The World of Business

For the final programme of the series, John Murphy returns to a selection of businesses that have come through this far. A fabric and haberdashery shop, a fruit farmer and a micro-pub. What's their story of survival, what did they change and what of the future? The potential difficulties and pitfalls, are not over. Presenter: John Murphy Producer: Phoebe Keane Series editor: Penny Murphy

The pandemic and the resulting recession have led to widespread calls to recognise that we now have a once in a generation opportunity to re-think how we put the economy back together again. Research shows we can help our economy flourish again by prioritising spending on environmentally friendly initiatives. From electric bikes, to eco-friendly cement, to a new type of plastic that could heat our homes, fill our mattresses and cushion our running trainers, Adam Shaw meets the businesses that could benefit from this type of recovery plan and could help us build back better. Presenter: Adam Shaw Producer: Phoebe Keane

As Brexit talks between the European Union and the UK got under way earlier this year, before anyone was using the word “pandemic”, Caroline Bayley began following two companies which both export to Britain– one in France, one in Germany – to see how they were planning for trade with the UK outside of the EU. One is a vineyard and wine business in Bordeaux and the other makes components for kitchen furniture and cabinets in Germany. Both were knocked sideways by the coronavirus but have still had to prepare for future business with the UK with or without a trade deal. Presenter/Producer: Caroline Bayley

Politicians keep promising more trees – seen as good for the environment and for fighting climate change. Trees are also big business sustaining vital rural jobs. So will lots of new planting keep everyone happy? Chris Bowlby explores forestry's future in one of its key locations – Northumberland. He visits the huge forest at Kielder, and a rural factory turning thousands of logs into essential materials for millions of British homes. But there are problems too – a thicket of bureaucracy surrounding planting, and questions about what sort of trees really do bring environmental gain. Presenter: Chris Bowlby Producer: John Murphy

Robots and Artificial Intelligence have been moving into our workplaces for years. But is now the time that they will become fully established and take over some jobs entirely? Is the march of the robots going to get louder now that everything seems to be changing ? David Baker investigates. Presenter: David Baker Producer: Sandra Kanthal Credit: Getty Creative / iStock / PhonlamaiPhoto

Sparked by the Black Lives Matter protests around the world that followed the death of George Floyd, companies are wading into the conversation on racial inequality. With a focus on diversity in business, there was also interest and investment in a lot of companies run by black people in the UK. Tobi Oredein, founder of media company Black Ballad, asks businesses including a home-ware maker, an interior design firm and a global bank if this is all a trend or if there will be substantial and long-term change. Presenter: Tobi Oredein Producer: Darin Graham Credit: Getty/Ariel Skelley

The UK fitness industry employs twenty thousand people and is worth an estimated £5 billion to the economy. But - like most other industries - it shut down overnight in March. Some teachers and trainers made swift decisions to move online. Some businesses closed permanently. Will people want to return to busy gyms, even with the new protocols? Tanya Beckett dons her leotard to discover what shape the exercise industry is in. Presenter: Tanya Beckett Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton Credit: Getty

The coronavirus pandemic and the associated global economic lockdown have had a dramatic impact on businesses across the UK, perhaps none more so than on the aviation industry and airports like Gatwick, usually the UK's second busiest. The consequences, though, go far beyond the confines of the airport. Tens of thousands of jobs in the wider economy and in nearby towns, like Crawley, are under threat. One report has suggested that, because of its dependence on Gatwick, Crawley could be the worst affected urban centre in the UK. John Murphy speaks to a range of businesses in Crawley during this extraordinary period, to see if and how they can survive. Presenter: John Murphy Producer: Darin Graham

As the UK emerges from the coronavirus lockdown, millions of employees are still furloughed – either fully or part-time – with most of their salaries paid by the government. But how many of them really have jobs to go back to? Already companies including British Airways, Rolls Royce, Bentley, Jaguar Landrover and Centrica, to name just a few, have announced thousands of job losses and no-one knows what the true picture will look like by the autumn, as government support is removed. There are dire warnings that the labour market could be as bad or even worse than the 1980s. Jonty Bloom asks whose jobs are most at risk from the economic damage wreaked by Covid 19 and what help is needed. Presenter: Jonty Bloom Producer: Caroline Bayley Picture credit: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

