#17 Vernon Dennis: Why every business failure is really a governance failure

#17 Vernon Dennis: Why every business failure is really a governance failure

In this episode, Philippa talks to Vernon Dennis about why he has come to see governance and culture as the real reasons businesses succeed or fail, why ESG is not a separate compliance exercise, and what directors actually need to do to discharge their duties in a world where "non-financial" misconduct is anything but. Vernon Dennis is a partner at Howard Kennedy Solicitors, where he leads the firm's business advisory practice and specialises in restructuring, insolvency and corporate turnaround. Over 35 years advising boards, creditors and businesses in financial distress, he has had a front row seat to what happens when governance succeeds and when it fails. His book, Directors' Duties, ESG and Sustainable Strategies, argues that ESG belongs at the heart of good governance, risk management and long-term business success - not on the periphery. Most businesses that fail blame the outside world: Brexit, war, energy prices, unforeseen events. Vernon's argument, after three and a half decades of watching them fall over, is that the outside world is rarely the real cause. Underneath almost every failure sits a failure of governance and culture - the way decisions get made, the way rules line up with the vision and values, and the way businesses behave when they think no one is looking. In this conversation, you'll hear about: * Why Vernon came to ESG through insolvency rather than sustainability law, and what 35 years of restructuring taught him about the commonality beneath every business failure. * The distinction between a business plan and a sustainable strategy, and why a real strategy should look more like a Haynes manual than a five-year projection. * Section 172 of the Companies Act, and why the director's duty to promote the success of the company is already an ESG duty, whether directors realise it or not. * Why culture is "like the wind" - visible only in its effects - and why misalignment between values, remuneration and behaviour is what really brings businesses down. * Why for individuals ESG is about ethics, but for companies it is fundamentally about risk management. * The rise of greenwashing and transition litigation, and why misleading disclosures are increasingly ending up in court. * How directors get themselves into trouble: not through irrational decisions, but through decisions they simply never got around to considering. * Why over-reliance on compliance and box-ticking is one of the most dangerous patterns Vernon sees in boardrooms. * Materiality: identifying the "emerging strategic disruptive factors" for your business, and why every list looks different. * The value of external experts and diversity of thought as a defence against boards marking their own homework. * The Enron and Madoff pattern of "someone else will spot it", and why a real speak-up culture only works where trust is real. * Vernon's own penny-drop moment: a client case where the incident itself was not the fatal blow - it was how the business responded that caused the reputational and financial damage. Key takeaway: Vernon's argument is that there is no such thing as "non-financial" misconduct. Anything that touches culture, values, employees, suppliers, customers or the environment will eventually touch the balance sheet - through litigation, reputational damage or lost trust. The way to protect against this is not more compliance policies sitting in a folder. It is a sustainable strategy genuinely embedded in the board's decision-making, subject to regular audit and review, and honest about the emerging factors that could take the business down. Get advice early, bring in outside challenge, ask what a reasonable director would have done, and treat culture as the default your business falls back on when things get hard. This podcast is intended to be of a general nature, will not be suitable for everyone, and should not be treated as a specific recommendation. We recommend taking professional advice before entering into any obligation or transaction. Paradigm Norton Financial Planning Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our FCA Register number is 455083.  Registered in England. Reg No 4220937, VAT Reg. No 918550904.

#16 Steve Watters: Can investing drive real change? How Paradigm Norton aims to be a force for good.

In this episode, Philippa talks to Steve Watters about what it really means for a financial planning business to be a force for good, why excluding the worst offenders from a portfolio isn't enough on its own, and how stewardship and engagement can change the conversation between investors and the companies they own. Steve Watters is Head of Impact at Paradigm Norton. Trained as an engineer, he spent much of his early career in international development and charitable work in East Africa, Palestine and Israel, before joining Paradigm Norton in 2018 as the firm was preparing to become a B Corp and transition to employee ownership. He now leads on impact across the business, sits on the Investment Committee, and has been recognised as Sustainable Finance Leader of the Year at the Global Good Awards. Paradigm Norton has also recently been awarded the King's Award for Sustainable Development. In this conversation, you'll hear about: * What a Head of Impact actually does, and why the role spans operations, suppliers, governance, people, clients and investments rather than sitting neatly in one corner of the business. * Why Steve joined Paradigm Norton at the moment it was becoming a B Corp and moving to employee ownership, and what those two structural changes have unlocked. * The "underwear drawer" reality of going through a B Corp assessment, and how Paradigm Norton's recertification in 2023 saw its score jump from 85 to 148, recognised as the biggest improvement of any UK company that year. * Why the carbon footprint of advice given to clients dwarfs the footprint of running an office, and what that realisation triggered. * The design of Paradigm Norton's responsible portfolio (PNr), built to match traditional returns while using ESG screening alongside active stewardship and engagement. * The shift from responsible investing as a niche, opt-in choice to becoming the firm's default portfolio, with more than 60 percent of clients now invested this way. * The academic case for engagement over exclusion: why simply screening out bad companies has limited evidence of driving change, and why taking the majority of companies through a transition matters more. * The football analogy of "playing at home": why a market full of patient, long-term, engaged investors raises the chances of companies making better long-term decisions. * The honest acknowledgement that stewardship is the best lever available to investors, but it is not a panacea on its own - policy change and other actors are needed too. * The framework Paradigm Norton uses to assess asset managers, including team expertise, fund methodology, AGM voting records and the case studies of real engagements with companies. * The intentional portfolio (PNi), built with Tribe Impact Capital, for clients who want to go further and invest in companies whose revenues are aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. * The upcoming Bristol screening of the National Emergency Briefing film featuring Chris Packham, why Paradigm Norton is hosting it, and the kind of conversations it hopes to open up with the wider business community. Key takeaway: Steve's argument is that the financial system is one of the most powerful enablers (or disablers) of the change we need to see, and that financial planning firms may have far more agency than they often admit. Real impact doesn't come from a single label or a marketing line. It comes from rewiring the business itself, asking harder questions of the funds you use, taking clients on the journey with you, and accepting that this is a starting point rather than a destination. Honesty is the throughline: refusing to overclaim, sitting with the discomfort of the hard questions, and being willing to keep asking what else can be done. ----------------------- Disclaimer: This podcast is intended to be of a general nature, will not be suitable for everyone, and should not be treated as a specific recommendation. We recommend taking professional advice before entering into any obligation or transaction. PNr portfolios adopt a diversified, cost-efficient approach aimed at maximising risk-adjusted returns. As a secondary consideration, the portfolios prioritise selecting fund managers who effectively engage with underlying companies on environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters. Most underlying funds also incorporate ESG factors and exclusions into the fund construction. PNr portfolios are not designed to achieve specific sustainability outcomes and should not be viewed as “sustainable” investments. PNi portfolios take a more targeted sustainability approach, seeking closer alignment with defined environmental and/or social outcomes, and which are predominantly defined by UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Definitions of ethical investing vary, and incorporating ESG or sustainability factors does not guarantee positive outcomes or investment performance. The value of investments can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than you originally invested. The suitability of any investment will depend on your individual circumstances. Paradigm Norton Financial Planning Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our FCA Register number is 455083. Registered in England. Reg No 4220937, VAT Reg. No 918550904. This podcast is intended to be of a general nature, will not be suitable for everyone, and should not be treated as a specific recommendation. We recommend taking professional advice before entering into any obligation or transaction. Paradigm Norton Financial Planning Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our FCA Register number is 455083.  Registered in England. Reg No 4220937, VAT Reg. No 918550904.

#15 Peter Smith: How Bristol’s Ashton Gate Became a Force for Change

In this episode, Philippa talks to Peter Smith about how a football club becomes a force for environmental change, why operations and sustainability are inseparable, and why honesty matters more than perfection on the road to net zero. Peter Smith is Head of Change and Sustainability at Bristol Sport, the organisation behind Bristol City Football Club, the Bristol Bears Rugby Club and Ashton Gate Stadium. He has spent 17 years with the club, moving from match-day work into stadium development and ultimately  leading its sustainability initiative, Project Whitebeam. Under his leadership, Ashton Gate has signed the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework and won multiple awards for environmental innovation. In this conversation, you'll hear about: * How a single "sustainable" coffee cup that nobody knew how to dispose of revealed that the club's good intentions weren't joined up, and how that moment gave birth to Project Whitebeam. * Why Peter believes there may be no such thing as a single "sustainability expert", and how he broke the topic into five key impact areas: climate change, waste, water, biodiversity and air quality. * What sustainability looked like during the £45 million redevelopment of Ashton Gate, from a large rooftop solar array and a building management system to sensor lighting and low-flow taps. * Why the club set bold targets, 50 percent emissions reduction by 2030 and net zero by 2040, before it even knew what its carbon footprint was, and why setting the destination came before knowing the route. * The "road to hell is paved with good intentions" trap of performative sustainability, and why Peter insists on genuine-impact actions over low-value gestures. * How fan travel became the club's biggest single impact area, with shuttle buses, free cycle repair workshops, additional train services and cycle usage reportedly quadrupling in recent years. * The co-benefits of action: unsold pies and pasties going to a homeless shelter, warm clothing collected for people sleeping rough, and a food charity diverting meals from landfill over a five-year period. * Why Peter manages this as a change-management challenge, devolving responsibility through task forces at each club and asking every department to wear its "green goggles". * What the EFL Green Club accreditation involves, why Bristol Sport was the first non-Forest Green Rovers club to achieve it, and how the tiered bronze-silver-gold system now helps every club climb the ladder. * Why Peter argues sports organisations have both a responsibility and an opportunity to lead on climate, given the unique passion and community they bring together. * His advice to smaller clubs with fewer resources: just get started, find your own thing, and remember that perfection is the enemy of the good. Key takeaway: Peter's argument is that sustainability and operations cannot be separated: operations cause the impact, so they must also deliver the solution. Bristol Sport's progress came not from waiting for a perfect plan but from a bias towards action, supported by leadership willing to be bold and a culture of devolved ownership. Honesty is the throughline, refusing to claim the club is "saving the planet" while acknowledging its impact is still too high. The practical message for any organisation is simple: get one building block in place, find the wins that also save money, and never let sustainability take away from what people love. This podcast is intended to be of a general nature, will not be suitable for everyone, and should not be treated as a specific recommendation. We recommend taking professional advice before entering into any obligation or transaction. Paradigm Norton Financial Planning Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our FCA Register number is 455083.  Registered in England. Reg No 4220937, VAT Reg. No 918550904.

#14 Anne Johnstone: Why Heat Is the Invisible Giant of Net Zero

In this episode, Philippa talks to Anne Johnstone about why heat has been overlooked for decades, what it actually takes to move buildings off gas, and why energy security is as much about storage and infrastructure as it is about generation. Anne Johnstone is ESG Director at Vital Energi, a company delivering low-carbon heat at scale through heat networks, large heat pumps and long-term energy infrastructure. She has spent more than two decades working across sustainability, the built environment and energy. Anne grew up in a former coal mining community in North Lanarkshire, and that experience shapes her conviction that the move to net zero must also be a just transition: one that creates opportunity rather than resentment. In this conversation, you'll hear about: * Why heat accounts for almost half of the UK's carbon emissions, and why a 50-year-old habit of burning gas through 85 percent of buildings has made it almost invisible until energy bills tripled. * What decarbonising heat actually looks like on the ground: individual heat pumps, district heat networks pulling warmth from rivers, sewers, data centres and waste heat, and why hydrogen has no realistic role in domestic heating. * Why heat networks have stalled in the UK despite being mature, proven technology, from regulatory blockers and the missing utility status only granted this year, to the four-to-one price gap between electricity and gas that the wholesale market still ties together. * The Queens Quay project in Scotland, where two river source heat pumps draw enough warmth from the Clyde even at three degrees in winter to heat an entire connected community. * Why "the pipes don't care where the heat comes from": once district heat infrastructure is in the ground, the heat source can be swapped and upgraded over a 60-year lifespan, which is why the priority is getting pipes in now. * Why energy security is not the same as drilling more North Sea oil and gas: the basin is in decline, gas is sold on a global market regardless of where it is extracted, our offshore storage at Rough has been run down, and the UK is already a net importer. * The 1.5 billion pounds paid last year in curtailment payments to wind farms told to switch off because the grid cannot move their electricity, and how thermal stores can absorb that wasted renewable energy as heat for days or weeks. * Why a just transition matters: growing up watching the miners' strikes hollow out her village taught Anne that promises of "new jobs will replace these" are not enough, and that skilled pathways and apprenticeships are the only honest answer. * What Vital Energi is doing about the skills gap, with 30 apprentices in its largest intake yet and 15 percent of the workforce on a learn-and-earn pathway, plus the Powering Futures schools programme now in 125 Scottish schools. * The one thing Anne wants every business leader setting net zero targets to understand: you cannot reach them without thinking about heat, and the closer you get to your target year, the more expensive it becomes to leave it in the too-difficult box. Key takeaway Anne's argument is that the UK has spent years debating generation while ignoring the half of emissions that come from heating buildings. The technology to decarbonise heat already exists, is proven across Denmark and the Netherlands, and is delivering 70 to 80 percent emissions reductions in working UK projects. The blockers are regulatory, financial and behavioural, not technical. The risk now is not that we fail to decarbonise heat, but that we rush it, scale it badly, and create a new wave of fuel poverty in the process. The practical action for every listener is small but real: find out whether you are in a heat network zone, and start asking the questions that make local projects viable. This podcast is intended to be of a general nature, will not be suitable for everyone, and should not be treated as a specific recommendation. We recommend taking professional advice before entering into any obligation or transaction. Paradigm Norton Financial Planning Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our FCA Register number is 455083.  Registered in England. Reg No 4220937, VAT Reg. No 918550904.

#13 Eileen Akbaraly: Why Fashion's Future Is a Living System, Not a Brand

In this episode, Philippa Hann talks to Eileen about what it takes to build a luxury fashion business where dignity, sustainability and profitability reinforce one another, why the concept of a brand is too limiting for what she is creating, and what other industries can learn from rebuilding a supply chain around the people inside it. Eileen Akbaraly is the founder and CEO of Made for a Woman, a luxury fashion social enterprise based in Madagascar working with handwoven raffia. Half Italian, half Indian and raised in Madagascar, she trained in fashion only to find an industry obsessed with making more money rather than making better lives. After graduating she went to work in the slums of Phnom Penh, then returned home to build something different. Six years on, Made for a Woman works with over 1,000 artisans, predominantly single mothers, gender-based violence survivors, disabled individuals and women from disadvantaged backgrounds. The company collaborates with major luxury houses, runs childcare facilities and is building a primary school, mental health centre and shelter on site. Eileen was awarded Gold for Individual Changemaker of the Year at the Global Good Awards. In this conversation, you'll hear about: * Why CSR cannot be bolted on later: how Eileen built her supplier relationships, certifications and company culture around impact from the foundation, so doing the right thing is structural rather than heroic * The SHAPE model and how Made for a Woman measures social stability, health, autonomy, professional development and economic empowerment as core KPIs alongside production * Why happier artisans produce better work, why the company is hiring a "happy manager", and how investing in wellbeing pays back in product quality and delivery * The tension between handmade luxury and a fast-paced industry, and why even certified, B Corp, Fair Trade companies are still operating inside a system Eileen believes is fundamentally unsustainable * Why she rejects the idea of being just a brand and is building a "living system" instead, with traceable supply chains, blockchain digital product passports, and a replication model now launching in Brazil * How values get tested in practice: turning down well-connected collaborators and lower pricing that would have unlocked faster growth, because they did not fit the long-term vision * Why the antidote to consumerism is community, why consumers need a real relationship with the people behind the products they buy, and what changes when that separation disappears Key takeaway Made for a Woman is a working argument that luxury and human flourishing are not opposites. The fashion industry has spent decades treating the people in the supply chain as invisible, then spending millions on marketing to sell the resulting products as dreams. Eileen's case, built from inside one of the world's biggest manufacturing hubs rather than from a boardroom in Europe, is that the dream is fake and the real value lives upstream, in the artisans, raw materials and communities that make the work possible. The shift is not just a better factory. It is a different definition of what luxury means and who it is for. This podcast is intended to be of a general nature, will not be suitable for everyone, and should not be treated as a specific recommendation. We recommend taking professional advice before entering into any obligation or transaction. Paradigm Norton Financial Planning Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our FCA Register number is 455083.  Registered in England. Reg No 4220937, VAT Reg. No 918550904.