Jimmy's Jobs of the Future

Our fantastic guest today is Alex Stephany, the founder of Beam, which is helping homeless people find careers through crowdfunding. One of the most powerful things you can do for someone is to give them a job and a sense of purpose. All the entrepreneurs on this show are job creators, but Alex is creating opportunities for some of the hardest people to find jobs for. Beam terms itself as a social impact business - an emergent phrase that has come from an exciting realisation: that the roles of being a business or a charity are no longer mutually exclusive.This is something the UK really leads the world in and Beam is a great example of the power of this combination. We’ll be hearing from Alex exactly how Beam works, how he thinks the UK job market has shifted as a result of the pandemic and how sometimes the answer is literally hitting you in the head.Do check out Beam's work and inspiring stories at https://beam.org/You can find out more on our website or get in touch via hello@jobsofthefuture.coYou can follow us on social media:Instagram: @JimmysjobsTwitter: @JimmysjobsAnd most importantly on LinkedInSubscribe so you don't miss any new episodes, releasing every Wednesday.You can sign up to Jimmy's Substack here for weekly content on the future of work, technology, and politicsFor more information on partnering with us please visit our partnerships page here.Also make sure you subscribe to The Shift, you can find it here on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

And we’re live! A brand new series of Jimmy’s Jobs of the Future launches today.And what better time to launch than when careers and the future have never been more on the minds of young people and parents alike- A-level and GCSE result days.Our first guests need no introduction- Ben Francis & Noel Mack are the founder and Chief Brand Officer of Gymshark. Setting up their HQ in the Midlands, Gymshark is one of the most exciting brands in the UK and is now valued at over £1 billion. Ben and Noel would be the first to admit that traditional schooling and academia did not suit their strengths and neither left school with great results- but it didn’t stop them from becoming a success.This episode will delve into Ben’s first time meeting the Prime Minister, where he thinks the jobs of the future are coming from and the biggest disasters they’ve had at Gymshark. We hope this leaves you with inspiration and advice on how to start your career- or simply piques your interest in the future of the UK economy. You can find out more on our website or get in touch via hello@jobsofthefuture.coYou can follow us on social media:Instagram: @JimmysjobsTwitter: @JimmysjobsAnd most importantly on LinkedInIf your brain cells require even more tickling, do check out We Didn’t Start The Fire with Tom Fordyce (A Peter Crouch Podcast) and  Katie Puckrik. Episodes explore the history behind the lyrics from the hit Billy Joel song...Subscribe so you don't miss any new episodes, releasing every Wednesday.You can sign up to Jimmy's Substack here for weekly content on the future of work, technology, and politicsFor more information on partnering with us please visit our partnerships page here.Also make sure you subscribe to The Shift, you can find it here on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are back for the third season of Jimmy's Jobs of the Future. 15 months into the pandemic, the UK's jobs market is holding up strongly once again, with lower levels of unemployment than the US, Canada, France, Italy, and Australia.Part of this is the furlough scheme but a longer-term trend is the fact that UK entrepreneurs are creating jobs each day that don’t get the same media headlines. And that is what this show aims to explore by speaking to those wealth and job-creating entrepreneurs about the skills they need in their fast-growing businesses. The season kicks off on Wednesday 11th August with Ben Francis who is building Gymshark in the West Midlands which now employs 800 people and is valued at over a billion pounds. You can check out more of our background and previous guests at www.jobsofthefuture.co We love hearing from listeners so do drop us a line at hello@jobsofthefuture.co with guests you’d like to hear from and how we can improve the show. We're also delighted to announce that we're once again partnering with Octopus to bring amazing entrepreneurial stories to the fore. Subscribe so you don't miss any new episodes, releasing every Wednesday.You can sign up to Jimmy's Substack here for weekly content on the future of work, technology, and politicsFor more information on partnering with us please visit our partnerships page here.Also make sure you subscribe to The Shift, you can find it here on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today’s guest is Salima Vellani, the founder and CEO of KBox Global- a company pioneering something called