The Bottom Line
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The Bottom Line
The definitive business podcast from the BBC. Each week, the BBC's Evan Davis is joined by bosses, entrepreneurs and industry experts, to lift the lid on how their businesses work, and what it’s like to be in charge. They discuss a big issue, a big challenge, or a big question facing their industry....
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405 Episoden
Chaos Management: Do Fewer Rules Make For Better Workplaces?
Can chaos ever be good for business? From Donald Trump’s unpredictable tariff policies to Elon Musk’s disruptive leadership style, some of the world’...
Spinouts: How Can Universities Turn Research Into Successful Businesses?
What happens when university research becomes a business? It’s called a spin-out and it’s built Silicon Valley, with Stanford University at the centre...
Direct to Consumer: A Better Way to Sell?
It's easier than ever to create a website for your business and talk directly with customers, but what are the pitfalls to avoid? Three business leade...
Decisions That Made Me: Greg Jackson (Octopus Energy)
Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, Greg Jackson left school at 16 to write computer games, later joining Greenpeace before returning to study economics...
Decisions That Made Me: Charlie Bowes-Lyon (Wild)
In 2019, Charlie Bowes-Lyon co-founded Wild with childhood friend Freddy Ward, frustrated by the lack of sustainable options in personal care. Their f...
Decisions That Made Me: Mark Dixon (IWG)
Mark Dixon left school at 16 and began selling hot dogs before building a bread roll business. In 1989 he founded Regus, spotting the need for flexibl...
Decisions That Made Me: Thomas Beahon (Castore Co-Founder)
Tom Beahon played youth football for Tranmere Rovers from the age of eight, but when he realised he’d never make the very top, he walked away to chase...
Decisions That Made Me: Anthony Eskinazi (JustPark Founder)
When he finished university Anthony Eskinazi was destined for a graduate scheme with a top accountancy firm, but he couldn’t resist a business idea he...
Decisions That Made Me: Joanna Jensen (Childs Farm Founder)
When an investor pulled the plug on a £3m cash injection for Joanna Jensen’s fledgling business, it could not have come at a worse time. The Childs Fa...
Decisions That Made Me: Nick Grey (Gtech, Founder and CEO)
When Nick Grey started his cordless vacuum business 20 years ago he took a big risk by handing a lot of control to a much bigger rival. The entreprene...
Decisions That Made Me: Zak Brown (McLaren Racing, CEO)
Zak Brown didn’t graduate high school – he was thrown out for fighting - but he loved sport. He watched his first Formula 1 race when he was 10, and b...
The Bottom Line Business Awards 2025
Which business leader, or company, has had the most outstanding 12 months? What's been the biggest disaster or blunder? Evan Davis and guests look bac...
Car Parks: Who's Making Money From Your Ticket?
It's an industry that has few fans, but how does it really work, and will there be enough spaces in future for the UK's growing fleet of cars?
E...
Scaling Up: What Turns a Start-Up into a Success?
What does it take to grow a new enterprise? Evan Davis hears about the decisions behind creating a multi million-pound business.
Founder...
Care Homes: How Will They Cope Without Migrant Workers?
Care homes are to be barred from recruiting overseas staff, as part of government plans to cut net migration, but will the sector be able to tempt eno...
Presentations: How to Avoid 'Death By PowerPoint'
Few things in working life are as familiar or as dreaded as presentations, but done well they can persuade and even inspire. So what are the tricks to...
Cyber Attacks: On The Front Line Of A Hack
Cyber criminals have seriously damaged some household names recently - M&S, Co-op, North Face, Harrods - but what really happens behind the scenes whe...
Pay: What If You Knew What Your Colleagues Earned?
Discussing pay is one of society’s big taboos - it’s just not the done thing to ask other people what they earn. And it can be even more hush-hush in...
Introducing… The Bottom Line
The definitive business podcast from the BBC.
Each week host Evan Davis is joined by company bosses, entrepreneurs and industry experts, who lif...
Made in China: How To Get A Product Manufactured In The Far East
President Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports have shaken up the global economic order, but why have so many brands turned to China to make their produ...
