Podcasts about british chambers

Stuart Pollington was born in the United Kingdom and grew up there. After college he began working and along the way he decided he wanted to travel a bit. He worked in Las Vegas for six months and then had the opportunity to work for a year in Australia. He then ended up doing some work in Asia and fell in love with Thailand. For the past 20 years he has lived in Thailand where he helped start several entrepreneurial endeavors and he began two companies which are quite alive and well.   My discussion with Stuart gave us the opportunity to explore his ideas of leadership and entrepreneurial progress including what makes a good entrepreneur. He says, for example, that anyone who wishes to grow and be successful should be willing to ask many questions and always be willing to learn. Stuart's insights are quite valuable and worth your time. I believe you will find most useful Stuart's thoughts and ideas.     About the Guest:   Stuart Pollington is a seasoned entrepreneur and digital strategist who has spent over two decades building businesses across the ASEAN region. Originally from the UK, Stuart relocated to Thailand more than 20 years ago and has since co-founded and led multiple ventures, including Easson Energy and Smart Digital Group. His experience spans digital marketing, AI, and sustainability, but at the heart of it all is his passion for building ideas from the ground up—and helping others do the same.   Throughout his career, Stuart has worn many hats: Sales Director, CTO, Founder, Digital Marketer and growth consultant. He thrives in that messy, unpredictable space where innovation meets real-world execution, often working closely with new businesses to help them launch, grow, and adapt in challenging environments. From Bangkok boardrooms to late-night brainstorms, he's seen firsthand how persistence and curiosity can turn setbacks into springboards.   Stuart's journey hasn't always been smooth—and that's exactly the point. He's a firm believer that failure is an essential part of the learning process. Whether it's a marketing campaign that flopped or a business idea that never got off the ground, each misstep has helped shape his approach and fueled his drive to keep moving forward. Ways to connect with Stuart:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartpollington/ www.smart-digital.co.th www.smart-traffic.com.au www.evodigital.com.au https://easson.energy     About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes:   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well, hello, everyone. Once again, it is time for an episode of unstoppable mindset. And today we have a guest, Stuart pullington, who is in Thailand, so that is a little bit of a distance away, but be due to the magic of science and technology, we get to have a real, live, immediate conversation without any delay or anything like that, just because science is a beautiful thing. So Stuart is an entrepreneur. He's been very much involved in helping other people. He's formed companies, but he likes to help other entrepreneurs grow and do the same things that he has been doing. So I am really glad that he consented to be on unstoppable mindset. And Stuart, I want to welcome you to unstoppable mindset. And thank you for being here,   Stuart Pollington ** 02:14 Ryan, thank you for the invitation, Michael, I'm looking forward to it.   Michael Hingson ** 02:18 And Stuart is originally from the United Kingdom, and now for the past, what 20 years you've been in Thailand? Yes, over   Stuart Pollington ** 02:27 a bit over 20 years now. So I think I worked out the other day. I'm 47 in a couple of weeks, and I've spent more than half of my life now over in Asia.   Michael Hingson ** 02:39 So why do you like Thailand so much as opposed to being in England?   Stuart Pollington ** 02:46 It's a good question. I mean, don't get me wrong, I do, I do like the UK. And I really, I really like where I came, where I'm from. I'm from the south coast, southeast, a place called Brighton. So, you know, pretty good, popular place in the UK because of where we're situated, by the, you know, on the on the sea, we get a lot of, you know, foreign tourists and students that come over, etc. I mean, Asia. Why? Why Asia? I mean, I originally went traveling. I did six months in America, actually, first in Las Vegas, which was a good experience, and then I did a bit of traveling in America, from the West Coast over to the East Coast. I did a year in Australia, like a working holiday. And then on my way back to the UK, I had a two week stop over in Thailand, and I went down to the beaches, really enjoyed kind of the culture and the way of life here, if you like. And ended up staying for a year the first time. And then after that year, went back to the UK for a little bit and decided that actually, no, I kind of liked the I liked the lifestyle, I liked the people, I liked the culture in Thailand, and decided that was where I wanted to kind of be, and made my way back   Michael Hingson ** 04:13 there you are. Well, I can tell you, Las Vegas isn't anything like it was 20 years ago. It is. It is totally different. It's evolved. It's very expensive today compared to the way it used to be. You can't, for example, go into a hotel and get an inexpensive buffet or anything like that anymore. Drinks at the hum on the on the casino floors are not like they used to be, or any of that. It's it's definitely a much higher profit, higher cost. Kind of a place to go. I've never been that needy to go to Las Vegas and spend a lot of time. I've been there for some meetings, but I've never really spent a lot of time in Las Vegas. It's a fascinating town. Um. One of my favorite barbecue places in New York, opened up a branch in Las Vegas, a place called Virgil's best barbecue in the country. And when they opened the restaurant, the Virgil's restaurant in Las Vegas, my understanding is that the people who opened it for Virgil's had to first spend six months in New York to make sure that they did it exactly the same way. And I'll tell you, the food tastes the same. It's just as good as New York. So that that would draw me to Las Vegas just to go to Virgil's. That's kind of fun. Well, tell us a little about the early Stuart kind of growing up and all that, and what led you to do the kinds of things you do, and so on. But tell us about the early Stuart, if you would.   Stuart Pollington ** 05:47 Yeah, no problem. I mean, was quite sporty, very sporty. When I was younger, used to play a lot of what we call football, which would be soccer over, over your way. So, you know, very big, younger into, like the the team sports and things like that, did well at school, absolutely in the lessons, not so great when it came to kind of exams and things like that. So I, you know, I learned a lot from school, but I don't think especially back then, and I think potentially the same in other countries. I don't think that the the education system was set up to cater for everyone, and obviously that's difficult. I do feel that. I do feel that maybe now people are a bit more aware of how individual, different individuals perform under different circumstances and need different kind of ways to motivate, etc. So, yeah, I mean, I that that was kind of me at school. Did a lot of sport that, you know was good in the lessons, but maybe not so good at the PAM studying, if you like, you know the studying that you need to do for exams where you really have to kind of cram and remember all that knowledge. And I also found with school that it was interesting in the lessons, but I never really felt that there was any kind of, well, we're learning this, but, and this is how you kind of utilize it, or this is the practical use of what we're learning for life, if that, if that makes sense. Yeah. So, you know, like when we were learning, and I was always very good at maths, and I love numbers, and you know, when we were learning things in maths and things like that, I just never felt that it was explained clearly what you would actually use that for. So when you're learning different equations, it wasn't really well explained how you would then utilize that later in life, which I think, for me personally, I think that would have made things more interesting, and would have helped to kind of understand which areas you should focus on. And, you know, maybe more time could have been spent understanding what an individual is good at, and then kind of explaining, well, if you're good at this, or passionate with this, then this is what you could do with it. I think I remember sitting down with our I can't they would have been our advisors at the time, where you sit down and talk about what you want to do after school, and the question was always, what do you want to be? Whereas, you know, for me personally, I think it would have been more useful to understand, what are your passion you know? What are you passionate about? What are you good at? What do you enjoy doing? And then saying, Well, you know, you could actually do this. This is something you could do, you know. So you could take that and you could become, this could be the sort of career you could do, if that makes sense. So anyway, that that was kind of like, like school and everything like that. And then after school, you know, I didn't, I worked for a couple of years. I didn't really know what I wanted to do. Funnily enough, there was actually a Toys R Us opening in Brighton in one of the summers she went and got, I got a summer job there at Toys R Us. And I really enjoyed that. Actually, that was my first step into actually doing a bit of sales. I worked on the computers. So we were, you know, selling the computers to people coming in. And when we opened the store, it's a brand new store. You know, it was just when the pay as you go. Mobile phones were kind of just coming out. We had Vodafone analog, but it was the non contract where you could just buy top up cards when they first came out, and I remember we were the first store, because we were a new store. We were the first store to have those phones for sale. And I remember just being really determined to just try and be the first person to just sell the first ever mobile phone within Toys R Us. And I remember I started in the morning, and I think my lunch was at, say, 12, but I missed my lunch, and I think I was up till about one, one or 2pm until finally I managed to find someone who, who was, who me, had that need or wanted the phone, and so I made that first sale for toys r us in the UK with the mobile phone, and that that, in itself, taught me a lot about, you know, not giving up and kind of pushing through and persevering a bit. So yeah, that that was kind of my, my early part. I was always interested in other cultures, though. I was always interested at school, you know, I do projects on Australia, Egypt and things like that. And, you know, in the UK, when you get to about, I think similar, similar to America, but, you know, in the UK, where you either before or after uni, it's quite usual to do, like, a gap year or do a bit of traveling. And I just kind of never got round to it. And I had friends that went and did a gap year or years working holiday in Australia, and I remember when they came back, and I was like, Yeah, you know, that's that's actually what I want to do. So when I was about 22 it was at that point, and I'd worked my way up by them from Toys R Us, I'd already moved around the country, helped them open new stores in different locations in the UK. Was working in their busiest story of in Europe, which was in London. But I decided I wanted to kind of I wanted to go and travel. So I remember talking to my area manager at the time and saying, Look, this is what I want to do. I had a friend who was traveling, and he was meeting up with his sister, and his sister happened to be in Las Vegas, which is how we, we kind of ended up there. And I remember talking to my area manager at the time and saying that I want to leave, I want to go and do this. And I remember him sat down just trying to kind of kind of talk me out of it, because they obviously saw something in me. They wanted me to continue on the path I was doing with them, which was going, you know, towards the management, the leadership kind of roles. And I remember the conversation because I was saying to him, Look, I want, I want to, I want to go and travel. I really want to go. I'm going to go to Las Vegas or to travel America. And his response to me was, well, you know, if you stay here for another x years, you can get to this position, then you can go and have a holiday in America, and you could, you can get a helicopter, you can fly over the Grand Canyon, and kind of really trying to sell me into staying in that path that they wanted me to go on. And I thought about that, and I just said, No, I don't want to just go on a holiday. I really just want to immerse myself, and I just want to go there, and I want to live the experience. And so yeah, I I left that position, went to Las Vegas, ended up staying six months. I did three months. Did a bit in Mexico, came back for another three months. And that's where I met a lot of different people from different countries. And I really kind of got that initial early bug of wanting to go out and seeing a bit more of the world. And it was at that point in my life where I was in between, kind of the end of education, beginning of my business career, I guess, and I had that gap where it was the opportunity to do it. So I did, so yeah, I did that time in America, then back to the UK, then a year in Australia, which was great. And then, yeah, like I said, on the way home, is where I did my stop over. And then just obviously fell in love with Thailand and Asia, and that became my mindset after that year going back to the UK. My mindset was, how do I get back to Thailand? You know, how do I get back to Asia? I also spent a bit of time, about five years in the Philippines as well. So, you know, I like, I like, I like the region, I like the people, I like the kind of way of life, if you like.   Michael Hingson ** 14:23 So when you were working in the Philippines, and then when you got to Thailand, what did you do?   