Currys CEO Alex Baldock & Octopus Energy’s Greg Jackson on Retail, Energy, Regulation and AI

How Heathrow Runs Britain's Biggest Workplace | CEO Thomas Woldbye

Heathrow isn't just an airport - it's one of the UK's largest workplaces. Every day, more than 200,000 passengers pass through Heathrow, supported by around 100,000 people working across hundreds of different roles. From firefighters and engineers to security teams, baggage handlers and AI specialists, it's a city-sized operation that has to work flawlessly, every single day. In this episode, Jimmy sits down with Thomas Woldbye, CEO of Heathrow Airport, to explore what it really takes to run one of Britain's most complex organisations. They discuss: * Why Heathrow employs around 100,000 people * The leadership challenges of running a 24/7 operation * How AI is changing the future of airports * Why security queues have fallen to under five minutes * The case for Heathrow's third runway * How Heathrow balances growth, sustainability and passenger experience * What makes a great leader in high-pressure environments Whether you're interested in leadership, infrastructure, business, operations or the future of work, this conversation offers a rare look behind the scenes of one of the world's busiest airports. Chapters: 00:00 The UK's Biggest Workplace 01:28 Why Heathrow Is Britain's Biggest Workplace 05:12 What Does the Heathrow CEO Actually Do? 09:45 Leading 100,000 People 15:34 Behind the Scenes of Running an Airport 20:48 Security, AI & The Future of Travel 27:41 Why Heathrow Wants a Third Runway 34:26 Can Heathrow Keep Growing 40:55 Sustainability vs Growth 47:18 Crisis Leadership & Decision Making 53:07 Careers at Heathrow 58:14 Leadership Lessons from Running Heathrow 01:03:10 Quick Fire Questions ********** Follow us on socials! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jimmysjobs Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jimmysjobsofthefuture Twitter / X: https://www.twitter.com/JimmyM Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmy-mcloughlin-obe/ Want to come on the show? hello@jobsofthefuture.co Sponsor the show or Partner with us: hello@jobsofthefuture.co Check out our clips channel here! ⬇️ https://www.youtube.com/@JimmysJobsClips Credits: Host / Exec Producer: Jimmy McLoughlin OBE Producer: Sunny Winter Producer: Thuy Dong This is a partnership with Heathrow Airport. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Georgie Coleridge Cole, Sheerluxe Founder | Building a £40M Business By Ignoring the Rules

SheerLuxe Founder on Hiring, Creator-Led Media & Selling the Business for £40M Jimmy interviews Georgie Coleridge Cole about building SheerLuxe over nearly two decades into a creator-led digital media business, what she looks for when hiring (culture add, broadcasters/curators/tastemakers), and how the company is structured across editorial, social, content, design, marketing, commercial, and video teams with around 100 staff and strong retention. She explains SheerLuxe’s approach to new channels using gut instinct, prioritizing engagement and the right content “order” by platform, and a people-first model that drives trust and monetization. Georgie details early fundraising before the financial crisis, becoming profitable within about three years, and maintaining disciplined growth. She discusses launching Blush Talent Management to manage internal and external talent, and reflects on selling SheerLuxe to Future for £40M, why she publicized the number, and what she wants to focus on next, including education, ex-offending initiatives, and support for under-16 social media restrictions. Chapters 00:00 Intro 01:47 Sheerluxe Team Structure 03:05 Editorial vs Content Workflow 05:14 Growth Stages and New Channels 08:32 Launching Platforms by Instinct 13:42 Employee Generated Content Origins 17:11 Early Hires and Retention 22:25 Funding and Profitability Lessons 26:38 Leadership Style and Chief of Staff 29:27 Hiring for Culture 30:37 Blush Talent Launch 34:01 Internal and External Roster 34:53 Why Share the Sale Price 39:46 Slow and Steady Growth 42:55 Life After the Exit 45:06 Purpose Beyond Business 51:38 Social Media Age Limits 55:43 Status and Aspiration Shift 01:00:26 Closing Thoughts ********** Follow us on socials! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jimmysjobs Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jimmysjobsofthefuture Twitter / X: https://www.twitter.com/JimmyM Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmy-mcloughlin-obe/ Want to come on the show? hello@jobsofthefuture.co Sponsor the show or Partner with us: hello@jobsofthefuture.co Check out our clips channel here! ⬇️ https://www.youtube.com/@JimmysJobsClips Credits: Host / Exec Producer: Jimmy McLoughlin OBE Producer: Thuy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Amazon: The Plan to Get 30,000 People Into Work

Amazon’s Upskilling Push: Career Choice, Skilled Hiring, and Supported Internships At a new Amazon fulfillment center, Amazon UK & I Country Manager John Boumphrey discusses job announcements, hiring needs, and major upskilling efforts, including the Career Choice program that funds nationally recognized qualifications up to £3,000 a year in the UK, training about 30,000 people in the UK and 300,000 globally, with a planned $1B investment by 2030 to train an additional 500,000 people. He explains employees often retrain for tech and hard-to-hire roles such as mechatronics for increasingly robotic warehouses, and describes a skills gap despite 1 million under-24s in the UK not in education or training. John details ongoing UK hiring and investments, including new sites in Northampton and Peterborough and a previously announced £14B UK investment. John emphasizes work experience, communication, teamwork, and reflection, highlights Supported Internships for young people with learning disabilities and autism, and shares his executive hiring approach focused on evidence-based examples and continuous learning. 00:00 Upskilling at Amazon 01:22 Courses and Career Paths 02:18 Mechatronics and Robotics Roles 02:57 The Hiring Paradox 04:03 UK and Europe Expansion Plans 06:02 What Amazon Wants in Hires 07:12 Work Experience and Inclusion 08:35 Supported Internships Stories 10:42 Hiring Senior Leaders 12:41 Lifelong Learning Wrap Up Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Tom Kerridge REVEALS What Destroys the Hospitality Industry

Tom Kerridge on Why UK Restaurants Are Failing: Rising Costs, VAT the Problem, and the Fight to Save Hospitality Watch the full documentary: https://youtu.be/LKaEiZ5TE5Q [https://youtu.be/LKaEiZ5TE5Q] At Tom Kerridge’s Whitehall restaurant, we explores why UK hospitality is struggling despite strong demand: rising utility bills, food inflation, minimum wage and national insurance increases, and business rates have eroded already thin margins, contributing to three hospitality closures a day across an industry involving 4.5 million people. Tom explains his hiring priorities and outlines London kitchen pay ranging from over £40k to six figures in senior roles. He argues government support that helped during COVID (furlough, VAT reduction) has vanished, calls for hospitality to have its own dedicated ministry, and criticizes Labour’s communication and lack of action on VAT. He also discusses how TV and commercial work subsidizes his five restaurants and shares his journey to sobriety at 40 after years of extreme drinking. 00:00 Inside a Busy Service 00:15 Kerridge’s Profit Struggle 01:02 Why Restaurants Are Closing 02:08 Building Great Teams 04:17 Pay and Career Progression 04:55 Costs Crushing Margins 08:29 Hospitality’s Social Impact 13:36 Kitchen Tour and Stations 15:55 Plating the Crab Crumpet 18:06 Making Lobbying Relatable 20:00 Why Not Run For Office 22:01 Fixing Hospitality Policy 23:53 Labour Comms And Leadership 27:06 TV Work Funds Restaurants 29:36 How Cooking TV Changed 31:00 Why Independents Are Struggling 32:22 Quitting Alcohol For Good 36:08 Staying Sober In Hospitality 37:32 Which Minister Can Cook ********** Follow us on socials! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jimmysjobs Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jimmysjobsofthefuture Twitter / X: https://www.twitter.com/JimmyM Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmy-mcloughlin-obe/ Want to come on the show? hello@jobsofthefuture.co Sponsor the show or Partner with us: hello@jobsofthefuture.co Check out our clips channel here! ⬇️ https://www.youtube.com/@JimmysJobsClips Credits: Host / Exec Producer: Jimmy McLoughlin OBE Producer: Sunny Winter https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunnywinter/ Junior Producer: Thuy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Brexit Made Us Poorer? Think Again | Vote Leave CEO Lord Elliot

Lord Matthew Elliott on Vote Leave, Modern Campaigning, AI Microtargeting, and the Jobs Foundation Jimmy interviews Lord Matthew Elliott, former Vote Leave CEO and author of “Ten Years On,” about building and running political campaigns, recruiting and developing talent, and measuring success through objectives, media impact, and interim targets. Elliott contrasts traditional campaigning with today’s faster, noisier, social-driven landscape, describing Vote Leave’s use of polling, fundraising, Facebook/Google ads, and the iconic bus tour with Boris Johnson, plus the operational roles behind it. He discusses how AI and data-driven microtargeting, especially in the US, could reshape elections, and predicts more short-lived single-issue campaigns. Elliott reflects on Brexit’s effects, arguing the UK avoided “Project Fear” outcomes and has performed comparatively well versus some European economies. He also shares his adult autism diagnosis, links it to his focus and work, highlights low autistic employment rates, and outlines the Jobs Foundation’s mission to promote business-led jobs, training, and pro-growth policy. Chapters: 00:00 Brexit Ten Years On 01:14 Meet Matthew Elliott 02:43 Building Campaign Teams 04:40 Recruiting Early Talent 07:50 Developing Spokespeople 09:22 Measuring Campaign Success 11:12 Modern Campaign Playbook 13:23 Cutting Through Noise 15:44 Brexit Campaign Today 18:11 The Iconic Bus Strategy 20:08 Behind the Bus Operation 23:34 AI and Microtargeting 27:31 Winning Swing Voters 31:33 Why Brexit Hit Hard 34:37 Culture Replaces Class 35:45 Why Culture Wars Rise 37:28 Short Term Politics Trap 40:50 Running Government vs Campaigning 43:05 Future of Campaigning 44:29 Autism Diagnosis Story 48:53 Autism and Employment Gap 51:58 After Vote Leave Fallout 54:56 Building Jobs Foundation Coalitions 58:18 NEETs AI and Flexibility 01:00:51 Brexit Reassessment Debate 01:04:13 Regulators Planning and Growth 01:07:10 Coalition Building Skillset 01:08:36 Closing Thanks ********** Follow us on socials! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jimmysjobs Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jimmysjobsofthefuture Twitter / X: https://www.twitter.com/JimmyM Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmy-mcloughlin-obe/ Want to come on the show? hello@jobsofthefuture.co Sponsor the show or Partner with us: hello@jobsofthefuture.co Check out our clips channel here! ⬇️ https://www.youtube.com/@JimmysJobsClips Credits: Host / Exec Producer: Jimmy McLoughlin OBE Producer: Sunny Winter https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunnywinter/ Junior Producer: Thuy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]