The oil price has crashed - for a while some producers were even paying customers to take it away. It's like no oil shock the industry has ever seen before. Lesley Curwen sets out to discover what difference cheap oil will make to our lives. Which jobs are at risk? Will there be a knock-on effect on our household finances - utility bills and pensions for example? And as lockdowns slowly start to ease, could it change how much we rely on oil for good? Presenter: Lesley Curwen Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton Picture Credit: Colin McPherson/Corbis via Getty Images)

2020 hasn't been good for British business - certainly not since Covid-19 showed up. The global pandemic and the lockdown imposed to try to fight it have affected individual livelihoods and those of many companies. John Murphy talks to some business owners from different sectors of the economy - a family-run pub, a fruit farm, a fabric and haberdashery shop and a multinational - to see what changes they've experienced and how they have had to adapt during the crisis. They explain what they think the future will hold and, indeed, whether they will survive. Presenter: John Murphy Producer: Lizzy McNeill Photo by: Victoria Connolly, MacCulloch and Wallis Ltd

With the highest Covid19 death toll in the world, and 26 million Americans claiming unemployment insurance, the US economy has taken a massive hit. But how quickly can it bounce back? Will America's economy will be strong enough to pull its weight in the global economy? Economist Jim O'Neill explores the current scale of the problem and asks how resilient are US businesses and the country's economy. In Business hears how Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Romer has devised A Roadmap to Responsibly Re-opening America, which seeks to balance the health priorities with the pressure to open up the economy again. The story of a small bakery in Brooklyn, which has had to lay off its workers, is illustrative of the damage that has been inflicted on businesses across America. Has the fiscal response from the authorities been sufficient to protect businesses so that they can recover once lockdowns end? Is American manufacturing sufficiently flexible to pivot and adapt to the changing circumstances of the Covid health crisis? And will one of the longer term consequences of the crisis be a re-thinking of the character of American capitalism? The answers to these questions will shed light on whether American will still be able to play its traditional crucial role in the global economy. Presenter: Jim O'Neill Producer: Philip Reevel Picture Credit: Getty

In the 14th century the world was devastated by plague, known as 'The Black Death', in the 20th century a deadly form of influenza struck infecting around a quarter of the world's population. Since then HIV, Ebola and more have stricken nations. With each epidemic and pandemic comes a huge human cost but each also carry an economic cost. In this programme John Murphy visits pandemics past to see what history can teach us about economic cost and recovery. Presenter: John Murphy Producer: Lizzy McNeill Picture: An American street cleaner during the influenza epidemic in 1918 Credit: Getty

Since the Covid-19 ‘lockdown' began, vast numbers of people have been toiling away at home for the first time: converting living rooms and bedrooms into makeshift office space, wrangling with technology, and juggling family life with working hours. How are we doing? Caroline Bayley explores the delights and challenges of "WFH". Produced by Beth Sagar Fenton.

Honey bees, cow dung and mulch - the company in Zimbabwe that is protecting the forests in order to offset carbon emissions. As Charlotte Ashton wrestles with ‘flight shame', she wants to find out where her money goes if she chooses to offset her flight. She lives in Zimbabwe, but is from the UK and doesn't have the money or time to spend three weeks at sea, sailing home to visit relatives. She focuses on a company based in Zimbabwe that runs one of the largest projects of its kind in the world and discovers how carbon credits work. Carbon Green Africa's project focuses on protecting existing forests, rather than planting new trees and her journey takes her to some surprising places. In a programme recorded last November, Charlotte finds that preventing deforestation not only helps her offset her carbon emissions, but helps give people in a remote part of Zimbabwe new jobs and access to international markets. Guests: Charles Ndondo and Rory Muil, Carbon Green Africa Christian Dannecker, South Pole Presenter: Charlotte Ashton Producer: Phoebe Keane