host kitchens, the next wave of innovation in the food delivery space. They have raised around £17 million from investors, making Salima one of the most heavily backed female founders in the UK. My very first meeting in Number 10 was with Will Shu, the founder of a then up and coming food and beverage company called Deliveroo. Even then Will mentioned the concept of Dark Kitchens and it’s fascinating to hear how even that concept is now being innovated.Salima talks us through exactly how host kitchens work, what it takes to set up a career in the Food and Beverage industry and how tech is allowing a rapid upskilling right across the hospitality industry. We’ve also launched a new website- find us at jobsofthefuture.coJimmy's Jobs of the Future is hiring, read more on our next chapter here.A reminder you can follow us onInstagram: @JimmysjobsTwitter: @JimmysjobsAnd most importantly on LinkedInSubscribe so you don't miss any new episodes, releasing every Wednesday.You can sign up to Jimmy's Substack here for weekly content on the future of work, technology, and politicsFor more information on partnering with us please visit our partnerships page here.Also make sure you subscribe to The Shift, you can find it here on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week’s guest is Giles English, who co-founded Bremont Watches with his brother in 2002 with the aim of bringing watchmaking back to British shores. Bremont have recently opened a state of the art technology centre called ‘The Wing’- a 35,000 sq ft manufacturing centre enabling the full machining and fabrication of Bremont’s watches, right here in the United Kingdom. Time was a precious resource in No.10 and one that dictated your life- the Prime Minister’s time being the most precious of all. Now my main engagement with time is my 20-month-old daughter pointing at my watch shouting TikTok! Either that or she wants to get on social media already …It’s a fascinating discussion about the revival of an ancient profession, the importance of regional investments for creating skilled jobs and one of the most charming stories of how a company was founded I’ve ever come across. We’ve also launched a new website- find us at jobsofthefuture.coJimmy's Jobs of the Future is hiring, read more on our next chapter here and you can sign up to our newsletter here.A reminder you can follow us onInstagram: @JimmysjobsTwitter: @JimmysjobsAnd most importantly on LinkedInSubscribe so you don't miss any new episodes, releasing every Wednesday.You can sign up to Jimmy's Substack here for weekly content on the future of work, technology, and politicsFor more information on partnering with us please visit our partnerships page here.Also make sure you subscribe to The Shift, you can find it here on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One of the most valuable assets to an entrepreneurial ecosystem is veteran entrepreneurs lending a hand to first-timers.I first met Digby as part of the ICE (International Conclave of Entrepreneurs) community on a James Bond themed weekend- whilst swapping tips and tricks to navigate the business world isn’t quite 007 material, it’s because of these communities that the UK startup scene is flourishing.Digby’s first jobs were working behind bars at weddings and writing his own music blog. Enticed to the former by the large tips from slightly too-merry guests, the latter allowed him to go to festivals for free.It was these experiences in the live events space that eventually lead to him founding Feast It in 2017, an ecommerce company aiming to revolutionise hospitality with the simple goal of building an operating system that could power events globally.Feast It matches people wanting to host events with boutique events businesses, who in Digby’s eyes are the backbone of the industry. This match-making gives organisers a superior experience and allows artisans to have a digital revenue stream without any complicated infrastructure.The last 12 months have been interesting to say the least for the events industry, with Feast It themselves experiencing a 99% drop in sales in 2020. However, the resilience of the sector and the human desire for experience means Digby is optimistic about what the future holds for the event economy.In this episode, Digby talks about empowering artisanal businesses, why young people are valuing experiences over possessions and the importance of business communities like ICE when business times get tough.Even Coldplay gets a mention!Jimmy's Jobs of the Future is hiring, read more on our next chapter here and you can sign up to our newsletter here.A reminder you can follow us onInstagram: @JimmysjobsTwitter: @JimmysjobsAnd most importantly on LinkedInSubscribe so you don't miss any new episodes, releasing every Wednesday.You can sign up to Jimmy's Substack here for weekly content on the future of work, technology, and politicsFor more