Podcasts about sports direct

How does Briscoe Group's Rod Duke view incoming competition from international retailers like IKEA and Sports Direct? The retail veteran shares his unconventional strategy of welcoming customers to try competitors. Plus - Duke reflects on his transition from hands-on management to mentoring, and why building a lasting legacy matters more than short-term defense. This clip is taken from our previous episode: ‘Occupy, dominate, and defend’: Briscoe Group’s growth plan. For more or to watch on YouTube—check out http://linktr.ee/sharedlunchShared Lunch is brought to you by Sharesies Limited (NZ) in New Zealand. It is not financial advice. Information provided is general only and current at the time it’s provided, and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation and needs. We do not provide recommendations and you should always read the disclosure documents available from the product issuer before making a financial decision. Our disclosure documents and terms and conditions—including a Target Market Determination and IDPS Guide for Sharesies Australian customers—can be found on our relevant Australian or NZ website. Investing involves risk. You might lose the money you start with. If you require financial advice, you should consider speaking with a qualified financial advisor. Past performance is not a guarantee of future performance. Appearance on Shared Lunch is not an endorsement by Sharesies of the views of the presenters, guests, or the entities they represent. Their views are their own.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wall St closed modestly lower on Tuesday as investors shifted focus from tariffs to first quarter earnings results. The Dow Jones lost 0.38%, the S&P500 fell 0.17% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day down 0.05%. Bank of America rose 3.6% yesterday after exceeding analysts' expectations for Q1 results, while Untied Airlines and Netflix are also expected to report this week. Boeing shares fell more than 2% though on Tuesday on reports that Beijing ordered Chinese airlines not to take anymore of the company's planes.In Europe overnight, markets in the region rose amid investor optimism of further tariff exemptions to come from the White House. The STOXX 600 rose 1.6%, Germany's DAX added 1.3%, the French CAC gained 0.9% and, in the UK, the FTSE100 ended the day up 1.5%.Across the Asia region on Tuesday, markets mostly rose in the region as a tech rally boosted investor sentiment. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.84%, South Korea's Kospi Index gained 0.88%, India's Nifty 50 rose 2.18% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended the day up 0.23%.The local market rallied for a second session on Tuesday with a gain of 0.17% after a day of relative calm with minimal news on the tariff front out of the White House. Investors increasingly sought out defensive stocks on Tuesday with CSL and CBA rising 2.56% and 0.87% respectively.The high growth tech sector came under pressure on Tuesday despite strength on the Nasdaq on Monday and Trump's exemption of key tech tariffs. KFC Australia operator Collins Food Group fell over 7.7% on Tuesday after announcing the results of its strategic review including the exiting of its Taco Bell operations in Australia and further expansion of KFC into Germany.Accent Group on the other hand rallied over 4.5% after announcing it will launch and operate leading global sports retailing business, Sports Direct to Australia and New Zealand. The leading Australian retailer also announced a long-term strategic relationship with Frasers Group, a global retailer of sports, premium and luxury brands based in London, with Frasers also increasing its stake in Accent Group to 19.57%.What to watch today:The Aussie dollar has further strengthened against the greenback to buy 63.48 US cents, 90.82 Japanese Yen, 48.08 British Pence and 1 New Zealand dollar and 8 cents.On the commodities front this morning, oil is trading 0.33% lower at US$61.32/barrel, gold is up 0.5% at US$3227.51/ounce and iron ore is up 0.13% at US$100.08/tonne. Ahead of the midweek trading session the SPI futures are anticipating the ASX will open the day down just 0.04% Trading Idea.s:Bell Potter has downgraded the rating on Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN) from a buy to a hold and have raised the 12-month price target on the gold and copper miner from $7.89 to $8.10 following the release of the company's March quarter report which came in strong as Bell Potter was expecting. The downgrade to a hold simply follows recent share price appreciation.Trading Central has identified a bullish signal on Universal Stores (ASX:UNI) following the formation of a pattern over a period of 38-days which is roughly the same amount of time the share price may rise from the close of $7.46 to the range of $10.10 to $10.70 according to standard principles of technical analysis.

The ASX 200 consolidated the move yesterday with a gain of 13 points to 7762. Easter is calling it seems. Banks were the key with the Big Bank Basket up to $250.19 (0.6%). CBA up 0.5% and MQG gaining 0.8% too. Other financials were a little soggy, GQG down 1.9% with HUB falling 2.9% despite good FUA numbers. PNI dropped 5.0%. REITs eased back too, GMG down 1.2% and SCG down 0.9%. Healthcare saw CSL better despite threats from Trump to put tariffs on pharma; Industrials drifted lower. WOW down 1.8% with REA off 1.8% and tech under some pressure. WTC down 2.2% with XRO falling 1.5% as the All-Tech index dropped 0.8%. Retail generally slipped with SUL off 2.9% and FLT falling 2.8%. Resources were flat in the main; EVN had a great quarterly and rose 3.9%, whilst other gold miners saw some profit-taking; BHP, RIO, and FMG showed slight gains. LYC and other rare earth stocks in demand,  as China blocks exports. Uranium and coal stocks falling away, NXG down 2.6% and NHC off 1.3%. In corporate news, BGL resumed trade down % as it raised $156m to buy back its hedge. CKF fell 7.7% on news it will close Taco Bell. PPT fell 1.4% as money left the building and AX1 up 4.7% on news of Sports Direct launch. On the economic front, The RBA minutes left the door open for a possible May rate cut. Asian markets mixed, Japan up 0.9%, HK down 0.3% and China down 0.3%. 10-year yields falling to 4.35%.Want to invest with Marcus Today? The Managed Strategy Portfolio is designed for investors seeking exposure to our strategy while we do the hard work for you.If you're looking for personal financial advice, our friends at Clime Investment Management can help. Their team of licensed advisers operates across most states, offering tailored financial planning services.  Why not sign up for a free trial? Gain access to expert insights, research, and analysis to become a better investor.

THIS WEEK ON WRESTHINGS PODCAST, WE DISCUSSED:B&M closing down sale and Sports Direct selling designer clothes Dadicated Podcast Launch. Shouts to Mekz and AnarfiJon Moxley having spikes in his back. Was it overboard?Mike Bailey vs Ricochet vs Kenny Omega at AEW Dynasty!Are belt collector gimmicks overdone?Saraya leaving AEW- what went wrong? what's next for her?John Cena's promo. Overall build with CodySwerve Strickland on VLAD TV Who will beat Rayne for the Hustle championship

Mitch revives his version of the 12 Days of Christmas, before answering 25 icebreaker questions, all around Christmas! Find out his favourite Christmas film, candy, memory, present, beverage, flavour and more... Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership Show Notes Answer the icebreaker questions yourself: The 25 Best Christmas Icebreaker Questions (https://slideswith.com/blog/christmas-icebreaker-questions) Transcript Mitch: [0:00] Before we start this week's episode of Easy English, I just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and rehash an old song I wrote. On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: Bluetooth earphones, Ikea voucher, an ill-fitted t-shirt, tenner in a card, second-hand bike, multi-pack of condoms, stationery set, Sports Direct socks, Bottle of Baileys, six pack of Carling, two spa days And a Blu-Ray of Die Hard II. Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership

In this episode, we sit down with Michael Murray, the dynamic CEO of Frasers Group and one of the youngest executives to lead a major retail empire. Michael shares his journey from property consultant to the helm of a global retail powerhouse, responsible for iconic brands like Sports Direct and House of Fraser. We delve into the mindset that fuels his leadership, exploring how he navigated challenges and embraced opportunities to transform Frasers Group into a premium and luxury retail destination. Michael discusses his innovative “Elevation Strategy,” which focuses on creating beautiful retail spaces and enhancing customer experiences across the UK. Join us as we unpack the insights and strategies of a leader reshaping the retail landscape, gaining a rare glimpse into the thought process of a visionary at the forefront of modern retail.

The 2024 KPMG Women's Irish Open Champion Annabel Dimmock joins us on the podcast to reflect on her 2nd Ladies European Tour title after winning a playoff at the KPMG Women's Irish Open in Carton House last weekend. It has been 5 years since Annabel's maiden win on the LET and her journey to her second title has been far from straight forward. Annabel shares with us her injury journey as well as struggling with mental health over the past couple of years, but she has come out the other side of this adversity event stronger. It was fantastic to have Annabel on the podcast and to celebrate her victory. Coverage of the KPMG Women's Irish Open on The Bogey Men is brought to you in partnership with Sports Direct, proud premium partner of the KPMG Women's Irish Open. Listen to our Podcast!Apple Pods - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-bogey-men/id1510331480 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7vKtYZke5QsfXghpKpTd0I?si=fGy4ozVUSC6WHPy4crqyfQ If you have any thoughts or comments let us know and leave a review. Get in touch with us on: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bogeymenpod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BogeyPod

London's FTSE 100 eased higher ahead of a big day on the US tech front with Nvidia and CrowdStrike to report later. London's blue-chip index was up five points at 8,349 in early trades. GSK was a riser as the Delaware Supreme Court said it would review a previous adverse ruling in its Zantac litigation battle. The UK pharma company noted that such interlocutory reviews are granted in ‘exceptional circumstances'. Sports Direct owner Frasers has purchased a 14.65% strategic investment in Accent, a leading retail and distribution business in the performance and lifestyle market in Australia and New Zealand. Prudential fell after a mixed set of interims that were affected by the economic woes in Hong Kong and China. Even so, the life insurer maintained its forecast for new business growth of 15-20% over the next three years. Finally, the water sector has said that a proposed cap on bill hikes will create a risk of failures across the industry. An average £19 a year ceiling “would likely result in significant investability issues for the sector as a whole,” said the report from trade body WaterUK. #proactiveinvestors #ftse #footsie #ftse100 #marketreport #nvidia #crowdstrike #frasers #sportsdirect #gsk #zantac #prudential #invest #investing #investment #investor #stockmarket #stocks #stock #stockmarketnews

The Bogey Men is coming to you LIVE, in partnership with Sports Direct, from the driving range of the KPMG Women's Irish Open at Carton House on the O'Meara Course. Jonny will be joined by PGA Professional Amy Condon as co-host for the two streams. On the show we'll have: Live player interviews Fun challenge videos with Tour Players A breakdown of some of the key/signature holes in the tournament AND prizes to give away to you watching at home

There are big changes for us around the corner. Matt moving out of the hustle and bustle of London in September, Cameron continuing to navigate burnout. Not to mention catching up on recent projects with Sports Direct and Puma. We're also discussing portfolios, and if social media can be a substitute for a website... yikes!CLICK HERE TO SEND US A QUESTION!STAY UPDATED WITH US! Our Newsletter Our Instagram Our YouTube Our TikTok Our Website

