than 360m books in all formats were sold in 2016, but ebooks are down 4%. Steve Bohme, from Nielsen Book Research UK, did the research, and spoke to Share Radio's James Brydges

Gina Miller, the businesswoman who won her case on a parliamentary vote ahead of Brexit, says MPs need to step up and 'get some backbone' on the issue. She spoke to Share Radio's Ed Bowsher on this and why she's not a fan of a second referendum.

Georgie Frost was joined by personal finance expert Kevin White, of Fortem Financial Management this morning. Today on the agenda, they discussed how first-class carriages could be scrapped on busy commuter routes under plans to ease overcrowding. Plus they look into why sales of garden gnomes have increased five-fold in the last year. All these stories and more on The News Review.

Simon takes on a reissue of a book long considered a classic financial tome: 'Reminiscences of a Stock Operator' by Edwin Lefevre. Simon is joined by Tim Price, co-manager of the VT Price Value Portfolio and who's written the Preface in the reissue.

To go through all the political headlines this morning, Georgie Frost was joined Billy Bambrough, Editor of Verdict.co.uk. A survey shows support for Scottish independence is at its highest ever. The ScotCen research group says 46 percent of the Scottish public want a split from the UK - that's a record level for the annual poll. But the Scottish Social Attitudes survey also suggested the popularity of the European Union has fallen.

Joining Georgie Frost to discuss the latest market headlines was Share Radio's very own Nigel Cassidy starting with the government selling off another chunk of Lloyd's Bank, which it rescued from collapse in 2009. And there's also been an announcement from Sports Direct. Nigel reveals what they have been saying. And moving away from the companies, the markets await a US interest rate decision.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) says the UK construction industry could lose almost 200,000 EU workers if Britain leaves the single market. It argues that alternative plans need to be put in place in the event of a hard Brexit, otherwise some of the country's biggest infrastructure and construction projects could be put under threat. Abdul Choudhury, RICS Policy Manager for London, joined Nigel Cassidy on Share Radio Breakfast to discuss this.

The Scottish Retail Consortium in conjunction with KPMG has released its latest retail sales monitor today. It seems the retail sector in Scotland has got off to a somewhat sluggish start with the figures suggesting Scottish consumers are beginning to tighten their belts. However, with Spring just around the corner perhaps the high-street will become more appealing? Joining Nigel Cassidy to discuss further was Ewan MacDonald-Russell, Head of Policy at the Scottish Retail Consortium.

New figures just out show that the number of companies in the UK has reached a record high - breaking the four million threshold for the first time. The boom is fuelled in a large part by the formation of new companies, with roughly 665 thousand started in the UK last year. But is this symptomatic of a flexible, dynamic workforce - or are there just no more full time jobs? Nigel Cassidy was joined by Jonathan Richards, CEO at breatheHR, a firm that provides software to SMEs.