The Business

“I blame it on my kids” - that’s how Louise Hill, founder of multi-million pound business GoHenry - a financial app for kids - describes what motivated her to start her business. And Olivia Jenkins, founder of jewellery company D. Louise, put down the ‘giant backpack’ of grief weighing her down to set up on her own.

If you’ve ever thought of starting your own business, maybe January - and the beginning of a new year - is the perfect time to break free of the 9-5 drudgery and realise your own brilliant idea. But where to start? How do you turn your passion project into a thriving business? Today, we hear from Louise and Olivia - as they join Dom and Hannah to give their advice on how to make it all work.

Presenters:
Hannah Prevett, Associate Business Editor, The Sunday Times
Dominic O’Connell, columnist and business presenter, Times Radio

Guests:
Louise Hill, Co-founder and CEO, GoHenry
Olivia Jenkins, Founder and CEO, D. Louise

Producer: Miriam Hall
Senior Producer: Julia Johnson
Executive Producer: Kate Ford
Photo credit: Getty
Get in touch: [email protected]
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The economy is sluggish, growth elusive, and unemployment is heading for 5% - 2026 looks tough for business. But, the FTSE 100 has broken 10,000 points for the first time, gold keeps on going up, and up in value - and still the AI bubble hasn’t burst. From Davos parties, to driverless cars, what's up, what’s down? And how do you prepare yourself for 2026?

Presenters:
Hannah Prevett, Associate Business Editor, The Sunday Times
Dominic O’Connell, columnist and business presenter, Times Radio

Guests:
Richard Fletcher, Business Editor, The Times
Katie Prescott, Technology Business Editor, The Times

Producer: Miriam Hall
Senior Producer: Julia Johnson
Executive Producer: Kate Ford
Photo credit: Getty
Get in touch: [email protected]
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

British tech billionaire Mike Lynch died in August 2024, on board The Bayesian, his luxury superyacht, sunk by a freak storm as it was moored off Sicily. He’d been there with his family and closest associates to celebrate his acquittal of criminal fraud charges in the US. It was a tragic end to the story of a self-made business man - a man who was one of Britain’s biggest titans of tech. So, who exactly was Mike Lynch? How did he manage to build such a huge tech success story? And how did it all come crashing down?

As we end the year, Dom and Hannah have each picked their ‘business book of 2025’. In today’s episode Hannah sits down with Katie Prescott, Times colleague and author of The Curious Case of Mike Lynch.

Host: Hannah Prevett, Associate Business Editor, The Sunday Times.
Guest: Katie Prescott, Technology Business editor for The Times, presenter on The Tech Podcast and author of ‘the curious case of Mike Lynch’
Clips: Getty
Photo: Getty
Producer: Miriam Hall
Executive producer: Kate Ford
Get in touch: [email protected]

You can buy The Curious Case of Mike Lynch by Katie Prescott at the Times Bookshop.
Listen to The Times Tech Podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In space, a battle between big business is taking place as two of the world’s wealthiest men vie for dominance. Elon Musk’s Space X and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin have taken the space industry in the US out of the hands of government and into the hands of the private sector. But what are the consequences? Who will win the commercial race to extract crucial minerals from outer space? And who will police space if the rivalry between China and the US extends into orbit?

As we end the year, Dom and Hannah have each picked their ‘business book of 2025’. In today’s episode Dom sits down with Christian Davenport, author of Rocket Dreams.

Host: Dominic O’Connell, business columnist at The Times and business presenter on Times Radio
Guest: Christian Davenport, Washington Post journalist and author, Rocket Dreams
Clips: Getty
Photo: Getty
Producer: Julia Johnson
Executive producer: Kate Ford
Get in touch: [email protected]

You can buy Rocket Dreams by Christian Davenport at the Times Bookshop.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2025 has been a wild ride of big pharma - driven by explosive use of revolutionary weight-loss medication - pushing one of the biggest manufacturers, Eli Lilly, to a trillion-dollar valuation. A dramatic takeover war also saw Denmark’s pharma darling Novo Nordisk trumped by US giant Pfizer. Now, while Novo’s share price is down 50% over the course of the year, Lilly is in the stratosphere normally reserved for the likes of tech firms.

But the story’s not over. These, and smaller, challenger companies are slogging it out for market dominance. Who can nail the science for the next holy grail in weight loss meds – an oral pill. And what does investor behaviour tell us about where the market is going?

Presenters:
Hannah Prevett, Associate Business Editor, The Sunday Times
Richard Fletcher, Business Editor, The Times

Guests:
Eleanor Hayward, Health Editor, The Times
Paul Major, portfolio manager at Bellevue Asset management

Producer: Miriam Hall
Senior Producer: Julia Johnson
Executive Producer: Kate Ford
Photo credit: Getty
Get in touch: [email protected]
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.