The 2024 KPMG Women's Irish Open at Carton House is just one week away and the top Ladies European Tour golfers will descend on Irish shores for what is sure to be an enthralling week!Jonny sat down with Jenny Hennessy from Chicks With Sticks, Kim O'Neill golf influencer and Valeria Clancy, elite Irish amateur golfer who works for Forefront Sports the staging partner for the KPMG Women's Irish Open.We discuss the growth of women's golf in Ireland, seeing more women at driving ranges around the country and what it means for the sport as well as having Major winners in the field for the tournament as well as what increased sponsorship means for the KPMG Women's Irish Open but also for golf as a whole.Coverage of the KPMG Women's Irish Open on The Bogey Men is brought to you in partnership with Sports Direct, proud premium partner of the KPMG Women's Irish Open.On Tuesday & Wednesday of the KPMG Women's Irish Open, The Bogey Men will be streaming Live From The Range from 11am-2pm with exclusive interviews with LET Winners, celebrities and Irish professional & amateur golfers. We'll also have fun challenge games that our guests will be playing so make sure to tune in and you'll even have a chance to win some prizes!Listen to our Podcast!Apple Pods - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-bogey-men/id1510331480Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7vKtYZke5QsfXghpKpTd0I?si=fGy4ozVUSC6WHPy4crqyfQIf you have any thoughts or comments let us know and leave a review.Get in touch with us on:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bogeymenpod/Twitter: https://twitter.com/BogeyPod

London's FTSE 100 bucked its winning streak at the open on Friday despite fresh data showing a steady uptick in retail sales last month. Retail sales volumes climbed as expected by 0.5% in July, following a 0.9% drop a month earlier. This was fuelled by a rise in shopping at department stores and on sports equipment as the Euros football tournament and Olympics in Paris took place. Sports Direct owner Frasers Group had initially led the riser, before slipping back to around flat. Housing stocks including Persimmon, Rightmove and Barratt Developments were among those weighing on the FTSE 100 though after a report warned that government housing targets may prove challenging to meet. Government targets to build 1.5 million homes over the next five years may not be met if the focus is placed entirely on building new towns, the think tank Centre for Cities revealed. #ProactiveInvestors #marketreport #ftse #footsie #ftse #frasersgroup #sportsdirect #persimmon #rightmove #barrattdevelopments #invest #investing #investment #investor #stockmarket #stocks #stock #stockmarketnews

Professional Golfer Amy Taylor joins the podcast to talk about her maiden win at the Italian Open on the Ladies European Tour. Amy spoke about her journey to winning for the first time on tour, overcoming injury and how fine the margins are between losing your tour card and winning a tour event. Amy opened up about how tough tour life can be, but how great the rewards are, she also told us how she is so excited to return to Ireland for the KPMG Women's Irish Open, which was one of her favourite events of the season last year. The Bogey Men's coverage of the KPMG Women's Irish Open is brought to you in partnership with Sports Direct. Proud Premium partner at this year's KPMG Women's Irish Open at Carton House. We'll have more content ahead of the KPMG Women's Irish Open and like last year, we'll be broadcasting Live From The Range on Tuesday and Wednesday of the tournament, so if you're around come and say hi!

This week: The last boke, afternoon brunch embarrassment, Colin's video of the week, working in Lush, losing teeth, product placement, debunking Banshees, Bonfire season, fat beach day, rascal level fat, Mumbai's grime scene, getting chatted up at work, the rise and fall of Sports Direct & much more. Support the squad and get an extra episode every Thursday: https://www.patreon.com/TheBombSquadPod Huge thanks to our sponsors: (Paid Ad) BORN IRISH WHISKEY www.bornirishwhiskey.com Use code 'BOMBSQUAD15' for 15% off T&Cs apply 18+ (Paid Ad) BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.com/bsp Sign up and get 10% off your first month. Follow The Bomb Squad Pod on: Youtube Instagram TikTok X

The FTSE 100 shrugged off another bout of tech weakness in the US overnight and got off to a flying start led by Mike Ashley's Frasers Group. The Footsie was up 76 points 8,623 shortly after the open, building on the late gains seen Wednesday. Sports Direct owner Frasers is the standout, with its shares leaping more than 8% as annual profits hit the top of forecasts and were accompanied by guidance for another hefty increase in the current year. Power generator SSE meanwhile said it is on track to reach around nine gigawatts of installed capacity by 2027, largely from offshore wind farm projects. The company added that it welcomes the new government's renewables plans. Wealth platform AJ Bell was another healthy riser as it reported a big jump in customer numbers and said people are trading more as confidence in the market picks up. Also on the up on a good day was Dunelm with shares of the homewares retailer up 6% on comments that profits this year would come in “slightly ahead of expectations”. #ProactiveInvestors #marketreport #ftse #ftse100 #footsie #mikeashley #frasers #sse #sportsdirect #ajbell #dunelm #invest #investing #investment #investor #stockmarket #stocks #stock #stockmarketnews

Kate Lanigan has had an incredibly successful season so far, a win on the R&A Student Series in Italy and winning the series overall alongside her countryman Ryan Griffin meant Kate earned a spot on the Arnold Palmer Cup team in Lahinch, the week after making it into the last 64 in the Women's Amatuer Championship in Portmarnock. Kate's summer of golf isn't over however as the KPMG Women's Irish Open is taking place in Carton House, where Kate holds membership, after being hosted in Dromoland Castle for the last 2 years. Kate played in the event in both 2022 & 2023, making the cut last year. She has ambitions on retaining her amateur status but we can be confident that we'll see Kate teeing it up inside the ropes again at the LET tournament this August. The Bogey Men's coverage of the KPMG Women's Irish Open is brought to you in partnership with Sports Direct. Proud Premium partner at this year's KPMG Women's Irish Open at Carton House. We'll have more content ahead of the KPMG Women's Irish Open and like last year, we'll be broadcasting Live From The Range on Tuesday and Wednesday of the tournament, so if you're around come and say hi!

Election 24, Episode 25 If you think a Sports Direct mug is the biggest thing you can drink tea out of, guess again. It's another treat-filled tour of Britain on the Battlebus. Today's candidates are: Judith Cummins, Labour, Bradford South @JudithCummins https://www.judithcummins.org.uk/ Scott Hamilton, Conservative, Lothian East @ScottHam2win https://www.scottishbordersconservatives.org.uk/people/scott-hamilton Christopher Clowes, Reform, Rutland and Stamford @CClowesReform https://www.reformparty.uk/rutland-and-stamford-constituency Christopher Bloore, Labour, Redditch @ChrisBloore https://redditchlabourparty.org/chris-bloore-redditch-ppc Just 547 to go... If you are a candidate or know one who'd like to come on the show, email politicalpartypodcast@gmail.com SEE Matt at the Edinburgh Festival in August: Matt Forde The End of an Era Tour Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode James and Sam discuss Mike Ashley's company purchasing shares in Hornby as well as MA coming on board as a consultant. Model Rail Replacement Podcast A model railway podcast to talk shop, news, hints tips and tricks in a long established hobby. Episode Zero introduces James and Sam, who they are and what they do! You can find James at: https://www.youtube.com/c/westernsignalman https://www.instagram.com/westernsignalman/ You can find Sam at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU1jAqaoprzYdgwkhCpxtFw https://www.instagram.com/emperors_path/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sam-beecher-jones/message

"I believe human beings are built for growth. We're like elastic bands, you know, we're built to be stretched. It takes two things, it takes a mentality, to want to do that to want to put yourself out of a comfort zone. But then action is also required, small steps. And the more and the more small steps you do when you're trying to do something for the first time, the more you become capable and confident about doing it." Julian Harris Top Five Tips For How Leaders Can Increase Their Performance, Creativity and Wellbeing 1.  Understand that our experience is created from our thinking, not from external circumstances2.  You don't have to do it all by yourself. Create a support structure around you.3.  Self-care is non-negotiable so must be timetabled into your calendar.4.  Practise the courage-capability-confidence triangle.5.  There is an intelligent design to all of life, of which we are a part, and which is also a part of us.  TIME STAMP SUMMARY 01:13  We create our experiences05:08  Using your network to your advantage09:37  Courage capability14:01  Don't let yourself get in the way of yourselfWhere to find Julian?Website                    https://www.juliankharris.co.uk/ LinkedIn                   https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliankharris  Julian Harris Bio Julian founded Julian Harris Services fuelled by his vision to make a greater impact and has found his purpose in working with business leaders looking to change the world. Julian has 20 years of experience as a commercial lawyer for brands such as Nike, Twining's, Sports Direct, Asda, Manchester United, and Primark. Julian brings his experience of advising major corporations from a legal perspective into his leadership coaching. Julian is passionate about helping business owners and leaders become the best version of themselves, drawing out their gifts, even when his clients can't see those gifts for themselves.  Julian is currently located in London and works with leaders on both sides of the Atlantic. His clients appreciate his attentiveness and thought-provoking questions that allow them to gain the clarity and confidence they need. When he isn't working with leaders, he enjoys spending time with his family and staying active with Karate and Pilates.  Julian has experience and insight to share with business owners, leaders, and any individual that is looking to make an impact and see their full potential.

The FTSE 100 opened slightly higher ahead of a week dominated by UK inflation figures on Wednesday and GDP on Thursday. Among companies, it was Body Shop in the headlines on weekend rumours the cosmetics retailer was getting ready to call in the administrators following tough Christmas trading. Cash struggles elsewhere have reportedly seen Virgin Media O2 reignite discussions with TalkTalk meanwhile, over a deal which could see it buy the latter's consumer division. Among listed companies, GSK shares slipped despite news the pharma firm had been granted US fast-track status for its chronic hepatitis B treatment. And finally, shares in Frasers climbed early on after the Sports Direct owner signalled a new £80 million buyback would kick off on Monday and that it had upped its stake in online retailer N Brown. #proactiveinvestors #marketreport #bodyshop #virginmediaO2 #talktalk #gsk #frasers #sportsdirect #invest #investing #investment #investor #stockmarket #stocks #stock #stockmarketnews

Sounds like a cozy spot, doesn't it? Games we played this week include: Luck be a Landlord (4:25) The Super Mario Bros. Movie (17:20) Last of Us Part II Remastered (24:30) The Gnorp Apologue (33:15) Legend of Grimrock (39:25) Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (39:25) The Shopping List (49:40) The Witcher 3 (51:20) Pokémon Scarlet/Violet (51:55) Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name (53:40) --- News things talked about in this episode: UK retailer GAME ends trade-ins because locations are increasingly in Sports Direct stores (43:30) https://www.eurogamer.net/uk-retailer-game-to-cease-video-game-trade-ins-staff-say Rockstar and Remedy Games in a legal tiff over their logos (49:30) https://www.gameinformer.com/news/2024/01/16/rockstar-parent-company-take-two-files-trademark-dispute-over-remedys-logo Lost Boys latest studio hit by Embracer layoffs (52:15) https://www.pcgamer.com/embracer-owned-lost-boys-interactive-reportedly-undergoes-sizable-layoffs/ GameShark re-emerges as AI company and drops a Switch 2 release date rumor (59:40) https://kotaku.com/switch-2-release-date-leak-ces-gameshark-ai-shark-1851159992 --- Buy official Jimquisition merchandise at thejimporium.com Find Laura at LauraKBuzz on Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and Patreon. All her content goes on LauraKBuzz.com, and you can catch Access-Ability on YouTube every Friday. Follow Conrad at ConradZimmerman on Twitter/Instagram/BlueSky and check out his Patreon (patreon.com/fistshark). You can also peruse his anti-capitalist propaganda at mercenarycreative.com.

