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
Nov 17, 2022 • 29min
Opportunists and Optimists
As the UK struggles with recession, Evan Davis talks to four business people who are not afraid to be bulls in a bear market. Does a recession offer opportunities to serial entrepreneurs and start-ups that others might fear? Evan Davis and guests discuss.GUESTSCapucine Codron, Co-founder, Swizzle Arka Dhar, CEO and Co-founder SKOV LtdSir John Hegarty, Founder, The Garage Soho and BBH Advertising AgencyandSarah Willingham, Co Founder, Nightcap bar chain and former Dragon's Den panellist.PRODUCTION TEAMProducers: Julie Ball, Nick Holland, Kirsteen KnightEditor: Simon WattsSound: Graham PuddifootProduction Co-ordinators: Siobhan Reed and Helena Warwick-Cross
Nov 10, 2022 • 31min
Turning Passion into Profit
Col Needham set up his first business at the age of 14 designing and selling games software for computers. But his real love, since the age of 5, has always been film. Col started logging every movie he'd seen in a paper diary which he eventually set up as a database, along with other like-minded film fans. Although it began and remains a personal passion, IMDB is now a multi million pound business, which was one of Amazon's first acquisitions.
Col has remained CEO and founder, and he's now seen 15,000 films - all logged religiously in IMDB. He talks to Evan Davis about the journey from passion to profit. GUEST
Col Needham, CEO and Founder, IMDBPRESENTER: Evan DavisPRODUCER: Julie Ball EDITOR: Simon Watts SOUND: Graham PuddifootPRODUCTION CO-ORDINATORS: Siobhan Reed and Helena Warwick-Cross
Nov 3, 2022 • 29min
A new era for the housing market?
What will higher interest rates on borrowing money mean for the property market and what happens if house prices fall? Evan Davis discusses mortgages and housing in new economic times.Guests:
Vanessa McCallum, Owner of Vanessa McCallum Estates
Ray Boulger, Senior Technical Manager at John Charcol Mortgage Brokers
David Miles, Professor of Financial Economics at Imperial College London
Production coordinators: Siobhan Reid and Helena Warwick-Cross
Presenter: Evan Davis
Producers: Louise Byrne, Kirsteen Knight and Nick Holland
Editor: Simon Watts
Oct 27, 2022 • 29min
The business of being a GP
Since the very beginning of the NHS, GP surgeries have been, in effect, businesses with contracts to do the work the Health Service needs. But in recent decades, patient numbers have grown, surgeries have become larger and the services offered more varied. Many GP surgeries now employ administrative staff, nurses, physiotherapists and paramedics, as well as doctors. What's it like to be a clinician and run a small business at the same time? What are the pressures? How do you get the books to balance? And how do you attract more people to join one of the front lines of the NHS? Evan Davis and guests discuss.GUESTS
Dr. John Lynch, GP Partner, Framfield House Surgery, Woodbridge Suffolk
Dr. Matt Noble, GP Partner, GP@hand, Bablyon Health a 'digital first' practice
Dr. Yazmin Razak, Single GP practitioner, North Kensington
and Dr. Rebecca Rosen, Senior Fellow, Health Policy at the Nuffield Trust and part-time GP, South London Producers: Julie Ball and Kirsteen Knight
Researcher: Louise Byrne
Sound Engineers: Graham Puddifoot and Rod Farquhar
Editor: Simon Watts
Oct 20, 2022 • 29min
Dealing in Defence
Evan Davis looks at the UK's defence industry to find out how it is responding to the war in Ukraine and whether socially conscious investors are beginning to change their minds about the sector.Guests:
Dean Rosenfield, Head of Saab UK
Kevin McNamee, CEO of Denroy Group Ltd
Kevin Craven, CEO of ADS GroupPresenter: Evan Davis
Production Coordinators: Siobhan Reed & Helena Warwick-Cross
Producer: Julie Ball & Nick Holland
Editor: Tara McDermott
Oct 13, 2022 • 29min
Changing Tack
What happens when your business vision doesn't stack up or your long-standing business needs to make changes to keep up with a changing market and customer taste? Do you make a U-turn or a pivot as it's known in business. How do you know when is the right time and how do you get your employees and managers to go with you? Evan Davis and guests discuss.GUESTSMatthew Bannister, Broadcaster and Presenter, Folk on Foot podcastLiz Earle, Beauty and Wellness Entrepreneur, Editor-in-Chief, Liz Earle Wellbeing magazineand Jessica Spungin, Adjunct Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, London Business School PRESENTER: EVAN DAVISPRODUCTION TEAMProducers: Julie Ball and Nick Holland
Editor: Tara McDermott
Sound: Neil Churchill/Rod Farquhar
Production Co-ordinators: Siobhan Reed & Helena Warwick-Cross
Oct 6, 2022 • 28min
Has Britain stopped working?
