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Author: Dougal Shaw

Emirates stewardess

Emirates bets on a high-flying high-street experience 

Retail stores are becoming places to cement a relationship with customers, not just to sell products

Dougal Shaw

Jesper Brodin

Ikea CEO: Manage challenges, lead from opportunities

Ikea's CEO explains a simple concept to help business leaders in times of change and uncertainty

Dougal Shaw

MorphCostume founders

How to reinvent your business when sales go stale

Fancy dress business MorphCostumes saved itself with a makeover focused on shifting its sales strategy and making better use of data

Dougal Shaw

Eshita Kabra-Davies

By Rotation CEO: Don’t seek early perfection

Fashion entrepreneur Eshita Kabra-Davies explains why getting feedback from early users is important in building a successful business

Dougal Shaw

Chet Kapoor

DataStax CEO: Business success is all to do with people

Tech CEO Chet Kapoor explains an important lesson he has learned about recruitment and team building

Dougal Shaw

Joanna Reynolds

The Folio Society’s CEO: Consider the power of lateral thinking

Publisher Joanna Reynolds explains how a diagnosis of dyslexia in her 20s helped her to forge her own leadership style.

Dougal Shaw

Station F building

Station F: What the UK can learn from France’s start-up hub

In an abandoned train depot, some of France's hottest new businesses are coming together under one roof

Dougal Shaw

Josh Silverman

Barbie mania: Meet the architect behind the branding blitz

Josh Silverman explains how he orchestrated the marketing drive behind the Barbie film

Dougal Shaw

Pets at Home store

Five practical ways businesses are using AI

Many business leaders understand that AI is an important technology for the future but are less clear how they can adopt it now. Here are five companies showing how

Dougal Shaw

Nicola Hodson

IBM’s UK CEO: Keep your pit crew close

Nicola Hodson discusses the importance of building a team of mentors in developing leadership skills

Dougal Shaw

My Business Leader Secret - David Abrahamovitch, founder and CEO of Grind

Grind CEO: Reinvent and replace yourself

David Abrahamovitch, CEO of Grind, discusses the impact of a growing business on the founder

Dougal Shaw

My Business Leader Secret - Joanna Carman, director of Plusnet

Plusnet director: There’s a craving for individuality at work

Joanna Carman, director of broadband provider Plusnet, explains how she learned to develop an authentic leadership style

Dougal Shaw

My Business Leader Secret - Fraser Smeaton, co-founder of MorphCostumes

MorphCostumes CEO: Learn to build trust quickly

Fraser Smeaton, co-founder and CEO of MorphCostumes, explains how a formative experience from his youth helped him succeed in business

Dougal Shaw

My Business Leader Secret - Eran Zinman, co-founder of Monday.com

Monday.com co-CEO: Failing is part of our success

The co-founder and co-CEO of Monday.com explains how an appreciation of failure has driven him to build a multi-billion-dollar company.

Dougal Shaw

Fawn Weaver

Uncle Nearest: Business lessons distilled from bourbon

Fawn Weaver has built a global whiskey brand from scratch, and she’s distilled some important business lessons along the way

Dougal Shaw

My Business Leader Secret - Julie Chen, CEO of Cheeky Panda

Cheeky Panda CEO: ‘Wear your brand’ to stand out

Julie Chen, co-founder and CEO of Cheeky Panda, on how to make an impact with potential customers and investors

Dougal Shaw

My Business Leader Secret - Richard Peake, managing director of Merchant Gourmet

Merchant Gourmet boss: Boring products offer big opportunities

Richard Peake, managing director of Merchant Gourmet, on bringing excitement to 'begrudged' consumer products

Dougal Shaw

My Business Leader Secret - Jordan Schwarzenberger, co-founder of Arcade Media

Sidemen manager: I was C-suite at 20, it was hard

Jordan Schwarzenberger, manager of YouTube sensations The Sidemen, discusses the pitfalls of being a young leader

Dougal Shaw

My Business Leader Secret - Fawn Weaver, founder of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey

Uncle Nearest founder: To disrupt a market, you have to understand it

Fawn Weaver, the woman behind the Uncle Nearest whiskey brand, shares her personal business advice

Dougal Shaw

My Business Leader Secret - Paddy Fletcher, co-founder and co-CEO of The Port of Leith

The unique funding strategy of a vertical whisky distillery

Paddy Fletcher, co-founder and co-CEO of The Port of Leith whisky brand, shares his personal business advice, explaining why he built a vertical distillery

Dougal Shaw

Workers at Camden Collective

Is it better to build your start-up in-person or remotely? 

It’s the existential business question of the post-Covid age: are you remote, in-office, or hybrid? We speak to start-ups who have taken very different approaches 

Dougal Shaw

My Business Leader Secret - Ajaz Ahmed, founder and CEO of AKQA

AKQA CEO: Put diversity at the forefront of your business

AKQA CEO Ajaz Ahmed on diversity in tech and advertising and his sense of responsibility when it comes to representation at work

Dougal Shaw

My Business Leader Secret - Bruce Bratley, founder and CEO of First Mile

First Mile CEO: Don’t forget the power of internal competition

Bruce Bratley, founder and CEO of First Mile, shares his personal business advice, explaining how the company uses gamification to motivate customers

Dougal Shaw

Why start-up founders are going back to primary school

We visit a former primary school in north London that has become the unlikely hub for a group of start-ups focused on sustainability 

Dougal Shaw