Business Without BS

EP — Adam Pope on why Manchester outperforms cities twice its size.
Manchester’s business culture is built on graft, confidence and doing things without waiting for permission. Adam Pope explains why the city’s attitude consistently turns small firms into serious operators and why founders underestimate the Northern Powerhouse region at their cost.
The conversation covers how Greater Manchester’s geography, talent pool, transport links and industrial heritage shape commercial behaviour, plus the practical realities of scaling outside London. We also look at hiring, governance, legal blind spots and how AI is already changing professional services.
What You'll Learn in This Episode:
• Spot the cultural traits that drive Manchester’s commercial confidence
• Judge when to base operations inside or outside the city centre
• Avoid common legal and governance gaps that derail SMEs
• Use AI without weakening decision‑making or risk controls
• Build trust in a region where people value straight dealing
This episode is for UK founders deciding where to build, scale or expand — especially if you’re considering life outside the M25.
*For Apple Podcast chapters, access them from the menu in the bottom right corner of your player*
Spotify Video Chapters:
0:00 Manchester isn’t trying to be London
01:34 Industrial heritage and tech investment
04:02 Greater Manchester’s expansion
06:23 Culture, friendliness and swagger
10:11 Wealth, influence and the city’s vibe
15:21 Starting and hiring in Manchester
18:10 Northern Powerhouse and regional funding
22:47 HS2, infrastructure and wasted budgets
24:58 What high‑speed rail would really change
32:18 Scaling across the North
33:24 Trust, class and regional attitudes
39:04 Legal sector differences
48:35 AI, law and Adam’s Clause platform
57:13 Automation, headcount and future roles
1:03:43 Where SMEs go wrong legally
1:13:33 Business or Bullshit
Watch and subscribe to us on YouTube
Follow us:
Instagram
TikTok
LinkedIn
Twitter
Facebook
If you'd like to be on the show, get in contact - [email protected]

EP — Lucy Parker explains why sustainability only works when leaders stop hiding in the castle and start engaging with the real world.
Lucy Parker argues that the real challenge in sustainability is leadership behaviour: large companies still operate as if they can stay behind the walls, even though stakeholders now expect open engagement and socially relevant decisions.
The conversation covers ESG’s collapse, system‑level change, supply‑chain realities, political headwinds, and how SMEs can act when resources are tight. The focus is practical: decision points leaders face, how to prioritise material issues, and why recalibration is normal rather than failure.
What You'll Learn in This Episode:
• Decide which sustainability issues actually fall within your remit
• Shift from corporate‑centric thinking to socially relevant leadership
• Work with competitors without breaching competition rules
• Recalibrate sustainability targets without losing direction
• Spot where system‑level change is possible in your sector
This episode is for UK business owners who want clarity on sustainability without noise or posturing.
*For Apple Podcast chapters, access them from the menu in the bottom right corner of your player*
Spotify Video Chapters:
0:00 Sustainability without BS begins
01:00 Tom’s intro and why leadership matters
02:20 Lucy’s role and the social value of business
04:40 What leaders still haven’t caught up with
07:00 Corporate‑centric vs socially relevant
09:40 Who owns responsibility for global problems?
12:20 Is ESG dead?
16:00 Data, measurement and unbundling ESG
20:20 The ESG backlash and political noise
25:40 Net zero, realism and recalibration
32:10 Supply chains, plastic and system constraints
38:40 Consumers, behaviour and plastic reality
44:00 Regulation, CSRD and where responsibility sits
50:40 System change and pre‑competitive collaboration
57:00 Leadership, conviction and next‑gen expectations
1:10:00 What SMEs can actually do this week
Watch and subscribe to us on YouTube
Follow us:
Instagram
TikTok
LinkedIn
Twitter
Facebook
If you'd like to be on the show, get in contact - [email protected]

Mark argues most SMEs fail at marketing because they misunderstand the customer, the market and the value they actually provide.
About this episode
Mark Palmer dismantles the modern marketing fog: founders often make stronger marketers than the marketers they hire, most values pages are fiction, and copying competitors is a reliable way to shrink margins.
He argues marketing’s core job has not changed: understand the customer, understand the market, then build something worth buying.
The conversation covers value propositions, brand positioning, why digital natives miss the bigger picture, how to hire a marketer, where partnerships create real leverage, and why some brands mutate beyond recognition. Practical, direct and grounded in real examples.
About the guest
Mark Palmer is a brand consultant and best-selling author of The Work Smarter Guide to Marketing. He runs Maverick Planet, advising global brands and high-growth UK businesses on positioning and growth. He has shaped brands for Google, Vodafone, Lego, English Cricket and more.
Key moments
00:00 - Why Facebook profits from scam adverts
00:54 - How marketing became fragmented and misunderstood
03:55 - How to tell if someone actually understands marketing
05:10 - Why founders often outperform hired marketers
07:56 - The Unilever brand key and nine-question process
09:59 - How Grey Goose changed the vodka market
14:45 - Guinness Zero and the rise of low-alcohol positioning
16:58 - Why company values drift and lose meaning
19:01 - How large platforms get away with poor service
22:57 - What startups must prove to investors
27:26 - Why most marketers confuse tactics for strategy
34:41 - The power and risk of brand partnerships
44:53 - Five practical rules every founder should follow

Mentioned in this episode
Airbnb - Example of redefining a market rather than competing narrowly
Aperol Spritz - Used to explain category expansion and cultural trends
Apple - Case study in consistent positioning and product-led brand building
BBC - Referenced in discussion on value drift and public trust
Ben Grubbs - Ex-YouTube leader investing in creator-driven brands
BMW - Example of brand stretch, mutation and positioning discipline
Boeing - Used to illustrate gaps between stated values and behaviour
Burberry - Case study on repositioning and over-extension
Channel 4 Paralympics - Example of exceptional brand-building
Diageo - Later purchaser of Grey Goose
Good Good Golf - Creator-led brand built from YouTube
Grey Goose - Demonstrates market reframing and super-premium creation
Guinness / Guinness Zero - Example of using consumer trends to reposition
Hermes / Evri - Renaming after reputation issues
Lego - Example of brand stretch from toys to entertainment
London Business School - Where Mark teaches founders
Mac vs PC campaign - Classic Apple positioning example
Meta / Facebook / Instagram - Discussion on fraud, values and regulation
NatWest - Used to highlight poor customer experience
OpenAI - Values drift example
Pimm’s - Seasonal brand trapped by narrow positioning
QuickBooks - Clear value proposition case
Serious Fraud Office - Referenced in discussion on corruption patterns
Smirnoff / Absolut - Vodka category comparisons
Thames Water - Monopoly behaviour and brand issues
Ticketmaster - Friction and reputation example
Virgin Media - Values vs behaviour mismatch

Find the guest
LinkedIn:
Website:
Follow Business Without BS
Website: https://withoutbs.com
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@bwblondon
Instagram: https://instagram.com/bwblondon
X / Twitter: https://x.com/bwb_london
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/business-without-bs
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/business-without-bs/id1528844106
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6J1YMncmYCLODOKi8A0CFU
🎧 Business Without BS - straight talk from people who've actually built things.

Oury Clark partners lay out how new UK property rules reshape renting, leaseholds and development in 2026 and beyond.

### About this episode
Three major UK property reforms land at once — renters’ rights, leasehold reform and commonhold — and Jemma and Michael from Oury Clark explain why these shifts change timelines, cashflow and asset planning for founders far more than headlines suggest. The tension: clearer protections for tenants and leaseholders versus increased friction and uncertainty for landlords and developers.

They walk through how notice periods, court delays, marriage value abolition, 990‑year extensions, business rates and proposed rent review bans really operate in practice. Founders get a practical read on what to plan, what to expect and what to avoid.

### About the guest
Jemma Hotter and Michael La Fuente are partners at Oury Clark, advising UK and international businesses on property, commercial and regulatory matters. They specialise in translating complex UK real estate rules into practical decisions for founders, investors and operators.

### Key moments
- [00:00] — Why three reforms hit the UK property system at once.
- [02:53] — How renters’ reform redistributes power between landlords and tenants.
- [07:00] — Why four‑month notices and court delays reshape landlord cashflow.
- [09:57] — New restrictions on discrimination, deposits and bidding wars.
- [14:50] — Why yearly rent reviews may trigger annual increases, not stability.
- [18:04] — Leasehold explained: value, mortgages and the 80‑year cliff.
- [27:00] — How 990‑year extensions and scrapping marriage value change pricing.
- [36:05] — Ground rent caps and who loses out when premiums disappear.
- [43:01] — Commonhold: how it works, why it never took off and what changes next.
- [52:00] — Business rates overhaul and what multipliers actually mean.
- [59:02] — Commercial rent reviews and the push to end upwards‑only clauses.
- [01:05:43] — Winners, losers and the unintended effects across the market.

### Mentioned in this episode
- **Doomsday Book** — Historical reference when discussing 999‑year terms.
- **Metro / Evening Standard** — Examples of media reporting on rental pressures.
- **Valuation Office Agency** — Body calculating rateable values.

### Find the guest
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/oury-clark

### Follow Business Without BS
Website: https://withoutbs.com

YouTube: https://youtube.com/@bwblondon

Instagram: https://instagram.com/bwblondon

X / Twitter: https://x.com/bwb_london

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/business-without-bs

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/business-without-bs/id1528844106

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6J1YMncmYCLODOKi8A0CFU

🎧 Business Without BS — straight talk from people who've actually built things.

Dave Birss says you won't be replaced by AI - you'll be replaced by a leader who's been told the wrong story about it.
About this episode
Dave Birss is back on Business Without BS - author of the Sensible AI Manifesto, co-founder of the Gen AI Academy, and a man who's taught a million-and-a-half people how to use AI without setting their business on fire. He walks Andy and Andrew through what he calls a "corporate poopocalypse" — what happens when you apply AI to a business that hasn't cleaned up its own mess.
The episode covers the Sensible AI Manifesto's six points, the CREATE prompting framework, the three Cs for checking AI output, the adequacy trap, why judgment is the most undervalued skill of the next decade, and the practical playbook for rolling out AI across a team without sending the whole organisation into a panic.
About the guest
Dave Birss co-founded the Gen AI Academy with Helena, where they run AI training across governments, the UN, and Fortune 500 companies. He wrote the Sensible AI Manifesto and GPT Junior, the kids' AI book and video course now in over 100 schools. Before all that he spent his career in advertising and creativity, which is where most of his frameworks come from.
Key moments
[02:46] The Roomba poopocalypse - why AI applied to a dysfunctional business spreads the mess, not the productivity.
[05:46] Corporate barnacles - the institutional plaque costing every business 40% in fuel and speed.
[08:04] Sensible AI Manifesto Point 1: use AI to augment skills, not to outsource tasks.
[09:15] The two-list exercise: tasks that piss you off vs tasks you wish you could do more of. Only the second list is the real opportunity.
[12:11] AI slap - 96% of leaders think AI raises productivity, 77% of staff feel buried by unrealistic expectations.
[13:48] The adequacy trap - why AI users get stuck at "good enough" and never break through.
[22:51] The other five Manifesto points: use data responsibly, support employees, assign AI leaders, keep learning, always add a human layer.
[26:40] The CREATE prompting framework — Character, Request, Examples, Adjustments, Type, Extras.
[37:59] The three Cs for checking AI output: Confirm, Check, Craft. Why most people skip the third one.
[55:14] How business owners keep their thinking sharp: do the work on paper before you open the laptop.
[1:01:03] What humans still beat AI at - conceptualisation, creative voice, and judgment. The judgment one matters most.
[1:14:17] The line that pisses Dave off: "you won't be replaced by AI, you'll be replaced by someone using AI." His correction is sharper.
[1:18:09] The three-stage AI value pyramid — cost cutting → skill amplification → unlocking what wasn't possible before. 80% of companies are stuck on stage one.
[1:24:18] How to roll out AI across a team in an afternoon: align with business strategy, declare an AI amnesty, pave the desire lines.

Mentioned in this episode
Sensible AI Manifesto — Dave's six-point framework for applying AI without breaking your business. Currently being turned into a book.
Gen AI Academy - the training company Dave co-founded with Helena, working with governments, the UN and Fortune 500s.
GPT Junior - Dave's book and video course teaching kids how to use AI properly, currently in over 100 schools.
Perplexity - Dave's preferred AI tool for fact-checking because it gives you the sources.
Cal Newport - referenced for the long-form-reading argument and the case that children reading for pleasure is the strongest predictor of life outcomes.
Range (David Epstein) - the case for generalists over hyper-specialists; Dave says the book describes him.
Yann LeCun - recently left Meta over the limits of next-token prediction; arguing AI needs world models, not just language.
Roomba poopocalypse - the family-and-the-dog metaphor that opens the episode and frames the whole thing.
Marc Andreessen / lump of labour fallacy — the framing for why we systematically underestimate the new jobs that emerge from disruption.
RAF desire lines - the Nissan-hut path-paving story; Dave's metaphor for letting staff show you how AI is already being used.
Combinedly - the AI tool Andrew's firm is testing for client-sentiment analysis and email drafting.

Find the guest
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davebirss/
Gen AI Academy: https://thegenaiacademy.com/
Follow Business Without BS
Website: https://withoutbs.com
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@bwblondon
Instagram: https://instagram.com/bwblondon
X / Twitter: https://x.com/bwb_london
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/business-without-bs
🎧 Business Without BS — straight talk from people who've actually built things.