Ruth Alexander examines whether the complex global web of supply chains can hold up under the enormous pressure of the coronavirus pandemic. Looking further into the future, she and Jonty Bloom ask whether this global shock has shown that the days of the speedy delivery of a huge choice of cheap goods from all over the world is over. Presenter: Ruth Alexander Producers: Caroline Bayley and Lizzy McNeill

Indonesia's capital Jakarta is sinking, and struggling with traffic and pollution. The government's solution? To build a new capital on the island of Borneo instead, better known for its jungles and orangutans. How will this work? Former BBC Indonesia correspondent Rebecca Henschke travels to the proposed new capital site and meets families, environmental campaigners, and local indigenous people to find out how they feel about being included in the proposed new capital territory. Can the indigenous villagers carry on getting their medical remedies from the forest? Will an orangutan sanctuary survive? And do nearby businesses welcome or fear the future competition? Rebecca also meets the family of an 11-year old girl who drowned in a disused mine pond that should have been cleaned up, but wasn't, due to widespread impunity for mining companies. Will the government honour its promises about protecting the environment this time? Will the new capital really be a “forest city”, as the Minister of National Development Planning insists? Presenter: Rebecca Henschke Producer: Arlene Gregorius Photo: Borneo. Credit: BBC

Fashion is a hugely polluting industry and is under enormous pressure to become more sustainable. From the way cotton is grown, to the use of synthetic materials and the conditions in factories where our clothes are made - these are all challenges facing the sector. In this programme Patrick Grant, the British menswear designer, factory owner and judge on the Great British Sewing Bee, asks how the fashion industry should respond and what we, as consumers, should be doing too. Presenter: Patrick Grant Producer: Caroline Bayley Picture Credit: BBC

Hydrogen is a volatile gas with an image problem, but hydrogen evangelists think this could be the ‘magic molecule' which will solve the world's air pollution and cut carbon emissions dramatically. Manuela Saragosa presents the final part of this special series on energy from Italy, where hydrogen has been pumped into the existing gas network. Could a hydrogen boat replace the diesel belching cruise liners and ships along the canals of Venice? Presenter: Manuela Saragosa Producer: Nina Robinson Photo Credit: Nina Robinson/BBC

Jaguar Land Rover, Cadbury, Weetabix are but some of the many British brands now owned by foreign corporations. The UK has one of the highest rates of company takeovers by new overseas owners. Sometimes these deals rescue a struggling business and save jobs. And sometimes they provide welcome investment for fast growth. But is there also the risk of Britain suffering a permanent loss of technology and know-how, or even a threat to national security, such as when the company targeted for takeover is in the defence industry? And what about the emotional side of takeovers? Research suggests they can be a huge burden for executives, and staff may be reluctant to cooperate with previous competitors, jeopardising the sales targets of the new owners. Ruth Alexander asks if the UK is selling its family silver, and whether this matters in a globalised world. Is Britain for sale, or inviting investment? Or has Britain already been sold, with 54% of shareholdings of UK public companies now foreign-owned? She talks to current and former CEOs and to academics, to find out why so many British companies are being bought, what this says about the UK,, and what impact it has on jobs and the future of the economy. Presenter: Ruth Alexander Producer: Arlene Gregorius Picture Credit: Getty

Australia is stubbornly sticking to providing much of its power through coal. While many countries around the world are eschewing fossil fuels, (because of their environmental impact), the Australian government continues to give the all-clear to new coal mines, including one called the Carmichael mine. It's being constructed by the Indian company, Adani. Much of the coal it produces will be exported to Asia. The mine was an issue in the country's 2019 general election, and has been the site of many protests. Heidi Pett has visited the area in Queensland where the mine is being built – speaking to locals who're on both sides of the heated debate about Australia and its continuing reliance on coal. Presenter: Heidi Pett Producer: Phoebe Keane Picture Credit: Lisa Maree Williams/Gettty Images