This week we're joined by pro mechanic Nic from Backyard Bike Shop to chat the cost of bikes (and whether it can be justified), bike muggings, strange goings on at Sports Direct and more. Here's the full breakdown:00:00 New Year's antics00:30 People are angry with GCN14:59 Melissa Dennis death & Rohan Dennis arrest15:56 The rise of bike-jackings25:02 The great Sports Direct superbike mystery34:18 Why the industry needs to cater more to average cyclists38:05 We need to educate drivers!40:43 The problem with e-bikes41:05 The cycling industry needs a shake-up41:53 Overrated/Underrated: average speed44:55 Overrated/Underrated: 650b wheels49:40 Overrated/Underrated: Muc Off52:21 Overrated/Underrated: frame bags53:05 Overrated/Underrated: suspension on gravel bikes54:21 Jimmi's Christmas Eve error (FUOTW)55:35 Nic got ‘Home Aloned' (FUOTW)56:27 Dry vs wet lube - what's the difference?If you'd like us to send in a question, story, some good news, things you'd like us to discuss or anything else, email us at wildonespodcast@cademedia.co.ukThanks and see you next time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the Founder of Julian Harris Services Limited, Julian Harris.Julian Harris, a seasoned leadership coach delved into the often overlooked challenges and isolation faced by leaders, particularly founders and CEOs. Julian shared his insights on the importance of having a mentor or sounding board to share concerns and seek guidance.With his extensive experience working with leaders, Julian emphasized the importance of having someone to talk to about these concerns.As a business grows, these two roles can become distinct, each with its responsibilities and challenges. Julian, leveraging his background as a former attorney, explained how he helps clients identify their passions and delegate tasks effectively, a crucial skill for both founders and CEOs.Without a sounding board, leaders can find themselves lost in their thoughts, leading to unclear decision-making. Julian's coaching approach focuses on helping clients find clarity, connect with their innate wisdom, and tap into their creativity.Julian also stressed the importance of self-care, comparing it to the safety briefing on an airplane, where you must put on your oxygen mask before helping others. Looking after oneself is crucial for effectively managing business and personal relationships.Key Points from the Episode:Challenges and isolation faced by leaders, particularly founders and CEOsImportance of having a sounding board or mentor for leadersRole of a founder versus a CEOPotential consequences of not having a mentorPains and complaints that leaders often share with a coachCoaching philosophy and approach to helping clients find clarity and connect with their innate wisdom and creativityImportance of slowing down and taking time for reflection in decision-makingJulian Harris' experience as a leadership coach and working with leaders who feel lonely and struggle to find someone to talk toValue of a decelerated day for deep thinking, self-reflection, and exploring important questionsAbout Julian Harris:Julian Harris, founder of Julian Harris Services, is a seasoned commercial lawyer with a 20-year track record, having served notable brands like Nike, Twinings, Sports Direct, Asda, Manchester United, and Primark. His vision for making a substantial impact led him to establish his coaching venture, where he now specializes in working with business leaders aiming to change the world. Based in London, Julian seamlessly integrates his legal expertise with leadership coaching, helping clients on both sides of the Atlantic. With a passion for drawing out the untapped potential in individuals, he empowers business owners and leaders to become the best versions of themselves. Known for his attentiveness and thought-provoking questions, Julian facilitates clarity and confidence among his clients, even when they struggle to recognize their strengths.About Julian Harris Services Limited:Julian Harris Services, founded by Julian Harris, reflects his transformative journey from a legal career to coaching, driven by a desire to create a more profound impact on the world. Motivated by the brevity and preciousness of life, Julian aspires to leave a meaningful legacy by facilitating positive change. As a coach, he focuses on aiding individuals who share a vision of making a difference in the world, aligning their goals with his own aspiration to contribute to a better global future. With a commitment to helping others, Julian's...

Welcome to the PRmoment Podcast.Welcome to our November review of PR Pitches and mergers & acquisitions in the UK PR scene with Andrew Bloch.He is the lead consultant - PR, Social, Content and Influencer at the new business consultancy firm AAR and a partner at PCB Partners, where he advises on buying and selling marketing services agencies.Andrew was also a co-founder at PR agency Frank PR, where he is still a non-executive director at Frank PR.Before we start, we've got some huuuuge news - The PRmoment Awards 2024 are now - OPEN!There are some exciting changes this year; we've tweaked the categories, refined the entry form and launched a regional champions scheme with no additional entry fee to reach the work across the UK.Do check out the PRmoment Awards microsite.Also, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.Finally, thanks to PRmoment's data and insight partners, Meltwater, for supporting this podcast.2 mins Andrew on how this year's pitch golden quarter is going!Andrew's current outlook for public relations:“Things won't really pick up pace until the second quarter next year.”“Great companies do well regardless of the economy, and it's the ones that aren't as well run, that aren't as strong, that suffer when the economy wobbles.”“I think we will see an uplift overall in (PR) industry in spending this year.”“Because we're always on…we are more protective of when we do get some shut off time.”6 mins  How does Andrew look back on the pitching year of 2023?“Not a boom year…but healthy.”“Tech's had a tough year, but coming out of it now…you're already seeing that come back. Which is great.”9 mins Andrew and Ben reflect on the sad news that Science Magic, previously The London Communications Store, has gone into voluntary receivership.“This was a sizable firm of over 100 people.”“You can look at lots of agencies and quite clearly see they are overstaffed for the level of fee income they've got.“Now you have a lot of specialists within an agency…who aren't necessarily direct revenue drivers.”“PR firms have a higher cost base now than they ever have.”11 mins This month's PR new business news:Tin Man wins Mars Pet Care (Royal Canin) and Yeo Valley.Sunny Side Up wins Majestic WineJohn Doe wins the Pernod Ricard wine portfolio and Sports Direct.Duet London wins INSHURFrank wins Lounge.tv and Not On The High StreetRed wins Toshiba TVThree Sixty wins Wizz AirThe Romans wins The Gym Group, Formula E and Tony's ChocolonelyHatch wins 365H&K wins Philips Domestic AppliancesPHA wins Alith PayLittle Red Rooster wins Hush Puppies26 mins November's PR M&A News:Life Sciences firm Eversana have acquired digital health consultancy Healthware GroupFreuds buys creative art agency Lawless StudiosUS private equity firm EagleTree Capital buys MMGY GlobalHavas buys Indian consumer firm PR Pundit.Splendid buys DIY Creative.

Mike Ashley's Newcastle reign was a disaster for fans, and behind the scenes it was booze-soaked chaos.  The giant mug magnate enjoyed 14 years of drunken mayhem at St James Park.  From puking in fireplaces to stripping at staff parties, welcome to Big Mike's decade on the Toon… For more tales of sporting scandal, join 100,000+ subscribers who get our free weekly email:  https://www.upshot.email/subscribe?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=poddescription Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Murray is the CEO of Frasers Group, which owns some of Britain's best known retail brands — including House of Fraser, Sports Direct, Flannels, Jack Wills, and Gieves & Hawkes.    Appointed to the role in May last year at the age of just 33, Michael has overseen an impressive leap in fortunes for the company, at a time when the high street seems in greater flux than ever. In a conversation recorded at the Fraser Group HQ, Michael tells us how his childhood growing up in Doncaster shaped his attitude to hard work and why he feels he was always destined to be an entrepreneur — as well as what the government might do to help the ailing high street, and just what the future of retail might hold.

Jonny & Michael look back on an amazing week at Dromoland Castle for the KPMG Women's Irish Open. We had 2 live shows from the range with Sports Direct which thousands of people watched. We had player interviews and challenge videos as well as on course filming. Anne Van Dam just missed out in the playoff to Smilla Soenderby who eagled the first playoff hole to win the tournament after shooting -10 in round 4. We'll have a full podcast on the men's Irish Open at The K Club soon as well as a podcast on the Ryder Cup picks. Let us know what you'd like us to cover more of this year and we'll do our absolute best to look after that for you! Your support and feedback is really important to us and helps us make the best content for you that we can! We have more new videos coming to our YouTube Channel soon, so please subscribe to our channel for something you have never seen before! If you have any thoughts or comments let us know and leave a review. Get in touch with us on: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bogeymenpod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BogeyPod Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3bYG9Ud9Vyy7Gfa6mrcaBAv

Ireland's newest female professional golfer, Lauren Walsh joins us on the podcast this week to talk through finishing up her time at Wake Forest and turning her attention to the professional game! Lauren Walsh is looking forward to joining Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow on the LPGA Tour after clinching the winning point to help Wake Forest claim their first NCAA Division 1 Women's title in Arizona. The Castlewarden star (22), a two-time Curtis Cup player, turned professional this summer and is heading for the LPGA Tour Q-School. The trip to Q-School clashes with the KPMG Women's Irish Open at Dromoland Castle unfortunately, but on the evidence of her stellar career at Wake Forest, it won't be long before Walsh is starring in the professional ranks. Coverage of the Women's Irish Open is brought to you by Sports Direct, proud premium partner at this year's KPMG Women's Irish Open. Shop in store or online at SportsDirect.com. Golf Starts Here. Let us know what you'd like us to cover more of this year and we'll do our absolute best to look after that for you! Your support and feedback is really important to us and helps us make the best content for you that we can! We have more new videos coming to our YouTube Channel soon, so please subscribe to our channel for something you have never seen before! If you have any thoughts or comments let us know and leave a review. Get in touch with us on: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bogeymenpod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BogeyPod Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3bYG9Ud9Vyy7Gfa6mrcaBAv

Jonny was on site at the ISPS Handa World Invitational at Galgorm on Monday to talk to players and get a sense of how the course is playing. He spoke with Daniel Gavins, Olivia Cowan, Lily May Humphries and others to get their thoughts on the course. We'll be on site at Galgorm on Friday filming some video pieces and giving away Callaway Golf goodies to you guys, so make sure to come up and say hi! We also talk through Lucas Glover winning again on the PGA Tour, does this win put him in conversation for the US Ryder Cup team? Coverage of the Women's Irish Open is brought to you by Sports Direct, proud premium partner at this year's KPMG Women's Irish Open. Shop in store or online at SportsDirect.com. Golf Starts Here. Let us know what you'd like us to cover more of this year and we'll do our absolute best to look after that for you! Your support and feedback is really important to us and helps us make the best content for you that we can! We have more new videos coming to our YouTube Channel soon, so please subscribe to our channel for something you have never seen before! If you have any thoughts or comments let us know and leave a review. Get in touch with us on: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bogeymenpod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BogeyPod Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3bYG9Ud9Vyy7Gfa6mrcaBAv

LET Star Annabel Dimmock joined Jonny on the podcast this week to discuss the pst two seasons for Annabel, both on and off the golf course. From battling anxiety to finding form on the golf course, Annabel opened up about what is important to her going forward. We caught up at the Jabra Ladies Open, the venue for Annabel's maiden LET win. We also talk through her close call at the KPMG Women's Irish Open at Dromoland Castle last year, and how tough it was to just miss out on the playoff on Sunday, but also what it meant to her, having her dad on the bag and how big a supporter he is. With Irish heritage, Annabel's mother is Irish, this year the Irish Open is an event she has circled. Coverage of the Women's Irish Open is brought to you by Sports Direct, proud premium partner at this year's KPMG Women's Irish Open. Shop in store or online at SportsDirect.com. Golf Starts Here. Let us know what you'd like us to cover more of this year and we'll do our absolute best to look after that for you! Your support and feedback is really important to us and helps us make the best content for you that we can! We have more new videos coming to our YouTube Channel soon, so please subscribe to our channel for something you have never seen before! If you have any thoughts or comments let us know and leave a review. Get in touch with us on: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bogeymenpod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BogeyPod Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3bYG9Ud9Vyy7Gfa6mrcaBAv

