FTI Consulting’s Step Up Podcast Series

Episode 1 – Emma Jones CBE, Founder of Enterprise Nation, on how Covid has impacted Entrepreneurs

The Covid-19 pandemic has undoubtedly hit small businesses particularly hard and throughout that time Enterprise Nation has been expanding its network to offer expert advise to entrepreneurs asking the question, “how will I survive this?”. Emma Jones, Founder of Enterprise nation talks about the importance of having strong business leadership, resilience and top talent to grow the UK’s vibrant start-up ecosystem.

There’s so much evidence to say if you start a business that has a purpose, it brings profit too.

Episode 2 – Anthony Eskinazi, Founder & CEO of JustPark, on how to build and scale a business

Anthony Eskinazi explains how he grew his tech marketplace business JustPark from a small idea into nationwide business, with further plans to expand overseas. He discussed the challenges of moving from the start-up to scale-up phase of the business, the importance of being surrounded by the right people and his mission to build a more sustainable transportation system.

The biggest learning from moving from the start-up to scale-up phase is who you surround yourself with. So, when you’re in that start-up mode, you tend to hire people with a tonne of talent but not a tonne of experience, and then as you move to scale up, you need the experience as well.

ESG is the hot topic of the business world, but how can SME’s and budding entrepreneurs use their businesses make an impact and drive positive change? Olivia shares her advice on aligning business models with a strong sense of purpose and the importance of being transparent about the ongoing journey towards sustainability.

I do not understand how, now, one would start a business that would not address a social or environmental challenge. To me it’s a complete no brainer.

Episode 4 – Piers Linney, Entrepreneur and former dragon on BBC’s Dragon’s Den, on investing in the right talent

Piers sat down with us to discuss the highs and lows of his illustrious career and what he’s learnt along the way about investing in, growing, and selling businesses. He explained why a diverse workforce can reduce business risk and how companies should be looking to build a fairer society through their recruitment practices.

Diverse businesses are stronger businesses, they’re more profitable businesses, they have less risk in them and they serve their customers more effectively, so diversity is now your job if you’re a CEO.

Episode 5 – Hannah Beaumont, Founder of Beaumont Organic, on educating consumers about sustainable retail

Hannah Beaumont spoke to us about the ‘covid-effect’ on small, sustainable businesses, and the shift that led many consumers to consider more consciously sourced clothing. Since founding Beaumont Organic back in 2008, Hannah has become one of the pioneers of the sustainable fashion industry and is working to build a global community of like-minded retailers and consumers.

It’s just so important that we’re looking ahead all the time at what our consumers are asking for, what new fabrics we could be doing, and how we can further improve our transparency both externally with the products we’re producing, but also internally. I want to be the company that people also want to come and work for as well as buy off.

Episode 6 – James Swanston, Founder of Voyage Control, on his start-up journey

James shared with us some of the successes, failures, and key learnings that he has taken from his journey building his logistics software company, Voyage Control. He discussed the importance of creating your own luck as an entrepreneur, and his high hopes for the greener future of the construction industry.

Running a business that’s brand new and trying to do new things is all about  experimentation – some experiments succeed and some fail – and I think inevitably successful entrepreneurs are fortunate enough to succeed more times than they fail.

Episode 7 – Sam Fromson, co-founder of YuLife, on leading a community

Sam Fromson explains the dichotomy between being both a Rabbi and a business leader, and how those two roles in his life complement one another in surprising ways. He discusses the various trials and tribulations faced by any founder embarking on a start-up journey, and the importance of treating your organisation as a community.

I really find that as a founder I spend a lot of my time working with people, working through their challenges, helping them to step up to different opportunities and also ensuring that we have a healthy organisation and that people are functioning well together as a business.

Episode 8 – Anna Clare Harper, CEO of SPI Capital, on the social conscience of the real estate market

We heard from Anna Clare Harper on how she’s helping real estate investors to step up their social conscience and what net zero means for the housing market. The acclaimed author, strategist and entrepreneur shared her thoughts on the stability of the housing market and explained why anyone looking to buy property should be factoring the ‘energy transition’ risk into their investment decisions.

I think more and more everyone involved in the market is recognising that they need to be more conscious of the impact of decisions, whether it’s investment decisions and who they’re housing, or what they’re building and how that affects people’s lives.

Episode 9 – Rob Haines, Co-Founder of Founders Intelligence, on fostering innovation in business

Rob Haines is the Co-Founder and Partner of Founders Intelligence, a strategy consulting firm that brings together Entrepreneurs and big business to unlock solutions and drive growth. In this episode, Rob takes us through his career, from venture capital to consulting, and explains how the world’s best founders create environments for innovation and new growth initiatives that can be replicated in any business.

We learnt really quickly that if you don’t spend a lot of time designing the right homes for new growth initiatives and innovation in the corporate context none of it gets into market or none of it scales.

Episode 10 – Christophe Diercxsens, Global Public Affairs Director at Too Good To Go, on purpose and social impact

Now more than ever, businesses are publicly talking about their purpose, but what does it mean to be part of a company driven by a core mission to shake up our global food system? Christophe discussed how Too Good To Go is empowering consumers, businesses and policy makers around the world to create a movement against food waste.

Our vision is a planet without food waste and so the mission that we have set out for ourselves is to both inspire and empower everyone to fight food waste together.

Episode 11 – Olivia Harris, CEO of Dolphin Living, on affordable housing for a sustainable economy

Dolphin Living is a company on a mission to create affordable homes for working Londoners who keep the city’s economy and culture alive. Dolphin Living Chief Executive Olivia Harris, shares her view on why affordability and sustainability need to be considered simultaneously when building affordable housing for the next generation.

Because affordability is so key to us for our residents, actually the benefit of having a sustainable home, will also provide a financial benefit in terms of affordability to those residents.

Now is the time to step up our plans, seize the opportunities of today and confront the challenges tomorrow will bring. To hear more about how we help businesses to Step Up, take a look at our brochure below.

If you’d like to know more, please get in touch with Rob Mindell or Ollie Pratt.