Shamil Thakrar: how Dishoom scaled with storytelling
The Indian restaurant chain's co-founder explains why the numbers should follow the story
Listen HereAuthor
Dougal Shaw
Date
27 October 2026
Business Leader
Business Leader Summit 2027
In Westminster Central Hall on 17 March 2027, we bring the UK's mid-market founders and CEOs together, in one room, for a day built around this vital sector and those who drive it.
Business Leader membership
Our membership supports UK founders and CEOs of £3m+ businesses.
We combine personal CEO coaching and peer forums, powered by the proven 9 Steps framework, alongside practical content, masterclasses and company visits so you can focus on what matters and scale with confidence.
How to get involved
Start with a conversation
Book a call with a membership adviser to discuss Business Leader in more detail and tell us a little about your company.
Attend a Roundtable
Join a small-group Roundtable with Sir Richard Harpin, where he shares his HomeServe scaling journey and the 9 Steps to creating a billion.
Build your 12-month Growth Plan
Create a focused 3 year ambition & 12-month Growth Plan that aligns leadership, strategy and execution for accountability.
Join your trusted peer forum
Join a trusted peer forum with eight sessions per year for challenge and accountability.
The Business Leader podcast
Presented by Sir Richard Harpin, the Business Leader podcast reveals the stories and strategies behind modern businesses and the entrepreneurs who drove their success.
Business Leader magazine
The best of our exclusive insights, profiles and learnings for mid-market business founders and CEOs looking to develop their leadership and scale their businesses.
Exclusive events for our members
We hold regular events for our members, including in-person masterclasses, community socials, online webinars, and 'inside the business' opportunities to hear from business leaders who've reached true scale.
- Business Masterclass
- When
- 11 November
- Where
- London
- Tickets
- Members only
- Company Visit
- When
- 18 November
- Where
- Crawley
- Tickets
- Members only
- Micro-learning webinar
- When
- 25 November
- Where
- Online
- Tickets
- Members only
Roundtables for CEOs and founders
Join Sir Richard Harpin in Marylebone for a Roundtable to learn how he built and scaled HomeServe from £50,000 to a sale of £4.1bn, the 9 Steps and how Business Leader supports.
- Hear Sir Richard’s growth story, lessons and 9 Steps in practice
- Meet a small group of other ambitious founders and CEOs
- Sharpen your priorities and clarify your next stage of growth
- Learn more about Business Leader embership
Insights & profiles
Hear exclusive insights from leaders navigating growth, informed by our in-house team of journalists, our podcast interviews, masterclasses and more.
How CEOs can build an experimental mindset
Author and neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff on why the best leaders treat business decisions like a lab experiment
Read ArticleAuthor
Josh Dornbrack
Date
22 October 2026
What Andy Burnham and John Healey's first budget means for business
The Times' political editor Steven Swinford on why tax rises look unavoidable and what Burnham's first budget means for scaling businesses
Read ArticleAuthor
Steven Swinford
Date
21 October 2026
Sovereign AI: Why Cosine wants to bring data home
Its co-founder Yang Li makes the case for UK LLMs and taking your data off the cloud
Read ArticleAuthor
Dougal Shaw
Date
05 November 2026
UK Billion-Pound Businesses
Discover the leaders who have managed to create a UK business worth £1bn – and kept going. From an AI cab driver to a prestige lip liner, these 47 businesses are worth a combined £216.1bn, provide hundreds of thousands of jobs and serve countless customers.