Simon Says

In season 2, episode 26 Simon interviews Justine Roberts. Justine Roberts CBE is Founder and CEO of Mumsnet, one of the UK’s largest and most influential online communities sharing advice, support and product recommendations with over 7 million unique users per month. Justine is a non-executive director of FTSE100 insurance firm Admiral and of the Open Data Institute founded by Sir Tim Berners-Lee. She is also a member of the Government’s Rose Review Board. In 2011, Justine launched Gransnet, a website for the original baby boomer generation. She is a mother of four (and two dogs) and was appointed CBE in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to the economy.

In episode 10 of PEP Talk, Simon interviews Oliver Prill. Oliver joined Tide in 2018 and has led its rapid scaling into the UK’s leading business financial platform. He has over 20 years leadership experience in financial services, having worked across the banking and insurance sectors, including starting his own financial services company. In many of his roles, Oliver has worked closely with small business owners and has always been inspired by their energy and passion. Oliver is adamant about putting founders at the forefront of Tide’s agenda and bringing a better business banking service to small businesses. Enter to win £25,000: https://www.tide.co/beyourownboss/

In season 2, episode 25 Simon interviews Shara Tochia. Prior to launching wellness brand DOSE, Shara had a career in marketing roles working for brands Ralph Lauren, Facebook, Instagram & fitness startup 1Rebel. She now runs DOSE full time & teaches spinning classes in the early morning hours. Creating a brand with feeling good at the heart of the business, Shara’s career has taught her many lessons about what balance and happiness means to her.

In episode 9 of PEP Talk, Simon interviews Michael Krayenhoff. Michael is co-founder and COO of Inner Circle, a high quality dating app focussed on helping people meet IRL. Prior to this, Michael worked for a consultancy in Singapore. He studied Industrial Engineering and Management in The Netherlands, followed by an MSc in Entrepreneurship at Royal Holloway University of London. At Inner Circle Michael is responsible for anything from team and culture to support and legal.

In season 2, episode 24 Simon interviews Graham Hobson. Graham was the founder and first CEO of Photobox - a startup in 2000 and later becoming Europe’s largest personalisation company. Photobox acquired Moonpig as well as other European brands and the group was sold to Private Equity in 2016. Since then Graham has worked in various roles: as CTO, board member, trustee, angel investor, social impact supporter, coach, mentor and general advisor helping startups and larger companies with scaling and preparing for exit.

In episode 8 of PEP Talk, Simon interviews Emma Jones. Following a degree in Law and Japanese, Emma joined the international accounting firm Arthur Andersen, where she worked in London, Leeds, and Manchester offices and set up the firm's Inward Investment practice that attracted overseas companies to locate in the UK. In 2000, bitten by the dot.com bug, Emma left the firm to start her first business, Techlocate. After 15 months, the company was successfully sold to Tenon plc. The experience of starting, growing and selling a business from a home base gave Emma the idea for Enterprise Nation which was launched in 2006 as the home business website. The company has since expanded to become a small business membership community of over 75,000 people who benefit from events and support: online and in person. Enterprise Nation also presents a campaigning voice to the government and the media on behalf of its members. In 2021, Emma was awarded a CBE for services to small businesses and entrepreneurs.

In season 2, episode 23 Simon interviews Ben Francis. Ben is a 28 year old billionaire and Founder of GymShark. Ben reveals how he grew his side hustle from a family garage to become one of the world's most successful brands in the world.

In season 2, episode 22, Simon talks to James Davidson. James started his career at Unilever, gaining extensive experience in operations and management. After 6 years, he embarked on an expedition in Central America volunteering with Raleigh International, during which he realised the power of a strong purpose coupled with an entrepreneurial approach. On his return to the UK, he joined Innocent Drinks, where his role as Head of Supply Chain was key in supporting the company as it grew rapidly in the UK and across Europe. Following 7 years at Innocent, James joined a co-founding team to work on a new pet food idea: providing tailor-made pet nutrition at affordable prices. CEO James and his team have grown tails.com since 2014 into a business that is creating and leading, a new, direct-to-consumer category in pet food and that attracted investment from Nestle Purina Petcare in 2017. Since then, James led tails.com’s expansion into Europe launching in an additional eight European countries in 2020.

In episode 6 of PEP Talk, Simon talks to Avin Rabheru. Avin is an entrepreneur, early-stage investor and non-executive director. He is the Founder and CEO of Housekeep.com, which became the UK market leader in the £10 billion house and office cleaner market 3 years after launch. The business has raised two VC/angel investment rounds, winning Deal of the Year in 2014, and has since raised cleaner earnings 2x and received 250,000 5* customer reviews. Housekeep has won multiple awards including Service Business of the Year and Avin was named a StartUps Young Gun in 2016. The Financial Times named Housekeep the 6th fastest-growing business in Europe in 2019. Prior to launching Housekeep, Avin was a venture capital investor and remains an active angel investor, with 40+ investments in consumer technology businesses. Prior to this, Avin worked in strategy consulting, investment banking and read PPE at Oxford University, where he won the Harold Wilson prize.

In episode 21, Simon talks to Yat Siu. Hong Kong blockchain gaming group Animoca Brands claims unicorn status recently and it's time to hear the full story from the founder, Yat Siu himself live from the StartmeupHK festival.