The Ian King Business Podcast

Sarah Cardell, the Chief Executive of the Competition and Markets Authority talks to Ian King about why they blocked Microsoft's takeover of Activision Blizzard. Neil Banbury, the UK General Manager of the gambling operator, Kindred Group, discusses regulation of the gambling industry.Ian also interviews Sebastian Siemiatkowski, the chief executive of Klarna, about the company's products, plus Chief Operating Officer at Biffa, Maxine Mayhew, reveals more details about plans to convert the first ten of its 2,900-strong fleet of diesel lorries to electric

Dan Ives, who's Managing Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst at Wedbush Securities talks to Ian King about a surge in Microsoft shares. Plus James Pirie, Vice President for Planning and Logistics at Arla discusses a possible scheme to help farmers convert million of tonnes of cow dung into biogas.Ian's also joined by Pano Christou, the Chief Executive of Pret-A-Manger about how changing work patterns in London have affected their business and Pamela Harper from luxury goods maker Halcyon Days talks about opportunities offered by the Coronation.

Fraser McKevitt, Head of Retail and Consumer Insight at Kantar talks to Ian King about grocery prices and developing trends in our shopping habits. Plus, chief executive and co-founder of GAIL’s Bakery, Tom Molnar discusses how the rising price of flour has affected his business. Ian's also joined by the boss of train ticketing app Seatfrog, which has raised 6 million pounds in its latest funding round, and Mark Preston from commercial property group Grosvenor talks about diversifying its portfolio.

Ian King speaks to Maurice Button, the Chairman of City Week about what business is doing to support decarbonisation and he discusses the digital assets in the financial services sector with Barney Reynolds, from the law firm Shearman and Sterling. Giulia Carbone, from the Natural Climate Solutions Alliance at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development talks about the voluntary carbon market and Lord Browne of Madingley, the former Chief Executive of BP, who's now the Chairman of BeyondNetZero talks about his reaction to the Just Stop Oil Protests.

The government may have to raise the state pension age to 70 by 2050 due to pressure on the public finances. Ian King is joined by Carl Emmerson, Deputy Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies - who says nine in ten workers are saving less than needed for a decent standard of living in retirement.Ian also speaks with the editorial director at Auto Trader, about demand for electric vehicles, and the head Salesforce about ethical considerations of generative AI.

As the rate of inflation has eased slightly but still remains above 10%, Ian is joined by KMPG's Chief Economist Yael Selfin to discuss the official figures. He also talks to Alex Kendall - the chief executive of the UK-based autonomous vehicle group, Wayve - about Asda beginning what it claims is the UK’s biggest trial to date of autonomous grocery home shopping delivery. Plus government minister Oliver Dowden, who is warning the UK is facing cyber threats from Russian-aligned groups.

As unemployment figures unexpectedly rose, Ian is joined by Raoul Ruparel, Director of the Centre for Growth at Boston Consulting Group, to analyse what it means for the UK economy.Expedia’s chief executive and vice chairman Peter Kern discusses how his company is using AI to help people decide where to go on holiday, there’s more on the technology with Dr Rasmus Rothe, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Merantix, to look into the impact it could have on the world and Tony Bates, Chief Executive of Genesys, who talks about how call centres are using AI.Marion Laboure, Macro Strategist at Deutsche Bank, discusses payment trends and the rise of digital currencies and the state of the steel industry’s scrutinised with Billington's Chief Executive Mark Smith.

Today sees the start of a summit on the future of the finance and the technology sector. Argentina is marking the 13th annual World Malbec Day, celebrating one of its biggest exports - and the UK aviation industry has pubished its Carbon Road-Map - in which it sets out how it hopes to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

The UK's biggest defence contractor, BAE Systems, has signed an agreement with Microsoft with the aim of supporting its work on digital defence. Ian King is joined by the Chief Information and Technology Officer at BAE Systems, Julian Cracknell to learn more about the collaboration.After shares of Superdry fell by 18-percent Ian and Lead Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, Sophie Lund Yates discuss what's behind the drop and what options the retailer faces now. And Ian speaking to Jina Kwon the UK General Manager of Otovo, a Norwegian company that runs on online marketplace, connecting homeowners with local, vetted, and approved installers of solar panels.

On today's episode, Ian King takes us through the Office for National Statistics' GDP figures which suggest widespread public sector strikes led to a flat-lining of the UK economy in February.Tesco sees more than a billion pounds wiped off its pre-tax profits for last year, as it warns of 'unprecedented' inflation.And what would advancements in AI technology mean for the acting industry? Actor David Menkin shares his thoughts.