The Bottom Line
BBC Radio 4
The definitive business podcast from the BBC. Each week, the BBC's Evan Davis is joined by bosses, entrepreneurs and industry experts, to lift the lid on how their businesses work, and what it’s like to be in charge. They discuss a big issue, a big challenge, or a big question facing their industry. From managing AI to managing millennials, from supermarkets to supercharging a new product.And our guests will share their stories of success and failure along the way. Podcasts are published every Thursday. And as well as being a podcast, we are also available every Thursday afternoon and Tuesday evening on BBC Radio 4. You can now also listen to The Bottom Line on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play The Bottom Line”. It works on most smart speakers.The Bottom Line has published a spin off series - Decisions That Made Me - where Evan asks entrepreneurs and business leaders about the most crucial moments in their lives and careers. You can watch these episodes here: https://t.ly/oJ8lW. Got a question or a comment? Get in touch with Evan and the team on email at bottomline@bbc.co.uk.The Bottom Line is produced in partnership with The Open University and is an EcoAudio certified production.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Feb 24, 2022 • 29min
Buy Now, Pay Later
What's behind the explosion in popularity of Klarna and its competitors? Most of us have found ourselves wanting something that we can’t quite afford. If you’re low on funds and waiting for money to come in, there are a multitude of borrowing options, from overdrafts and loans to credit cards. A new option that is expanding fast is the Buy Now Pay Later model, where customers have the option to pay back money for their purchases and there’s no interest charges - provided the debts are cleared on time. But is it too good be true? Join Evan Davis and his panel of experts to get to the bottom of the BNPL industryGUESTS
Alex Marsh, Head of Klarna UK
Alice Tapper, financial journalist
Sameer Pethe, Financial Services Partner, KearneyProducer: Lucinda Borrell
Sound: Graham Puddifoot
Production Coordinators: Sophie Hill and Siobhan Reed
Editor: Hugh LevinsonProduced in association with the Open University
Feb 17, 2022 • 28min
Alcohol-free drinks
Exploring the growing demand for alcohol-free drinks, the success of gin substitutes, the expansion of the alcohol-free drinks market, challenges in creating alcohol-free drinks, pricing and consumer perception, and the comparison between major drinks companies and independent startups in the no-alcohol category.
Feb 10, 2022 • 29min
The Price Shock
Prices are rising - but are we heading into an unprecedented economic period? So far, wages haven't yet followed. How different is what's going on now from the conventional boom and bust cycle? Evan Davis and guests discuss.
Guests:
Dr Jennifer Smith, Associate Professor of Economics, Warwick University
Professor Michael McMahon, Oxford University
Sonali Punhani, UK Chief Economist at Credit SuisseProducer: Julie Ball
Production Coordinators: Sophie Hill and Siobhan Reed
Sound: Rod Farquhar
Editor: Hugh LevinsonProduced in association with the Open University
Feb 3, 2022 • 29min
Your childhood in the workplace
Psychotherapist Naomi Shragai talks to Evan Davis about how our emotional baggage can harm our work life.. She advises businesses and employees on how to recognise our deeper personal impulses, which often stem from our childhoods. Her book 'The Man Who Mistook his Job for His Life' catalogues phenomena like narcissism, fear of rejection and imposter syndrome, Naomi tells us how to recognise these powerful forces, and what we can do about them.
Producer: Julie Ball
Studio Manager: Neil Churchill
Production Coordinators: Siobhan Reed and Sophie HillThis programme was made in association with The Open University
Nov 18, 2021 • 28min
Conflict at Work
Evan Davis and guests discuss how best to resolve disputes between colleagues - both making the best of it and avoiding the worst. Despite our best efforts, conflict never disappears – it’s always there, when humans gather. In the office, it can be start with something as trivial as a coffee cup left on a colleague's desk. And from there, it can spiral into a situation where people are unwilling to work with each other, or even suffer mental ill health as result. Three experts give advice on how to prevent conflict festering and the best ways to mediate when co-workers end up at daggers drawn.
