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Alice Cumming

Alice Cumming

Alice Cumming is an editorial assistant at Business Leader.

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

The businesses bucking the return-to-office trend

Almost three years on from the pandemic, the world seems to be back to normal, but not everyone is happy with the return to the office.

Alice Cumming

External photo of the Audley Cooper's Hill, Englefield Green

Retirement homes: The UK’s fastest growing non-tech sector

Retirement homes are big business as an aging population increases demand, but regulatory reform is needed to ensure quality of care

Alice Cumming

Guards in the Netflix show Squid Game

The top business pivots

“Adaptability is paramount in today’s dynamic business landscape,” says Chris Beer, professor of practice at Warwick Business School. “Organisations must be prepared to pivot their strategies swiftly, driven by factors such as market shifts, technological advances and changing customer expectations”.  According to PwC’s 27th UK CEO Survey, one in five chief executives says their organisation...

Alice Cumming, James Cook

Five tech scale-ups to watch out for in 2024

With the rise of AI, advancements in cordless technology, and pinching as the new clicking, 2023 has been a great year for technology. It’s hard to sum up how much has changed in the last 12 months, and it’s even harder to predict where the next year will take us, but who are some of...

Alice Cumming

‘Immortalists’: The companies behind anti-ageing

Billionaires have begun to invest in unknown companies with the promise of anti-ageing. The likes of Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman, and Bryan Johnson are reportedly set on living forever. Historically, rich, affluent people have attempted to prevent ageing. From Countess Elizabeth de Ecsed of the Kingdom of Hungary killing and mutilating hundreds of young women...

Alice Cumming

Half gen alpha, half millennial

From Millennials to Gen Alpha: Lessons in workplace evolution and leadership

Generation Alpha are the first generation to be categorised entirely in the new millennium. Born between 2010 and 2025, this generation is widely defined by the birth – and use – of the iPad. Often the offspring of Millennial parents, there’s current discourse on Gen Alpha surrounding their behaviour, inattentive nature, and technology obsession. But...

Alice Cumming

HMV logo

HMV’s third act: The return to Oxford Street

Opened by The Gramophone Company on London’s Oxford Street in 1921, HMV has had a long-standing history as a high street brand. With the famous trademarked image from a painting by Francis Barraud titled His Master’s Voice acquired from the artist in 1899, Nipper (the dog in the painting) and the Gramophone became symbolic of...

Alice Cumming

Kathryn Jacob, CEO at Pearl and Dean

The leader behind Pearl & Dean’s workplace culture revolution

“Empathy, listening skills, calmness, energy.” These are the four characteristics Kathryn Jacob, CEO of cinema advertising company Pearl & Dean, attributes to a great business leader. Displayed as the “conductor of the very fine musicians and experts,” Kathryn Jacob is the “oil between the wheels” of the company. Founded by Charles and Ernest Pearl and...

Alice Cumming

Marvel studios logo smashed

The decline of Marvel Studios? What your business can learn

Marvel Studios is a household name around the globe. With 32 blockbuster movies released since 2008 and nine TV programmes coming out on Disney+ since 2021, Marvel Studios has become a multi-billion-dollar powerhouse. However, Marvel’s latest movie The Marvels is set to bomb at the box office on its opening weekend, the latest in a...

Alice Cumming

Girl math

Girl math: Economic genius or generational fad?

Do you ever find yourself justifying a coffee purchase at lunch or spending a bit extra on your online order to get free delivery? If you have, you may be guilty of partaking in the social media trend of “girl math.” Spearheaded by female creators and originally from New Zealand, girl math is a set...

Alice Cumming

Who are the UK’s top manufacturing stars to watch out for?

The manufacturing industry is vast and whilst we often praise the industry’s makers, the suppliers do not tend to be as well celebrated. But who are the companies behind the brands, what are they up to, and are they really as successful as they claim to be? For our latest Top 32 list, we looked...

Alice Cumming

Spacetech

Is space a viable industry for UK businesses to pursue?

Space – a fantasy for many children and cause for existentialism for many adults. But it is also now an opportunity for exploration and advancement.   The UK space industry income grew 5.1% to £17.5bn in 2021, according to research. A seemingly niche industry is getting bigger and spacetech looks an increasingly exciting and accessible...