Das Buch zum Podcast? JETZT AUCH ALS HÖRBUCH. Lieber als Newsletter? Geht auch. Buffett hat 1 Siemens und 1 Snapchat an Cash. Der BVB macht wilde Fehler und KPMG schaut weg. Außerdem ist Australien angesagt (Atlassian), aber Sicherheit ist erstmal egal (Fortinet). Achja: Barbie wird Milliardärin. Luxuskaufhäuser, Sport-Discounter und Newcastle United. Passt nicht zusammen? Mike Ashley bringt's zusammen. Die Frasers Group (WKN: A0MK5S) bringt's an die Börse. Nur Newcastle ist raus. Wir sehen immer schlechter. Carl Zeiss Meditec (WKN: 531370) feiert's. Diesen Podcast vom 07.08.2023, 3:00 Uhr stellt dir die Podstars GmbH (Noah Leidinger) zur Verfügung. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We did a live show recapping our thoughts on The Open Championship and Brian Harman being crowned the Champion Golfer of The Year. For this live show we were joined by Brendan Lawlor, an Open Champion himself after winning the inaugural G4D Open earlier this year. Jonny's audio for the Open recap segment of this podcast isn't great so apologies for this, but that issue has been resolved and won't occur again. Eamonn O'Donnell, Director of Golf at Dromoland Castle Golf Club sat down with Jonny to reflect on the return of the KPMG Women's Irish Open after a 10 year hiatus from the Ladies European Tour. Dromoland Castle hosted Ireland's national open in what was an incredibly successful week which saw the best of Europe's talent face off over 4 rounds of golf. Klara Spilkova emerged the victor after a one-hole playoff. This year Eamonn, Dromoland and the Ladies European Tour have ambitions to make this event bigger and better than before. With more spectators expected, a stronger field competing and an improved spectator experience, this is sure to be a fantastic event. The Bogey Men's coverage of the Women's Irish Open is brought to you in partnership with Sports Direct, proud premium partner of the KPMG Women's Irish Open. Shop in store or online at sportsdirect.com Golf Starts here! We'll have new episodes in this video series every week, so be sure to subscribe to this channel for lost of exciting & fun videos. Listen to our Podcast! Apple Pods - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-bogey-men/id1510331480 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7vKtYZke5QsfXghpKpTd0I?si=fGy4ozVUSC6WHPy4crqyfQ We have plenty more projects in the pipeline too so keep an eye out for new videos all the time! If you have any thoughts or comments let us know and leave a review. Get in touch with us on: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bogeymenpod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BogeyPod#WomensIrishOpen #DromolandCastle #SportsDirect #EamonnODonnell #KPMGWomensIrishOpen #DromolandCastleGolfClub #IrishGolf #thebogeymen

The lads sit down to recap the Scottish Open and Rory winning again on the DP World Tour. Robert Macintyre, friend of the podcast gave it everything and really provided the drama, we're equally delighted for Rory as heartbroken for Bob. The Bogey Men's coverage of the upcoming KPMG Women's Irish Open is now brought to you by Sports Direct and we're thrilled with this new partnership! This has been a long time coming and will mean loads of great content for you guys! We'll be bringing you preview videos and podcasts, interviews with tour players who will be competing at Dromoland, challenge videos and we'll even be live streaming “Live From The Range” on site at Dromoland Castle on the Tuesday and Wednesday of the tournament. We'll have competitions for you guys so make sure to tune in. Sports Direct, proud premium partners at this year's KPMG Women's Irish Open.  Shop in store or online at sportsdirect.com  Golf Starts here! To launch the partnership, we sat down to preview the KPMG Women's Irish Open with Irish amateurs Sara Byrne and Aideen Walsh. We spoke with Sara before the Irish Close Championship, which she won and that means that she will be competing in Dromoland at the end of August. Let us know what you'd like us to cover more of this year and we'll do our absolute best to look after that for you! Your support and feedback is really important to us and helps us make the best content for you that we can! We have more new videos coming to our YouTube Channel soon, so please subscribe to our channel for something you have never seen before! If you have any thoughts or comments let us know and leave a review. Get in touch with us on: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bogeymenpod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BogeyPod Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3bYG9Ud9Vyy7Gfa6mrcaBAv