GUESTS
Gill Dix, head of workplace policy at ACAS
Felicity Steadman, mediator, The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution
Ade Adeniji, mediator and investigatorProducers: Kirsteen Knight, Lucinda Borrell and Sandra Kanthal
Sound: Graham Puddifoot
Editor: Hugh Levinson
Nov 11, 2021 • 28min
Class in the workplace
How can companies create a level playing field for applicants and employees from lower socio-economic backgrounds? Evan Davis and guests discuss the sometimes invisible barriers and assumptions which exclude some from getting jobs or getting promoted. Many believe that the job interview format tends to favour the social skills of those from the middle and upper middle classes. Diversity schemes help - but there are questions about whether they go far enough. Is this the final taboo when it comes to equality in employment?Guests:
Professor Lee Elliot-Major, University of Exeter
Sandra Wallace, chair, Social Mobility Commission and one of the Managing Directors for UK & Europe, DLA Piper
Jenny Baskerville, Head of Inclusion, Diversity & Social Equality, KPMGProducer: Lucinda Borrell
Sound: Graham Puddifoot
Editor: Hugh Levinson
Nov 4, 2021 • 29min
The Lottery Business
The National Lottery contract is up for grabs. While the results aren't scheduled to be announced until early 2022, the bids are in and being considered - and across the industry it seems that this is the closest competition yet with four major players in the running. How do lotteries, large and small, operate? And what obligations does the industry have towards customers who might be vulnerable? Evan Davis speaks to Camelot, who have been running The National Lottery since its inception 27 years ago, and to industry leaders, about the changing world of lotteries. GUESTS
Matthew Risdale, Executive Director, Camelot
Richard Dixon, Managing Director, Sterling Lotteries
Tony Vick, Chair, The Lotteries Council PRODUCERS
Tanya Beckett & Lucinda BorrellSOUND
Rod Farquhar
Oct 28, 2021 • 29min
The Quick Commerce Economy
Evan Davis looks at the expanding world of ultrafast home delivery. App-based firms like Getir promise to get a grocery order to your home in just 10 minutes. During the pandemic demand for such services skyrocketed. As new companies enter the market, is Q-commerce economically sustainable - or will there be a brutal shake-out? Evan speaks to players in this rapidly growing sector - and to a critic of it. GUESTS
Turancan Salur, general manager, Getir UK
Christa Bloom-Burrows, co-founder, Biff's
Jessica Moulton, senior partner, McKinsey & company
Adam Badger, research student, Royal Holloway, University of LondonProducer: Lucinda Borrell
Sound: Rod Farquhar
Oct 21, 2021 • 28min
Carbon Capture
Can carbon capture save the planet - and make money? The government has announced millions of pounds of funding to support the UK's emerging carbon capture industry. How will it change our futures?Evan Davis speaks to the head of The East Coast Cluster, a project awarded some of this financial support, alongside other industry leaders, to understand whether this revolutionary technology could solve our climate change problems, or whether it is another way to evade our environmental obligations. GUESTSAndy Lane, vice president (CCUS), BP & head of East Coast Cluster
Esin Serin, UK policy analyst, The Grantham Institute of Climate Change
Olivia Powlis, head of UK office, Carbon Capture and Storage Assosciation
Julie Golsalvez, chief marketing officer, ClimeworksPRODUCER
Lucinda Borrell
Oct 14, 2021 • 28min
Hybrid working
In 2020, the pandemic hit, and the world locked down. Suddenly white-collar staff went from working in the office, to working remotely. But now we are opening up, will people want to return? Hybrid working has become the buzzword of employers across the country, allowing individuals to have more flexibility over where they work. So how likely is this to function effectively? How do businesses manage staff and productivity? And will there ever be anyone in the office on Fridays....? Join Evan Davis and guests to find out.GUESTS
Emma Stewart, Co-Founder, Timewise
Sam Bowerman, HR Director, Retail Businesses, NatWest Group UK
Lisa Kennery, HR and Marketing Director, The Pierce GroupPRODUCER
Julie Ball