Alice Cumming

HVM Catapult’s Manufacturing Energy Toolkit: Empowering UK SMEs for energy efficiency

The High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult has launched its pilot Manufacturing Energy Toolkit nationwide to support UK manufacturing SMEs with their energy costs. As the winter sets in, the cost of energy will be a key concern for businesses of all shapes and sizes across the UK. With the Manufacturing Energy Toolkit, the HVM Catapult is...

Alice Cumming

Aerial panorama of Leeds railway station and surrounding area

North West economy set for £242m boost thanks to Made Smarter-backed firms

A pioneering programme helping North West manufacturers invest in industrial digital technology is forecast to create more than 1,550 new jobs and boost the region’s economy by £242m, new figures reveal. It comes as businesses across the region mark National Manufacturing Day on Thursday, September 28. The Made Smarter adoption programme was launched in Liverpool...

Alice Cumming

Sir Robert McAlpine logo or icon on website page

‘I wish I knew that it would genuinely be attitude, not aptitude, which would ultimately define my altitude’

Building a company is a difficult task. Whether starting their own or growing an established business, these leaders have made a name for themselves as some of the best of the best. So, what makes business leaders tick and what are they aiming to achieve when all is said and done? We spoke to Paul...

Alice Cumming

Sidetrade strengthens leadership with new non-executive Directors

Sidetrade, the global leader in AI-powered Order-to-Cash applications, announces the appointment of two new non executive directors, Gilles Rigal and Jean-Luc Robert, to the company’s Board of Directors. Gilles Rigal and Jean-Luc Robert’s career paths are marked by leadership roles in leading international software companies. Effective immediately, these appointments will bring a collective 85 years...

Alice Cumming

Insights and trends from Slalom’s research in the UK and Ireland

As AI continues to dominate the social debate, research from Slalom, the global business and technology consulting company, finds that 84% of businesses in UK and Ireland have started using AI in some capacity. While there is widespread rhetoric that suggests a hesitation to adopt AI, Slalom’s new research finds that just 13% of businesses...

Alice Cumming

Closeup opened big carton box full of blank hermetic white packages

My Working Day – David MacDonald – CEO of Cullen Eco-Friendly Packaging

As the leader of a company, you are there to set an example and to lead and inspire a team of individuals to achieve a series of business goals. But how do these business leaders go about their daily routine? We spoke to David MacDonald, Owner and CEO of Cullen Eco-Friendly Packaging, about his working...

Alice Cumming

Puerto Vallarta buildings and beach

‘When the economy isn’t doing well, business travel tends to get curtailed’

We spoke to Tim Hentschel, co-founder and CEO of HotelPlanner, about the hospitality industry, scaling a company, and much more. Before we start, can you tell us a little about HotelPlanner and your role in the company? I launched HotelPlanner in 2003 in San Diego with my co-founder & CIO John Prince to help solve...

Alice Cumming

Hootsuite strengthens executive team with Elina Vilk as chief marketing officer

Hootsuite, the global leader in social media management, has recently announced Elina Vilk as chief marketing officer (CMO). She will join the company’s executive leadership team which is an industry anomaly at 75% women, and will report to CEO, Irina Novoselsky. Irina Novoselsky, CEO of Hootsuite, commented, “As I looked for our next CMO, Elina...

Alice Cumming

Virgin Experience Days appoints Christoph Homann as CEO

Virgin Experience Days has announced the appointment of Christoph Homann as CEO as the business enters its next phase of growth in the experience gifting markets in the UK and US. Christoph was most recently CEO of Wishcard Technologies, a digital gift card business headquartered in Germany, where he more than doubled revenue and EBITDA,...

Alice Cumming

The rise of AI: Searches for Chat GPT jump 2633% since December

It’s difficult to go online currently without seeing some sort of discourse surrounding AI programmes, such as ongoing debates surrounding generated art-stealing designs, the potential for Chat GPT to replace copywriting, and even OpenAI, the maker of Chat GPT testing a new tool to detect AI created content. But just how much more have we...

Alice Cumming

Cultured meat market predicted to be worth $13.7bn by 2043

Entering 2023 marks a decade of progress in the cultured meat industry. Ten years ago, the world was introduced to the first lab-grown burger, and this year, it is possible that American consumers will have the opportunity to taste this revolutionary food for themselves. The end of 2022 saw a major milestone for the industry,...

Alice Cumming