Podcasts

As Christmas is creeping up on us quickly now, it can take a toll on your finances. As much as we love the mince pies and bottomless glasses of Bailey's it can be a very stressful time - not least because when you add it all up, it's a super expensive time of year. It doesn't always have to be though as Nick Hill explains.

Sue Dougan is joined in the studio by Hannah Maundrell editor in chief of money.co.uk. On the agenda today, as we head towards the winter, we are being warned to brace themselves for a rise in their energy bills. Elsewhere, Visa says consumer spending increased by 2.5% in October compared to the same month last year. Plus, Amazon is in the news again after being ordered to pay back the parents of children who made in-app purchases on mobile devices. All these stories and more on The News Review.

October saw a minimal decrease in available jobs from the previous month, highlighting the City's resilient nature in the face of post-Brexit alarmist rhetoric. London's picture is often different to the rest of the country and might have different needs, like for instance retaining passporting to continue the number of overseas operations. Hakan Enver, Operations Director at Morgan McKinley Financial Services, joined Share Radio to discuss this and other issues around London employment.

Vaughan Rowsell, Founder of Vend, a New Zealand tech business, and Alex Fala CEO of the company, joined Share Radio to talk about the New Zealand tech economy. They also shared their thoughts on the recent earthquake that has struck New Zealand's South Island.

Pre-tax profits of companies that reported annual results between July and September are down by almost 77% to £3.2 billion. The dominant mining sector in particular dragged down FTSE 100 stock profits. BHP Billiton reported a near £5 billion loss, but the smaller mid-cap companies shone. All this is revealed in Profit Watch, the latest quarterly report of earnings from The Share Centre. Nigel Cassidy spoke to Helal Miah, Investment Research Analyst at the Share Centre, to get an insight into the latest profit performance of UK plc: starting with the pressures on the earnings of large multinationals and focusing on BHP Billiton.

Jimini’s is a French firm selling snacks made from dried crickets and worms which they've launched in the U.K. ... hoping to tickle British taste buds with alternative sources of protein. Linda goes to meet them.

Linda meets SoundOut, a fascinating firm which uses artificial intelligence and data from their two million plus reviewers to predict which songs will make it as hits. They claim to be able to predict the music charts with 80 per cent accuracy. And now they're branching out into predicting fashion trends and what will sell best in home wear shops as well. They've just launched a crowdfunding campaign to help finance their expansion.

This week Nick talks to Ben Blackledge of WorldskillsUK about the Skills Show, the UK's biggest skills and careers fair taking place in Birmingham; Neil Withey, training centre director at the EEF on how business is starting to equip young people with the skills needed in the workplace; Bill Sullivan about IBM's recent challenge at Do It Day and its tool to trace missing persons more effectively, and Marina Lumley of Greengrass Consulting about a recent report which revealed the gender gap among executives shows no sign of narrowing.

This week Sue is joined by Neil Brooks, the newly-appointed Head Teacher of Fulham Prep’s new independent co-educational senior school. He talks about his new role and the musical influences that have shaped his career.

With Christmas just a few weeks away, many of us will have started thinking about a winter getaway, either on the slopes or somewhere warmer. But when’s the best time to book, where can you find the best deals, and what are your options if you want a wintry break but don’t want to ski? Sue Dougan sits in for Sarah and is joined by Sean Tipton from ABTA, Alistair McLean of Artisan Travel and Dan Fox, MD of Ski Weekends.