information on partnering with us please visit our partnerships page here.Also make sure you subscribe to The Shift, you can find it here on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For this episode I’m joined by Bejay Mulenga, Founder of Supa Network.I first met Bejay at the 2014 Conservative Party conference. He was about to speak in front of 3,000 people just before George Osbourne took the stage- no mean feat at 19 years old.He told his story about his first foray into entrepreneurship- setting up a tuck shop for his school, making £15,000 in his first term and how he transformed this business into a franchise of tuck shops. By 16 years of age, he was operating a £200,000 business with plans to train 5,000 young entrepreneurs.He received a full standing ovation.Fast-forward to today and Bejay’s Supa Network has supported over 10,000 young people at 81 locations across the country, doing everything from improving their digital literacy to working with Apple in developing their stores into learning centres. Talking about the changing the landscape of the education sector in response to the pandemic, Bejay cites the amazing work of Jack Butcher as a prime example of the creator economy.We also discuss the fascinating emerging career of a Learning Designer- the educational equivalent of a UX designer for a dev team- and how a focus on learning design can affect a business or product.Ever since that first speech in 2014, Bejay has always been someone to offer me adifferent perspective and it’s always refreshing to speak to him.Jimmy's Jobs of the Future is hiring, read more on our next chapter here and you can sign up to our newsletter here.A reminder you can follow us onInstagram: @JimmysjobsTwitter: @JimmysjobsAnd most importantly on LinkedInSubscribe so you don't miss any new episodes, releasing every Wednesday.You can sign up to Jimmy's Substack here for weekly content on the future of work, technology, and politicsFor more information on partnering with us please visit our partnerships page here.Also make sure you subscribe to The Shift, you can find it here on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we’re looking back and exploring some choice highlights from our pilot series with the help of this week’s guest: Hannah Russell. Hannah is the co-founder of Mags Creative, one of the UK’s most successful independent podcast producers responsible for some the most exciting shows in the UK with over 350,000 people tuning into their shows each week. We discuss how Hannah went from setting up Mags Creative with her sister a few years ago to running a fluid team of full-time staff and freelancers who even have their own Monthly podcast club. Through Hannah’s entrepreneurial expertise we re-visit some of the most interesting points from our pilot series: Pip Jamieson, founder of @The Dots, on the emergence of skill swapping and the importance of creativity- both as a skill set and something to foster in the workplace Hayden Wood, founder of @Bulb, on renting talent and hiring experience- and why the creative industry is so good at this Sarah Wood, co-founder of @Unruly, on how founding a business actually improved her work/life balance  Pete Flint, founder of @Trulia and @lastminute.com, on the importance of changing mindset Christian May, former editor of @City AM, and his fantastic insight on how you make your own luck through hard work Our pilot season marked our first foray into the world of podcasts, speaking to some of the most brilliant minds in the UK about the future of work.It’s only fitting that this reflection on the first series, as we near the end of our second season, is explored and dissected by a podcast mastermind and one of the most interesting guests I’ve had on this show. Hannah reflects that word of mouth is still king when it comes to growing podcasts, so if you enjoyed this week’s episode, please do follow us on social and share your thoughts:Jimmy's Jobs of the Future is hiring, read more on our next chapter here and you can sign up to our newsletter here.A reminder you can follow us onInstagram: @JimmysjobsTwitter: @JimmysjobsAnd most importantly on LinkedInSubscribe so you don't miss any new episodes, releasing every Wednesday.You can sign up to Jimmy's Substack here for weekly content on the future of work, technology, and politicsFor more information on partnering with us please visit our partnerships page here.Also make sure you subscribe to The Shift, you can find it here on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