Evan Davis asks why there are more job vacancies in Britain than there are people looking for work. Unemployment used to be a big problem, but now businesses say they're struggling to recruit enough staff.Guest list:
Jane Townson: CEO of The Home Care Association
Will Beckett: CEO of Hawksmoor restaurants
Jane Gratton: Head of People Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce
Jon Wilson: CEO of TotalJobs online recruitment agency.Production Coordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross and Siobhan Reed
Sound production: Neil Churchill & Graham Puddifoot
Research: Louise Byrne
Producer: Nick Holland
Editor: Richard Vadon
Presenter: Evan Davis
Sep 29, 2022 • 29min
Excess Profits, Windfall Taxes and Incentives
Is it right that businesses making what look like windfall profits pay windfall taxes? And do the recent announcements from the government to lower taxes in general lead to economic growth? Evan Davis and guests discuss.GUESTSIrem Guceri, Associate Professor Economics and Public Policy, Blavatnik School of Government, OxfordProfessor Michael Jacobs, Professor of Political Economy, Sheffield UniversityCharlie Mullins, Businessman and Founder, Pimlico PlumbersDan Neidle, Founder, Tax Policy Associates Ltd. PRODUCTION TEAMProducer: Julie Ball
Editor: Richard Vadon
Sound Engineers: Graham Puddifoot/James Beard
Production Co-ordinators: Siobhan Reed and Helena Warwick-Cross
Jul 28, 2022 • 30min
Little Boxes?
The government target for building houses in the UK is 300,000 a year, but over the past few years only around 60 per cent of that number have been constructed. The sector faces many challenges; labour and skills shortages and rapidly rising prices for raw materials, not to mention uneven planning laws and green building commitments. Are they building the homes the country needs and where it needs them? Evan Davis and guests discuss. GUESTSBen Dimson, Partner, Property Sector, McKinseyPeter Truscott, CEO, Crest Nicholson Rico Wojtulewicz, Head of Housing and Planning, National Federation of BuildersPresenter: Evan Davis
Producers: Julie Ball and Lucinda Borrell
Editors: Hugh Levinson and Jon Bithrey
Sound: James Beard, Rod Farquhar
Production Co-ordinators: Siobhan Reed and Helena Warwick-Cross
Jul 21, 2022 • 28min
Russian Exodus
Hundreds of western businesses have decided to stop operating in Russia as a result of the invasion of Ukraine. But what does leaving Russia actually mean in practical terms – how do you go about it and who bears the cost? Can you end up hurting your own company and your Russian workers more than the Russian state? Evan Davis debates with his guests, one of whom leads a global automotive dealer that has just sold its business in Russia to its local managers.GUESTS:
James Alexander, Chief Executive of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association
John Morrison, CEO of the Institute for Human Rights and Business
Duncan Tait, CEO of automotive dealer Inchcape Producer: Lucinda Borrell
Sound: Rod Farquhar
Editor: Jon Bithrey
Production Co-Ordinators: Siobhan Reed and Helena Warwick-Cross