Decisions That Made Me: Richard Farleigh (former Dragon, entrepreneur)
Richard Farleigh grew up poverty-stricken in outback Australia as one of eleven children. When he was an infant, he was taken into care and spent the...
Decisions That Made Me: Erinch Sahan (DEAL, Social Enterprise expert)
The child of immigrant parents to Australia, Erinch was taught to want a stable life. He was having a successful career at Proctor and Gamble, but one...
Decisions That Made Me: Sophie O’Brien (Pollen Careers, CEO)
After 14 years of having a successful career in media, Sophie found herself unemployed. She thought with her skills and experience finding a new role...
Decisions That Made Me: Sir Kenneth Olisa (technology entrepreneur)
At a time when coding and IT was in its infancy, Sir Kenneth fortuitously took a computer class to get out of cross country running; that choice would...
Decisions That Made Me: Chris May (Mayden, Founding Director)
When a family member gets sick, it can mean major changes to our lives. For Chris May, it meant he needed a role that could be done entirely from home...
Decisions That Made Me: Claire Daniels (Trio Media, CEO)
Grief hits everyone differently. For Claire Daniels, it changed her life; she had been working as the head of marketing for a technology firm and beli...
Decisions That Made Me: Julian Metcalfe (Itsu and Pret A Manger)
An early passion for the high street meant Julian Metcalfe was determined to get into retail from the get-go. He and his partner Sinclair Beecham foun...
Decisions That Made Me: Sonnaz Nooranvary (House of Sonnaz, upholsterer)
Sonnaz Nooranvary thought she’d have to be a doctor or a lawyer to please her parents, but struggled academically thanks to a combination of dyslexia...
Decisions That Made Me: Alan French (Thomas Cook, CEO)
When high street travel firm Thomas Cook collapsed in 2019, it triggered the biggest ever peacetime repatriation, with 150,000 holidaymakers needing t...
Running a Business: The Bottom Line Answers Your Questions
How would you invest £100k? Do entrepreneurs have super-human levels of optimism? How can you keep ownership of a great idea? In a first for The Botto...
Self-checkouts: Have Shops Reached Peak Self-Scan?
Self-checkouts have become a staple in supermarkets, fast food chains and other shops, but now some companies are reconsidering their use. Evan Davis...
London's Stock Exchange: why aren't companies listing in Britain anymore?
After a year in which a number of big companies decided to list in New York rather than the UK, Evan Davis asks what can be done to attract firms to t...
Repairs: How Can Businesses Make Money From Fixing Things?
With the success of the BBC programme The Repair Shop, Evan Davis examines the business opportunities of companies which offer to repair things from c...
DEI: Are Businesses Dumping Workplace Diversity?
Major US businesses have begun ditching or scaling back their diversity initiatives. Will UK firms be next? Evan Davis is joined by three guests who s...
Robots On the Doorstep: Is This The Future Of Food Delivery?
Evan Davis talks to the Estonian Ahti Heinla, co-founder of robot delivery firm Starship Technologies, which is hoping to expand across the UK. Evan...
Unbossing: Can We Work Without Managers?
Can businesses operate without managers? It's an idea Amazon, Meta and Citigroup are exploring. Evan hears from the leaders of three companies who've...
A Four Day Week: Less Work for More People?
Evan Davis explores if working the traditional five day week could be replaced by working four, eight hour days. Could working more efficiently benefi...
Decisions That Made Me: Sir John Hegarty (The Garage Soho, Founder)
The advertising exec behind some of the most successful adverts of recent decades shares some of the decisions that have influenced his career, includ...
Networking: Will It Actually Help Me Get a Job?
Evan Davis gets up-to-date tips on finding a new job and hears how the process of making yourself stand out to an employer has changed over the years....
Decisions That Made Me: Dana Denis-Smith (Obelisk Support, CEO)
Career clarity can be hard to find in the middle of a demanding 9 to 5, but sometimes getting away from it all for a while can make you realise what y...