Stuart Pollington ** 14:30 Yeah, so I mean, it all starts with Thailand, really. So I mean, originally, when I first came over, I was, I was teaching and doing, trying to kind of some teaching and voluntary stuff. When I came back, I did a similar thing, and then I got, I get, I wouldn't say lucky, I guess I had an opportunity to work for a company that was, we were, we were basically selling laptop. Laptops in the UK, student laptops, they were refurbished like your IBM or your Dell, and we they would be refurbished and resold normally, to students. And we also, we also used to sell the the laptop batteries. So we would sell like the IBM or Dell laptop batteries, but we sell the OEM, you know, so we would get them direct from, from from China, so like third party batteries, if you like. And back in the day, this is just over 20 years ago, but back then, early days of what we would call digital marketing and online marketing. And you know, our website in the UK, we used to rank, you know, number one for keywords like IBM, refurb, refurbished. IBM, laptop Dell, laptop battery, IBM battery. So we used to rank above the brands, and that was my introduction, if you like, to digital marketing and how it's possible to make money online. And then that kind of just morphed into, well, you know, if we're able to do this for our own business, why can't we do this for other businesses? And that would have been the, you know, the early owners and founders of the of smart digital and smart traffic seeing that opportunity and transitioning from running one business and doing well to helping multiple businesses do well online and that, that was the bit I really enjoy. You know, talking to different business owners in different industries. A lot of what we do is very similar, but then you have slightly different approaches, depending on them, the location and the type of business that people are in.   Michael Hingson ** 16:47 Well, you, you have certainly been been around. You formed your own or you formed countries along the way, like Eastern energy and smart digital group. What were they? Right?   Stuart Pollington ** 16:59 Yeah. So, so yeah, going back to the computer website. Out of that came a company called smart traffic that was put together by the free original founders, guy called Simon, guy called Ben, and a guy called Andy. And so they originally came together and put and had created, if you like, smart traffic. And smart traffic is a digital marketing agency originally started with SEO, the organic, you know, so when someone's searching for something in Google, we help get websites to the top of that page so that people can then click on them, and hopefully they get a lead or a sale, or whatever they're they're trying to do with that, with that traffic. So, yeah, they originally put that together. I being here and on the ground. I then started working within the business. So I was running the student website, if you like, the laptop website, and then got the opportunity from very early on to work within the Digital Marketing Company. I've got a sales background, but I'm also quite technical, and I would say I'm good with numbers, so a little bit analytical as well. So the opportunity came. We had opened an office in the Philippines, and it had been open for about, I think, 18 months or two years, and it was growing quite big, and they wanted someone else to go over there to support Simon, who was one of the founders who opened the office over there. And that's when I got the opportunity. So I was over in Cebu for what, five, five and a half years. At one point, we had an office there with maybe 120 staff, and we did a lot of the technical SEO, and we were delivering campaigns for the UK. So we had a company in the UK. We had one in Australia, and then also locally, within the kind of Thai market. And that was fantastic. I really enjoyed working over in the Philippines again. Culture enjoyed the culture enjoyed the people. Really enjoyed, you know, just getting stuck in and working on different client campaigns. And then eventually that brought me back to Thailand. There was a restructure of the company we, you know, we moved a lot of the a lot of the deliverables around. So I was then brought back to Thailand, which suited me, because I wanted to come back to Thailand at that point. And then I had the opportunity. So the previous owners, they, they created a couple of other businesses in Thailand. They're one that very big one that went really well, called dot property, so they ended up moving back to the UK. Long story short, about maybe 10 years ago, I got the opportunity to take over smart digital in Thailand and smart traffic in Australia, which are both the. Marketing agencies that I'd been helping to run. So I had the opportunity to take those over and assume ownership of those, which was fantastic. And then I've obviously been successfully running those for the last 10 years, both here and and in Australia, we do a lot of SEO. We do a lot of Google ads and social campaigns and web design, and we do a lot of white label. So we we sit in the background for other agencies around the world. So there'll be agencies in, you know, maybe Australia, the UK, America, some in Thailand as well, who are very strong at maybe social or very strong ads, but maybe not as strong on the SEO so we, we just become their SEO team. We'll run and manage the campaigns for them, and then we'll deliver all the reporting with their branding on so that they can then plug that into what they do for their clients and deliver to their clients. So that's all fantastic. I mean, I love, I love digital marketing. I love, I love looking at the data and, you know, working out how things work. And we've been very successful over the years, which then led on to that opportunity that you mentioned and you asked about with Eastern energy. So that was about three and a half years ago, right right around the COVID time, I had a meeting, if you like, in in Bangkok, with a guy called Robert Eason. He was actually on his way to the UK with his family, and kind of got stuck in Bangkok with all the lockdowns, and he was actually on his way to the UK to start Eastern energy there. And Eastern energy is basically, it's an energy monitoring and energy efficiency company. It's basically a UK design solution where we have a hardware technology that we retrofit, which is connects, like to the MDB, and then we have sensors that we place around the location, and for every piece of equipment that we connect to this solution, we can see in real time, second by second, the energy being used. We can then take that data, and we use machine learning and AI to actually work with our clients to identify where their energy wastage is, and then work with them to try and reduce that energy wastage, and that reduces the amount of energy they're using, which reduces their cost, but also, very importantly, reduces the CO two emissions. And so I had this chance encounter with Robert, and I remember, at the time I was we were talking about how this solution worked, and I was like, oh, that's quite interesting. You know, I've I, you know, the the digital marketing is going quite well. Could be time to maybe look at another kind of opportunity, if you like. So I had a look at how it worked. I looked at the kind of ideal clients and what sort of other projects were being delivered by the group around the world. And there were a couple of big name brands over in there. So because it works quite well with qsrs, like quick service restaurant, so like your fast food chains, where you have multiple locations. And it just so happened that one of the in case studies they'd had, I just through my networking, I do a lot of networking with the chambers in Bangkok. Through my networking, I actually happened to know some of the people in the right positions at some of these companies. I'd never had the opportunity to work with them, with the digital marketing because most of them would have their own in house teams, and I just saw it as an opportunity to maybe do something with this here. So I, you know, I said to Robert, give me a week. And then a week later, I said, right, we've got a meeting with this company. It's international fast food brand. They've got 1700 locations in Thailand. So when ended that meeting, very, very positive. And after that meeting, I think Robert and I just I said to Robert, you know, currently you have a plan to go to the UK. Currently you're stuck in Thailand with lockdown, with COVID. We don't know what's going to happen and where everything's going to go. Why don't we do it here? And that's where it originally came from. We decided, let's, you know, let's, let's give that a shot over here. Since then, we've brought in two other partners. There's now four of us, a guy called Gary and a guy called Patrick. And yeah, I mean, it's a bit slower than I thought it would be, but it's in the last. Six months, it's really kind of picked up, which has been fantastic. And for me, it was, for me, it was just two things that made sense. One, I love I love data, and I love the technology. So I love the fact that we're now helping businesses by giving them data that they don't currently have the access to, you know. So when you get, you know, when you when you get your electricity bill, you get it the month after you've used everything, don't you, and it just tells you how much you've got to pay. And there's not really much choice. So what we're doing is giving them the visibility in real time to see where their energy is going and be able to make changes in real time to reduce that energy wastage. And I just thought, Well, look, this is great. It's very techie. It's using, you know, date big data, which I love, using machine learning and AI, which is great. And then I also, you know, I do care about the environment. I got two young kids, so I do care about what's happening around the world. And for me, that was a win, win. You know, I got to, I got to do something with tech that was new and exciting. It's definitely new to this region, even though it's been new to the same sort of technology has been utilized in Europe and America for a number of years. So it felt new, it felt exciting. And it's also good, you know, because we are helping people on the path to net zero. You know, how can we get to net zero? How can we reduce these emissions? So, yeah, I mean that that, for me, is   Stuart Pollington ** 26:40 two different types of, in my opinion, entrepreneurial kind of journeys. One is that the with the digital marketing is, is all it's a story of working my way up to then reach the top, if you like. And whereas Eastern energy is more of a traditional kind of as an entrepreneur, this is, this is an idea. Let's do something with it and get an exciting about it. So two kind of, two different approaches to get to the ownership stage, if you like.   Michael Hingson ** 27:14 I have an interesting story. I appreciate what you're saying. The whole entrepreneurial spirit is so important in what we do, and I wish more people had it. But years ago, one of my first jobs out of college was working for a company in Massachusetts, Kurzweil Computer Products. Ray Kurzweil, who developed, originally a reading machine for the blind, and then later a more commercial version of it. And there's somebody that I had met when I was a student at UC Irvine who ended up being back in Massachusetts working for at that time, a think tank consulting company called Bolt Beranek and Newman. I don't know whether you're familiar with them. They changed their name to, I think it was CLOUD NINE or Planet Nine. But Dick was telling me one day that, and this is when mainframe computers were so large and there was a lot needed to keep them cool and so on. Anyway, he was telling me that one day the gas utility came in because the total heating bill for the six story building was like $10 and they wanted to know how BBN bolt, brannic and Newman was stealing energy and and making it so that they didn't pay very much money. And the the president of the company said, let me show you. They went down to the basement, and there they had two PDP 20s, which are like dual PDP 10s. And they put out a lot of heat, needless to say, to run them. And what BBN did was to take all of that heat and pipe it through the building to keep the building warm in the winter. Rather than paying all the gas bills, they were using something that they already had, the entrepreneurial spirit liveth well. And the bottom line is they, they kept the building well heated. And I don't know what they did in the summer, but during the winter it was, it was pretty cool, and they were able to have $10 gas bills for the six story building, which was kind of fun. No,   Stuart Pollington ** 29:39 that's brilliant, yeah, and that just goes to show me, that is what a large part of this, you know, energy efficiency and things like that, is, it's, it's, it's not about just completely replacing or stopping something. It's about better utilizing it. Isn't it? So they, you know the example you just gave there, with the heat and the wasted energy of being lost in that heat release they've used and utilized, which is brilliant.   