During my time in Government, I was involved in a number of meetings where we would try to create memorable lines which could sum up Govt policy, you can probably think of a few famous ones yourself.  Tough on Crime, tough on the causes of crime.  Long term economic plan Vote Leave, Take Back Control  Brexit means Brexit  There are also some less memorable ones, which I enjoy thinking about from time to time, like Nick Clegg’s Alarm Clock Heros, anyone who woke up to an alarm clock should be called a hero. Two of the most important phrases that you’ll hear for the coming years are ‘levelling up and building back better’. Neither of these are going to be able to be achieved without a serious focus on the reskilling agenda, which was at the Heart of the Queen’s Speech last week. And that is why I am delighted today to be joined by Elizabeth Tweedale who is a thought leader in the space of how children learn new skills such as coding. She founded a company called Cypher Coders, which specialises in teaching kids from the age of six to code, and is expanding into many other areas as we discuss. As this podcast is all about the skills of the future, it seemed important to look at what kids need to be learning. If you listen to this podcast shortly after release, Elizabeth and Cypher Coders are crowdfunding on Seedrs, so you might be interested in checking them out, but of course if you do invest your capital is at risk. Jimmy's Jobs of the Future is hiring, read more on our next chapter here and you can sign up to our newsletter here.A reminder you can follow us onInstagram: @JimmysjobsTwitter: @JimmysjobsAnd most importantly on LinkedInSubscribe so you don't miss any new episodes, releasing every Wednesday.You can sign up to Jimmy's Substack here for weekly content on the future of work, technology, and politicsFor more information on partnering with us please visit our partnerships page here.Also make sure you subscribe to The Shift, you can find it here on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jimmy's Jobs of the Future is hiring, read more on our next chapter here and you can sign up to our newsletter here.Welcome to Jimmy’s Jobs of the Future, presented by me, Jimmy McLoughlin, a former Downing Street Adviser on business and entrepreneurship. Today, we welcome one of my favourite entrepreneurs, Alexandra Depledge who runs the architectural company, RESI, which is looking to revolutionise the way we improve our homes and doing so via extensions. As Alex talks about you only go through this process perhaps once or twice in your life, so inevitably the consumer has a hard time navigating all of the different options and knowing how and when to ask the 'right' questions. I first met Alex in 2014, when she was running the cleaning company Hassle. I had just started work at the Institute of Directors, and I had been tasked with modernising the look and feel of the grand institution who had a rather traditional headquarters based on Pall Mall. For our American friends, that is the same street which Clarence House is on where Prince Charles lives on …It is a grand building, and about as far away from a stereotypical East London start up hub stacked with ping pong tables that you could get. Simon Walker, the Director General of the IoD at the time, himself a man who had been Press Secretary to the Queen, could see a new wave of entrepreneurs coming through and we were working on lots of different approaches to attract them to engage with and become members of the IoD, after all it had originally been founded in 1906. So I was tasked with reaching out to that younger wave of entrepreneurs making their way … disrupting old traditional sectors. I was writing a report on the sharing economy, which was trying to persuade the Treasury to increase tax allowances. This brought me in touch with many great entrepreneurs, like Debbie Wosskow, Greg Marsh and today’s guest Alex Depledge.I had clearly made quite an impression on Alex, as she asked me to apply for the CEO role of the think tank and lobby group that she was Chairing at the time called the Coalition for a Digital Economy … All I will say about that interview is that fingers crossed today goes better … Suffice to say, I didn’t get that particular role, although another impressive female would call me in the following weeks and an altogether different role. Alex Depledge is what the UK needs more of … an entrepreneur who has sold one multi million pound business, who then decides not to sit on a beach or even angel invest, but is determined to try and repeat the success. She’ll talk us through how she wants to disrupt the housing industry and by making process for extensions much more streamlined and better for the customer … If you have ever been through any building work … you’ll probably be nodding your head in agreement at that statement. She also tells us how she is hopSubscribe so you don't miss any new episodes, releasing every Wednesday.You can sign up to Jimmy's Substack here for weekly content on the future of work, technology, and politicsFor more information on partnering with us please visit our partnerships page here.Also make sure you subscribe to The Shift, you can find it here on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices