From Free School Meals to Spending £4 Million a Week: Building Communities in Britain's Forgotten Towns | Tim Heatley

From Free School Meals to Spending £4 Million a Week: Building Communities in Britain's Forgotten Towns | Tim Heatley

Tim Heatley was fired from every retail job he ever had, failed at being a lawyer, and sold his mates' artwork at university rather than get a part-time job. Then he bought a derelict house for less than it would cost to rebuild — and something clicked. Tim is co-founder of Capital & Centric. They spend £3–4 million a week repurposing abandoned buildings and forgotten town centres — and unlike most developers, they never sell what they build. They stay, operate, and build communities from the inside out. This conversation covers where the drive came from — free school meals, a dad who lost his job, Irish immigrant grandparents who grafted — and how that became a philosophy built entirely around things other people had written off. Plus working with councils, why the doubters always go quiet when the building fills up, and the nonprofit getting 2,000 young people a year into well-paid built environment careers. 🎧 Listen as we discuss… (0:00) Introduction — Tim Heatley, failed lawyer, property developer(4:15) From free school meals to spending £3–4 million a week(7:17) Why the outsider sees potential the locals can't(13:46) How communities heal themselves from the inside out(17:00) The reality of working with councils (20:44) The danger of maintain the status quo (23:51) Why Capital & Centric never sells what it builds(26:40) Favourite and worst parts of the job(33:27) Favourite project (33:49) Why social impact is non-negotiable(37:59) Regeneration Brainery — inspiring young people(38:16) Inspirational not educational(40:33) What graft means to Tim Heatley KEY TAKEAWAYS The overlooked thing is always the opportunity — From student artwork to derelict cars to abandoned town centres, Tim's entire career has been built on the same instinct: find what other people have written off and see what it could become. Maintain the status quo means going backwards without realising it — Towns and councils that focus purely on not making mistakes are quietly declining. Progress requires someone willing to take political or commercial risk. Never selling what you build changes everything — Capital & Centric retains and operates everything they create. When you have to live with the thing you built, you build it differently. The doubters always go quiet — Scepticism, then denial, then silence once the building is full. They never come back and say they were wrong. Diversity of background isn't a nice-to-have in regeneration, it's the whole point — If your team can't relate to the community you're trying to regenerate, you can't do the job. Tim Heatley — Co-Founder, Capital & Centric🌐 capitalandcentric.com📸 Instagram: @timheatley / @capitalandcentric

What Nobody Tells You About Life After Cancer Surgery | Dar Barrow

Dar Barrow was back on Graft to talk about chapter two: chemotherapy. The surgery was hard. What came after it was something else entirely. This conversation covers the side effects nobody prepares you for - frozen eyes, fizzy hands, the complete collapse of taste - the worst mental health day of his life arriving on an ordinary dog walk, the NHS helpline he used more than once, and what recovery actually looks and feels like when you're 80% of the physical version and 60% of the mental version of who you were before. He's also running 107km around the Isle of Wight for Bowel Cancer UK. His second book is out now. ⏱ CHAPTERS 0:00 Introduction - Dar Barrow returns3:37 Where Dar is now6:07 First day of chemo and the anxiety that arrived the night before7:07 Being hooked up to the matrix10:29 Walking home after treatment — when the side effects kicked in11:41 Like the 90s but without any of the fun12:13 Fizzy hands, frozen eyes and lockjaw13:49 Surgery vs chemotherapy — which is harder14:36 The NHS 24/7 helpline and why he ignored it until he needed it18:47 The ctDNA test: trying to find a medical way out of chemo22:16 The Creamy Curse and never touching pizza again24:03 The worst mental health day — and the front door breakdown29:02 The helpline call that helped, and why he started writing31:29 Never once getting used to it32:49 The scan in October that finally cleared him34:46 Emma and the relationship through the fog35:28 The shocking statistic of men vs women 37:47 Why Dar keeps talking publicly about all of it39:04 The neighbour: "it just gets a little bit less every day"40:55 Recovery: 80% physically, 60% mentally43:31 107km Isle of Wight challenge for Bowel Cancer UK45:55 What the watch says vs what the body felt like a year ago46:17 Book two out now 📚 DAR'S BOOKS Oh Shit I've Got Bowel Cancer - Amazon / Kindle / Apple Books The Fog of Chemotherapy: The April Shits and the Creamy Curse - out now Profits to Bowel Cancer UK 🏃 ISLE OF WIGHT CHALLENGE - 107km for Bowel Cancer UK Link to Fundraising page [https://www.justgiving.com/team/johnbarnesraps?utm_medium=TE&utm_source=CL] ――――――――――――――――――――――――――― 🎙 GRAFT PODCAST New episodes every other week.Instagram: @graft_podcast

"I Just Don't Give Up" - How Do You Build a Tech Startup From Scratch? with Simon Neave

GIVEAWAY TIME... 😴 Comment "SLEEP" below to be in with a chance to win a Leep ring Winner will be announce on Tuesday 16th June at 7pm GMT on our Instagram page - @graft.podcast --- Simon Neave spent 36 years building other people's brands — from Morrisons shelf floors to six-figure salaries in mobile tech, turning distressed products into £60 million exits and fighting to keep a company alive through a pandemic that eventually swallowed it whole. When the company he worked for went into administration in 2024, he was 54, out of a job, and facing a question he'd spent his whole career avoiding: now or never? He chose now. Leep is a sleep and activity tracking ring built to do what no British brand had done — bring serious health wearables to a mainstream price point. This conversation covers the whole arc: the comfort that kept Simon employed for decades, the market gap he spotted while watching his employer slowly die, the brutal reality of fundraising, and what 36 years of building for other people actually teaches you when it's finally yours. If you've ever been comfortable enough to stay but curious enough to wonder what you could build — this one's for you. 🎧 Listen as we discuss… (00:00) From Morrisons to mobile: 36 years building other people's brands(07:12) The "now or never" moment(08:51) Why sleep became the overlooked gap in the healthtech market(12:32) The drunk driving stat — what 17 hours without sleep actually does to you(14:52) The £169 bet: making sleep tech accessible when everyone else charged £400(22:59) "Execution is everything" — why most startups fail before they launch(24:45) Fundraising is a full-time job (and the thing Simon underestimated most)(29:02) The power of not giving up (31:28) The personal cost: savings gone, gym gone, holidays in Whitby with a laptop(36:11) What Simon would tell anyone thinking about starting their own thing(41:59) The Jonny Wilkinson principle — fear of failure as a driver(44:39) Vision and delusion: where Simon wants Leep to be in five years(47:40) Why British wearables could help prevent suicide, anxiety and depression KEY TAKEAWAYS The Comfort Trap — A good salary and a well-run company are the most effective things for killing your own ambition. If you're waiting for the right moment, recognise that comfort is the reason most people never find one. Every line of code is a liability — Simon's rule for building the Leep app: assume everything takes twice as long and costs twice as much, then cut it down to the absolute minimum you can launch with. Don't give up is a double-edged sword — Simon's greatest strength is his refusal to quit. But persistence without self-awareness is just stubbornness. Know which one you're doing at any given moment. Fundraising is a full-time job — The single most underestimated part of building a product business. Simon raised money in between building, selling and running the company — and believes that if he'd treated fundraising as a dedicated full-time focus earlier, the timeline would have been different. Sleep is the metric most people are ignoring — After 17–19 hours without sleep, cognitive performance matches someone over the drink-drive limit. The data is already in your pocket — it's time to start looking at it. Simon Neave — CEO & Founder, Leep (sleep and activity tracking ring)

The Fall, The Heartbreak, The Dad I Couldn't Save - and What I'm Living For Now | Darren Edwards

In 2017, Darren Edwards was three-quarters of the way up a 500ft rock face in North Wales when the ground beneath his feet gave way. A four-foot chunk of limestone collapsed. He fell with it. His best friend Matt - stood 50ft below - threw himself on top of Darren with an 80% chance they'd both go. They didn't. What followed - the hospital, the diagnosis, the losses he hadn't seen coming - is one of the most honest accounts of starting over we've heard on this show. From a 25-metre pool on Christmas Eve to Land's End to John O'Groats by sea. From a hospital bed to 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days. And through it all, one question that changed everything. 🎧 Listen as we discuss… (08:24) The Bear Grylls DVD that started everything  (10:03) "My only competition was myself" - finding identity in the mountains  (14:37) World's End: the moment the rock face collapsed  (21:02) Matt: the friend who dove on him with an 80% chance they'd both go  (22:58) The promise on the ledge: "Whatever happens next - don't let me give up"  (31:19) Waking up in intensive care: "Look ahead, not behind"  (38:10) Kate the physio and the four-year question  (39:07) Buying a kayak from a hospital car park (44:15) Missing Paralympic selection (47:06) Land's End to John O'Groats - 1,000km, disabled veterans, everyone wrote them off (56:31) Day one of the 777: Antarctica, -30°C, 60mph winds  (01:03:07) Losing his dad - and why it made him a speaker  (01:09:33) "What do you want to stand for - and why can't you still?" KEY TAKEAWAYS Courage is a commitment, not a feeling. Resilience isn't something you feel - it's a decision you make before you know if you can keep it. The four-year question. When you're at your lowest, don't ask what to do next. Ask who you want to be in four years - then take the first step, however small or absurd it looks. Asking for help is the first move. Not figuring it out alone. Calling someone and saying "I need you to come with me." That's where everything starts. Be the Mohamed. We don't succeed alone. Sometimes the person who gets you through the hardest part isn't even supposed to be there. GUEST  Darren Edwards - World record-breaking adaptive adventurer, keynote speaker, author, and founder of a charity supporting newly injured people through adventure.

"I Didn't Know I Had a Problem": The Gambling Addiction Nobody Can See with Matt Cowell

Matt Cowell's relationship with gambling began with a Simpsons fruit machine in a hotel games room in Newquay, aged ten or eleven. He'd saved up fifty pounds from his paper round. By the end of the holiday, he had £2.56 left - and already knew he needed to hide it. What followed was twenty-five years. By eighteen he was thousands in debt through Fixed Odds Betting Terminals. By twenty-five, bankrupt with £68,000 of unsecured debt - every penny from gambling, nothing to show for it. He was suspended from his bank job for cycling money between accounts to fund his habit, and spent the weeks afterwards putting on his suit every morning, driving to the high street to gamble, so his family wouldn't know. But this episode isn't just Matt's story. Ben comes into it too - discovering mid-conversation that he'd staked nearly £21,000 on betting apps in twelve months. Technically up £900. No idea. That moment is the heart of why this conversation matters: gambling has become so frictionless, so invisible, that most people don't know where "casual" ends and "problem" begins - and the 16–24 generation are being targeted harder than anyone. 🎧 Listen as we discuss… (01:15) The Simpsons machine: where it started - and the shame that came with it  (07:18) FOBTs, debt at eighteen, and the logic that kept him going back  (14:37) "Just to play, just to play" - the core loop of addiction  (15:02) Bankrupt at 25: £68,000 with nothing to show  (17:24) The suit he wore every day to nowhere  (20:31) Ben's reveal: £21,000 staked in twelve months without knowing  (23:23) The invisible addiction: why no one sees it coming  (24:36) More betting shops in the UK than Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons combined  (26:41) "One in every group is hiding it": the crisis targeting teenagers  (35:44) No clocks in casinos - the psychology of keeping you in  (39:35) Day one of 508: the panic attacks that finally broke the cycle  (42:13) Addicted to Growth: starting a recovery platform from a Tesco car park  (47:49) The "crack in the dam": how to help someone who won't admit they have a problem KEY TAKEAWAYS The Invisible Addiction: No smell, no visible change - you can do it from anywhere, at any time. That invisibility is precisely what makes it escalate, and why the people closest to a problem gambler are often the last to find out. Abstinence is not recovery: Matt spent almost four years not gambling and still relapsed. The shift came when he accepted - out loud, to everyone - that he is a compulsive gambler and life becomes unmanageable when he plays. That acceptance ends the wrestling. The crack in the dam: Accusations close the door. Matt's advice for anyone worried about a loved one: find a softer entry point, share content, ask a question. People accept help more readily when they feel like it was their decision to ask for it. GUEST  Matt Cowell - Recovering compulsive gambler and founder of Addicted to Growth (@addictedtogrowth).