Michael Hingson ** 30:12 I a couple of years ago. So my wife passed away in 2022 and we have a furnace and so on here, and we had gas bills that were up in the $200 a month or more up as much as $300 a month in the winter to keep the house at a temperature that we could stand. And two years ago, I thought about, how do we lower that? And I was never a great fan of space heaters, but I decided to try something. We got a couple of space heaters, and we put them out in the living room, and we have ceiling fans. So turned on the space heaters and turned on the ceiling fans, and it did a pretty decent job of keeping the temperature down, such that for most months, I didn't even have to turn the furnace on at all, and our heating bill went down to like $39 a month. Then last year, we got an additional heater that was a little bit larger, and added that to the mix. And again, the bottom line is that if I start all of that early in the morning, our heating bill is like 30 $35 a month. Now I do cheat occasionally, and I'll turn the furnace on for about 45 minutes or 50 minutes in the morning with the ceiling fans to help distribute the warmer air, and I can get the house up to 75 degrees, or almost 30 Celsius, in in a very quick time. And then with the other two space heaters running, I don't have to use furnaces or anything for the rest of the day. So I think this year, the most expensive heating bill we had was like $80 because I did occasionally run the the the heaters or the furnace, and when I was traveling, I would turn the furnace on for the cat a little bit. But the bottom line is, there's so many things that we can do to be creative, if we think about it, to make things run more efficiently and not use as much energy and eliminate a lot of the waste that that we have, and so that that has worked out pretty well, and I have solar on the house. So in the summer, when most people around here are paying four and $500 a month for their electric bills to run the air conditioning. My electric bill year round, is $168 a month, which is   Stuart Pollington ** 32:47 cool. Yeah, no, that's great that you've and you've that is a great example there of kind of how you know our approach to energy efficiency. You know what? What are you currently doing? Is there a more efficient way of doing it? Which is exactly what you found, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 33:07 yeah, and it works really well. So I can't complain it's warming up now. So in fact, we're not I haven't turned the furnace or anything on at all this week. This is the first week it's really been warm at night. In fact, it was 75 degrees Fahrenheit last night. I actually had to turn the air conditioner on and lower the house to 70 degrees, and then turned it off because I don't need to keep it on, and made it easier to sleep. But it's it's amazing, if we think about it, what the things that we can do to make our energy lives more efficient, lower the carbon footprint, and all those kinds of things. So I hear what you're saying, and it's and it's important, I think that we all think about as many ways as we can of doing that. I   Stuart Pollington ** 33:56 think one of the biggest problems with energy is just invisible. You don't, you know, you don't really see it. No. So just, it's just one of those. You just don't really think about it. And again, you only get, you only get told what you've used once you've used it. Yeah, so it's too late by then. And then you go, Oh, you know, you might get an expensive bill. And go, oh, I need to be careful. And then you're careful for a few days or a week, and then again, you don't see it until you get your next bill. Yeah, it's really hard as with anything. I mean, it's a bit like going to the gym. If you go to the gym or the fitness and you just do it sporadically. You don't really have a routine, or, you know, it's gonna be very hard to achieve anything. But then if you, if you set your mind to it, if you maybe get a trainer, and you get a you go onto a better diet, and you follow your routine, you can you will see the results. And it's very similar to what we do. If you've once you've got the data, and you can actually see what. Happening, you can make proper, informed and educated business decisions, and that's what we're trying to do with that is to help businesses make the right decision on the path to net zero   Michael Hingson ** 35:11 well, and you have to develop the mindset as the consumer to bring in a company like yours, or at least think about yourself. What can I do consistently to have a better energy pattern? And I think that's what most people tend not to do a lot, and the result of that is that they pay more than they need to. The power companies like it, the gas companies like it. But still, there are better ways to do it so. So tell me you have been in business and been an entrepreneur for a long time. What is maybe an example of some major crisis or thing that happened to you that you you regard as a failure or a setback that you have had to deal with and that taught you something crucial about business or life.   Stuart Pollington ** 36:08 Brilliant question. I mean, I would, I would guess, over 20 years, there's been a lot of different, sorry, a lot of different things that have happened. I think probably, probably an impactful one would have been. And this taught me a lot about my team, and, you know, their approach and how everyone can pull together. So it would have been, I think it was about, it was when I was in the Philippines. So it would have been about maybe 1212, years ago, we're in Cebu, and there was a big earthquake, and when it hit Cebu, I think it was quite early in the morning. It was like 6am and I remember the whole bed was kind of shaking and rocking, and we, you know, had to get out of the condo. And we're, at the time, living in a place called it Park. And in the Philippines, there's a lot of cool centers, so it's very much 24/7 with an office environment. So as we're coming out of the condo, in literally pants, as in, when I say pants, I mean underwear, because you literally jump out of bed and run. And they were like 1000s, 1000s of all the local Filipinos all all in their normal clothes, because they've all doing the call center work. And I remember just, you know, sitting out on the ground as the aftershocks and whole grounds moving and and, and that that was a very, you know, personal experience. But then on top of that, I've then got over 100 staff in in Cebu at the time that I then have to think about. And, you know, is everyone okay? And then, because of the time it happened, Luckily no one was in the office because it was early, yeah, but it all but it also meant that everything we needed   Michael Hingson ** 38:08 was in the office. Was in the office. Yeah, yeah. So,   Stuart Pollington ** 38:10 so I remember Matt, you know, I remember getting a group of us there, was myself and maybe three or four others from the office, and I remember getting in my car, drove to the office. We were on, I think it's like the eighth or ninth floor, and they didn't want to let us in because of, obviously, the earthquake, and it was a, it was a couple of hours later, and you've got to be obviously, you know, everything needs checking. You still got all the aftershocks, but we managed to let them allow us to run up the fire exit to the office so we could grab, you know, I think we were grabbing, like, 1520, laptops and screens to put in the car so that we could then, and we had to do that of the fire exit, so running up, running down, and that was all into The car so we could then drive to a location where I could get some of my team together remote and to work in this. I think we ended up in some coffee shop we found that was open, and we had the old free G boost kind of the Wi Fi dongles, dongles. And I just remember having to get, like, 1015, of my team, and we're all sat around there in the coffee shop in the morning. You know, there's still the after shops going on the I remember the office building being a mess, and, you know, the tiles had come in and everything, and it was all a bit crazy, but we had to find a way to keep the business running. So we were in the Philippines, we were the support team. We did all of the delivery of the work, but we also worked with the account managers in the UK and Australia as their technical liaisons, if you like. So we. Helped do the strategy. We did everything. And so with us out of action, the whole of Australia and of the whole of the UK team were kind of in a limbo, so we really had to pull together as a team. It taught me a lot about my staff and my team, but it also kind of it taught me about, no matter what does happen, you know, you can find a way through things, you know. So at the time that it happened, it felt like, you know, that's it, what we're going to do, but we had to turn that around and find the way to keep everything going. And yeah, that, that that just taught me a lot of you know, you can't give up. You've got to find a way to kind of push on through. And yeah, we did a fantastic job. Everyone was safe. Sorry. I probably should have said that. You know, no one, none of my team, were affected directly from the from the earthquake, which was great, and we found a way to keep things going so that the business, if you like, didn't fall apart. We,   Michael Hingson ** 41:09 you know, I guess, in our own way, had a similar thing, of course, with September 11, having our office on the 78th floor of Tower One, the difference is that that my staff was out that day working. They weren't going to be in the office. One person was going to be because he had an appointment at Cantor Fitzgerald up on the 96th floor of Tower One for 10 o'clock in the morning, and came in on one of the trains. But just as it arrived at the station tower two was hit, and everything shook, and the engineer said, don't even leave. We're going back out. And they left. But we lost everything in the office that day, and there was, of course, no way to get that. And I realized the next day, and my wife helped me start to work through it, that we had a whole team that had no office, had nothing to go to, so we did a variety of things to help them deal with it. Most of them had their computers because we had laptops by that time, and I had taken my laptop home the previous night and backed up all of my data onto my computer at home, so I was able to work from home, and other people had their computers with them. The reason I didn't have my laptop after September 11 is that I took it in that day to do some work. But needless to say, when we evacuated, it was heavy enough that going down 1463 stairs, 78 floors, that would have been a challenge with the laptop, so we left it, but it worked out. But I hear what you're saying, and the reality is that you got to keep the team going. And even if you can't necessarily do the work that you normally would do you still have to keep everyone's spirits up, and you have to do what needs to be done to keep everybody motivated and be able to function. So I think I learned the same lessons as you and value, of course, not that it all happened, but what I learned from it, because it's so important to be able to persevere and move forward, which, which is something that we don't see nearly as much as sometimes we really should.   Stuart Pollington ** 43:34 Yeah, no, no, definitely. I mean the other thing, and I think you you just mentioned there actually is it. You know, it was also good to see afterwards how everyone kind of pulls together. And, you know, we had a lot of support, not just in the Philippines, but from the UK and the Australia teams. I mean, we had a, we had a bit of an incident, you know, may have seen on the news two weeks ago, I think now, we had an incident in Bangkok where there was a earthquake in Myanmar, and then the all the buildings are shaking in Bangkok, yeah, 7.9 Yeah, that's it. And just, but just to see everyone come together was, was it's just amazing. You know? It's a shame, sometimes it takes something big to happen for people to come together and support each other.   Michael Hingson ** 44:27 We saw so much of that after September 11. For a while, everyone pulled together, everyone was supporting each other. But then over time, people forgot, and we ended up as a as a country, in some ways, being very fractured. Some political decisions were made that shouldn't have been, and that didn't help, but it was unfortunate that after a while, people started to forget, in fact, I went to work for an organization out in California in 2002 in addition to. To taking on a career of public speaking, and in 2008 the president of the organization said, we're changing and eliminating your job because nobody's interested in September 11 anymore, which was just crazy, but those are the kinds of attitudes that some people have, well, yeah, there was so little interest in September 11 anymore that when my first book, thunderdog was published, it became a number one New York Times bestseller. Yeah, there was no interest. It's   Stuart Pollington ** 45:31 just, I hope you sent him a signed copy and said, There you go.   Michael Hingson ** 45:35 Noah was even more fun than that, because this person had been hired in late 2007 and she did such a great job that after about 18 months, the board told her to go away, because she had so demoralized the organization that some of the departments were investigating forming unions, you know. So I didn't need to do anything. Wow, so, you know, but it, it's crazy, the attitudes that people have. Well, you have it is, it's it's really sad. Well, you have done a couple of things that I think are very interesting. You have moved to other countries, and you've also started businesses in unfamiliar markets. What advice? What advice would you give to someone who you learn about who's doing that today, starting a business in an unfamiliar market, or in a foreign country, or someplace where they've never been?   Stuart Pollington ** 46:34 Yeah, again, good questions. I looking back and then so and seeing what I'm doing now, and looking back to when I first came over, I think chambers, I think if I have one, you know, obviously you need to understand the market you want. You need to understand, like the labor laws, the tax laws and, you know, the business laws and things like that. But I think, I think the best thing you could do in any country is to check out the chambers. You know, I'm heavily involved and active with aus Jam, which is the Australian Chamber of Commerce, because of the connection with smart traffic in Australia, in Sydney, the digital marketing. I'm also involved with bcct, the British chamber as British Chamber of Commerce Thailand as well, that there's a very big AmCham American Chamber over here as well. And I just think that the chambers can help a lot. You know, they're good for the networking. Through the networking, you can meet the different types of people you need to know, connections with visas, with, you know, work permits, how to set up the business, recruiting everything. So everything I need, I can actually find within this ecosphere of the chambers. And the chambers in Thailand and Bangkok, specifically, they're very active, lots of regular networking, which brings, you know, introductions, new leads to the business, new connections. And then on top of that, we've had, we've had a lot of support from the British Embassy over in in Thailand, especially with the Eastern energy, because it is tech based, because it is UK Tech, and because it is obviously something that's good for the environment and what everyone's trying to push towards. So I think the two key areas for me, if you are starting a business in an unfamiliar area, is one. Check out the chambers. So obviously the first one you'd look at is your own nationality. But don't stress too much about that. I mean, the chambers over here will welcome anyone from any nationality. So, you know, utilize the chambers because it's through that that you're going to get to speak to people, expats, already running businesses. You'll hear the horror stories. You'll hear the tips. It will save you some time, it will save you some money, and it will save you from making similar mistakes. And then also talk to your embassy and how they can maybe support you. We've had, again, some great support from the British Embassy. They've witnessed demo use. They've helped us with introductions. On the energy efficiency side,   Michael Hingson ** 49:26 one of the things that clearly happens though, with you is that you also spend time establishing relationships with people, so you talk about the chamber and so on. But it also has to be that you've established and developed trusting relationships, so that you are able to learn the things that you learned, and that people are willing to help teach you. And I suspect that they also realize that you would be willing to help others as well.   