Jimmy's Jobs of the Future

Our guest today is Simon Rogerson, co-founder of the Octopus Group. He says that you can broadly split people into two categories in life: those that are a drain and those that radiate energy. It is something that I wholeheartedly agree with.  And Simon is one of life’s biggest radiators, giving off energy wherever he goes.Octopus are a partner on this podcast and one of the joys of that partnership is being able to spend more time with the company and get a further understanding of what the founders Chris and Simon have built over the last 20 years. They started a fund management company 20 years in their bedroom with one phone line and one copy of the yellow pages. Now the Octopus Group is one of the most powerful engine rooms of the UK entrepreneurial ecosystem and has been responsible for spinning out unicorns such as Octopus Energy. The interview is split into two, with this episode focusing on the story of how Octopus was founded, how it became a B-corp, its social responsibilities and how it's disrupting untrusted industries.Join us next week for more of an exploration of Simon as a character- and how that bleeds into the culture of Octopus as an entity.If you feel you’ve been affected by the issues Simon has brought up around financial literacy, and want to do something about it,  do look up Octopus’ money coach at www.octopusmoneycoach.comYou 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

Our guest today is Alice Bentinck, co-founder of Entrepreneur First.EF (as it's more commonly known) celebrate their tenth year this week and co-founders Alice & Matt have gone from strength to strength - even fostering their first billion-dollar company in Tractable … which also happens to be the UK's 100th unicorn.But it has not been plain sailing - as you’ll hear today.There are many myths around entrepreneurship that I try to challenge on this podcast, one of which is that entrepreneurs are born not created. I believe it has never been easier to be an entrepreneur and is now a much more credible career choice than even 10 years ago … However,  the number of tools and options available can also make it more difficult to know where to turn.EF looks to solve this by matching you up with a co-founder and learning the basics of entrepreneurship from some of the very best …and we are probably just at the beginning of their journey.A big thank you to all you listeners for powering us into the top 15 of Apple business podcasts ….If you are enjoying the series, it makes a massive difference if you could rate us on iTunes.It is wonderful to read reviews such as the one by Charles Fletcher of Navigate Politics or hearing from people like Eben Owen who has recently got a job having been inspired by the guests on the podcast.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

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