Bio  A technology lawyer of some 40 years' experience, Richard has seen the IT industry from all sides - as an in-house lawyer with two substantial UK based systems houses, a lawyer in City of London practice and now as the head of his own practice offering legal services to IT companies large and small as well as acting as mediator and arbitrator in IT disputes.  Over the course of his career, Richard has been involved in some of the largest IT litigation and transactions and now gets involved in particular with Cloud contracting. When Richard set up his own private practice, the Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession described him as a “leader in his field” and as “good news on the most complex of matters”. Richard is a well known IT lawyer, having served two years as Chair of the Society for Computers & Law and is currently serving as Chair of the Legal Affairs Group at techUK. He has been a regular speaker at conferences both in the UK and internationally and has been providing training for over ten years: his annual lecture on Contract Law Developments attracts hundreds of attendees every year. More recently, he has ventured into writing with the publication of “Stephens on Contractual Indemnities” published by Law Brief Publishing.     Social media/ website(s): ·         LinkedIn: Richard Stephens on LinkedIn  ·         Richard's Website:  https://www.the-lors.co.uk   Books/References ·         ‘Stephens on Contractual Indemnities' by Richard Stephens – Law Brief Publishing   Interview Highlights 07:20 Don't leave any slippery bananas 09:15 Kicking the can down the street 15:20 Peppercorn rent 16:55 Blue v Ashley case 21:31 DSDM 22:40 Agile contracts 32:20 Atos Origin v De Beers 37:15 Hogjaard v EON    Episode Transcript  Ula Ojiaku Hello and welcome to the Agile Innovation Leaders podcast. I'm Ula Ojiaku. On this podcast I speak with world-class leaders and doers about themselves and a variety of topics spanning Agile, Lean Innovation, Business, Leadership and much more – with actionable takeaways for you the listener. So, Richard, thank you so much for joining us on the Agile Innovation Leaders' podcast.    Richard Stephens Pleasure to be here.     Ula Ojiaku Fantastic. Now, as I start with all my guests, we want to know who Richard Stephens is. So, can you tell us about yourself?    Richard Stephens Well, it depends what you want to know Ula. I'm a solicitor, and it's not terribly exciting as professions go. So, I spend a lot of time reading long documents, commenting on them, marking them up, doing contracts. It's probably everyone's worst nightmare when it comes to a profession really, I suppose, I don't know.    Ula Ojiaku Well, I like the way you've just summarised your profession as reading long documents and making comments. I'm wondering if you ever had long debates over phrases and words in a document?    Richard Stephens Yes, that's what the job consists of. And when you get into negotiating big contracts, and over my career, I've done, I've been involved in huge global outsourcing of huge cloud contracts, huge this, huge that, huge development implementation contracts. The job consists of arguing about words and trying to get it right for your client to be honest, you don't want to leave any slippery bananas in there which are going to trip them up later on.    Ula Ojiaku So that phrase slippery bananas, we'll get back to it. But in the meantime, how did you end up in a career in law, because you said, the way you've described it, you said it's not the most exciting thing. So, there must have been something that still drew you to this, “non-exciting path”?    Richard Stephens Well, I don't know, really, you just, I don't know, why do you do anything when you're young, and you decide to become, you know, typically, young little boys will say, well, I want to be a train driver or whatever. And you just, as you grow up, you just become gravitated to do something, and there are a lot of us in our school who said they wanted to be lawyers, others said they wanted to be consultants or some wanted to be accountants, but you have to understand that I worked in a time when IT didn't really exist. So, I don't think there was anybody who wanted to go into technology, for example, because I was, you know, at school in the 70s. So that was very much an arcane shut away job where people would wear white coats and go into air conditioned, filtered air rooms to feed mainframe monsters. But of course, that sort of thing, we knew nothing about. I don't know, I don't know why I went into being a lawyer. I mean, I could have run away to the circus, I suppose, but I lacked the courage to do it, I suppose - too boring and unadventurous is typical lawyer you see.    Ula Ojiaku Okay, okay. Well, that's an interesting, will I say, narrative of your career to date. So, do you have any thing you would have done differently, knowing what you now know?    Richard Stephens I think I would have run away to the circus, Ula.    Ula Ojiaku Okay, well, that's an interesting response, Richard. Well, thanks for sharing your career story to date. And so, for someone who is, for example, listening, and that's considering a career in law that you know, no matter what stage in life they're at, what would be your advice?    Richard Stephens Don't put your daughter on the stage, Mrs. Robinson, I think is probably what I would say. You know, they're all different types of lawyers. And you can go through lawyers who do criminal work, for example, and I think some lawyers get a good deal of pleasure out of doing that sort of thing. I don't think the criminal lawyers make a huge amount of money out of it. Or a lot of people do very harrowing areas of law like family domestic law and they're dealing with battered people of, frankly, these days, both sexes and horrible emotional scars and, you know, battles over, but I, you know, I went to, did some of my CPD and I went to a talk given by a probate mediator. Now you think that probate was a nice sedate area of the law, but that's the most, he said, is the most vicious, dispute ridden thing, because he said all families will have secrets and they will harbour them. And he said, what will happen is that, you know, Aunt Maud dies, and she has some valuable art collection or something like that, and then all these little, all these little disputes and resentments that you had against your elder brother for 30 years suddenly all bubble to the surface. And he said, it all comes out as a horrible, vicious fight. People are going into Aunt Maud's house and stealing her property while she's dead. And they're arguing over who gets the fine china and who gets this and who gets that. He said, one of the horrible things is that you, know, when he does the settlement between the brothers or whoever it may be, and one of the clauses he's very often asked to put in is that such and such brother, should not ever again seek to contact him by phone, email, writing, or anything. So, you get that sort of thing as well. So, but you know why it is I would become a commercial lawyer, I say it's not that boring and actually, when you get in a deal, you get the excitement of trying to work the deal together, put it all together, bring it all together for the day of signature, I say there is a pressure, a dynamic, and every team has its own dynamic, and you're working towards getting something done. A bit like looking at your agile principles as well, I suppose. You know, you're trying to get it done. Although it's not done in incremental delivery, it's all done in one big drop at the end on the day of signature, of course.    Ula Ojiaku Now, that's an interesting story about, you know, different kinds of law, probate and going kindly back to commercial law, which you practice, if I'm correct in the understanding.    Richard Stephens That's right. I mean, I work for myself, when I say I do the big contracts, and I certainly do that, I work for SMEs as well, one of the things I also do is, I work as a mediator and an arbitrator in the IT sector. So, I'm there either helping people resolve disputes, or as an arbitrator, I'm actually resolving disputes, issuing binding awards. But I also provide some coaching in commercial law subjects as well. So, I do a variety of different things that helps keep my sanity.    Ula Ojiaku Now, the phrase slippery bananas because you said, you know, when you were, you know, you when you're drafting contracts, you make sure you're avoiding those slippery bananas. So, what's the perspective? Could you give us a glimpse into what goes on, you know, behind the scenes or in your mind, at the back of your mind when you're, you know, drafting, you're involved in drafting, and reviewing contracts on behalf of a client. What's the perspective you're doing this from?   Richard Stephens The first line is, and the first principle I start from is that projects, as has been said before, projects don't go wrong for terms of conditions. And I have a friend in the industry, who says that, and he, like me, works for himself. And he says that when he's doing a big contract or for a major client, he's up against a really big city of London law firm. He's there, he'll be negotiating the front end, as we call it, the terms and conditions, the legal bit, that goes at the front, the core of the contract, he'll spend days talking about liabilities and warranties and indemnities. He says, I'm talking with a partner of the law firm on that, he said, but when it comes to talking about the scope, the SLA, the charging schedule, all these things, he said, I end up negotiating with the trainee. He said, well, why does a contract go wrong? It won't be for anything to do with the indemnities or the liabilities or the warranties. They're there for after it has gone wrong. Why does it go wrong? It goes wrong for the things that are in the schedule, the operational things, that's the thing that you get wrong. And the second principle I move on to is this, that in my lifetime, I think drafting has simply got worse and worse and worse, and contracts have got longer and longer and longer. And so, having talked about slippery banana skins, then we now get on to another metaphor. And we talk about kicking the can down the street, as lawyers find it harder and harder to come to agreement on important issues, you know, when will such and such a sum be paid? You know, what you have to do to get acceptance of milestone three such that payment can be released. And so, they then insert modern drafting, like the parties will reasonably agree the amount to be released, and it's called kicking the can down the street, it's not actually legally binding. And it's not actually, it's nothing, it's a thing, it gets rid of the immediate problem. And all you're saying is that, you know, the judge or the arbitrator later on can make the decision for you, or you hope they can, they may just throw it out and say, well, it's not really an agreement at all. So that, I think, those are the things that I have noticed in my career, and those I think are the banana skins, the slippery bananas I try to avoid for my client wherever possible.    Ula Ojiaku Well, that's interesting, and how successful is it? Would you say that a good contract then, this is me stating my view and as a non-expert in this area, I would stand to be corrected by yourself. So, would a good contract be drafted in a way that enforces both parties to act in the best interests of the other, does it always result in a win-win situation?    Richard Stephens No, because I'm an English lawyer, I deal with the English common law. And the common law has typically, traditionally taken the line, and still, to a very large extent does, that each party looks after its own interests. I'm not here, when I represent a party, I'm not looking after the other party's interests at all. And my instructions, so to speak, or my implicit instructions, are to do the best deal for my clients, to do the worst deal for my opponent. Now, of course, that means I'm not actually trying to hamper them or hinder them or throw banana skins under their feet, because of course, if I hamper them or hinder them in the contract it could come back on me or come back on my client, I should say later on, if it's a long project, or outsourcing where the parties have to cooperate, so you do have to get a sort of balance. But the common laws approach, the English common law's approach is typically that each party is expected to enter into a contract, looking after its own interests, it's actually highly topical. I don't want to, you probably don't want to get into the riveting and fascinating details of English contract law, and it's sort of moving in practice and theoretically to adopting a, what you might call a more continental civil law approach by trying to import concepts of good faith (Note: Whilst correct at time of recording, the English Court of Appeal has since limited the use of the term 'good faith'), reasonableness, which are concepts I have to say, which are still by and large alien to my system of law, to the system of law, the country in which we live.    Ula Ojiaku Okay, wow. So, how then because, we've kind of dug into, you know, speaking about contracts for the, in the interest of the listener, who probably is just jumping in and wondering, okay, what are they talking about? What would you define a contract as?    Richard Stephens It's just a binding agreement for someone to do something for someone else and for the other to do something to the other party, which is normally payment, that's all it is. But contracts are all around us. And so, I mean, obviously, you know, it looks like you're sitting at home at the moment and you're not in an office. But if you, on the days or hopefully in the days to come when you go back into an office or you go to a physical meeting, and you might stop in a little shop somewhere and buy yourself a cup of coffee. Well, that's a contract. It's actually quite a complex contract as well, because it's a sale of goods and to some extent services, if they're making the coffee for you, in front of you. It imports therefore goods to the law to do with the sale of goods and services. It imports a whole lot of law to do with consumer law because you're a consumer buying a coffee, it's got a lot of law in there to do with health and safety because you know, you want your coffee shop to be a safe place from which to buy your beverage. So, if you actually look at that, and you took all the law and regulations relating to that very simple, I'll have a cappuccino, please, that you could probably fill a shelf with just the law and the cases dealing sales of goods and services, health and safety, consumer law, and all the rest of it. But you don't need to worry about that Ula, because all you want is your cappuccino at the end of the day. So, that is a contract and the contracts are all around us.    Ula Ojiaku And the seller I would dare say wants to be paid for the cup of cappuccino they made for me.    Richard Stephens That's the consideration, of course, that's traditionally the consideration, which has been a key feature, of course of English contract law, and not necessarily other systems of contract law, the Scots, for example, don't require consideration in their system of contract law. So, they don't require one party to do something for the other in exchange for something else, it can be a one-sided thing. But don't ask me how they get by, but they do. But the idea of consideration if you drew up, just to show, just to sort of mark out as it were, a casual deal, which you didn't really think was a contract from a proper contract. But a consideration can be anything, it can be a promise to do anything. It can be a promise to go for a walk around the park afterwards. So, I mean, it can be a thing of commercial, it can be commercially valueous. And that's why we have the concept of the peppercorn rent, if you've heard of a peppercorn rent?    Ula Ojiaku I'm not sure what that means. Could you explain please?    Richard Stephens Its where you rent a property, in exchange for the promise to pay a peppercorn, where the peppercorn has no commercial value at all. But it's a promise to hand over a peppercorn and the promise, and it's that promise that makes the contract a binding thing. You don't even have to hand it over. But if you promise to pay the peppercorn, that's the consideration. I'd like to see anyone suing someone else for a peppercorn but maybe the law reporters have got examples of that. I think not. But we need some levels of detail there.    Ula Ojiaku Oh, well, you might find me weird but I do find the concept of contracts interesting. And the fact that someone is promising a peppercorn, is it to show that there has been some sort of fair exchange between the two parties?    Richard Stephens It simply marks out a contract from what would otherwise be a gift. And it simply marks out what a contract is, so the law simply said, we want just these early signs, it only has to be basic, that the parties were actually serious about entering into a contract. And so, they required consideration, as a consideration can be commercially valueless. But it's just that the parties have thought to do something for each other. We won't even get into an intention to create legal relations, which is another requirement. And you still get some fantastic cases on that. And the case of Blue and Ashley recently,  which is where Mr. Blue worked for Mike Ashley of Sports Direct and they were all drinking heavily in the pub. And the evidence was at the end of the evening, that they consumed about 14,15 pints of beer by the end of the evening, although Mr. Blue wasn't present at that stage, but the evidence was that Mike Ashley said that if you can get my share price over eight pounds, then I will give you, you know, a huge bonus of several million pounds, I forget exactly how much it was. Well, is that a contract? And it went to the High Court and the High Court had to, well, what do you think, is that a contract or not? It was said the share price did go a bit over eight pounds and Mr. Blue carried on working there trying to make sure that the share price was maximized. He did actually get an ex gratia bonus of 1 million pounds from Sports Direct. So, did that make a contract?    Ula Ojiaku That's a question. Yes, because I audited a course in contract law being taught by a Harvard professor, so of course the focus is on the US laws and all that, so not necessarily here, but there's like intent of the person you know if it's a phrase that, or a statement that has been made jokingly, you know, how outrageous it is or whether the other party is being seen to get something in fair exchange, or whether it's a promise for a gift you know, so in those, in those situations, the three situations I've mentioned, it probably wouldn't hold water in a court of law if someone promised you a gift, because it's not contractually binding. But that's…    Richard Stephens You're learning legal skills already, because you know what you've done, don't you, you've actually used the word probably, you haven't committed yourself.    Ula Ojiaku No.    Richard Stephens And you've actually used the word probably because you're not willing to bet the farm on one decision, or the other, one resulting in the other, you know the old joke don't you about the client who goes into the solicitor's office and speaks to the receptionist and says, I want a meeting with the one-armed lawyer, please. The receptionist says we haven't got a one-armed lawyer here, why do you want to meet a one-armed lawyer and he said, well I'm fed up of meeting lawyers who say, well on the one hand this, and on the one hand that, but you've done it immediately, you've used that little word probably and it just came tumbling out in your speech, and you probably didn't even notice it. But I can recognise that you have legal skills already.    Ula Ojiaku Very kind of you Richard, that means a lot coming from you. But I do fancy myself going, you know, to go and do some sort of studies in law at some point in time. Wish me luck. But this brings us to the concept of agile. Have you had any experience with agile, and what does that mean to you, that term?    Richard Stephens Agile, I first got used to agile, when I was doing a lot of big scale litigation, when I was working in the city as a partner in a law firm there, and I did a lot of very large IT disputes, and it introduced me to some very odd concepts. And we had to get used to reading up about methods. And so, on some government projects, they mandated in those days, I don't know if they still do, but in those days, they were mandating the use of SSADM, and Prince overlaid on that as a management methodology. And we looked at this, and it was very odd, and I found it very strange, because what the SSADM and Prince would be doing would be mandating behaviours and actions that were flatly contradictory of the contract that had been written for the parties. And so, moving on from there, as agile became the big thing. We had, first of all, things like extreme programming, and that was getting everything going. And then other more formalised methods of Agile working, or Agile development came out, and I got involved with looking through DSDM as it then was, and thinking and the thing, the word that struck me was that everything will be fit for business purpose. And, of course, fit for purpose is very much a legal expression that's used in sales of goods contracts. And I thought, well, what does it mean to have an agile contract where you're promising the client that something is meant to be fit for business purpose, what is the business purpose? Did you know what it was before you started? What if it changes? I'm a lawyer, and I ask all of these questions. What if, what if, what if? And so I got very interested in writing DSDM, and I put together an industry committee of in-house lawyers working for tech companies and others, and we were just looking through Agile and we had a very senior person from the DSDM Consortium come and speak to us and train us on DSDM, and give us examples of how DSDM could deliver in a way that was better than the old waterfall method of delivery, especially when they were allied with the cumbersome approach of Prince 2 and so we got very interested in this, we tried thinking, well, what would an Agile contract, a contract for Agile development, actually look like? You know, how would it be different from what lawyers have been drafting up until that point and we had a go at it and we sort of let it sort of slip and slide and, you know, we all moved on to different things. And so, we never got there, but it's never gone away as a problem. And I think it is a problem. And I've given various ways I was a proponent of contracting for Agile development, Agile implementation at the time I was doing this, I find myself now cast in the role of villain. And Stewart, a chap called Stewart James has been taking the role of proponent of Agile contracts and I sort of, I the Devil's advocate, and I proposed a different way of working, and I just try and rubbish the view and so we had a go at each other there, we've had a go at each other at techUK if you know techUK, which is the industry body representing IT suppliers in the UK and we recently had another little go at each other in the BCS as a follow up to that talk we both attended over zoom. But interestingly, they had a poll at the end, and it garnered a huge amount of attention. We had a poll at the end of that having speakers do you have any confidence in the ability to contract for Agile and over 70% said they either had little confidence or no confidence in being able to contract for Agile. So…    Ula Ojiaku And why do you think there is that low confidence? What could be some of the root causes for this?    Richard Stephens  Oh, because I took them through the points I've made before, and I just pointed out that the Agile working doesn't fit in with English law, and we've already covered that up in a sense, because and I said to you that each party expects the English law, sorry, I should say English law expects each party to look after its own interests, and this idea of collaborative working, where you're working together to do the best you can with the resources available, and tried to come up with incremental deliveries, lots of short, sharp deliveries that give meaningful functionality to the customer, agreeing things on the fly, these things just don't sit very happily with the legal system that expects each party to look after its own interests. A legal system, which requires solid agreements, and which doesn't really regard reasonable endeavors, all these things and good faith doesn't regard these things as binding principles in law.    Ula Ojiaku Right, okay. Now, but in a case where, on one hand, you know, the two parties are more involved in the contract setting, as in, all right, we'll act in good faith, but at the same time, we would have our lawyers, our legal people, you know, put together an iron clad contract. Do you think that hypothetical situation is possible, in your experience?    Richard Stephens No, it's not, it's not possible at all, and that's the real problem. And I can take you through some of the cases that show this, if you like, referring to one of them, just got out the slide deck now, might be very interesting to you. It goes back to your first question, what's the point of a contract? Why have it? Because at the last outing I had, we had Andrew Craddock from the Agile Foundation, and he was proposing, you know, the benefits and the efficacy of agile, agile development, agile implementation. But of course, he was saying it's wonderful it, you know, beats waterfall hands down, it delivers all these great things and I said well, if it's that good, you probably don't need a contract anyway then, do you because it's never going to go into a dispute, then you don't need a contract. On the other hand, if you're a responsible business, you should be asking yourself as the directors of a responsible business, well what if the project doesn't go very well, what if it doesn't? What if it fails? What if I don't get what I expect at the end of the day, and on that point, I propose two reasons. And there are two reasons and both two sides of the same coin, for why an agile contract simply doesn't work. And the first reason is a legal reason. The other reason is a commercial reason. The second reason is what I call the FD principle, or the Financial Director principle. And the legal reason, to put it shortly is that the law, as I say, doesn't recognise a contract for good faith. And in any case, even if it did, you'd just be kicking the can down the street, because if you had a contract to do what you did in good faith, if it all went horribly wrong, which it inevitably will, how would you know whether someone had performed in good faith anyway? You just end up in another dispute, working out what the dispute was all about. So, and the second reason as I say is the FD principle, because while I was doing this DSDM thing, and I was chatting to a Financial Director of a good sized, medium sized company that was moving very much into IT and technology, it was mostly in the manufacturing sector, but very much absorbing IT, or what tech could do for it. And he said, look, I have the final sign off for any major expenditures, and I get a contract for 5 million pounds. He said, I want to know that at the end of the day, I've got something, when it's over that I that I can touch, I can feel with my fingers, hold with my hands. And I want to know that that's worth 5 million pounds, at least 5 million pounds to my business. And he said if I just get a contract that's agile, but people are simply saying well we'll work in good faith with each other, and we don't know what we'll deliver, but it'll be small, little bits incrementally and your you may or may not, to use the language of DSDM in the old days, you know, they have this concept of the minimum usable subset. And he said, well, is that worth 5 million pounds, because if that's only 60, 70%, of the full 5 million pounds, then I've been robbed, haven't I, and I've lost 30% of what I contracted for. And that's what I call therefore, the FD principle. And I remember when we were trying to draw up an agile contract, we were pulling teeth, trying to satisfy that FD, or his ilk that the contract would have some sort of effects, something that could be used to beat the supplier over the head. But I don't think we succeeded. And the problem is that every agile contract since, just drifts into this language, as you've said already, of good faith and reasonable endeavours and reasonable agreements on this. And these are all things that English law simply doesn't recognise.    Ula Ojiaku: Now, that's an interesting story. And you've just brought to light another perspective, that's not usually, explicitly considered in drafting contracts, which is that of the finances, the people who hold the purse strings, the people who sign off, you know, the projects or the programs of work. Sometimes, you know, people have the notion that, you know, agile is the be all and end all, it's not, there is still a place for waterfall. But waterfall is good for where you have straightforward issues, you have a problem, you know the solution, and there's a straight line from A to B, there's no need to go agile. But if it's a complex, adaptive problem where it's complex, and as things change, you know, the environmental change the nature of the problem, you know, keeps changing, you have to, well I say, adopt that agile approach to that now that's why the concept of a minimum viable product comes into play. And part of it is that, you know, you identify the minimum viable product, you state your assumptions, and then you, you know, create those, experiments based on the hypothesis of the assumptions you've made. And if you're validating, if your assumptions are validated, then you can go forward with, you know, the initiative. But if, at the very, you know, early instance, you're having negative results, you know, that negates your assumptions, then there's no need to go forward. Although from the Financial Director's perspective, you know, you say, okay, I've wasted it, I've been getting millions worth of money, but the learning has shown that it's a dead end we're moving towards, and it's better that we stop at a million than spending 10 million or even some other humongous amount on something that's probably not going to give any return.    Richard Stephens:  I think it's time to test your legal skills, again then.    Ula Ojiaku: I'm not a lawyer. I'm not a legal professional.    Richard Stephens:  I think you are a very modest lady indeed. I think you're probably going to go on and say you studied at the New York bar as well. But let me test your legal skills again, okay? And De Beers is the big diamond sorting diamond company in the world, as you may have heard of them, and Atos Origin are another company, you will doubtless have heard of, and they came to blows back in 2010, because they put out of ITT, for their diamond sorting and aggregating process, which, of course, is dealing with very high value things, namely diamonds. And so, it's all got to be it's a very difficult system to replicate and had all sorts of security and things built into it. So at first, they started doing the requirements analysis. And they did a mini survey, and they got their own view of what it was, and what was involved in doing this complex system. But they started work and found it was a hell of a lot more complex than they thought, and because De Beers and their operatives started asking for more and more and more, it got much more expensive. So, the original price was 2.9 million and Atos said well actually, it's going to cost nearly 5 million more than that to deliver everything you actually want. But it's interesting looking at what they said because, their Atos internal report said that this project was originally intended to be developed agile style, the team was organised into BAs who could refine the requirements and a pool of devs would be organised into teams to build elements of the solution incrementally, with a project beyond the requirements definition, set up Scrum star, this must be music to your ears, I would have thought Ula, all supported by an architect and a few key designer devs all very DSDM and can work fine in the right context. And of course, with the right customer. But what happened was, Atos said we need this extra 5 million odd to complete the project. De Beers said, I would have thought if anyone had, you know, 5 million pounds sitting around, it was like De Beers with all their diamonds, just sell a couple of those, I would have thought it was fine but they say get off site. And it all fell apart and they ended up in court. But which way did it go? So, you've got Atos, who's done the requirements analysis, they've done their best, they've tried to work out what was involved, they underbid. You've got De Beers that asked for more and more and more during the requirements analysis. Who wins at the end of the day? This is the time to put that Harvard training to use and no use of the word probably who won, someone won and someone lost.    Ula Ojiaku:  Before I answer your question, I'm just saying that I'm taking it in good faith you're not being sarcastic about my auditing the Harvard course online, but my answer to your question is going to be it depends, because all I know right now are the details you've given me and I know that there's usually more to a situation than meets the eye. So, it depends, again, I can see Atos's point of view, in the sense that if they did some sort of initial discovery work, and had given a quote, based on De Beers' requirements, now, and over time, you know, De Beers is asking for more, definitely that's called, you know, scope creep, and there might be some things, it inevitably would result in more costs. Now, on De Beers' hand, if they had been promised a pipe dream that agile is equal to cheaper, or fixed costs. So, they had also been working on a misinformed basis in the fact that if they thought, okay, yeah, agile solves everything, and it's going to be cheaper and faster. That's not true.    Richard Stephens:  So, we've got so far on the one hand this, and on the other hand that, so I'm looking for the one-armed lawyer now. I can see both your hands, Ula. You've got to decide, who wins?    Ula Ojiaku:  I think I wouldn't qualify for a one-armed lawyer. And the key thing is to know that I think it's the beginning of wisdom is to know that there is a limit to what I know. And in this case, it is definitely a good example. I don't know all the details behind it to make a firm judgment in favour or against one or the other.    Richard Stephens:  I think you know enough actually, come to have a go. Shall I tell you what the judge said?    Ula Ojiaku:  I'd like to know what the judge said please.    Richard Stephens:  In my judgment, he said, Atos went into this contract with its eyes at least half open, in the sense that it knew or should have known that it had not acquired a good grasp of the detail of De Beers diamond sorting and aggregating process. So, Atos lost is the important thing on that one. And because the general work, well, let me test your legal skills again, in case of Hojgaard and EON, okay.  This is all about constructing offshore wind turbines. Okay. You get a lot of those around, we don't see them because they're offshore, but you've seen wind turbines on land, and the employer, so the customer, in construction contracts they're known as the employer, mandated the use of an international standard called J101 for the construction of these wind turbines, okay. So Hojgaard had to use J101, or the methodologies for constructing wind turbines, as set out in that contract, in that international standard, I should say. Okay, so it started using J101. And what nobody knew was that J101, was fundamentally flawed. It had a design defect in it, and it underestimated the strength of the foundations needed to be built. So, as soon as they built these wind turbines, they started collapsing, and it cost 26 million pounds to put them right, 26 million euros, I think in those days. Okay. So, the question was, who was responsible? Well, Hojgaard said, well, you told me to use J101, so we only did what you said. And EON said, well, it doesn't matter, you're the provider, your supply, you should jolly well know, and you take the responsibility, so straightforwardly question. So no on the one hand..    Ula Ojiaku:  …on the other hand, straightforwardly answer. Again, based on the details you've set out I would say that EON is liable.    Richard Stephens:  EON is the employer. So, they've made the use of this standard.    Ula Ojiaku:  Yeah. So, my view is that EON is liable because they mandated the use of the standard. Now, that would be my view. Yeah, if that's the contract, and you know, you told someone build this for me and use this standard, because that's what we want. Now, as a responsible supplier, though, I would want to go to offer advice on what I think are the pros and cons of their decision. But finally, the client's decisions is theirs, so EON.    Richard Stephens:  So EON as the employer takes a rap, they have to cough up 26 million euros, went all the way to the Supreme Court, and they said it was the builders' responsibility. So even where the user has mandated that particular method, then it's the developer. The courts, they said are generally inclined to give full effect to the requirement that the item, as produced, complies with the prescribed criteria. Even if, even if the customer or employer has specified or approved the design, it's the contractor who can be expected to take the risk if he agreed to work to a design which would render the item incapable of meeting the criteria to which he has agreed. And it's not an inflexible rule of law, it's an approach of the courts. And this is one of the things that's highly relevant to agile because the parties are working cooperatively. And it may well be the customer that's mandating the use of, to get this result, or to use this method to get it and both parties are working in good faith. But when it all goes horribly wrong, which it inevitably will, the court's approach is generally, it's not mandated, you could put something different in your contract, the approach of the court is going to be well, it's the developer, it's the provider, it's the supplier, who's going to take the rap at the end of the day. And this is when you come back to the FD problem, because as soon as you then put something in your contract saying, nothing to do with us gov, it's all your responsibility, and we're not, you know, we'll just, we're just, you know, humble operatives doing as we're told, the FD's not going to sign off. He's gonna say, well, I'm paying my 5 million pounds, I want you to take some responsibility, I want you to take the responsibility at the end of the day. And as I say, these are the, these the interesting reasons why, in fact, trying to contract for agile is not so easy as you might think.    Ula Ojiaku:  So, what would be your recommendation then to, for example, leaders of organisations who want to continue with, you know, agile delivery, and agile ways of delivery and ways of working and wish to engage with their vendors. Because, on one hand, there are benefits to working in this manner, in the sense that you're working together, you're learning and then you are adapting your plan based on the new learnings. But on the other hand, it seems like there is a way to go in bringing up you know, bringing along legal colleagues and colleagues in finance, alongside this journey to have the same perspective, what would be your advice?    Richard Stephens:  One of the things is I fully accept all the good things that agile has done and all the good things it promises to do, but what I'm saying is contracting for that is very difficult, and if you end up with a contract that simply proceeds in talking about, you know, good faith, and many lawyers, many modern lawyers these days just lapse into this language of you know, we'll talk in good faith and reasonably agree this and reasonably agree that, and it doesn't really work, you end up with a contract that's just kicked the can down the street numerous times. And so, you need to come up with something that does actually have some teeth, and with agile, that's going to be difficult. I mean, there are ways of drafting around it, but it's, in some ways they're quite cumbersome. So, for example, you can have agreements to agree which are meaningless in English law, English law simply doesn't recognise an agreement to agree and you can add as many good faiths and reasonables around it as you like, but what you can do is you can then say, well, one of the drafting techniques you can use is to say, well, if we don't agree after a period of one week, three months, six months, whatever it is, that a third party, adjudicator will make the decision or the arbitrator or whatever it may be, will make the decision effectively for us, and we'll provide some criteria for that person to make a decision for us. Now in the construction industry, they introduced what's known as an adjudication scheme, which is a fix first and fight later, effectively. So, it's simply that if the parties get a dispute rather than just simply falling out with each other and having a huge arbitration, leaving the building unfinished, you get an adjudicator and it's now compulsory by law for domestic construction contracts, and the adjudicator comes in and just makes a quick decision, and it doesn't really matter that it's not ultimately binding, for the present purposes it is, I think it's been called temporary finality. And one of the things that the Society for Computers and Law has done is introduce a similar adjudication scheme for IT projects. Now, that's maybe one way to go, but of course there are two risks immediately with that, which you'd have to advise anybody on and that is, obviously it introduces a certain amount of delay and cost because the party is going to get into lots of little micro-spats trying to get up to come if they have lots of little adjudications in a major project. And the other problem, of course, is this problem of temporary finality. Once the adjudicator has issued his decision, then you've got to comply with it, even if you think it's wrong, or even if you think it's monstrously unfair, or very expensive for you. It's temporarily final, and then you'd have to wait till the very end of the project before you could then relitigate the matter. So, I mean, there are ways of getting around it. But as I say they're not necessarily risk free or problem free. Let's say one of the problems I find, and for the purposes of my talks on agile, taking devil's advocate, one of the things you can do is do a word search of any English contract, English law contract, and just count up the number of reasonables or reasonablys in good faith. Actually one agile contract I looked at, which is available from an online supplier, provider of legal services, over 36 pages, it had a staggering total of 29 reasonables,s 26 reasonablys and 4 good faiths. I mean, that is a very high batting average for using these rather horrible terms that in many cases don't really mean anything. So, you have been warned.    Ula Ojiaku:  Well, thank you, Richard, for that. I would take it then that these are your guidelines for anyone who is considering drafting agile contracts, be careful about how you go about it. It's not risk free, and there are pitfalls to be aware of, and I guess it also depends on the jurisdiction, you know, the legal jurisdiction where the contract would be.    Richard Stephens:  You're never going to get away from that, because as soon as you start using words like a reasonable endeavours, good faith, even if the legal system you're working under actually recognises them, you then have a dispute trying to work out what on earth it means in practice, and you want a really good example of that, what's a contract under Belgian law that we all know about at the moment, and everyone's been talking about it, have a guess? It's the AstraZeneca contract with the EU Commission, and what's a horrible phrase it uses, best reasonable efforts, a monstrosity. So not just reasonable efforts, but best reasonable efforts. Belgian law recognises that as a concept and English law does as well. But what on earth does it mean? What does it mean in practice? What behaviour does it mandate? What result does it mandate? And so, the parties then just lumber into the dispute, a dispute a dispute about the dispute because nobody really knows what they're supposed to be doing anyway. So, you can do it, but you have been warned.    Ula Ojiaku:  Now, to wrap up, based on our conversation, are there any books that you could, that you would recommend to the listeners, if they want to learn more about contracting, agile?    Richard Stephens:  That's the book, Ula, Stephens on Contractual Indemnities. I mean, what a right riveting read. Thrilling from beginning to end, and it will tell you everything you've ever wanted to know.    Ula Ojiaku:  Fantastic, thanks for sharing. We will put the link to your book in the show notes alongside with everything else about this episode.    Richard Stephens:  It's for lawyers only. Otherwise, don't open its covers, you will be horrified. Well, actually, I mean, as a lawyer, as you proved yourself to be, maybe you would find it interesting.    Ula Ojiaku:  Now, do you have any, anything you'd like to ask of the audience, or let them know about your practice?    Richard Stephens:  Yeah, I mean, as I say, I do three things which may be of interest to your audience out there. One is, I'm a commercial solicitor, who is very well experienced in these areas in terms of putting together contracts for developments implementations, agile, or otherwise. And I provide training not only to lawyers, I do this one-day course introducing people to the principles of contract law, insofar as it would affect professionals working in the IT industry. And I've had people come on that, who were Project Managers all the way up through to Board Directors of SMEs or even quite large companies. I had one major American international company send its commercial management team on that course, for example. And as I say, the other thing I do is I work as a mediator if you're in a dispute, and you want someone to try and facilitate a resolution to that dispute, then again, I can help you with that. I could even, if he's got an arbitration clause, you want to have an arbitrator appointed someone who understands a little bit about these things and can come to a legal decision on your dispute, I can do that too.    Ula Ojiaku:  Fantastic. Thanks for sharing those. And with respect to for example, your trainings and you know, the other services you offer, how can the audience reach you?    Richard Stephens: As usual these days, they can Google for me, and if you look up for Richard Stephens there are various academics and I think, artists who are masquerading as Richard Stephens, just put Richard Stephens Solicitor, you will find me and you will find my website, and you can find me or you can search for me on LinkedIn, all sorts of possibilities. So that's very easily done.    Ula Ojiaku:  Okay. Well, I have to say, from my experience, but maybe I'm not good at googling, but the last time I tried finding you on LinkedIn, even though I'd put solicitor against your name, I still had a lot of what's it called, results for Richard Stephens solicitor. So, what I'm going to do to make it easier for the audience is I'm going to put a direct link to your LinkedIn profile in the show notes, if that's okay with.    Richard Stephens:  Yes, you can do that, link into, connect to my LinkedIn profile, or link to my website. It's very easy, no objection to that.    Ula Ojiaku:  Okay. Fantastic. So, any final words for the audience before we close this out? It's been a great conversation so far.    Richard Stephens:  It's been it's been nice, I mean it's funny how this is a problem, which I first got involved in 25, 30 years ago. And it rumbles along as an issue for IT lawyers. It's never lost its interest. But in 25 or 30 years, equally, I haven't seen a particularly good resolution to the problem, either. And so, you've got the industry doing one thing, and the lawyers trying to play, not so much catch up, but trying to work out still after 25, 30 years of lawyers thinking about it, what an agile contract or a contract for an agile project would look like such that it was both legally effective and would satisfy that avaricious Financial Director. But it hasn't been resolved yet.    Ula Ojiaku:  And the question is, will it? You don't have to answer, well…    Richard Stephens:  There is a sort of, there are all sorts of resolutions out there. As I mentioned, the adjudication one, but that, then is the sort of thing you don't want in an agile project because it's, whilst it's legally effective, the idea of Agile as you're working cooperatively together, and then having little micro adjudications where you're at war with each other, trying to get the best out of the adjudicator in terms of decision. It then actually tends to drive the parties further away, which is, goes against what you did an agile project for in the first place. So, I mean, you can do but, you know, I just don't know how it would work in practice.    Ula Ojiaku:  It's been great speaking with you, Richard, thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge and experience with the audience and myself.    Richard Stephens:  Pleasure.    Ula Ojiaku:  That's all we have for now. Thanks for listening. If you liked this show, do subscribe at www.agileinnovationleaders.com or your favourite podcast provider. Also share with friends and do leave a review on iTunes. This would help others find this show. I'd also love to hear from you, so please drop me an email at ula@agileinnovationleaders.com Take care and God bless!  

Its a wet, dreary weekend in Toronto, so what better time is there to get RSA finished so its not a chore on Sunday morning? But I didn't anticipate sleeping in as much as I did, so its out with the Sports Direct mug and a mega dose of tea. Starting to work on my trip itinerary, and figure out some things to do, but I will be bringing my Notebook with me so RSA will be right on time while I'm away! I mean I have to have an "official" RSA picture with the Berlin Fernseturn in the background. As well as eating 5 Guys from Alexanderplatz near the Marx & Engels statue. VNV Nation - Wait (Single) Simon Carter - Interdimensional Faderhead - Noise Night Ruined Conflict - Artifical Intelligence Antibody - F. Society (Chainreactor) Avarice In Audio - War Tanz (Studio-X) ICD-10 - Before The Storm Nolongerhuman - Pain Tolerance https://linktr.ee/djtodd

This time... we discuss using webcams and choosing backgrounds. Andy is suffering but bored at being home watching daytime TV. Loose Woman and Carol McGiffin. Heir Hunters... The only programme with no reveal. We talk about the drama "Nolly" based on Crossroads actress Noele Gordon that leads us on to talk about the BBC in Birmingham and their big plans. Plus... the drive thru bakery and the whole drive thru concept. John Lewis word salad. Sports Direct is using face scanning software. Messing around with hot cross buns... and wash it down with an olive oil coffee blah!Sorry about Nick's poor microphone. It's been rectified for next time! We are coming up to our 200th episode. Is there anything you'd like to ask us or anything you'd like us to feature? Get in touch: nick@twovoices.co.uk or via our website: twovoices.co.uk

Mitch adapts the '12 days of Christmas' carol to make it more "British", Isi re-tells her account of a near-miss and asks for your moral help, they talk about the British phenomenon of multi-packs, answer your questions on differences between Northern Europeans and South Americans and reveal plans for the Easy English Tour!!? Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership Transcript Intro Mitch: [0:00] On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love sent to me; Bluetooth earphones, IKEA vouchers, an ill-fitted T-shirt, tenner in a card, secondhand bike, multi-pack of condoms, stationary set, Sports Direct socks, bottle of Bailey's, six-pack of Carling, two spa days and a Blu-ray of Die Hard 2. Isi: [0:57] Welcome... to the Easy English Podcast. Nola is confused. (I worte that.) That is brilliant. (I'm the new John Lennon.) You are right after him. And my first question goes out to you; why am I always having a very uncomfy recording situation, and you sit there, like King Mitchy? Mitch: [1:20] Yeah, I feel a bit like... yeah, like a King. Or like, how the Godfather would sit. Isi: [1:22] I mean, it's obviously my decision to sit on this chair. At least I have a good drink in my hand, because we just prepared espresso martinis for the first time, this season, this Christmas season. But also for the first time for... uh, since last winter. Mitch: [1:42] It was a while ago. I forgot how to make them. Isi: [1:44] Did we even do it this year, yet? (Er... no.) Maybe not. Uh, and aren't they still the best? Mitch: [1:51] There's something... they're not very Christmassy, but... Isi: [1:54] It is Christmassy for me, though. (Why?) I think because I connected it to Christmas last year. Mitch: [2:00] Christmasy to me has to have cream in it. Cream and Christmas go together. Isi: [2:03] Yeah, but you know how much I (do) not adore cream in anything drinkable. So for me, the froth... or how you call that, on top is cream. That's cream for me, that's good cream. That's ice... icey cream and not milk, or... Mitch: [2:19] Yeah, it's the only frothy coffee that you can really have. Isi: [2:24] We can really do a whole episode (On frothy coffees?) about people putting cream or hot milk in their drinks. Mitch: [2:33] Even oat... flrothy oat... oak... oat milk. Isi: [2:36] That's a bit better than cow milk. I think hot cow milk smells like vomit. Mitch: [2:42] Oat milk, also, when you froth it, smells a bit like burnt porridge. Isi: [2:45] Yeah. (Excuse me.) Well anyway, this froth is good... froth!? Mitch: [2:50] Froth, (Froth.) Froth, frothy coffee. Isi: [2:53] Um... yeah, so here we are. We have some good topics today. Mitch: [3:00] We do. Should we do our first one? Isi: [3:022] Yep. Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership

Black Friday seems to be getting bigger, but are small businesses losing out? Felicity Hannah speaks to one business who is shunning the sales this year. Also on the show, from tracksuits to tailoring, the owners of Sports Direct head to Savile row. And has your favourite restaurant dish disappeared from the menu? We'll be looking at how the hospitality industry is coming up with fresh ways to survive.

