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
Jan 6, 2025 • 14min
Decisions That Made Me: Dana Denis-Smith (Obelisk Support, CEO)
Dana Denis-Smith, CEO of Obelisk Support, shares her inspiring journey from an unfulfilling legal career to entrepreneurial success. A transformative trek through the Himalayas ignited her passion to support freelance lawyers, particularly mothers seeking flexible work. She discusses balancing career ambitions with family life, the emotional toll of employment law, and her mission to empower women in the workforce. Join her as she unveils the complexities of the wellness industry and the drive for justice in a changing professional landscape.
Dec 18, 2024 • 15min
Jordan Brompton (Myenergi, Co-founder)
When your background differs from the people working with and around you, it’s easy to feel judged by the assumptions people make about you from class to gender. Whatever your upbringing, it’s something we all deal with - our backgrounds are always with us, either to be embraced, accepted, or fled from. Jordan Brompton, entrepreneur and co-founder of the smart energy tech company Myenergi, shares her experience as a working class woman and her love of solar panels.Production team:
Producers: Simon Tulett and Michaela Graichen
Researcher: Drew Hyndman
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound: Rod Farquhar
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison
Dec 17, 2024 • 15min
Julian Douglas (VCCP, Global CEO)
When do you start that side hustle you've always talked about doing? What if it gets you fired from work? And even if you do leave, make your success and build your hustle into a successful business, can you ever decide to step away and go back to your career? Julian Douglas, global CEO of advertising agency VCCP, talks to Evan Davis about his decision to go in to advertising, being fired for his night life start up, and then walking away from the company he founded to go back to his former career. Production team:
Producers: Simon Tulett and Michaela Graichen
Researcher: Drew Hyndman
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound: Rod Farquhar
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison
Dec 17, 2024 • 15min
Rob Law (Trunki Suitcases, Inventor)
When your business is about making products, and the factory you use gets into trouble, that’s potentially a big problem. Do you try to find another one, or do you try to fix it? Rob Law, entrepreneur and inventor of the Trunki children’s suitcase, had exactly this dilemma, and tells Evan Davis about the risky decision it prompted.He also discusses the illness and personal loss that have shaped his career, and recalls his infamous appearance on Dragon’s Den almost 20 years ago.Production team:
Producers: Simon Tulett and Michaela Graichen
Researcher: Drew Hyndman
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound: Rod Farquhar
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison
Dec 12, 2024 • 17min
Tom Pellereau (Stylideas, Inventor)
When inventor Tom Pellereau was on the verge of launching his latest invention for his fashion company, Stylideas, he couldn't have known what a key decision was about to face him. The Apprentice winner talks to Evan Davis about his business relationship with Alan Sugar, his passion for design and his experience of dyslexia that all led to a stand off over pricing that would make or break his company.Production team:
Producers: Simon Tulett and Michaela Graichen
Researcher: Drew Hyndman
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound: Rod Farquhar
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison
Dec 5, 2024 • 14min
Elmarie Marais (GoCrisis, Founder)
What do you do when you’re unhappy at work? Maybe you’re burnt out from long hours? Or you see the way your employer does things and think to yourself “surely there’s a better way?” For many founders and CEO's, it's a familiar experience, and one that can spur them into the decision of starting their own business. Evan Davis talks to Elmarie Marais about her experience of crisis management, and how a crisis of her own led to the founding of her own company, GoCrisis.Production team:
Producers: Simon Tulett and Drew Hyndman
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound: Rod Farquhar
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison
Nov 7, 2024 • 33min
Ideas: How To Turn Your Dreams Into Business Reality
You've had a brilliant business idea. At least, you think you have. What do you do next? Evan Davis speaks to three successful entrepreneurs- including former contestants on The Apprentice and Dragons' Den. Where do the best ideas come from and how do you know when they are worth pursuing? What are the top tips for pitching and when is it time to let an idea go?Evan is joined by Rob Law, the inventor of the Trunki ride-on suitcase for kids, Pippa Murray, founder of the nut butter brand Pip & Nut and Tom Pellereau, who invented the curved nail file for his company Stylideas.Production team:
Producers: Simon Tulett and Michaela Graichen
Researcher: Drew Hyndman
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound: Rod Farquhar
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison(Picture: Getty Images, Credit: Teerachai Jampanak)
Oct 31, 2024 • 34min
Marketing: How Effective Is Fear In Advertising?
Why do advertising agencies use fear to get us to part with our money? Advertising agencies and marketing people use different techniques to push our buttons. Humour is one. But what about fear? Do they sometimes try to scare us into buying? Or is it a gentler art- playing on our insecurities about things like old age, poor health or thinning hair? Evan Davis speaks to Sir John Hegarty and Ian Gathard from the advertising industry and psychologist Juliane Beard, who studies how the brains of consumers work.Credits:
Volkswagen "Eyes on the Road" advertising stunt
Reebok trainers advertisement: "Lose the Beer Belly"
Aviva home insurance advertisementProduction team:
Producers: Simon Tulett and Michaela Graichen
Researcher: Drew Hyndman
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound: Neil Churchill
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison(Picture: Piccadilly Circus in London, Light Trails at night. Credit: Jonathan Herbert, JH Images via Getty Images)
Oct 24, 2024 • 38min
Google: The Couple That Took On The Tech Giant
Shivaun and Adam Raff, co-founders of Foundem, share their incredible journey of battling Google after their price comparison site fell off its search results just after launch. They discuss the complexities of navigating Google's algorithms and the intense seven-year legal struggle that ultimately led to a historic €2.4bn fine for the tech giant. Accompanied by Anne Witt, a law professor, they delve into the implications for market regulation and reflect on the challenges of innovation in a landscape dominated by powerful tech firms.
Oct 17, 2024 • 38min
Evacuation: How to Rescue a Business From a War Zone
When a company finds itself facing war or natural disaster how can it get staff out of harm's way, and is there any chance of ensuring business as usual?Evan Davis speaks to one business leader who helped move hundreds of staff out of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia when war broke out in 2022. Two crisis response companies explain how they have been helping clients with people and operations in Lebanon, Israel and parts of the USA recently hit by hurricanes.Plus, what is an employer's obligation in these situations, and do the same rules apply to international as well as local hires?Evan is joined by:Ann Roberts, chief people officer, Flo;
James Waddington, global director of security assistance, International SOS;
Elmarie Marais, founder and CEO, GoCrisis;
and Anna, an employee at Wildix.Production team:Producer: Simon Tulett
Researchers: Drew Hyndman and Michaela Graichen
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound: Pete Wise and Tim Heffer
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison(Picture: A Ukrainian flag flies from a destroyed building in Mariupol, April 2022. Credit: Reuters/Alexander Ermochenko/BBC)