Every day people dig into sadza, a maize based meal, but there's a problem. Zimbabwe's getting much drier and maize can't cope. Crop failures have partly contributed to food shortages this year leading to more than 7 million people needing food aid. The economic crisis has made the situation more serious and things will only get worse as the climate heats up. How can Zimbabwe feed itself? It turns out grains like millet and sorghum could hold the key. Unlike maize, these small grains are indigenous to the region. For In Business, Charlotte Ashton meets the remarkable business people fighting to put them back on Zimbabwean plates. From convincing smallholder farmers that traditional crops are the way forward, to advertising the health benefits of small grains to busy parents, this is a campaign for hearts and minds as much as full bellies. Presenter: Charlotte Ashton Producer: Phoebe Keane Picture Credit: BBC

Germany has long been considered a leader in renewable energy – a model even for others to follow with its subsidies for wind and solar. Householders were encouraged to put solar panels on their rooves as early as two decades ago. But its so-called “Energiewende” or “energy transition” from fossil fuels to renewables is facing challenges and the country still relies on coal for 30 per cent of electricity generation. That will be phased out within the next eighteen years and nuclear energy will end too by 2022, leading to fears within industry about adequate energy capacity. Meanwhile the German government has admitted that it won't meet its climate emissions targets for 2020. Caroline Bayley has been to the industrial Ruhr region to an enormous open cast mine, as well as to Steinfurt, a rural area where they're pushing community renewable energy schemes and to the former coal town of Bottrop which is undergoing its own energy transition. Presenter/Producer: Caroline Bayley Picture Credit: BBC

Whatever happens in British politics, Britain's reputation has changed. What does this mean for its global business image? Chris Bowlby discovers what's ahead for Brand Britain.

More than seventy percent of households in Rwanda cook over wooden and charcoal fires. This means women often sit for hours every day in smoky conditions which can damage their health, increasing the risk of respiratory infections, heart disease, strokes and lung cancer. These traditional cooking methods are also the cause of widespread deforestation. The Rwandan government is aiming to halve the number of people using these cooking fuels in the next six years. They're investing in infrastructure and offering tax incentives to try and support businesses to entice customers to other products which could give them a cleaner and safer way to cook. In other countries who've made this move though, changing from traditional stoves to modern clean cooking took the best part of a century - can that really be achieved here in just six years? Producer/Presenter: Kate Lamble Picture: Lady cooking meal in pan over an open fire in Rwanda Credit: Wayne Hutchinson/Farm Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

"Beethoven's arms were bigger than the piano" says concert pianist Stephen Hough at his Steinway. "I sense him pushing at every moment - as if he's in a cage saying 'Let me out'". To mark the 250th anniversary of the composer's birth in 2020, Clemmie Burton-Hill looks, not at Beethoven the composer, but at a little-known aspect of the composer's life, Beethoven the entrepreneur. In the company of some of the foremost Beethoven proponents - pianist Stephen Hough, violinists Anne-Sophie Mutter and Daniel Hope and jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, Clemmie investigates how Beethoven pushed and cajoled music publishers, music printers and piano makers to turn convention on its head and create a music "industry". Could he even have invented the gig economy?! Presenter: Clemmie Burton-Hill Producer: Adele Armstrong Picture Credit: REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler

Since 2001 the UK has lost a quarter of its pubs. They've shut their doors for good. High taxes, high prices, supermarket competition, even the smoking ban have all been blamed. But there are new types of pub, the micropub, and community-owned pubs, which are bucking the trend. While larger, traditional establishments have been under pressure, these have flourished. So why have they been able to succeed where others have not? For In Business, John Murphy visits his local boozer - and others - to see what these new pubs have to offer. Presenter: John Murphy Producer: Ruth Alexander Picture: Micropub Credit: BBC