This week's topics: • Men not asking specificities about their friends • Stormzy's new video for ‘Mel Made Me Do It' • Stormzy's elevated status making it hard for regular folk to keep up • Chip ill advised to respond to the light jab in the song • Getting fed up of male podcasters being insulted • Mike Ashley's shops - Sports Direct, House of Fraser - not giving refunds • Supervising a woman's spending • Not having life insurance • Kanye West's problem with Adidas & Gap • AITA for not wanting to pay for my in-laws retirement? • #StavrosSays : The Bear [https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/series/the-bear/52m6nx7HoP5F] Connect with us at & send your questions & comments to: #ESNpod so we can find your comments www.esnpodcast.com www.facebook.com/ESNpodcasts www.twitter.com/ESNpodcast www.instagram.com/ESNpodcast @esnpodcast on all other social media esnpodcast@gmail.com It's important to subscribe, rate and review us on your apple products. You can do that here... www.bit.ly/esnitunes

Richie McCormack is joined by Irish International golfer and Sports Direct ambassador, Aideen Walsh, following Sports Direct's link-up with the KPMG Women's Irish Open. Aideen, who is their ambassador for the tournament - which takes place in Dromoland Castle from September 22nd - has also partnered with the new ‘Get A Grip' campaign as part of the launch. You can get your tickets for the event over at kpmgwomensirishopen.ie

This week the Women's Euros football tournament kicks off in the UK with much hype and fanfare. But is this translating to greater investment from brands, what is the opportunity, and how are those backing women's football activating successfully?Campaign deputy editor Gemma Charles, Pitch Marketing Group founder and CEO Henry Chappell and Copa90 global head of strategy Paolo Nieddu join media editor Arvind Hickman to discuss how sponsors and advertisers are supporting the Women's Euro and some of the campaigns that have shone.We'll also discuss a Government proposal to ask businesses to divert their marketing and advertising budgets into prices cuts, and why the industry is not impressed.Check out the ads that we discuss in this episode:EE's "Not her problem"Sports Direct's “Girls Don't Like Football, WE LOVE IT”Nike's "Never Settle, Never Done"Heineken's “The 12th Woman”Also remember, if you'd like to keep up to date with all of the latest industry news, analysis and features: become a member of Campaign. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Big Mates discuss Sports Direct, Sigur Ros, iron lungs, and The Bends by Radiohead.Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their track-by-track deep dive into the influential sophomore album and offer up analysis, opinions, and thoughts from three differing perspectives on music, from being deeply into analysis and music, to not caring for art or critique, and everything in between.What are the themes of the album? Why are some mugs so large? Can Steve do the outro? Find out on this episode of What Is Music?Our next episode is out on Monday June 6th and will conclude our track-by-track analysis of The Bends.You can now wear your fandom on your (literal) sleeve!What Is Music? now has a RedBubble shop with lots of cool and stupid designs. You can get the designs on basically any product you like, from t-shirts and mugs, to bath mats and jigsaws, via clocks and phone cases! Head to https://whatismusicpod.redbubble.comIf you'd like a different way to donate to usYou can do so at https://ko-fi.com/whatismusicAny donations very gratefully received and go towards our running costs!Join the conversation on:Twitter: https://twitter.com/whatismusicpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatismusicpodE-mail: whatismusicpod@gmail.comhttp://whatismusic.buzzsprout.com/Support the show

ORIGINAL BROADCAST: April 23, 2022 Big Red Banter airs live EVERY WEEK on Saturdays from 4-5 PM on WVBR 93.5 FM!! Join your hosts WVBR Sports Director and Sports Direct-elect Skyler Holzman '22 and Faith Shote '24, CMG President Clara Enders '22, WVBR News Director Grace Fairchild, and WVBR Sports Contributor David Cytryn '24 as they talk about all things Cornell and professional sports!! Everything from the Cornell men's lacrosse, women's rowing, baseball, and softball teams, the boring NFL Draft, Grace and Clara's trip to Las Vegas to see the infamous Jose Canseco Showtime Car Wash, the MLB season so far, and the NBA Playoffs!! — Connect with WVBR Sports: Twitter: @wvbrfmsports Instagram: @wvbrfmsports Website: wvbr.com/sports — Produced by Faith Shote '24

Do You Expect Us To Talk? is back after a break away due to illness (not relating to the world pandemic that's currently happening at this current moment) to pick up where we left off. The second instalment of the John Wick serise, picks up where we left off, as John retrieves his car that was stolen. Once returned home, ready to settle down away from his past, the past follows hime once more. A Camorra crime boss stops by with a marker, proving a debt that is owed, dragging John back in the game and a whole load of trouble. Join Becca, Dave and Chris as we discuss life during the caronaviris rather than the movie itself, reflecting on No Time To Die (a film we've not seen), generic Italian bad guy names, is common dead or not, the essentialness of Sports Direct. You can follow us on Becca, Chris and Dave on Twitter You can find us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher and Google Podcasts, all you have to do is search. Also, if you like us leave us a lovely review as it helps us grow. If that wasn't enough, you can even you can follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook. Do You Expect Us To Talk Will Return with John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum  

Fergus Craig, Paul Doolan and Dave Watson finally have a win to talk about, even though only 1/3 of them saw it live due to middle class commitments. We answer your questions, Fergus rails against the minutiae of modern football fandom, we wave goodbye to the Sports Direct signs and look ahead to Leicester on Sunday. newcastlepodcast.com  @newcastlenatter  Produced by Paul Myers and Mike Leigh  Engineered by Leon Gorman  A Playback Media Production  playbackmedia.co.uk  Copyright 2021 Playback Media Ltd - playbackmedia.co.uk/copyright Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Taylor Payne hosts your go-to Newcastle United podcast from The Athletic with Senior Writer, and LIVING legend, George Caulkin.As the Sports Direct signs were ripped out of St James's Park, we look back at a Newcastle win, yes you read that correctly, which has put to bed much of the doom and gloom lingering from the previous ownership.We head to the Walkers Stadium next Sunday, and we managed to grab a few minutes with The Athletic's club correspondent Rob Tanner just before he jetted out to Italy for the Foxes' European tie in Naples. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hugh Brasher is the Event Director and the Race Director of the prestigious London Marathon. The London Marathon was co-founded by his father and Olympic Gold Medalist Chris Brasher CBE in 1981.In this episode of Run With Fitpage, Hugh talks about the history of the London Marathon, building Sweatshops, association with TCS and a lot more with our host Vikas Singh.Episode Summary:00:00 - About this episode01:32 - Welcome Mr Brasher to the show!01:40 - Hugh talks about his early childhood – The Champions' Family04:11 - Building Sweatshops - UK's largest specialist running chain13:02 - The story behind the London Marathon17:44 - Hugh's memories of the first London Marathon - About the Dick Beardsley episode23:34 - The London Marathon today27:37 - Encouraging school kids to take up sports at a young age32:42 - What is Hugh's advice to every beginner runner to run the London Marathon?38:45 - Question from a listener - Good for age entry41:10 - What's different this year?45:56 - Hugh's advice to runners in IndiaGuest Profile:Hugh Brasher was appointed Event Director of London Marathon Events (LME) in 2012 and was a member of the LME Board of Directors between 2007 and 2010.  Hugh worked on the very first London Marathon in 1981. He had worked at every London Marathon since, except in 2005 when he was riding his motorbike from London to Cape Town. Before joining London Marathon Events, Hugh ran the Sweatshop retail chain, which he built up from a single store to 43 stores nationwide before selling the chain to Sports Direct. When Hugh has spare time, he likes to spend it with his family or racing motorbikes, where he is a European champion.To know more, follow London Marathon on Instagram - @LondonMarathon Facebook - London Marathon Twitter - @LondonMarathon YouTube - London MarathonAbout Vikas Singh:Vikas Singh, an MBA from Chicago Booth, worked at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, APGlobale and Reliance before coming up with an idea of democratizing fitness knowledge and help beginners get on a fitness journey. Vikas is an avid long-distance runner, building fitpage to help people learn, train, and move better.For more information on Vikas, or to leave any feedback and requests, you can reach out to him via the channels below:Instagram: @vikas_singhhLinkedIn: Vikas SinghGmail: vikas@fitpage.inTwitter: @vikashsingh1010About the Podcast: Run with FitpageThis podcast series is built with a focus on bringing science and research from the endurance sports industry. These may help you learn and implement these in your training, recovery, and nutrition journey. We invite coaches, exercise scientists, researchers, nutritionists, doctors, and inspiring athletes to come and share their knowledge and stories with us. So, whether you're just getting started with running or want to get better at it, this is the best podcast for you!Learn more about fitness and nutrition on our website, www.fitpage.in or check out our app Fitpage on iOS and Android.This podcast has been recorded via Zoom Conferencing.

Zahra and Russell get to business on whether or not dreams have any meaning, is there a season finale that actually did the series justice, not to mention detailed digressions on the decreased size of Sports Direct mugs.  Plus: how to tell if your friend is getting famous.  Share wherever you can and give us five star review if you't the time! Tweet Zahra @zahrabarri1 if there are any topics you would like to hear us discuss.  Russell's Instagram: @russellhickss  Tik-Tok: @russellhickscomedy Zahra Instagram: @zahra.barri.comedy

Building a sports production company from start up to $160 Million dollar company. Leading and hiring the right people. Glenn shares his philosophy on business and life.

Paul Doolan is joined by Fergus Craig and Ross Smith to discuss the Liverpool game on the weekend, plus Brighton coming up and plenty more. newcastlepodcast.com  @newcastlenatter  Produced by Paul Myers and Mike Leigh  Engineered by Leon Gorman  A Playback Media Production  playbackmedia.co.uk  Copyright 2019 Playback Media Ltd - playbackmedia.co.uk/copyright Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices