Business in Focus

How do you compete and win as a manufacturer in today’s challenging environment? For mattress manufacturer Sleepeezee, doubling down on quality and purpose has been their continued route to growth. Host Quentin Cole is joined by Sleepeezee Managing Director Steve Warren alongside Cara Haffey, PwC UK Industrial Manufacturing Sector Leader, to explore how purpose and brand factors into productivity, net zero and the sustainability agenda as well as recruiting and retaining talent in our latest In Conversation With episode.

How can a broader view of resilience not only protect your organisation but support taking advantage of opportunity? We explore how elevating resilience - to a mindset and culture that cuts across your organisation - goes beyond managing risk and empowers you, your people and supply chain to collaborate for better outcomes for all. Join host Emily Khan and special guests Elaine Bucknor, PwC strategic advisor for cyber, technology and enterprise resilience, and Elisa Moscolin, Sage Executive Vice President for Sustainability as they explore how doing the right thing for your resilience is often also the right thing for business.

Digital and data offer insight into changes around how your customers shop, their needs and expectations. And when harnessed with the right blend of creativity and innovation, there are real opportunities to forge brand loyalty. Host Rowena Daines is joined by Tom Adams, our Experience Consulting and Marketing Transformation leader and Sam Tomlinson who leads our Customer Marketing and Media Insight team to explore how brands can carve out distinctive experiences for their customers.

Flexible working, talent and capability gaps, challenging decisions around pay and reward - how can business leaders unpick these complex issues to move forward in a way that works for their people as well as their bottom line? Host Emily Khan is joined by economist Nabil Taleb and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion consulting director Katy Bennett to examine what the findings of Women in Work Index mean for society and the competitive position of both businesses and the UK as a whole. When an 18 year old woman entering the UK workforce today will not see gender pay parity in her working lifetime, are there unexpected areas that could create a more equal workplace?

Energy security and the societal impact of rising prices amid a cost of living crisis have added to the pressure facing the energy, utilities and resources industry as set out in our recent ten point response plan. How has the impact of recent events - from the geopolitical to the economic - affected the progress of a transition to a greener, Net Zero future? And where do we go from here? PwC’s Head of Industries, Quentin Cole, is joined by Energy UK’s Deputy CEO, Dhara Vyas, and PwC’s Leader of Industry for Energy, Utilities and Resources, Drew Stevenson, to unpick a complex set of issues affecting many in different ways. And together they uncover where the pacesetters and power of purpose are pointing a way forward.

Whether driven by a shift to digital, the ESG agenda or changing regulation, transformation has been a major theme of 2022. And the scale, pace and expectations seem to keep increasing. But delivering that degree of change is a different challenge - especially as resource pinch points, cost pressures and inflation put budgets and scope under scrutiny. This episode, we go behind the scenes of how that change works in practice - and the importance of relationships and trust in making sure everyone feels part of the journey. Host Rowena Daines is joined by Richard Bailes, PwC UK’s national leader of governance, risk and compliance and Mercedes Bermejo Alverez, Global Head of Internal Audit for Ferroglobe to use their recent work around internal audit and SOX reporting as a case study for ‘human-led, tech-powered’ transformation.

Shifting consumer behaviours have been driving a case for change across the financial services industry for years - from the rise of mobile banking to demand for more active control over their investments. Having seen some of these trends accelerated first by the pandemic and now by the rising cost of living crisis, how can this wave of change be harnessed effectively and responsibly? PwC’s Head of Industries, Quentin Cole, is joined by Starling Bank’s Head of Strategy, Adnan Ahmed, and PwC’s Leader of Industry for Financial Services, Isabelle Jenkins to explore how the industry is adapting and finding ways to ensure the speed of change and its opportunities doesn’t leave others behind.

As COP27 kicks off, how can conversations and pledges turn into meaningful action at the pace needed? The challenges are of a scale and complexity that can’t be solved in isolation. Join host Rowena Daines to explore how organisations and investors can work alongside innovative ClimateTech to direct focus and funding towards collaborative momentum on progress. PwC’s ESG leader for Deals, James Pincus will be providing insight into the trends in the market while Grey Parrot’s CEO Mikela Druckman will share the perspective of the innovative new scaleups offering new ways to tackle sustainability.

he relationship between people and technology has not always been an easy one, but when businesses strike the right balance - of human ingenuity combined with the power of technology - they can achieve great things. Our host Will Sturgeon is joined by Steph Kelly, Chief People Officer at IRIS Software Group, and Lola Evans, a technology Director at PwC. Together, they cover the role of culture and embedding a passion for technology within your company, and discuss how organisations can access the skills and diverse perspectives they need.

Following the pandemic we’re more online, more aware of emerging technology and more likely to place as much greater emphasis on a brand’s reputation and purpose as their products or services. So what does this mean for businesses looking to connect with their customers? PwC’s Head of Industries, Quentin Cole, invites WPP’s Chief Client Officer, Lindsay Pattison, and Leader of Industry for Technology, Media and Telecommunications, Mary Shelton Rose, for a closer look at how the trends seen in this sector are creating opportunities and challenges for businesses of all sorts.

Where sports leads, business follows. The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games has not only created a showcase for sporting talent and the cultural vibrancy of its host city, but worked to place diversity, inclusion and accessibility at the heart of everything it does. As proud sponsors of Birmingham 2022, this episode explores how business can not only support these events, but use them as an opportunity to reinforce their social values and purpose for their people and communities. Join host Rowena Morris, PwC Head of Regions and Platforms Carl Sizer and four-time Olympian and Head of Inclusion and Engagement for Birmingham 2022 Donna Fraser OBE for a passionate and inspirational look at delivering on your purpose.

What does today’s external environment and its rapidly evolving risks mean for business resilience? Organisations of all types are now having to grapple with high impact, severe events at a pace that has been amplified by the move to digital. So how can business leaders move to an agile mindset that lets them respond and maintain reputation and trust with investors and the public? Host Emily Khan is joined by Paul Williams, formerly of the Bank of England PRA and special adviser on the topic of resilience, and PwC Crisis and Resilience partner Bobbie Ramsden-Knowles to explore the case for looking at resilience differently.

Supply chains and operations are now a boardroom priority. Brexit, the pandemic and now the war in Ukraine have all challenged existing models. And with digitalisation and the ESG agenda encouraging us all to think again about the competitive models of the future, how do we build successful, resilient and responsible supply chains? Podcast host Rowena Morris unpicks the current challenges and how businesses are responding with the support of PwC partners Fred Akuffo, Supply Chains and Operations, and Cara Haffey, Leader of Industry for Manufacturing and Automotive. Recording - Link is here Transcript - Link is here Website preview - Link is here

We all know we need to get to net zero - and fast - but the challenge has always been putting it into practice. The scale of change required - and the amount of time to make it in - makes for a daunting prospect. Where do you start? (Especially when you’re a huge, complex organisation)? Which is why we’ve invited Jude’s ice cream, a certified B Corp and makers of carbon negative ice cream - to talk through their transformation journey and how purpose and the disruption of the pandemic became the catalyst for change Transcript - here Recording - here

In the face of a rapid shift toward cloud and digital technology, how can businesses overcome the project delivery lag before seeing results? Amid a workforce crunch, the answer could be to look to new partnering arrangements. Joining host Rowena Morris are Darren Hardman, VP and General Manager at Amazon Web Services and David Allen, PwC Market Activation Lead for Execution Managed Services. Together they discuss how keeping pace with transformation should start with looking at the delivery as well as the solution.

The past two years have caused many of us to reassess what we look for in where we live. We explore that impact in our latest Good Growth for Cities index and what this means for the levelling up challenge across the UK. How can local authorities, central government, public and private sectors come together to create cities where everyone can live, work and socialise? Join host Rowena Morris, PwC Partner Karen Finlayson and John Walsh from Belfast City Council to hear about the importance of passion, purpose and partnerships in creating cities for all.

The impact of the pandemic on women has shone a spotlight on many of the issues that have long held back fair and equal opportunities in the workplace. There’s more need than ever to see how this can be addressed, and arguably more opportunity as governments and businesses look to create a greener future. Joining host Emily Khan, to bring life to the results of our latest Women in Work Index, is PwC Economist Tara Shrestha Carney, while PwC Chief People Officer Ian Elliott offers his insight into how this affects the priorities in the boardroom.

The results of our 25th CEO Survey indicate a tipping point for purpose. With their actions and decisions under the microscope, how do CEOs see this as a chance to showcase the role business plays across society? Host Teresa Owusu-Adjei is joined by Alex Baldock, CEO of Currys and Kevin Ellis, PwC Senior Partner and Chairman to discuss the importance of trust and transparency in navigating the way forward.

The start of 2022 has brought with it the full effects of post-Brexit border control for goods moving between the UK and EU. With the window of time to prepare for these changes closed, what must businesses with international supply chains know - and do - when navigating this complex landscape? Host Emily Khan is joined by Matthew Clark, Head of Customs, Excise and International Trade at PwC UK and Jos Verstraten, Head of Customs and International Trade at PwC Netherlands for an essential rundown for businesses to avoid disruption to their supply chains.

The potential of technology to transform organisations has kept it at the heart of strategy considerations. But, as we explore in this podcast episode, lasting success will be driven by people. Host Rowena Morris is joined by Mark Moffat, CTO for PwC’s consulting practice, and Semsi Sonmez, Digital Audit Partner and Technology Talent Leader, to explore how diversity helps make the right technology choices and the steps to find, attract and retain the right talent to put businesses ahead.