As Britain's sources of electricity change, along with significant changes in demand, how will the lights stay on? The major power blackout that hit the UK in early August – the worst in more than a decade – was an indication of how increasingly complicated our electricity grid is becoming. Hundreds of thousands of people, as well as major transport hubs, were affected as electricity supplies were cut to restore balance to the system and prevent an even greater blackout. The National Grid, which is the energy system operator, said two generators, including a major wind-farm, tripped out after lightning struck a high-voltage transmission line. The episode raised many questions about how stable the UK's electricity supply system is. What is clear is that the traditional coal-fired generators, which used to supply much of the UK's electricity, are being rapidly phased out. Now many more - and varied - generators supply the grid, including small and huge wind-farms, solar farms, nuclear power stations, gas-fired plants, hydro-electric turbines and other sources. This makes the management of the system more tricky. Then there's the demand side. Electricity demand is growing, not least with the prospect of electrical cars becoming commonplace. Without building the right infrastructure, with the right storage, and without the correct planning, the electricity grid will not be able to cope. David Baker speaks to the National Grid, to major electricity suppliers, and to smaller, community-based generators, asking how the system is changing and what needs to be done to make sure it remains reliable, affordable and sustainable, so that the future is not one of widespread blackouts. Presenter: David Baker Producer: John Murphy Picture: National Grid's Electricity Control Centre

Iceland has taken radical measures to reduce its gender pay gap. These aren't just about equalising pay when men and women do the same job but when they do different jobs of equal value. That's proved to be quite a sticking point in many countries around the world; ensuring that the jobs routinely occupied by women are paid as well as those that men do. Lesley Curwen meets the people tasked with comparing a production line worker with an office administrator, an HR professional with an accountant and a camera operator with a social media marketeer. What has the financial and cultural impact been on companies that have had to adjust their pay rates and what do their employees think about the process? Is the Iceland model one that other countries could follow? Presenter: Lesley Curwen Producer: Rosamund Jones Picture Credit: Getty Creative

The irradiated lands around the Chernobyl nuclear reactor were large, prosperous, and lively collective farms until the reactor exploded in 1986. Seventy percent of the toxic radiation fell in Belarus – a small, agrarian country in which most people lived on the land. Hundreds of villages were evacuated, but much of the population has since returned. A generation later Global Business visits the Belarussian contamination zone and its hinterland to see how the local economy and way of life has adapted to a world turned upside down. We meet the beekeepers developing a honey farm in the depopulated part of the zone, visit an unexpected herd of horses and hear about the innovations in arable farming designed to resist radioactive toxins. Produced and presented by Monica Whitlock Image: Horses in Belarus Radio-Ecological Zone Credit: Ilya Kuzniatsou

A victim of the “resource curse”, Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world, in spite of being rich in natural resources. Rubber is one of the country's biggest exports but few Liberians have benefitted from this multimillion dollar business. In this Global Business, Josephine Casserly meets a retired Californian policeman, James Cooper, who has returned to his grandfather's farm, determined to revolutionise Liberia's rubber industry. But in a country with a struggling economy and endemic corruption, can he succeed? Produced by Lucy Ash

Why have politicians gone from cosying up to businesses, to turning a deaf ear to their concerns? Jeremy Schwartz – a CEO himself – finds that the love affair was starting to become toxic long before Brexit, and asks whether it's really such a bad thing if governments no longer care what business leaders think. Contributors include: Andrea Leadsom – Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Frances O'Grady – General Secretary, TUC Iain Anderson - Executive Chairman, Cicero Giles Wilkes – Former Special Adviser to the Prime Minister Helen Dickinson – Chief Executive, British Retail Consortium Andy Street – Mayor of the West Midlands, former CEO of John Lewis Partnership Joe Owen – Institute for Government Paul Walsh – Chairman, Compass Group Presenter: Jeremy Schwartz Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton Picture: Getty

Flying, for many of us, is now routine. For a few of us it is a weekly, maybe even daily, event. At the same time global protests, concerned with the pressing danger of climate change and the need to reduce CO2 emissions, are gaining attention and causing alarm. So, will we ever get to a point where we can indulge our flying habit and our keep our conscience clear? Katie Prescott talks to the flight refuseniks and assesses the impact they are having. Is the long term solution to change minds or can technological advances provide a fix? Electric cars are here; small planes are already powered the same way. How long until sizeable passenger jets follow? At a number of airports around the world, planes can fill up with bio-fuels. But the take up is extremely modest. While the oil price stays low, what's the incentive for airlines to go green? Presenter: Katie Prescott Producer: Rosamund Jones Picture: Newark International Airport Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Online retail spending has increased more than four fold in the last ten years - it now accounts for almost one in five pounds we spend shopping. But whilst times are tough for our high streets, e-retailing is far from a licence to print money. With widespread discounting and a growing cost of delivery and returns, margins are being squeezed and many are finding it a struggle to survive. In this programme, Adam Shaw investigates how the economics of e-commerce work, what the move to predominantly online will mean for many retailers and what our shopping environment may look like in 10 years time. Presenter: Adam Shaw Producer: Alex Lewis Editor: Penny Murphy Image: A woman packing a box to post Credit: Getty Images

India has emerged as one of the world's fastest-growing fashion markets and is expected to touch $60 billion by 2022, which will make it the sixth largest in the world. This is due to its rapidly growing middle class and tech savvy consumers, who are buying online, as well as from a plethora of shopping malls which have mushroomed in the country's bigger cities. International brands are trying to step in and take a share of this demand – some 300 of them are planning to open stores in India within the next two years. The BBC's Nina Robinson talks to e-commerce brands, retailers, fashion entrepreneurs and influencers. The programme also features the Usha sewing project which is helping to train hundreds of thousands of rural women in sewing skills. Producer/presenter: Nina Robinson Image: Woman from the Usha sewing project at a sewing machine Credit: Nina Robinson/BBC

Twenty million Brits give their time for free each year. From the National Trust to the hospice coffee morning, the Samaritans to the local football club, huge parts of our world rely on volunteers. But how easy is it to manage a workforce who can walk out at a moment's notice? How can you ensure people perform well - or even turn up - without the "carrot and stick" of pay and disciplinary procedures? Presenter Claire Bolderson knows both sides of this: she volunteers at a food bank, but also chairs the governors at her local school. With the help of an RNLI lifeboat crew, a bustling community centre, and a whole roomful of professional volunteer managers, she discovers just how to get the best out of volunteers - and how much managers of paid staff have to learn from them. Contributors include: Tim Ody - Station Manager, RNLI Teddington Pam Bardouille - Volunteer Co-Ordinator, The Dalgarno Trust Jarina Choudhury - Volunteering Development Consultant, NCVO Emma Knights - Chief Executive, National Governance Association Dr Jenna Ward - University of Leicester Presenter: Claire Bolderson Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton Picture: BBC

Strawberries at Christmas? No problem! And as cheap as ever? Yes, of course! Many of us have become used to buying whatever fruit and vegetables we want, whenever we want, no matter the season. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries are available in supermarkets all year round. Until recently that was not the case. So what does it take for this to happen and what's the cost? John Murphy peels back the layers of the berry industry, which has grown massively in recent years. Despite increasing production costs, prices have remained stable. Can that continue? Politics, economics and the environment could have a bruising impact on producers and on the price and availability of the fresh fruit we eat. Presenter: John Murphy Producer: Sally Abrahams Picture Credit: BBC

Chinese technology company, Huawei, is the world's biggest supplier of network telecoms equipment, and with a research budget of up to $20 billion, its ambition is to be even bigger still. However, it's also one of the most controversial businesses of our time. The United States and others have banned its involvement in their critical infrastructure, fearing that Beijing might use the company to spy, steal trade secrets, or even wage cyber warfare. Huawei insists that its networks are as secure as anyone else's, and says that its technology is literally years ahead of competitors, so countries who reject it risk falling behind. As the world prepares for a technological revolution through 5th Generation mobile communications, the BBC has gained rare access to Huawei's founder and Chairman, Ren Zhengfei, to explore his company's origins, its rise to global pre-eminence, and what makes it tick. And, to ask if the current security questions threaten its continued growth. Presenter: Karishma Vaswani Producer: Michael Gallagher Picture: Customers entering a Huawei Technologies Co. store in Beijing, China Credit: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Climate-change scientists have warned that the clock is ticking, environmental campaigners are blocking the streets, but until now the world of business has kept itself out of the fray. That is changing. From multi-billion dollar investors, to leaders of international companies, to banking bosses, the call is going out for business to take more responsibility for the way the world runs, and the way businesses run themselves. And it's not just their environmental impact that's coming under scrutiny. Inequality, their supply chains and the way they treat their workforce are becoming as much a part of companies' bottom line as simple profit. Welcome to the Impact Economy. David Baker meets new business champions who want to overturn the old ways of doing things and put commerce at the centre of guaranteeing a future world that is good for everyone. But will it work or is it just a flash in the pan? Presenter: David Baker Producer: John Murphy Picture Credit: Getty