Stuart Pollington ** 49:55 Yeah, and I think I mean yes, and I'm talking about. And I mentioned, sorry, networking and the changes. But with networking, you know, you don't, you shouldn't go in there with the mindset of, I'm going into networking. I want to make as many sales as I can. Whatever you go into the networking. Is an opportunity to meet people, to learn from people you then some of those people, or most of those people, may not even be the right fit for you, but it's about making those relationships and then helping each other and making introductions. So you know, a lot of what I do with the chambers, I run a lot of webinars. I do workshops where I do free training on digital marketing, on AI, on SEO, on ads, on social. I use that as my lead gen, if you like. So I spend a lot of time doing this educationally and helping people. And then the offshot of that is that some of those will come and talk to me and ask me to how I can help them, or they will recommend me to someone else. And you know, we all know in business, referrals are some of the best leads you can get.   Michael Hingson ** 51:11 Yeah, by any, by any definition, one of, one of the things that I tell every sales person that I've ever hired is you are a student, at least for your first year, don't hesitate to ask questions, because in reality, in general, people are going to be perfectly willing to help you. They're not going to look down on you if you ask questions and legitimately are looking for guidance and information. Again, it's not about you, it's about what you learn, and it's about how you then are able to use that knowledge to help other people, and the people and the individuals who recognize that do really well.   Stuart Pollington ** 51:50 No, exactly, and I don't know about you, Michael, but I like, I like helping people. Yeah, I like, it makes me feel good. And, yeah, that's, that's a big part of it as well. You know   Michael Hingson ** 52:01 it is and, and that's the way it ought to be. It's, that's the other thing that I tell them. I said, once you have learned a great deal, first of all, don't forget that you're always going to be a student. And second of all, don't hesitate to be a teacher and help other people as well.   Speaker 1 ** 52:16 Man, that's really important. Yeah, brilliant.   Michael Hingson ** 52:20 Now you have worked across a number of sectors and market, marketing, tech, sales, energy and so on. How did how do you do that? You You've clearly not necessarily been an expert in those right at the beginning. So how do you learn and grow and adapt to be able to to work in those various industries.   Stuart Pollington ** 52:41 Yeah, I mean, for the marketing, for the marketing, it helps that I really was interested in it. So there was a good there was a good interest. And if you're interested in something, then you get excited about it, and you have the motivation and the willingness to learn and ask the questions, like you said, and then that is where you can take that kind of passion and interest and turn it into something a bit more constructive. It's a bit like I was saying at the beginning. It's the sort of thing I wish they'd done a bit maybe with me at school, was understand what I was good at and what I liked. But yeah, so with the marketing, I mean, very similar to what you've said, I asked questions. I see it just seems to click in my head on how it worked. And it kind of made sense to me. It was just one of these things that clicked, yeah. And so for the marketing, I just found it personally quite interesting, but interesting, but also found it quite easy. It just made sense to me, you know. And similar, you know, using computers and technology, I think it just makes sense. It doesn't to everyone. And other people have their strengths in other areas, but, you know, for me, it made sense. So, you know that that was the easy part. Same with Eastern energy, it's technology. It makes sense. I love it, but at the end of the day, it's all about it's all about people, really business, and you've got your people and your team, and how you motivate them is going to be similar. It's going to be slightly different depending on culture and where you're based, in the type of industry you're in, but also very similar. You know, people want praise, they want constructive feedback. They want to know where they're gonna be in a year or five years. All of that's very similar. So you people within the business, and then your customers are just people as well, aren't they? Well, customers, partners, clients, you know that they are just people. So it's all, it's all, it's all about people, regardless of what we're doing. And because it's all very similar with tech and that, it just, yeah, I don't know. It just makes sense to me. Michael, I mean, it's different. It's funny, because when I do do network and I talk to people, I say, Well, I've got this digital marketing agency here. Work, and then I've got this energy efficiency business here. And the question is always, wow, they sound really different. How did you how did you get into them? But when, again, when I look at it, it's not it's it's tech, it's tech, it's data, it's people. That's how I look at it,   Michael Hingson ** 55:16 right? And a lot of the same rules apply across the board. Yes, there are specific things about each industry that are different, but the basics are the same.   Stuart Pollington ** 55:28 That's it. I, in fact, I that isn't almost, there's almost word for word. What I use when I'm explaining our approach to SEO, I just say, Look, you know, there's, there's three core areas with SEO, it's the tech, the on site, it's the content, and it's the off site signals, or the link building. I said they're the three core areas for Google. They've been the same for, you know, 20 years. Within those areas, there's lots of individual things you need to look at, and that changes a lot. And there's 1000s of things that go into the algorithm, but the basics are the same. Sort your tech, sort the text, sort the tech of it out, the speed of the site and the usability. Make sure your content is good and relevant and authoritative, and then get other sites to recommend you and reference you, you know So, but, yeah, that's very similar to how I try and explain SEO. Yeah, you know all this stuff going on, but you still got the core basics of the same.   Michael Hingson ** 56:29 It is the same as it has always been, absolutely. So what do you do? Or how do you deal with a situation when plans necessarily don't go like you think they should, and and all that. How do you stay motivated?   Stuart Pollington ** 56:45 I mean, it depends, it depends what's gone wrong. But, I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm a big believer in, you know, learning from your mistakes and then learning also learning from what went wrong. Because sometimes you don't make a mistake and something goes wrong, but something still goes wrong. I think it helps. It helps to have a good team around you and have a good support team that you can talk to. It's good to be able to work through issues. But, I mean, for me, I think the main thing is, you know, every like you were saying earlier, about asking questions and being a student for a year. You know everything that happens in business, good or bad, is a lesson that should help you be better in the future. So you know the first thing, when something goes wrong, understand what's gone wrong first. Why did it go wrong? How did it go wrong? How do we resolve this, if we need to resolve something for the client or us, and then how do we try and limit that happening in the future? And then what do we learn from that? And how do we make sure we can improve and be better? And I think, you know, it's not always easy when things go wrong, but I think I'm long enough in the tooth now that I understand that, you know, the bad days don't last. There's always a good day around the corner, and it's about, you know, working out how you get through   Michael Hingson ** 58:10 it. And that's the issue, is working it out. And you have to have the tenacity and, well, the interest and the desire to work it out, rather than letting it overwhelm you and beat you down, you learn how to move forward.   Stuart Pollington ** 58:25 Yeah, and that's not easy, is it? I mean, let's be honest. I mean, even, even being when we were younger and kids, you know, things happen. It does. We're just human, aren't we? We have emotions. We have certain feelings. But if you can just deal with that and then constructively and critically look at the problem, you can normally find a solution.   Michael Hingson ** 58:46 Yeah, exactly. What's one piece of advice you wished you had learned earlier in your entrepreneurial career?   Stuart Pollington ** 58:56 Um, I Yeah. I mean, for this one. I think, I think what you said earlier, actually, it got me thinking during wise we've been talking because I was kind of, I would say, don't be afraid to ask questions just based on what we've been talking about. It's changed a little bit because I was going to say, well, you know, one of the things I really wish I'd learned or known earlier was, you know, about the value of mentorship and kind of finding the the right people who can almost show you where you need to be, but you could, you know, but when people hear the word mentor, they think of either or, you know, someone really, yeah, high up who I could I'm too afraid to ask them, or someone who's going to cost you 1000s of dollars a month. So actually, I'm going to change that to don't be afraid to ask questions, because that's basically what you'd expect from a mentor, is to be able to ask. Questions, run ideas. And I think, I think, yeah, I think thinking back now, understanding that the more questions you ask, the more information you have, the better your decisions you can make. And obviously, don't be afraid to learn from other people's experience, because they've been through it, and potentially they could have the right way for you to get through it as well.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:24 And you never know where you're going to find a mentor. Exactly,   Stuart Pollington ** 1:00:28 yeah, no, exactly. I think again, you hear the word mentor, and you think people have this diff, a certain perception of it, but it can be anyone. I mean, you know, if I my mom could be my mentor, for, for, for her great, you know, cooking and things that she would do in her roast dinners. You know that that's kind of a mentor, isn't it making a better roast dinner? So I think, yeah, I think, I   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:54 think, but it all gets back to being willing to ask questions and to listen,   Stuart Pollington ** 1:01:02 and then I would add one more thing. So ask the questions, listen and then take action. And that's where that unstoppable mindset, I think, comes in, because I think people do ask questions, people can listen, but it's the taking action. It's that final step of having the courage to say, I'm going to do this, I'm going to go for   Michael Hingson ** 1:01:23 it. And you may find out that what was advised to you may not be the exact thing that works for you, but if you start working at it, and you start trying it, you will figure out what works   Stuart Pollington ** 1:01:37 exactly. Yeah, no, exactly. That's it, yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 1:01:41 Well, what a great place to actually end this. We've been doing this now over an hour, and I know, can you believe it? And I have a puppy dog who probably says, If you don't feed me dinner soon, you're going to be my dinner. So I should probably go do that. That's   Stuart Pollington ** 1:01:57 all good. So for me, I'm going to go and get my breakfast coffee. Now it's 7am now, five past seven in the morning.   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:03 There you are. Well, this is my day. This has been a lot of fun. I really appreciate you being here, and I want to say to everyone listening and watching, we really appreciate you being here with us as well. Tell others about unstoppable mindset. We really appreciate that. Love to hear your thoughts and get your thoughts, so feel free to email me with any of your ideas and your your conceptions of all of this. Feel free to email me at Michael H, I m, I C, H, A, E, L, H, I at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S, S, I B, e.com, you can also go to our podcast page. There's a contact form there, and my podcast page is www dot Michael hingson.com/podcast, and Michael hingson is spelled M, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I N, G, s, O N. Love to hear from you. Would really appreciate it if you'll give us a five star rating wherever you're watching or listening to the podcast today, if you know anyone and steward as well for you, if any one of you listening or participating knows anyone else that you think ought to be a guest on unstoppable mindset, we'd love to hear from you. We'd love introductions, always looking for more people to tell their stories. So that's what this is really all about. So I really appreciate you all taking the time to be here, and Stuart, especially you. Thank you for being here. This has been a lot of fun, and we really appreciate you taking your time.   Stuart Pollington ** 1:03:26 Thank you, Michael. Thank you everyone. I really enjoyed that. And you know, in the spirit of everything, you know, if, if anyone does have any questions for me, just feel free to reach out. I'm happy to chat.   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:39 How do they do that? What's the best way, I   Stuart Pollington ** 1:03:41 think probably the LinkedIn so I think on when you post and share this, you will have the link. I think   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:49 we will. But why don't you go ahead and say your LinkedIn info anyway? Okay, yeah.   Stuart Pollington ** 1:03:53 I mean, the easiest thing to do would just be the Google search for my name on LinkedIn. So Stuart pollington, it's S, T, U, a, r, t, and then P, O, L, L, I N, G, T, O, N, and if you go to LinkedIn, that is my I think I got lucky. I've got the actual LinkedIn URL, LinkedIn, forward slash, I N, forward slash. Stuart pollington, so it should be nice and easy.   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:19 Yeah, I think I got that with Michael hingson. I was very fortunate for that as well. Got lucky with   Stuart Pollington ** 1:04:23 that. Yeah, they've got numbers and everything. And I'm like, Yes, yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:30 Well, thank you again. This has been a lot of fun, hasn't   Stuart Pollington ** 1:04:33 it? He has. I've really enjoyed it. So thank you for the invitation, Michael.   **Michael Hingson ** 1:04:42 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

It's #LegacyLinks time – coming at you the third time around! Each episode links a historical figure, event or a place from Luxembourg's past to someone representing the same field today: this time, we're looking at all three of these aspects since we're talking about the relationship between Luxembourg

Hannah Essex and Claire Walker are Co - CEOs of Society of London Theatre & UK Theatre. Theirs is a longstanding partnership having come together initially at Teach First before progressing to being Co-Executive Directors at the British Chambers of Commerce before moving to their current role. In this episode, they talk about their journey of progressing as a partnership, including sharing some great tips for navigating the recruitment process together.  They also talk about the power of jobsharing for increasing resilience and in particular how this helped in some of the most challenging times in history through Brexit and during the pandemic. The episode also delves into the power of co-leadership and how jobsharing enables better decision making and ultimately a better outcome for the organisation. #TheJobshareRevolution #JobshareStories #FlexibleWorkingWorks #CoLeadership #Resilience #PowerPartnership

At 25, Martha Lane Fox co-founded the early internet disruptor lastminute.com and became one of Britain's first true digital pioneers.But it was surviving a near-fatal accident that truly reshaped her life and sense of purpose.Today, Martha leads far beyond technology. She is President of the British Chambers of Commerce, a crossbench peer in the House of Lords, Chancellor of The Open University, and sits on the boards of British Airways, Chanel, and Multiverse.Her work is reshaping business, education, and the future of digital transformation.In this episode, Martha shares her extraordinary story of resilience, reinvention, and leadership - and what it really takes to create lasting impact.You'll learn:- The 3-question framework to use before saying yes to anything.- How a near-fatal car crash changed everything, and nothing.- The brutal reality still facing female founders.- What most leaders get wrong about digital transformation.- What it really takes to change government systems.- The one decision she regrets from the Lastminute.com journey.- Why legacy isn't about status - it's about example.This is not just the story of entrepreneurship - this is a masterclass in resilience against all odds. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert is joined by serial entrepreneur and president of the British Chambers of Commerce Martha Lane Fox. They discuss why it is so hard for all-female businesses to attract funding, why she struggled to acknowledge her disability after a devastating accident, how work helped her recovery and the continued pernicious impact of Brexit on smaller companies Sign up to our newsletter to get more stories from the world of business and finance. Email: restismoney@goalhanger.com X: @TheRestIsMoney Instagram: @TheRestIsMoney TikTok: @RestIsMoney Assistant Producers: India Dunkley and Alice Horrell Producer: Ross Buchanan Head of Content: Tom Whiter Exec Producers: Tony Pastor + Jack Davenport Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How do businesses grow in an ever-changing market landscape? How can marketers apply evidence-based insights to drive success? We put world-leading marketing expert, Professor Byron Sharp, Director, Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, University of South Australia, in the hot seat. Speaking to David Kelly, Executive Director of the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore, Byron shares his ground-breaking research on how brands grow, the power of evidence-based marketing, and why many traditional marketing beliefs are myths. He also discusses the upcoming "How Brands Grow Live!" executive development program in Singapore, designed to help businesses translate marketing science into real-world growth strategies. Professor Byron Sharp is the author of How Brands Grow and How Brands Grow 2, two of the most influential marketing books of our time. He leads the Ehrenberg-Bass institute, one of the world's top research centres in marketing science, which advises global corporations like Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, and General Motors.Join other leading marketing and business professionals and learn directly from Professor Byron Sharp in the"How Brands Grow Live!" masterclass. Happening in Singapore from April 7-10, register here: https://marketingscience.info/apply-for-how-brands-grow-for-executives/

The UK economy faced continued headwinds last week, with slowing growth and persistent inflation concerns. The British Chamber of Commerce cut its 2025 gross domestic product (“GDP”) growth forecast to 0.9% from 1.3%, citing rising cost pressures. The Bank of England (“BoE”) monthly survey of UK Chief Financial Officers (“CFOs”) showed inflation expectations ticking up, with year-ahead consumer price index (“CPI”) at 3.1% from 3.0%, whilst most economists expect gradual cuts, bringing rates to 3.75% by year-end. Investor sentiment remained fragile, with UK takeovers by foreign firms plunging to £4.5 billion in Q4 2024, the lowest since the Covid-19 pandemic. However, domestic mergers and acquisitions surged to £8.6 billion from £1.9 billion in Q3, reflecting a shift towards local consolidation. In fiscal policy, Chancellor Rachel Reeves hinted at further public spending cuts to remain within fiscal constraints, as higher borrowing costs, increased future defence spending and downgraded growth forecasts limit fiscal flexibility. The Treasury is now preparing deep budgetary reductions, with several billion pounds in spending cuts under review ahead of the Spring Budget, with the Institute of Fiscal Studies saying that the chancellor could even be forced to raise taxes to plug any gap in finance...Stocks featured:Fresnillo, Melrose Industries and Rentokil InitialTo find out more about the investment management services offered by Walker Crips, please visit our website:https://www.walkercrips.co.uk/This podcast is intended to be Walker Crips Investment Management's own commentary on markets. It is not investment research and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy, sell or trade in any of the investments, sectors or asset classes mentioned. The value of any investment and the income arising from it is not guaranteed and can fall as well as rise, so that you may not get back the amount you originally invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Movements in exchange rates can have an adverse effect on the value, price or income of any non-sterling denominated investment. Nothing in this podcast constitutes advice to undertake a transaction, and if you require professional advice you should contact your financial adviser or your usual contact at Walker Crips. Walker Crips Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 226344) and is a member of the London Stock Exchange. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"

"

In this episode, Marco Forgione, Director General of the Chartered Institute for Export & International Trade, and William Bain, Head of Trade Policy for the British Chambers of Commerce, discuss the sweeping tariffs planned by the new Trump administration in the US and their ramifications for trade around the world. GlobalData webinar: Trump shaking up the world (20/05/2025) GlobalData Report: US Elections Executive Briefing (Third Edition) - Trump 2.0 Policy Impacts Find us on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/globaldatastrategicintelligence/⁠ To understand how to use our Themes product please contact us: ⁠customersuccess.strategic@globaldata.com⁠ +44 (0) 207 406 6764. Host: Stu Robarts Guests: Marco Forgione, William Bain

When Labour entered power business lobbying groups were cheerleading the new government. Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, Shevaun Haviland, turned skeptical in the wake of the budget as growth flatlined and we saw a dip in both consumer and business confidence. Bloomberg's Caroline Hepker and Stephen Carroll asked her if the Chancellor has won her, and her business members, back around.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

APAC stocks traded mostly subdued following the lack of macro catalysts over the weekend and as participants digested the mixed signals from Chinese Caixin PMI data, while Japanese markets underperformed in their first trading session of 2025.Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were choppy following the somewhat mixed PMI data in which Chinese Caixin Services PMI data beat expectations, but the Caixin Composite PMI figure slowed.US Republican Mike Johnson was re-elected as House Speaker on Friday. Elsewhere, Canadian PM Trudeau is likely to resign prior to the national caucus meeting on Wednesday, according to Canadian press.The percentage of UK businesses planning to raise prices in the coming three months rose to about 55% from 39% as tax increases and higher wage costs caused confidence to slump, according to a survey of 5,000 businesses by the British Chambers of Commerce via FT.European equity futures indicate a mildly higher cash open with Eurostoxx 50 futures up 0.6% after the cash market closed with losses of 0.9% on Friday.Looking ahead, highlights include EZ Sentix Index, German Prelim. CPI, EZ/UK/US Services & Composite PMI (Final), Factory Orders, Comments from Fed's Daly, Supply from US, Earnings from Greggs.Read the full report covering Equities, Forex, Fixed Income, Commodites and more on Newsquawk

Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes.On today's podcast:(1) Prime Minister Keir Starmer got a taste of the topsy-turvy politics of the coming Trump era as his government spent the weekend defending itself from attacks from Elon Musk, only to see the billionaire provocateur turn on his erstwhile British ally, Nigel Farage.(2) UK business confidence has dropped to its lowest level since former Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget more than two years ago, according to a survey by the British Chambers of Commerce that echoes concerns over the current Labour government’s tax hikes.(3) In his most wide-ranging interview as chief executive officer, Altman explains his infamous four-day firing, how he actually runs OpenAI, his plans for the Trump-Musk presidency and his relentless pursuit of artificial general intelligence—the still-theoretical next phase of AI, in which machines will be capable of performing any intellectual task a human can do.(4) More than three months after winning the most seats at federal elections, far-right leader Herbert Kickl is on track to become the Freedom Party’s first Austrian chancellor in a tie-up with the conservative People’s Party.(5) Justin Trudeau is expected to announce his resignation as leader of Canada’s Liberal Party this week, the Globe and Mail reported, a move that would trigger a contest to replace him as prime minister.(6) The war risk insurance market is reaching new heights due to flaring geopolitical tensions and persistent piracy, with premiums estimated to generate up to $1 billion a year.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this special episode, British High Commissioner to Singapore H.E. Nik Mehta OBE unpacks his first 100 days on the job, the future of the Singapore-UK relationship, and more about himself and his family. Speaking to David Kelly, the Executive Director of the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore with a live studio audience, Nik recounts his journey to becoming High Commissioner, his experience settling in Singapore, and his biggest impressions and learnings from his first 100 days. Nik also tells us how his communications plan was developed with his team at the High Commission, and the future of the growing relationship between Singapore and the UK. Diversity and inclusion is an area that Nik supports strongly. He talks about his own background and experience in supporting diversity and inclusion in the workplace. The episode closes with a Q&A session with our live audience at the studio. The Chamber would like to thank Poddster Singapore for their support in producing this episode. Tune in to the full episode to get to know our new British High Commissioner and his priorities for his term. Subscribe to the BritCham Singapore Podcast on your favourite player, and please take a moment to give us a 5* rating if you enjoyed the show. Note: The UK acceded to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) on 15 December 2024. This episode was filmed on 5 December 2024.

The government has announced on the eve of Labour's first budget in 14 years that the National Living Wage will be increased. We hear from Shevaun Haviland, the British Chambers of Commerce's director-general, on what this could mean for employers.Also in the programme: staffers and subscribers are protesting against The Washington Post's decision not to endorse a candidate in the presidential election, one week before America votes.We speak to a former head of the Oregon Hospice Association about why she went from opposing to supporting the right to assisted dying.And Buena Vista Social Club musician Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal has died at the age of 91. We speak to producer Nick Gold about Mirabal's music and the group's legacy.

The UK economy returned to growth, expanding by 0.2% after two months of stagnation, according to reports from The Times, Reuters and Bloomberg. This growth was driven by strong rebounds in manufacturing and construction, despite weaker-than-expected growth in the services sector. Retail sales showed resilience, rising 2% in September, the fastest in six months, as retailers geared up for the Christmas season. However, concerns remain as the British Chambers of Commerce reported declining business confidence, driven by fears of tax hikes in the Labour government's upcoming autumn budget and geopolitical uncertainties. Meanwhile, Kantar data highlighted renewed pressure on consumer budgets, while prices fell for household and pet products. The economic outlook remains mixed as businesses and consumers navigate these challenges.Stocks featured:Carnival Group, Greencore Group and Senior GroupTo find out more about the investment management services offered by Walker Crips, please visit our website:https://www.walkercrips.co.uk/This podcast is intended to be Walker Crips Investment Management's own commentary on markets. It is not investment research and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy, sell or trade in any of the investments, sectors or asset classes mentioned. The value of any investment and the income arising from it is not guaranteed and can fall as well as rise, so that you may not get back the amount you originally invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Movements in exchange rates can have an adverse effect on the value, price or income of any non-sterling denominated investment. Nothing in this podcast constitutes advice to undertake a transaction, and if you require professional advice you should contact your financial adviser or your usual contact at Walker Crips. Walker Crips Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 226344) and is a member of the London Stock Exchange. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lester Kiewit speaks to Tshepo Ncube, president of the British Chamber of Business in Southern Africa, about deputy president Paul Mashatile's visit to London to seek UK investment in South Africa.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Heute im Talk mit Ilka Hartmann, Geschäftsführerin des British Chamber of Commerce in Germany e.V. (BCCG) und leidenschaftliche Netzwerkerin. Wir diskutieren über Souveränität und Humor und warum er fürs Female Empowerment einen wichtigen Stellenwert hat. Souverän kontern auf unfaire Angriffe – das hat sie in all den Jahren, in denen sie als Frau international tätig war, gelernt. Und es lohnt sich, darüber zu sprechen. Ilka Hartmann spricht aus Erfahrung und plaudert aus dem humorvollen Nähkästchen einer Frau, die schon früh in männerdominierten Bereichen Karriere gemacht hat. Wie, das verrät sie heute bei „Humorexpertin fragt Führung“.

