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Author: Sarah Vizard

5 things I wish my 20-year-old self knew about business

As Caspar Lee reaches the big 3-0, he reflects on what he's learned about founding, building and investing in businesses

Caspar Lee

David Richards_Dakar 2024 preview shoot with biofuel run Prodrive Hunter cars_Dec 2023 @Jakob Ebrey

The power of delegation

Plus, the new flexible-working trial, Wetherspoons to close more pubs and why we should pay more attention to departing CEOs in today's Off To Lunch

Sarah Vizard

England players watching their team play Iceland

Is fear a useful emotion in business?

Fear can be useful in the short term to drive performance, but be careful it doesn't become engrained in your business or team

Catherine Baker

Outside of a PureGym

PureGym’s CEO on why leaders need a sense of healthy paranoia

The sin of complacency undoes many good businesses, says PureGym CEO Humphrey Cobbold. To avoid it, leaders must ask themselves the hard questions

Humphrey Cobbold

Founders at work

Growth Engines: The sum of the parts creates the whole magic

We take a look into the growth journey of Leeds-based digital product consultancy Parallax

Pavlo Phitidis

Gender Inequality in the Workplace concept black woman in an office surrounded by men

7 reasons why workplace equity audits can be game-changing for SMEs

Equity audits can be a cost effective way to ensure legal compliance, boost employee engagement, enhance reputation, attract top talent and increase productivity

Zara Nanu

Close-up of British bank notes

Wage rises: A boost or brake on the economy?

Countries including the UK and US are increasing the legal minimum wage, but they must beware the dangers for businesses and employment

Szu Ping Chan

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JUNE 13: Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer poses with Rachel Reeves, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (L), Angela Rayner, Deputy Leader (2nd R) and his shadow cabinet as Labour launch their general election manifesto on June 13, 2024 in Manchester, United Kingdom. Labour is consistently leading the polls by over 20 points, according to the latest YouGov data. (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

The quest for economic growth

Sir Keir Starmer is betting the house on economic growth. If it doesn't win that bet the likely next government will face a tough choice on taxes and spending

Steven Swinford

Female racing driver in a Ginetta top

Growth Engines: Accelerating Ginetta into the future

The racing and sports car manufacturer has ambitious targets to triple production but will need to combine great products with excellent customer experience to do so

Pavlo Phitidis

Close-up of British bank notes

Retail sales and consumer confidence rebound

In today's Off to Lunch, we also cover Carlsberg's bid for Britvic, the cautionary tale of Huy Fong's hot sauce and what we can learn from the Adidas and Puma rivalry

Dougal Shaw, Sarah Vizard

General Election 2024 sign in front of Westminster

Britain, it’s time to make some tough decisions

When decision-makers stop making decisions, they're done. As the general election approaches, Britain must make the tough choices, not defer them

Ed Smith

Shopping cart with boxes of goods and pound money bag

Inflation falls back but the cost-of-living crisis isn’t over yet

Plus, Nvidia becomes the world's most valuable company, smaller companies are increasingly appointing all-male boards and Hargreaves Lansdown on the verge of a takeover

Sarah Vizard

Doug Perkins and Mary Perkins, co-founders of Specsavers

From Virgin Group to Specsavers: The best bootstrapped businesses

The founders who grew their business without bringing in external investors and how they did it

Alice Cumming, Andrew Lynch, James Cook

Computer programmer working with male colleague in office

Smart firms needed smarter support to grow

Business support technology is evolving quickly, but SMEs still need more advanced digital pathways, says Enterprise Nation's Emma Jones

Emma Jones

Richard Harpin

Ask Richard: Advisory boards, accidental managers and being a public company

Richard Harpin, the founder of HomeServe and Growth Partner and owner of Business Leader, answers your burning business questions

Sarah Vizard

Szu Ping Chan stop apologising illustration

Sorry, but Brits need to stop apologising and love success

The UK may love self-deprecation but there's a risk we miss out on vital business opportunities and fail to inspire the entrepreneurs of tomorrow

Szu Ping Chan

Clare Harris, Talking Tables

Growth Engines: Combining purpose and intent to build a legacy

Clare Harris turned her childhood experience laying tables for her family into a company, Talking Tables, that generates more than £25m a year in revenue

Pavlo Phitidis

Jake Humphrey lessons across pond illustration

7 leadership lessons UK business owners can learn from across the pond

From ensuring you don't collect resentment to viewing other people's success as your own, Jake Humphrey lays out the lessons he's learnt

Jake Humphrey

Caspar Lee attention span illustration

When creating social content, offer value not cheap tricks

For years, being successful on social media meant creating clickbait. But the pendulum is swinging the other way as audiences look for content that doesn't numb their minds

Caspar Lee

Ideal Response Group founder Javid Ibrahim with members of his team on site

Growth engines: Scaling sales overcomes the tyranny of project revenue cycles

Ideal Response Group has seen significant growth, but founder Javid Ibrahim recognises that to move to the next stage he must have time to think and plan strategically

Pavlo Phitidis

Catherine Baker shift mindset illustration

Under pressure? Learn to control your emotions, shift your mindset and self-talk

Our emotions can help our performance, but they can also hinder it; our ability to manage them is critical to sustained long-term performance

Catherine Baker

Rishi Khosla, co-founder and CEO of OakNorth Bank

How do you solve a problem like scale-up lending?

Digital bank OakNorth is in the vanguard of new banks backing fast-growing businesses. We speak to its chief executive Rishi Khosla

Andrew Lynch

Is UK venture capital working?

Amid economic turmoil, questions about the role of VC in the UK and whether it can ever work as well as it does in the US are being asked

Andrew Lynch

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - MAY 24: Labour leader Keir Starmer speaks to supporters during the launch of the Scottish Labour general election campaign at Caledonia House on May 24, 2024 in Glasgow, Scotland. Labour leader Keir Starmer is in Scotland to launch the party’s election campaign alongside his Scottish counterpart Anas Sarwar

Starmer might be ‘boring’, but his potential premiership won’t be dull

Starmer's critics see him as 'limited' but he is also ruthless and will shake-up how government is run, from centralising power to overhauling the civil service

Steven Swinford