Jimmy's Jobs of the Future

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

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Want to come on the show?
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Credits:
Host / Exec Producer: Jimmy McLoughlin OBE
Producer: Thuy
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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
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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

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
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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
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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
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Nihal Arthanayake: From Radio 1 to Corporate Storytelling - Class, Diversity & the BBC’s Blind Spots

Nihal Arthanayake, former BBC Radio 1 presenter, joins Jimmy’s Jobs of the Future to trace his career, from promoting rap nights at 16 and fronting Collapsed Lung to being dropped by a major label and pivoting into music journalism and PR before becoming a Radio 1 DJ in 2002.

Nihal explains how radio shifted from gatekeeping to curating as social media and algorithms changed music discovery, and recounts his 23 years across Radio 1, Asian Network and 5 Live, including planning his exit and ultimately being engineered out after speaking out.

He argues the BBC’s biggest bias is class, says it “lies about diversity,” keeps people of color in boxes, and fears the Daily Mail more than ideological labels suggest.

We also discuss interview craft, his book on conversation, and how doing stand-up comedy increased his confidence.

00:00 Intro

01:22 Welcome and Early Dreams

02:51 First Money in Music

05:33 Collapsed Lung Breakthrough

09:22 Go Discs and Muddy Funksters

12:34 Dropped and Reinventing as Journalist

13:46 Why British Rap Lagged

15:36 Gatekeepers to Algorithms

18:14 Landing Radio 1 Asian Beats

22:29 Representation and BBC Culture

31:24 Calling Out Window Dressing

40:05 Is the BBC Left Wing

46:32 Politics and Interview Nerves

49:33 Nerve Wracking Guests

51:08 Peterson Clegg Clash

52:53 Interview Style Lessons

55:06 Talking Ends Conflict

57:36 Mutual Friend Story

01:00:00 Research Like A Pro

01:05:19 No Gotcha Headlines

01:09:12 Media Tech Farage

01:14:55 Politics Brutal Switch

01:26:14 Kids Time Football

01:30:55 Stand Up Confidence

Credits:

Host/Exec Producer: Jimmy McLoughlin OBE

Producer: Sunny Winter

Producer: Thuy

**********

Follow us on socials!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jimmysjobs

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jimmysjobsofthefuture

Twitter / X: https://www.twitter.com/Jimmy

MLinkedin: 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
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