One thing Germany does well, you might assume, is infrastructure and transport. Think again. For Global Business on the BBC World Service, Chris Bowlby's had a rare behind the scenes tour of Berlin's new airport. It's billions over budget, already seven years late in opening, and is still being rebuilt before a single plane's landed. So what's gone so wrong in a place supposed to be the capital of efficient engineering? And is the Berlin airport fiasco a warning for infrastructure builders everywhere? Presenter: Chris Bowlby Producer: Jim Frank Picture Credit: Getty

The last eighteen months have seen a global public backlash against plastic. Everyone talks about the huge impact that Sir David Attenborough and the BBC's Blue Planet series has had in raising public awareness about the damage that 8 million tonnes of plastic which enter the ocean every year is having on sea life. It was one of the triggers for consumers, governments and companies to decide that action needed to be taken. But what does it mean for businesses which depend on plastic as a core raw material or for the packaging and retail industries, both deeply reliant on plastic? Caroline Bayley talks to companies about the opportunities and challenges presented by the plastic backlash. Presenter: Caroline Bayley Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton Picture Credit: BBC

Guyana, a country of just 750,000 people wedged between Venezuela and Suriname on the north-east coast of South America, has never had an oil industry. But a series of recent discoveries in its waters has revealed billions of barrels of oil beneath the ocean, potentially one of the world's biggest reserves. Next year, the oil is due to start flowing and the impact on business is already being felt. A shoreside oil service industry has popped up; workers who previously struggled to get by are finding stable employment; and cafes and hotels are overflowing with foreign customers. But encounters with the Venezuelan Navy, huge environmental risks, and legal challenges mean this is a business that is far from straightforward. Presenter/Producer: Simon Maybin Photo: A trainee at the Totaltec Academy in Georgetown prepares for work in the new oil sector Credit: BBC

The face-to-face interview can be life-changing. But it comes with risks attached, of bias on the part of the interviewer, or nerves on the part of the candidate. Lesley Curwen looks at the fast-changing process of getting hired in companies, big and small. Large companies are increasingly using recruitment tools including artificial intelligence to weed out the weakest candidates, in order to find the right candidate for the right job. But there is resistance in some quarters from some small employers who believe in the old ways of sifting through CVs by hand to produce a short-list. So can the traditional face-to-face interview survive longterm? Presenter: Lesley Curwen Producer: Smita Patel Picture credit: Getty Creative Stock

Can the United Arab Emirates grow its own food? The Desert kingdoms today import 90% of their own food, at great cost. And each year consumption increases by 12%. This raises issues of food security, price and environmental damage – flying in fruit from California is not environmentally sustainable. This is a region with little soil and few water resources. On average it rains just five days a year. So why is agriculture now considered one of the most exciting growth areas in the UAE? Farmers here depend on desalinated water from the Arabian Sea – costly to both the farmer and, once again, to the environment. But new agricultural technologies are being developed. Starting at a small scale, can such businesses really be built up? Or are they vanity projects reliant simply on oil wealth? Georgia Tolley examines if the Emiratis can make their desert bloom and ensure their business of food production grows. Presenter: Georgia Tolley Producer: John Murphy Picture Credit: BBC

The relationship between landlord and tenant is an important, often unseen, dynamic that most of us don't give much thought to. And yet, it's reshaping high streets up and down the country. High rents are blamed for the collapse of so many retailers - they appear unsustainable yet they are the vehicle through which much of our pension wealth is invested. In this programme, Ruth Alexander looks at different models of ownership: from the big financial institutional investors through to the original aristocratic landowner and asks how - in the turmoil created by the rapidly changing retail environment - these landlords are facing up to a new reality. Presenter: Ruth Alexander Producer: Alex Lewis

Its top stars can earn millions of dollars a year, without breaking into a sweat. They train for hours a day and have legions of fans, who fill stadiums to watch them. But these aren't normal sports stars. They're part of one of the fastest growing industries - known as Esports. And, as John Murphy discovers, the distinction between real physical sport and this online, virtual version is narrowing, as major companies and some of the world's most famous football clubs are signing up the top Esports players to play in major competitions. A number of video games, including Fifa, Dota2, Call of Duty and League of Legends, have their own international leagues and world championships. The global audience is now estimated at more than 200 million, and growing. Annual revenues from Esports, currently around 650 million dollars for events, continue to rise. Billions more are generated through video games sales. In the UK the video games sector, from which Esports have sprung, is now worth more than video (films) and music combined. There's even talk of Esports becoming an Olympic sport. So will dexterous Esporters become the new athletic champions, or is this a business that will play itself out? Who is making the money and how? And why are top soccer clubs clamouring for some of the virtual action? Presenter: John Murphy Producer: Lizzy McNeill Image Credit: BBC

Much has been made of the death of the high street, but some places are staging a comeback. The government has announced this Spring a £1.6bn Stronger Towns Fund to help less well-off areas. Six hundred million pounds of that will be shared out to towns which can come up with credible plans to help their high street adapt to the rapidly changing retail environment. So what does it take to turn a town around? In this programme, Ruth Alexander visits two towns in Cheshire - Northwich and Altrincham - which have tried two quite different approaches to see what works, and what doesn't. Presenter: Ruth Alexander Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

As the global economy slows and the search for new areas of growth becomes more intense, many countries are looking beyond their coastline to the vast, untapped potential of the sea. The “Ocean Economy” is now attracting attention from governments, businesses and investors, not only in traditional industries like fishing and shipbuilding but also in new areas like biotech and robotics. Integration is the watchword and one country, Portugal, is now taking this seriously enough that its government has even established a Ministry of the Sea. For this edition of Global Business Tanya Beckett visits first Lisbon, where the ships they built half a millennium ago sent explorers across the Atlantic and round the Cape to bring home riches from South America, Africa and India; and then Leixoes, an Atlantic Ocean port where a cluster of technology enterprises combines with the local fishing industry and an ocean cruiser terminal in the embodiment of the integrated model that represents the Ocean Economy today. Presenter: Tanya Beckett Producer: Tim Mansel Picture Credit: BBC

There's more money spent on innovation today than ever before. Yet the process by which we come up with ideas is still poorly understood. If only we had a better grasp of how great ideas are generated, we would have the key to unlock huge new waves of innovation and productivity. Adam Shaw looks at the growing study of innovation to uncover its secrets and looks at what companies and individuals are doing to make them more innovative than ever before. Presenter: Adam Shaw Producer: Smita Patel Editor: Penny Murphy Picture Credit: Getty Images

Five years after Uruguay became the first country to allow the sale of recreational marijuana, what does a legal cannabis industry look like? When the small South American nation of Uruguay made it legal to grow and buy marijuana for fun, an entire industry had to start from scratch. For producers, regulators, investors, and consumers, it was a blank canvas. Now, as Canada and more and more US states follow in Uruguay's pioneering footsteps, what can others learn from Uruguay's approach? And as even more US states and other countries legalise the medical use of marijuana, can Uruguay, which also legalised growth for medical use, benefit from being at the vanguard of a new - and potentially huge - global industry. Presenter/Producer: Simon Maybin Picture Credit: BBC

Caroline Bayley reports from Hamburg in Germany on how companies there are preparing for Britain's exit from the European Union. The UK is one of the port city's most important trading partners and one thousand firms in the area have business links with Great Britain. So it's not surprising that there's a flurry of activity in Hamburg in the final weeks before the UK's departure. But how do you plan for Brexit and a new trading scenario which has not yet been finalised? We speak to those who are planning ahead, as well as British workers, concerned about their future status as employees in Germany, and many who simply don't know what to do. Presenter: Caroline Bayley Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton Picture: St. Pauli-Landungsbrücken, Hamburg, Germany Credit: Getty Creative / iStock / tomch