Previously Richard was Representative Director at Avira, Senior Inward Investment Officer at the British Consulate-General Osaka, Procurement Manager, Mitsubishi Heavy industries, and Assistant Language Teacher Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme.

Relocate to Vietnam 1 Preparing to leave China 2 Financing the transition 3 Networking and Job Hunting 4 Defining a suitable salary and role 5 Understand your new surrounding 6 Integrate and Settle down and look to the future Barry Kirkwood is now based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam after a decade of living in China. Barry currently works in Executive Search recruitment, supporting international businesses with their hiring needs in China and Southeast Asia. In addition, he is an ICF Coach and Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and has experience of leading teams in Asia and was previously the Chair HR Committee at the British Chamber of Commerce Shanghai. Connect with Barry: WeChat: barrymk81 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barrykirkwood/ Email: barry.kirkwood@zavalacivitas.com Please also tune in to episode 88 Flexpat career planning (by Barry as well) 127 Expats leave China 119 Returning home after 10 years 136 China-focused future 80 Flexpat career planning

Joining Michael on Change Makers is Shevaun Haviland, Director-General of the British Chambers of Commerce, with a clarion call for renewed confidence in ‘Brand Britain'.  On the roof of the Corinthia hotel in the heart of the capital, Shevaun shares her vision for revitalising the country's self-image, and the importance of public-private partnerships in driving economic growth.  Shevaun spoke to Michael about her extensive experience across the public and private sectors, and how she has always maintained the belief that  the UK remains the best place in the world for starting and growing a business. And in the week of a General Election, Shevaun remains optimistic about Britain's potential, no matter the result. She emphasises the importance of playing as a team, attracting inward investment, and showcasing the best of what Britain has to offer.

Millions of employees in the UK are now able to work flexibly – fitting their job around their home life. Many in office jobs, can finish early on a Friday, and are allowed, even encouraged, to routinely work from home. But, at the same time, we're told that the levels of overwork, stress, and burnout in this country are on the rise. More than 17 million working days were lost to work-related stress, depression and anxiety in the last year for which we have data. So what's going on?Evan Davis and guests discuss whether work is really making employees feel burnt out and what's the best way to tackle it.Evan is joined by:Jane Gratton: Head of People Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce Riannon Palmer: Founder and CEO, Lem-uhn Catherine Allen: People Director at THIS! PRODUCTION TEAM:Producers: Simon Tulett, Drew Hyndman and Miriam Quayyum Editor: Matt Willis Sound: Robin Warren and Rod Farquhar Production co-ordinator: Rosie Strawbridge

The Lord Mayor of London covers the whole con-urban spread of greater London and the Lord Mayor of the City of London covers 1.12 square kilometres of the financial district with a population of nearly 11,000 people, so it is a bit confusing.  Alderman Lord Mayor Professor Michael Mainelli gave a speech to the British Chamber of Commerce recently.  I didn't know anything about him, but sitting there listening to him, I immediately noticed how smooth his delivery was.  He had good pacing, good voice strength, some appropriate humour and an engaging manner. He is well educated at Harvard University, Trinity College Dublin and the London School of Economics.  We all know that being well educated and teaching at University are no guarantees of public speaking ability and prowess.  In the Lord Mayor's case, he has had a very successful business career as a founder. He is a chartered certified accountant, computer specialist, securities professional and management consultant. His talk was an amalgamation of capabilities built up across a broad spectrum career. Being highly successful in your career is a great contributor to exuding quiet confidence as a speaker.  Often, when we are making our careers, we may be trying to be a bit too strong, a bit too strident, too loud, too forceful because we are in a hurry.  Bringing these attributes into the speaking world is not a great idea.  Professor Mainelli's demeanor was that of a person with good levels of self-awareness and an unhurried manner.  That unhurried manner was very convincing.  He didn't come across as trying to be persuasive, but was persuasive.  I was thinking about that for myself.  I am a very high-powered presenter, well that is always the feedback I get after my presentations, so I take it at face value.  However, can I learn something here and take a leaf out of his book?  Obviously, throughout his career, Professor Mainelli has had numerous opportunities to speak in public, and it shows.  What we see today is the accumulation of all of those years of speaking, and it is a very polished example of how to be persuasive.  Was he like that at the beginning?  I doubt it because this is a finite skill we develop, not something we are born with.  We all benefit from substantial practice of any art.  Perhaps speaking opportunities were thrust upon him and he learnt how to become better.  I should have asked him, shouldn't I, when I was chatting with him after the talk.  I will remember that for the next time I meet someone who is so highly skilled. What can we take away from his example?  Firstly, study the art or do as much speaking as possible and keep adjusting your techniques on the basis of your evolution as a speaker or even better – do both.  This sounds simple, except I ran away from every speaking opportunity until my early thirties.  I was terrified of public speaking and would have been one of those people ranking it in surveys ahead of death!  You may also be an avoider like I was.  If you want to become competent as a speaker, you have to give talks.  It is like trying to teach someone to swim on the deck of the pool.  It is a great theory, but nothing happens until you dive into the water and get wet and start swimming around. Grab the slightest chance of speaking in public.  Yes, it is terrifying at the start, but it gets less so as your frequency mounts up.  Tony Robbins, in one of his books, talks about how he purposely decided to speak as much as possible.  He realised that most speakers only get a few chances a year and he could match their annual total experience in just weeks, if he got enough speaking spots.  He went for it and has turned that speaking facility into a career, business and massive wealth. Being nine feet tall probably helped too. Getting proper coaching is also the quickest way to get much better.  I have done some public speaking training with different organisations, but nothing has matched the High Impact Presentations course that we teach. I don't say that to sell training, but as an objective statement based on my experiences.  My broader point is to go get the training.  I lost a decade of potential experience and career advancement because I let fear rule me. I didn't engage my brain and say, “the way to overcome the fear I have is to get proper training”.  I was too stupid for that logical consequence of having a problem and needing to fix it.  Don't be like Greg! I still look for any chance I can get to speak, because I know this will help me to keep pushing myself and keep improving. My records tell me I have delivered 558 public speeches so far.  Am I satisfied with that?  No, I am certain that I can still improve and get a lot better. All I need is the chance to keep polishing and keep improving.  I now aim to achieve the zen like “mind of no mind” effortlessness that the Lord Mayor of the City of London displayed in his remarks.  What about you?  What are you going to do to become competent and comfortable as a speaker, someone highly persuasive and influential with those around you?    

South Africa's Monetary Policy Committee has decided to keep interest rates on hold at 8.25% in their recent gathering, Chief Economist at Stanlib Asset Management, Kevin Lings speaks to Bruce Whitfield to shed light on how regular South Africans are affected.   Chair of the British Chamber of Business in Southern Africa and Dean and director of Henley Business School Africa, Jon Foster-Pedley joins Bruce Whitfield to address why executives need to eliminate all the fluff and be direct when it comes to effective communication and leadership within companies.   Bruce Whitfield is in conversation with CEO at Aurik Business Accelerator, Pavlo Phitidis on crucial lessons from the businesses that thrived post riots, floods, uncertainty and self-doubt. Maya Fisher-French, a Personal Finance Journalist at Maya on Money, joins host Bruce Whitfield to examine the advantages and disadvantages of Crowd Farming as an investment option. Additionally, they address the necessity of regulation and measures for safeguarding investors. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chair of the British Chamber of Business in Southern Africa and Dean and director of Henley Business School Africa, Jon Foster-Pedley joins Bruce Whitfield to address why executives need to eliminate all the fluff and be direct when it comes to effective communication and leadership within companies.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Martha Lane Fox was first catapulted into the public eye during the dot.com boom as co-founder of lastminute.com the online agency she set up with Brent Hoberman in the late 1990s.It was valued at three quarters of a billion pounds when it floated on the London stock exchange in 2000. She then experienced a life change road accident while on holiday in Morocco when she was thrown from the passenger seat of an open-top car. She says she very nearly died. ‘They rank you in trauma I was a 37, 39 is dead'Her career has ranged from launching karaoke chain Lucky Voice to serving as the government's digital champion and being on the board of twitter, during one its most complex times. She is currently the President of the British Chamber of Commerce Evan asks about the key personal and business-related decisions that got her to where she is today.A Long Form Audio Production for BBC Radio 4.

This week on the podcast we talk sustainability in Japan with Heather Prosser from Morrow Sodali Japan. In the episode we discuss what sustainability is and how Japanese corporations can start to initiate sustainable change in their workplaces. If you are a business leader in Japan considering the benefits of making your company more sustainable, or if you are an employee wondering how you can influence your employer to make meaningful changes, this is the episode to listen to!In this episode you will hear:How Japan compares to the rest of the world in terms of sustainabilityHow business leaders can institute formal sustainable change within their companiesWhat smaller sustainable actions employees can take in their workplaceWhere you can go to find out more about sustainabilityWhat Heather has learned about doing business in JapanAbout Heather:Heather has over 15 years of impactful experience in the Asia-Pacific financial services and sustainability sectors. Having worked in Tokyo and Hong Kong, she has a strong track record of significant contributions to business development, advisory, strategy, fundraising, and investor relations.Heather joined Morrow Sodali Japan after playing a crucial role in launching and growing the Climate Change and Sustainability Services (CCaSS) team at EY Japan from 2015 onwards. She excels in navigating Japanese companies towards ESG risk mitigation, driving sustainable initiatives, and harmonizing environmental responsibility with corporate growth.Originally from the United States, Heather embarked on her career in venture capital in Silicon Valley, before moving to Japan in 2001. As a committed community leader, her contributions include board member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ), leading the ACCJ Sustainability Committee, and Executive Committee member of the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan (BCCJ). Her philanthropic efforts include board membership for Shine On! Kids, a charity supporting children with long-term illnesses in Japan. Heather's dynamic career spans the media industry, including as a regular guest presenter on NHK's 'Cool Japan' program since 2007.Heather Prosser has earned the CFA Institute Certificate in ESG Investing.Connect with Heather:Morrow Sodali Japan: https://morrowsodali.com/Shine On! Kids: https://sokids.org/LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/heather-prosser-350bba1aCorporate email address: h.prosser@morrowsodali.comConnect with David Sweet:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdavidsweet/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/focuscorejp Facebook: :https://www.facebook.com/focuscoreasiaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/focuscorejp/ Website: https://www.japan.focuscoregroup.com/ “Doin' the Uptown Lowdown,” used by permission of Christopher...

