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Business Leader

Business Leader
Entrepreneurship
Leadership
Covid-19
Artificial Intelligence
UK Economy
Venture Capital
London
Marks & Spencer
Exeter Chiefs
IKEA
Fintech
Greggs
Film Industry
Business Growth
Business Culture
Retail
The AA
Linkedin
Productivity
Customer Experience

Richard Harpin grew his business HomeServe from a single idea to a £4.1bn sale. On the Business Leader Podcast, he speaks to entrepreneurs and business leaders about the moments that shaped their success and failure, unlocking original advice and practical insights for anyone building or leading a business.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

PublishesWeeklyEpisodes219Founded4 years ago
Number of ListenersCategories
EntrepreneurshipManagementBusiness

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Artwork for Business Leader

Latest Episodes

£6,000, 399 meetings and one idea. Mia Drennan, founder and CEO of GLAS, turned a gap in bank-led loan administration into a global platform for servicing institutional debt that manages over $850 billion assets under management. GLAS, Global Loan Ag... more

Donat Rétif joined Loveholidays in December 2019 — just three months before Covid shut down global travel. In this episode of the Business Leader Podcast, the CEO of the UK's largest online travel agent for package holidays talks to Sir Richard Harpi... more

YouTube

C.S. Venkatakrishnan — known as Venkat — took over as Barclays CEO in 2021, inheriting a bank with a share price under pressure and no shortage of sceptics. Four years on, profits are up, returns are up, and Barclays has committed to returning over £... more

YouTube

Manchester-based Nadine Merabi played Hockey professionally for England, bought a £250 sewing machine from Argos and taught herself how to sew. With no formal training she sold a collection to Selfridges and from there she stitched together a £40 mil... more

YouTube

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Recent Guests

Nadine Merabi
Founder and designer of Merabi fashion brand
Merabi
Episode: Seams Impossible: How Nadine Merabi built a £40m fashion brand
Alidad Moghaddam
CEO, Blue Light Card
Blue Light Card
Episode: The CEO who doubled Blue Light Card membership in 3 years
Adam Jay
CEO of Vinted
Vinted
Episode: Vinted nearly went bust, now it's worth €8 billion
Kim Innes
Founder of Humble Crumble
Humble Crumble
Episode: How Humble Crumble went from viral video to stores across London
Nnamdi Emelifeonwu
Founder of Definely, legalTech entrepreneur
Definely
Episode: How to build an AI startup in the UK
Chris de Lapuente
Former CEO of Sephora, long-time retail executive
LVMH ( Sephora ), former Procter & Gamble executive
Episode: From €2.5bn to €16bn: How Sephora redefined beauty retail
Jonathan Spry
CEO of Envelop Risk
Envelop Risk
Episode: Using AI to fight cyber risk
Kai Feller
Co-founder of bart.com, entrepreneur
bart.com
Episode: The art of the possible: Scaling to £240M
Allison Kirkby
CEO of BT
BT
Episode: Can BT beat the odds?

Host

Richard Harpin
Host of Business Leader Podcast; leads discussions with entrepreneurs and business leaders about scaling, leadership, and practical growth strategies

Reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars from 63 ratings
  • A must-listen for anyone interested in entrepreneurship!

    The diversity of businesses covered in this podcast from Business Leader is a breath of fresh air in its genre. So many practical lessons and insights for any CEO/founder of a UK business.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    belle1russ
    United Kingdom2 months ago
  • World class

    A really good podcast with amazing, world class guests. Very detailed business discussions. No fluff. Just pure business strategy all the way.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    NeekyUK
    United Kingdom2 years ago
  • Great podcast - business studies an apt name!

    This is a terrific podcast. It’s a great historical look at some of the biggest stories from enterprise and commerce over the years.

    Anyone who is studying for an MBA or business studies will benefit from listening as real life case studies are unpacked with all the benefit of hindsight!

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Jimmys Jobs
    United Kingdom4 years ago
  • Fascinating debut

    A great debut podcast. Looking forward to the next episode

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    richardhfletcher
    United Kingdom4 years ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Highlighting practical lessons from leaders across industries.
Depth of conversations—no fluff, heavy on strategy.
Strong debut and consistently valuable guest lineup.
Great for MBA-like case studies and real-world scaling insights.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Barclays CEO Venkat: business turnaround, cancer, capital requirements and an £800m crisis
Q: What advice would you give to UK scale-ups seeking investment and growth?
Be ambitious, work with banks to build strong business plans, push for practical regulatory rules that enable lending, and hire good people while managing yourselves well to sustain long-term growth.
Barclays CEO Venkat: business turnaround, cancer, capital requirements and an £800m crisis
Q: What were the most important two or three things that have driven the value created during your tenure?
Key factors included a strategic focus on the UK market and risk management discipline, a strengthened management team, clearer organizational structure, and successful execution of the plan with government and regulator support, plus careful acquisitions that added capability and scale while ensuring integration.
The CEO who doubled Blue Light Card membership in 3 years
Q: What advice would you give to a founder stepping aside for a new CEO?
Avoid hiring a like-for-like replacement; look for complementary strengths and ensure continuity of values and governance, with a well-structured handover and ongoing collaboration between the board and new leadership.
The CEO who doubled Blue Light Card membership in 3 years
Q: Is international expansion worth pursuing through acquisitions or organic growth?
Context-dependent; M&A can accelerate scale but requires careful post-merger integration, while organic growth demands more groundwork upfront to ensure supply and demand flywheels are aligned.
The CEO who doubled Blue Light Card membership in 3 years
Q: How do you maintain culture during rapid growth at Blue Light Card?
Hire for alignment with the mission, keep culture simple and visible (e.g., “making heroes happy”), and maintain regular, transparent feedback while refining the operating system to stay agile as the organization scales.

Audience Metrics

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Frequently Asked Questions About Business Leader

What is Business Leader about and what kind of topics does it cover?

A business-focused show featuring interviews with founders, CEOs, and senior executives who lead growth-driven, mission-oriented companies across tech, retail, and consumer sectors. Episodes commonly explore scaling strategies, leadership lessons, product-market fit, and resilient pivots that sustain rapid expansion while maintaining core purpose. Noteworthy threads include pragmatic governance, international expansion, and culture-led transformation, with a bias toward actionable insights for founders and mid-market leaders seeking practical guidance and evidence-based approaches.

Overall, listeners are likely drawn to evidence-based leadership strategies, case-study style storytelling, and real-world reminders that sustainable growth ble... more

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How many subscribers and views does Business Leader have?

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Which podcasts are similar to Business Leader?

These podcasts share a similar audience with Business Leader:

1. The Room Where It Happened
2. James Sinclair's Business Broadcast
3. The High Performance Podcast
4. The Bottom Line
5. The Rest Is Money

How many episodes of Business Leader are there?

Business Leader launched 4 years ago and published 219 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

How do I contact Business Leader?

Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.

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What guests have appeared on Business Leader?

Recent guests on Business Leader include:

1. Nadine Merabi
2. Alidad Moghaddam
3. Adam Jay
4. Kim Innes
5. Nnamdi Emelifeonwu
6. Chris de Lapuente
7. Jonathan Spry
8. Kai Feller

To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.

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