Business Leader

Aron Gelbard is a founder and CEO obsessed with feedback. The business he has built is Bloom & Wild, which made its name with flower delivery but has now expanded into other gifts, such as brownies and whisky. It pioneered the idea of letterbox delivery, where flowers are packaged in flat boxes that can be assembled into bouquets at home. Gelbard tells Dougal Shaw how an obsession with feedback, including A/B Testing and NPS (Net Promoter Score), has been the secret to growing his business, which is now international and has annual revenues of more than £110m. If you truly embrace feedback you can turn disappointed customers into your greatest fans...

Zygi Kamasa is building a new movie business called True Brit, which is focused on British films. Kamasa is the former chief executive of Lionsgate UK and Europe as well as Marv Studios, one of Business Leader's Growth 500, the fastest-growing businesses in the UK. He tells Graham Ruddick the story behind why he is building his own business, the story behind his global hits like Bend it Like Beckham, and how to deal with the setbacks, like turning down blockbusters such as Slumdog Millionaire...

From chart-topping pop star to powerhouse entrepreneur, Rochelle Humes has built a career defined by creativity and reinvention. As the founder and creative director of My Little Coco, one of the UK’s best-selling baby and family brands, Humes has shown how passion and purpose can drive lasting success.In this episode, she opens up about the challenges of starting a business during a global pandemic, learning the power of saying no and building a brand that celebrates inclusivity and family. Humes also shares her lessons on leadership, trusting your instincts and embracing vulnerability as strength.

Autotrader has gone from a dying print magazine to one of the UK's biggest tech businesses. Autotrader made 60 per cent of its revenue from the print magazine in 2007. But today it makes nothing from the magazine, having stopped it in 2013. Yet Autotrader is now a much bigger business. It is part of the FTSE 100 and valued at £7bn. So how did this extraordinary transformation take place? Graham Ruddick speaks to Nathan Coe, chief executive of Autotrader, to find out...

Francesca Brown is the award-winning founder of Goals4Girls and a champion of female youth development. She has turned her love of football into a transformative programme that empowers girls aged 11-16 in marginalised communities, boosting their confidence, leadership skills and educational outcomes. Josh Dornbrack and Lucy McPhee dive into her journey from aspiring athlete to social impact pioneer, her vision for sustainable development pathways and the unique role sport plays in unlocking opportunity.If you’re a founder, executive or aspiring leader seeking tangible inspiration from outside of the boardroom, this episode will leave you equipped with both mindset shifts and actionable takeaways. From leveraging networks and finding mentors, to creating a culture of opportunity and designing programmes with real-world impact, Brown's journey is a powerful case study in leadership, social enterprise and growth.

How do you make the big strategic decisions that will define the future of your business? How do you gather the information to make that decision? Simon Carter, chief executive of British Land, one of the biggest property companies in the UK, bet on offices when many said that office-working was dead. Graham Ruddick speaks to Simon Carter about making that contrarian decision, running a FTSE company and the future of shopping, with British Land owning retail parks across the country as part of its £10bn portfolio...

John Amaechi is an organisational psychologist, best-selling author and a professor of leadership at the University of Exeter Business School. He is quick to dismantle the myth that great leaders are “born, not made.” In this candid conversation, he reveals that the skills which make leaders exceptional, from emotional literacy to effective storytelling, aren’t magic tricks. They’re basic, learnable tools that anyone can master with intention and practice.Amaechi shares how leaders often hide behind the excuse that “it just comes naturally to others” to avoid confronting their own fears. Whether it’s public speaking, conflict mediation or building trust, he argues that leadership is about consistent work, not innate talent. This episode will leave you inspired and equipped with a new mindset: if leadership excellence isn’t magic, then there’s no reason you can’t achieve it too.Presented by Josh Dornbrack and Lucy McPheeJohn Amaechi's book, It's Not Magic: The ordinary skills of exceptional leaders, is out now.

The biggest investor in promising businesses in Europe is Saul Klein's venture capital firm, according to new research from Dealroom. He is the name behind many of Britain's fastest-growing tech businesses. So what does he look for in a business? How can UK businesses take on the US tech giants? And what did he learn from being co-founder of LoveFilm, the UK answer to Netflix? Graham Ruddick went to his offices in London to find out...

Joanna Carman leads the Plusnet broadband brand, which is owned by BT, and also serves as its chief marketing officer. She joined BT in 2019 and took up the Plusnet role two years later while still in her mid-thirties.Dougal Shaw caught up with Joanna Carman at BT's London HQ to learn about forging a leadership style that appeals to Gen Z...