John Maytham speaks to Jon Foster Pedley, Chair of British Chamber of Business Southern Africa about the importance of bringing about change in South Africa's schooling system, in order to nurture entrepreneurship and contribute towards job creation in the country. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joining Iain Dale for this Budget Day special Cross Question panel are economist Ann Pettifor who co-authored the Green New Deal and used to advise John McDonnell, Shevaun Haviland from the British Chambers of Commerce, author and Oxford University economist Linda Yueh and financial entrepreneur and former Bank of England adviser Roger Gewolb.

On Budget Day, Labour's Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves takes your calls!Joining Iain Dale for this Budget Day special Cross Question panel are economist Ann Pettifor who co-authored the Green New Deal and used to advise John McDonnell, Shevaun Haviland from the British Chambers of Commerce, author and Oxford University economist Linda Yueh and financial entrepreneur and former Bank of England adviser Roger Gewolb.

Join us for a dynamic conversation on returning to work with Katy Holmes, CEO of the British Chamber of Commerce, Dubai, and Rowen Astrom of Beyond Careers. They advocate for hiring women returning to work and provide coaching for successful reintegration. Kori Lindsay, a catalyst for positive change, shares his initiatives from South London to Dubai, including Mentality. Plus, Grace Marabe offers insights into Investing 101, drawing on her extensive strategy and project management experience at LMG Management Consultants. Dr. Thoriaya, clinical psychologist at the Human Relations Institute & Clinic, explores the ever-relevant question: Are our attention spans truly shrinking?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BizCrush Sponsored by the SLC Group: https://slcgroup.co.za Come along on a journey with me as we delve into the African business world with Dr. Rutendo Hwindingwi. With over 20 years of expertise, he's the man and founder behind Tribe Africa Advisory, crafting business programs for major companies across the continent.   Beyond the suits and strategies, he also wears hats as the non-exec director of the British Chamber of Business in Southern Africa and the Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce Digital Forum Committee.   Rutendo recently gifted us with his latest book, "Reflections Of A Son Of The Soil: A Collection Of 55 African Proverbs." and that was also the starting point of a fun and laughter episode as we delve into his vast experience, the nuances and opportunities of doing business in Africa.  

Today, we look at the government's budget plans, after the chancellor said there is likely to be less scope for tax cuts in the March Budget than there was last autumn.The Chief Secretary to the Treasury Laura Trott is in the studio to discuss.Also joining James and Chris are former Conservative cabinet minister David Gauke, and Shevaun Haviland, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce.Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by James Cook and Chris Mason. It was made by Chris Flynn with Gemma Roper. The assistant editor was Chris Gray. The senior news editor was Jonathan Aspinwall.

Connaissez-vous notre site ? www.lenouvelespritpublic.fr Une émission de Philippe Meyer, enregistrée en public à l'Ecole alsacienne le 7 janvier 2024. Avec cette semaine : Nicolas Baverez, essayiste et avocat. Jean-Louis Bourlanges, président de la Commission des Affaires étrangères de l'Assemblée nationale. Béatrice Giblin, directrice de la revue Hérodote et fondatrice de l'Institut Français de Géopolitique. Lucile Schmid, vice-présidente de La Fabrique écologique et membre du comité de rédaction de la revue Esprit. L'HÉRITAGE EUROPÉEN DE JACQUES DELORS À L'HEURE DE L'IMPÉRIALISME RUSSE Jacques Delors l'ancien président de la Commission européenne s'est éteint, le 27 décembre, à 98 ans. Entré en fonction à Bruxelles en janvier 1985, l'ancien ministre des Finances français prévient « L'Europe n'a d'autre choix qu'entre la survie et le déclin. Il occupera son bureau bruxellois durant dix années consécutives, et marquera la construction européenne de son empreinte, au point que la presse américaine le baptise le « tsar de Bruxelles ». Son impulsion est décisive dans l'adoption de l'Acte unique, qui donne naissance au marché unique européen. Dans ses Mémoires, Jacques Delors donne à ce marché une triple fonction : organiser « la compétition qui stimule, la coopération qui renforce et la solidarité qui unit. » Suivront le traité de Maastricht, la monnaie commune, la création des fonds de cohésion pour soutenir l'élargissement de l'Union à des entrants moins bien lotis économiquement que les membres fondateurs, ou encore le programme d'échanges universitaires Erasmus. Jacques Delors était devenu le partenaire de nombreux chefs d'État et de gouvernement engagés comme lui en faveur de la construction européenne : le Chancelier allemand Helmut Kohl, le Premier ministre belge Jean-Claude Dehaene, le chef du gouvernement espagnol Felipe Gonzalez et François Mitterrand. En 2015, il a été nommé « citoyen d'honneur de l'Europe » troisième personnalité à être ainsi distingué, après Jean Monnet en 1976 et Helmut Kohl en 1998. Si Jacques Delors quitte Bruxelles, en janvier 1995, avec la satisfaction d'avoir rempli sa mission, il s'en va aussi avec le regret de constater, comme bien d'autres mais en l'ayant vécu de l'intérieur, à quel point l'Europe reste un nain politique. Il reste donc un long chemin à parcourir. Il va s'y employer, dans la mesure de ses moyens, avec sa fondation, Notre Europe. En 2021, il finira par porter sur l'Union européenne un regard critique, dans son interview testamentaire au Point constatant qu'« À vingt-sept, on s'éloigne des projets qui étaient ceux de Jean Monnet ou Robert Schuman. Du moins, on les rend beaucoup plus difficiles. Rien que le fonctionnement d'une Commission européenne à vingt-sept, déjà... » Pascal Lamy, son ancien directeur de cabinet, confie que Jacques Delors avait conscience de la difficulté de la situation actuelle, dans laquelle un seul des 27 peut jouer contre les 26 autres, voire, comme l'a fait récemment Viktor Orban monnayer son vote sur l'adhésion de l'Ukraine. Au moment où Jacques Delors disparait, deux questions se posent : face aux régimes illibéraux « la compétition qui stimule, la coopération qui renforce et la solidarité qui unit » va-t-elle passer du marché aux marchandages ? Face à l'impérialisme russe l'Europe est-elle toujours un nain politique ? *** LE NAUFRAGE DU BREXIT Le 1er janvier 2021 la Grande Bretagne est sortie de l'Union européenne. Sept ans après le référendum qui a vu les partisans du divorce l'emporter, un sondage de l'institut Opinium publié par « The Guardian » note que les Britanniques ne sont désormais plus que 22 % à juger que la séparation a été une bonne chose pour le Royaume-Uni. L'institut a demandé à 2.000 électeurs de juger si la sortie de l'UE avait eu un effet positif ou négatif dans différents domaines. Résultat : les avis positifs ne l'emportent pour aucune question. Seul un sondé sur dix estime que la sortie de l'UE a amélioré sa situation financière personnelle ou optimisé les salaires, quand 63 % la rendent responsable d'une partie de l'inflation. « Une nette majorité de l'opinion publique estime désormais que le Brexit a été néfaste pour l'économie britannique, a fait monter les prix dans les magasins et a entravé les tentatives du gouvernement de contrôler l'immigration », résume le quotidien. En 2023, 29.437 migrants ont fait la traversée, contre 45.774 en 2022 qui avait été une année record, selon des chiffres du ministère de l'Intérieur publiés le 1er janvier. Une autre enquête, menée auprès des entreprises, montre que les sociétés travaillant avec l'UE se plaignent des nouvelles règles douanières. Christopher Hayward, le président du conseil d'administration de la City of London Corporation, l'organisation qui gère le quartier financier de Londres, estime que « Le Brexit a été un long et douloureux divorce. La confiance a été anéantie. » Selon un sondage de la British Chambers of Commerce de décembre, 2023, 60 % des exportateurs vers l'UE estiment que les échanges commerciaux sont plus difficiles qu'il y a un an. Or, toutes les obligations liées au Brexit ne sont pas encore en place. Les contrôles sanitaires sur les importations n'entreront en vigueur que cette année. Pour le gouvernement de Rishi Sunak, 2024 s'ouvre dans l'appréhension d'une défaite électorale, sur fond de prédictions économiques moroses et d'un retournement d'opinion sur le Brexit Quelques sondages mesurent même un « Bregret », le regret du Brexit… Après quatorze ans au pouvoir, cinq premiers ministres, un Brexit et divers scandales, les tories sont devancés d'au moins quinze points par le Labour dans toutes les enquêtes d'opinion. Toutefois, contrairement aux précédentes le Brexit ne devrait pas s'imposer comme un thème central des élections législatives qui auront lieu cette année.Chaque semaine, Philippe Meyer anime une conversation d'analyse politique, argumentée et courtoise, sur des thèmes nationaux et internationaux liés à l'actualité. Pour en savoir plus : www.lenouvelespritpublic.fr

A conversation with Mike Sunda - Managing Director and Strategy Director at Push Japan creative media agency who at the time of the interview in November 2023 had just produced the latest music video for musician Jacob Collier, and won Entrepreneur of the Year at the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan (BCCJ) British Business Awards 2023.  Sunda talks about how Japan has informed his and his clients creative sensibilities, shares something he loves about Japan and something shocking he does not enjoy, and selects some all-time favourite music from his creative journey.

Martha Lane-Fox, president of the of the British Chambers of Commerce, said she sees Brexit as the main issue facing UK businesses. “Brexit affected the skills base full-stop,” she said on this week's episode of In the City. Fox joined NFX General Partner Pete Flint for a panel discussion hosted by Bloomberg's Stephen Carroll at the GROW Summit in London. Flint said he's optimistic about the UK's chances of replicating a San Francisco-style hub of business success, describing the country as “a great environment for immigrants to come.” But there's still a way to go, he added. “I would absolutely not advise any company that I'm backing to go public in the UK.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Suella Braverman's newspaper article criticizing the police has rounded off a week of controversy for the Home Secretary. But how should the Prime Minister respond? We get a view from Tony Blair's former political secretary John McTernan, now a senior adviser at BCW. He says it's better to sack Braverman now than be forced to do it later. Plus: How can the government help startups to grow the economy? Bloomberg's Stephen Carroll asks the president of the British Chambers of Commerce, Martha Lane Fox, and serial entrepreneur and investor Pete Flint. Hosted by Bloomberg's Caroline Hepker and Yuan Potts.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With Conservative Party conference about to commence, host Aggie Chambre asks the question on everyone's lips: What the hell is the point of the conference season anyway? She speaks to former Deputy Prime Minister Michael Hesiltine about what conferences used to be like in years gone by. Sky News' Sam Coates and POLITICO's own Jack Blanchard talk about their importance for journalists, and how and when conference events can shape the narrative.The Spectator's Fraser Nelson tells Aggie about his magazine's legendary conference drinks parties, and how grassroots members are no longer the central focus for conference organizers. Finally, British Chamber of Commerce director general Shevaun Haviland talks about why businesses go to party conferences ... while former CCHQ chief executive Mark MacGregor explains why they probably shouldn't bother. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today on episode 56 of the podcast is Professor Jon Foster-Pedley.Jon is the Dean and Director of Henley Business School Africa, chairman of the British Chamber of Business in South Africa. He is also chairman of the Association of African Business Schools.We discuss all matters about the value of an MBA in today's society, What you should look at when choosing a business school, diversity within a business school and  lifestyle when studying.You can reach Prof Jon Foster-Pedley here:https://www.henleysa.ac.zaYou can reach me here:https://www.highimpactmedia.io/Buzzsprout gets your show listed on every major podcast platform.You'll get a great-looking podcast website, audio players that you can drop into other websites, detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes, and more. Podcasting isn't hard when you have the right partners.The team at Buzzsprout is passionate about helping you succeed.Join over a hundred thousand podcasters already using Buzzsprout to get their message out to the world.Click here to upgrade ==>https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=265955If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review here:Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast/the-thrive-factor/id1475695133Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/79qbDmAVtQjBp4BAl8qyvzBuzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREESupport the show

