The Entrepreneurs
A weekly deep dive into global business. Inspiring stories from startups to legacy brands in hospitality, design, fashion, and retail.
Latest Episodes
The new face of finance
This week we’re taking an in-depth look at how a host of start-ups are bringing more people into the worlds of personal finance and investment. We meet four entrepreneurs who are making the world of finance easier to understand and engaging people who wouldn’t ordinarily invest their money. We hear…
Allbirds
Tim Brown was a professional footballer in his native New Zealand before deciding to create environmentally friendly footwear. He is the co-founder of Allbirds, a booming shoe brand with sustainability at its heart; earlier this year the company sold its one millionth pair.
Seedlip
Ben Branson spent a decade working for creative agencies, helping other people to build their brands. But in 2014 he decided to put his skills to the test on his own project. That project was Seedlip, a non-alcoholic spirit born out of Branson’s passion for natural botanicals and hobby distilling.…
Mentors
We assess the importance of business mentors. As anyone who has founded a company will know, having an experienced adviser who can lend advice and an ear during the tough times can be key. But it’s a two-way street: as an older entrepreneur you can learn a lot from having…
Bremont watches
Giles and Nick English are the brothers behind UK watch brand Bremont. Both aviation enthusiasts, the co-founders launched the firm in 2002 and named it after a French farmer whose fields they once accidentally landed in during a foggy cross-Channel flight. Giles and Nick are passionate proponents of British engineering…
Jo Malone CBE
Jo Malone CBE made her name – quite literally – as the eponymous entrepreneur behind her iconic perfume brand. A sensation in the 1990s, Malone later sold the brand to cosmetics giant Estée Lauder Companies. While she stayed on as creative director, she eventually left the business for good in…
Trakke
While on a summer break from university in Glasgow, keen cyclist Alec Farmer taught himself to sew. Setting out to craft the perfect bag, Farmer used discarded materials that he found around the city: and soon Trakke was born. It’s now a well-known maker of waxed-canvas bags and travel accessories…
The Trampery
In 2009 Charles Armstrong launched The Trampery, the first co-working space to take root in Shoreditch, a district of east London that has since become crowded with shared workspaces catering to the area’s creative and entrepreneurial communities. Over the past nine years, Charles has grown the brand and opened more…
Dave Dawson
Dave Dawson trained as a lawyer but never had much love for the legal profession and always harboured a desire to one day start his own design company. That day arrived in 2003 when he decided to quit his day job and launch the Urban Electric Company, a lighting brand…
Kestin Hare
Edinburgh-based fashion designer Kestin Hare worked with a number of labels including Nigel Cabourn and Burberry before launching his eponymous label in 2014. The brand now has two shops, one in Shoreditch and one in the Leith area of the Scottish capital. Made in the UK, the styles are a…