How to regenerate the economy Andy Haldane in conversation with Shevaun Haviland, director-general, British Chambers of Commerce; Sebastian Payne FRSA, director, Onward; and Jo Swinson FRSA, director, Partners for a New Economy.Become an RSA Events sponsor: https://utm.guru/ueembDonate to The RSA: https://utm.guru/udNNBFollow RSA Events on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thersaorg/Follow the RSA on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theRSAorgLike RSA Events on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theRSAorg/Listen to RSA Events podcasts: https://bit.ly/35EyQYUJoin our Fellowship: https://www.thersa.org/fellowship/join

Job seeking? What ADEM can offer, plus MBA at Liège Luxembourg & IDCN for a new network. Plans for the weekend? Try Luxembourg Polo Club 10th Anniversary. This week I have a packed show! Ever walked past an 'ADEM' building and wondered what it is? Well, director Isabelle Schlesser, its director tells us all about this organisation which helps job seekers and also employers. Isabelle explains that unemployment is not as low as one might suspect in a country such as Luxembourg. About one third of job seekers are Luxembourgish, one third are Portuguese and one third are 'all the rest'. ADEM is open for registration to anyone with Luxembourg residency and they have great links to training resources such as languages and IT skills. Mario Della Schiava tells us about the seven agencies around the country and the advantages of being registered with ADEM. Inès Baer, Head of ADEM's Data Department, talks through the situation of the labour market, which jobs are most common and those that have the greatest shortages. ADEM have worked directly with the Digital Learning Hub to create precise training courses to fill the needs of Luxembourg's job market. Ageism in the job market does exists People aged 45+ find it harder to get jobs and language skills are also an issue, with French and English being the most asked for requirements on the Luxembourg market. Isabelle advises that the hopeful new legislation to come should help open up working opportunities to 'third-country' spouses. She also reminds employers that it's a legal obligation to register their job openings, which will produce a more transparent database from which Luxembourg can also learn where the gaps in the market are, and therefore address them. HEC Liège Luxembourg Pratiksha Misra is the Recruiting Manager at HEC Liège Luxembourg and talks about the course opportunities plus links with internships. Pascal Wiscour-Conter, a Luxembourger who spent the bulk of his career in the USA, returned just before COVID to get his Visa. However, lock-down meant he and his wife ended up 'stuck' here by chance. With this experience, Pascal felt what it is like to be an 'ex-pat' in Luxembourg. Pascal has brought his vast experience of working with start-ups, being an entrepreneur and writer himself, to teach the Strategic Communications course at HEC Liège Luxembourg, himself being an alumni of the business school in Liège. International Dual Career Network International Dual Career Network, or IDCN, is a global non-profit association of companies, NGOs and academic institutions, which works closely with the corporate members to make sure the dual career partners have a successful transition to provide them with networking and development opportunities in Luxembourg. Zehra Gozukara - the Partner President for IDCN Luxembourg talks about their links with companies such as Amazon, ArcelorMittal, British Chamber of Commerce, European Investment Bank, European Stability Mechanism, Ferrero, PwC,Vodafone, University of Luxembourg and HEC Liège Luxembourg. Zehra herself benefitted from linking with IDCN when she moved to Luxembourg as a trailing spouse. Polo Club Luxembourg Erick Lauro and Pablo Casero come to the studio laden with polo shirts and paraphernalia. Erick started polo aged 60 at his daughter's insistence. She is now herself one of the best polo players in the country aged just 16, competing all over Europe. Pablo Casero started polo aged 11 in his homeland Argentina and has travelled the world playing and teaching polo since the age of 18. Now with his own two children, aged 5 and 1, they are already on horses! Join Erick and Pablo at the 10 year anniversary of Polo Club Luxembourg's annual Summer Polo Rendez-Vous on 7, 8 and 9 July. It will be a weekend of polo, food, sublime entertainment and great company. You can tune into Lisa's shows on Today Radio Saturdays at 11am, Sundays at noon and Tuesdays at 10am.

This week on the podcast we are all about mountains and mushrooms! I am talking with the wonderful Alison Beale about her weekly trips to the mountains around Tokyo and why she has become rather addicted to these hikes. Alison shares with us some of the physical, mental, emotional and social benefits she has experienced on her trips to various mountains and why she loves discovering all the wonderful biodiversity on the mountains, including mushrooms! In this episode you'll hear:How rehabilitating an injury led Alison to weekly mountain walksWhy Alison enjoys finding different types of mushrooms while hikingAdvice on how to keep yourself safe while walking in the mountains aloneWhat Alison learnt about fear and ways to use that in everyday lifeThe community aspect of hiking and how life affirming it can beAbout Alison:Alison is Director of the University of Oxford Japan Office. She came to Japan immediately after graduating from Oxford and has had a long career in international education and cultural relations, mostly with the British Council. She worked for the organization in various cities in Japan, and then in Trinidad and Tobago and Shanghai China, before coming back to Tokyo. She then decided to ditch her peripatetic life, and now heads up the representative office of the University of Oxford in Japan. Alison is passionate about building links between the UK and Japan and holds a number of voluntary positions for example as Vice-President of the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan and Executive Director of the Japan-British Society. She is also a fan of the performing arts and is on the Board of the New National Theatre Tokyo.Things mentioned in the Episode:Blog post about Unconscious Processing: https://jennifershinkai.com/2020/01/07/need-inspiration-pop-to-the-loo/Connect with Alison:Instagram: www.instagram.com/aliyama_japanBlog: https://www.japan.travel/en/blog/author/alison-beale/Connect with Jennifer:Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifershinkai/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennifershinkaicoach Website: https://jennifershinkai.com/

Business leaders tell us the UK economy is going off course.Caroline Hepker brings us her conversations with Marks & Spencer chairman Archie Norman, British Chambers of Commerce chief Martha Lane Fox, and former CEO of the London Stock Exchange, Xavier Rolet. Meanwhile in Westminster, Rishi Sunak faces more internal Tory party turmoil after the resignation of Boris Johnson and two allies from parliament. Our political reporter Alex Wickham discusses the fallout. Hosted by Caroline Hepker, Lizzy Burden and Stephen Carroll. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Peter Mandelson says China has asked him to help them attract more foreign investment. We bring you our exclusive interview with the former trade secretary. Back in London, the British Chambers of Commerce is making a pitch for the CBI's place as the voice of business. Our UK Business Editor Julian Harris tells us about the aims of the BCC's new business council. Elina Ganatra reports on more young people dropping out of the workforce due to ill health, while our City Editor Katherine Griffiths brings us better news on the UK attracting foreign direct investment in financial services. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The European Central Bank and the Bank of England have raised interest rates again, one day after a similar move by the US Federal Reserve. But amid those big players, Britain seems in particular trouble, with the International Monetary Fund warning it will be the only major economy to shrink in 2023. In the UK, the pain and anger poured into the streets on Wednesday when the country saw its biggest strikes in a decade, with as many as half a million workers walking out, from transport to teachers. There's little light at the end of the tunnel, with a cost-of-living crisis forcing around four million children into poverty. Correspondent Nada Bashir was there on "walkout Wednesday."  Also on today's show: Shevaun Haviland, Director General, British Chambers of Commerce; Stephanie Flanders, Senior Executive Editor, Bloomberg; Gina Prince-Bythewood; Director, “The Woman King”; Yascha Mounk; Author, “The Great Experiment” To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy

Based in the UK, Jim James is the Champion of the UnNoticed Entrepreneur. That's because he's been one since 1995 when he set up EASTWEST Public Relations in Singapore. Living in Beijing, China, from 2006 to 2019, he set up a number of other businesses including the import of Morgan Motor company cars, the Beijing chapter of the Entrepreneurs Organization, and played a role as Vice Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce. Jim also set up the British Business Awards in China in 2008 and played the role of interim CEO of Lotus Cars in China. As a youngster, he lived in Africa and America and studied in America as an undergraduate. As a result Jim has friends and associates around the world, and this is reflected in the guests and listeners of his show, The Unnoticed.Now he is back in the UK, and in pursuit of the next round of being an entrepreneur. He sold his PR Agency, playing the role of Chairman, and is focused on The UnNoticed Entrepreneur project. The genesis was helping fellow entrepreneurs during COVID, including my sister.  Jim is the proud father of two amazing daughters and a handsome beagle called Binkie, who ensures that they go for walks no matter what time he finishes in the studio. Connect with Jim through Linktree at https://linktr.ee/jimajames where "I've listed all my bits and pieces" said Jim on his website https://theunnoticed.cc#thebusinesschoppodcast #entreprenuerlife #theunnoticedBuzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREEDesignrr Get Instant Transcripts from your Podcast, Video, or Webinar Altogether Domains, Hosting and More Bringing your business online - domain names, web design, branded email, security, hosting and more.Riverside.fm Professional Remote Content Creation StudioDigital Business Cards Let's speed up your follow up. Get a digital business card.Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showPlease Rate & ReviewVisit Altogether Marketing LLC

John Stopford, Head of Multi Asset Income at NinetyOne Prof Adrian Saville Investment Specialist at Genera Capital and Leon Ayo, President of the British Chamber of Business in Southern Africa discuss the sacking of Kwasi Kwarteng as the finance minister for the UK after a six week stint. Friday File - A look at the business of African Fashion through a book titled, "Africa in Fashion: Luxury, Craft and Textile Heritage" See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Evan Davis asks why there are more job vacancies in Britain than there are people looking for work. Unemployment used to be a big problem, but now businesses say they're struggling to recruit enough staff. Guest list: Jane Townson: CEO of The Home Care Association Will Beckett: CEO of Hawksmoor restaurants Jane Gratton: Head of People Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce Jon Wilson: CEO of TotalJobs online recruitment agency. Production Coordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross and Siobhan Reed Sound production: Neil Churchill & Graham Puddifoot Research: Louise Byrne Producer: Nick Holland Editor: Richard Vadon Presenter: Evan Davis

As Liz Truss takes the top job at Number 10, we unravel what 'Trussonomics' could be with John Longworth, former chairman of the British Chambers of Commerce and former Conservative Party Member, and Russ Mould discusses why the pound struggled on the day a new Prime Minister was announced. As energy prices continue to rise while the Nord Stream 1 remains closed, we speak to energy consultant Kathryn Porter on how the week may look for energy and gas. And, joining us in the show is a panel of three small businesses as we hear what they would like to see from Liz Truss. Could cash be making a comeback? We hear from John Howells, Chief Exec of LINK, the UK's cash machine network, on why more banking hubs that allow people to access cash will be cropping up across the country.

Boris Johnson is set to announce reforms to lending rules to increase home ownership in the UK as higher fuel and energy costs put pressure on household budgets. The same economic conditions have put more businesses off investing for the future, according to the latest British Chambers of Commerce UK economic forecast, which shows GDP is expected to contract.