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Kate Hardcastle MBE, a.k.a. “The Customer Whisperer” is one of the UK’s leading ‘go-to’ business experts. You’ve seen her on TV & radio anticipating changing habits, consumer trends and how business both small, medium and large should adapt. All in all, she’s been at the heart of commercial trends for 25 years. I’ve worked with Kate on Sky News, talkRADIO and on an initiative called Indie Business Live where leading UK performers, lifestyle stars and businesses came together in the summer of 2020 for an online festival of performances and talks to showcase SMEs through the most challenging of times. And we keep hearing that word “pivoting” in the year just passed. How you’ve got to pivot or amend your product or service to navigate new Covid realities. Kate is a pivoter herself, starting life as a singer with Martha Reeves and the Vandelas. Listen 🎧 for some unique data-driven and experiential insights you can take for your business into 2021 with Kate Hardcastle MBE.

This is the second part of a two-part episode focusing on Birmingham's famous old metal manufacturing industries. In part one, Rowan Crozier, CEO of Brandauer explained how his state-of-the-art business, started way back in 1862, has thrived despite these straitened times. And now we hear from the President of the Confederation of British Metalforming, Stephen Morley with his summary of 2020 and his forecast for the industry once Brexit has been signed and sealed between the UK and the European Union. Jonny Gould's SME Walkabout is sponsored by BOOST&Co.

Birmingham’s famous Jewellery Quarter is our destination for this fascinating episode on metal manufacturing.  We take our appliances for granted. We press buttons, switch on the power and expect our laboursaving devices to do the rest. But the industrial processes behind the manufacture of this equipment carries thousands of hidden parts made of metal and plastic, built by different companies across multiple borders. This episode focuses on C. Brandauer & Co Limited, a state-of-the-art metal-stamping components business, which despite its ultramodern systems has been in existence since 1862! It’s a tradition which harks back to the Midlands’ earliest industrial heritage. But what are the challenges facing the company now? How are they navigating the pandemic? Are they making more of something and less of something else since Covid began? And in exporting to 22 countries, what effect does Brexit have on them? LISTEN to a compelling conversation with CEO Rowan Crozier. Jonny Gould’s SME Walkabout is brought to you in association with BOOST&Co.

Here’s part 2 of episode 8 as I review a highly valuable discussion in our previous episode about finding funding during these Covid times with four SME experts, who added optimism to the obvious opportunities which straitened times make. PLUS: next month #jonnywalks to my ancestral home, Birmingham. Heavy metal music out of my city and heavy-metal is a major manufacturing industry in it! we take a look at a fascinating industry which is both high-tech and Victorian in span. Honestly, it’s so interesting! Jonny Gould’s SME Walkabout is proudly sponsored by BOOST&Co.

This is a roundtable discussion, moderated by BOOST&Co’s Head of Content and Marketing, Ria Hopkinson with three experts discussing how to secure lending for your growing business during these unprecedented Covid times. Lauren Couch is managing director of Growth Lending, one of a small number of government accredited CBILS lenders to SMEs. Mark Hodgkins is Chairman of EnSilica, who encourages everyone to seek funding with just the same commitment as they would in more certain times. Colin Burns is Director of Shaw & Co, who’s urging SMEs to have a host of alternative plans in place to cope with the uncertainty of lockdowns. Jonny Gould SME Walkabout is brought to you with BOOST&Co.

Do you run a successful business which has had its grand plan compromised by the excesses of the Covid crisis. Do you believe your business could use additional capital to fund a key acquisition, hire new staff or service a vital contract? You’ve got time to get your head round borrowing upto £5m through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme. The CBILS application deadline ends at the end of November. Under the scheme, the government will pay the interest and fees of the loan for the first 12 months. One entrepreneur who’s done this is James Sutcliffe of The Founders Network. It’s a kind of self-help group to assist business owners collaborate and learn from each other as their companies grow. Founded just 18 months ago, the network has followed a similar trajectory to the innovative SMEs that make up its membership: growing rapidly. An experienced marketer, James saw there was a lack of support for business owners and founders. He was working for The Marketing Society, which brings together marketeers from the world’s biggest brands like Disney, Coca-Cola and Starbucks. But he realised it would have even more impact if, rather than focusing on individual career development, it worked to bring together the people who truly care about their businesses and their industries as a whole – the founders of SMEs.   Listen to James’s story. BOOST&Co need a few days in advance of the end of the month deadline to look at your application. So if you want a CBILS loan contact them now. Get in touch via [email protected]

Are you a business considering applying for a CBILS loan? The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme to give it its full name is a government-backed scheme for businesses who’s cashflows are affected by COVID-19. But the deadline is fast approaching to apply. It closes at 11.59pm on 30 September‬ and the application form requires you to collate a lot of information first. The loan could be used for making an acquisition or investing in people, for both your company and the wider UK economy. BOOST&Co’s partner Growth Lending is one of 40 authorised lenders accredited by the British Business Bank providing loans of up to £5m. We hear from Ryan Sorby in Manchester and Joanna Scott in London - both principals of BOOST&Co. BOOST&Co need a few days in advance of the end of the month deadline to look at your application. So if you want a CBILS loan contact them by ‪Friday 25 September‬ to give enough time to be considered. Get in touch via [email protected]

The Cofinitive #21toWatch is an annual showcase of outstanding talent in disruptive sciences and tech industries around Cambridge and the east of England. This is the second episode of two interviewing some of the winners on their businesses, hopes for the future and why Cambridge is emerging as a highly sophisticated ecosystem of innovation. And the conversations pose thought-provoking questions on Cambridge's combination of urban and rural, university and commercial and its proximity to London has provided this hotbed of 2.0 companies. #JonnyWalks, Jonny Gould's SME Walkabout is sponsored by BOOST&Co.

The Cofinitive #21toWatch is an annual showcase of outstanding talent around Cambridge and the east of England in disruptive science and tech industries. Over the next two episodes, I talk to some of the winners about their businesses, the challenges of fast growth and hopes for the future. And the conversations pose some very interesting questions about why Britain lags behind the US in investment despite world-class innovation, why Cambridge has become such a hotbed of tech start-ups and how the to bounce back from the shock of Covid-19. #JonnyWalks, Jonny Gould's SME Walkabout is sponsored by BOOST&Co.

Russell Quirk, co-founder of Properganda PR is a property news specialist and joins me 5 weeks into lockdown. Coronavirus has caused market shutdown. Millions of jobs are being protected by the government's furlough scheme as moving home becomes a near-impossible task. But will the downturn cause long-term structural damage to the market? What will record-low interest rates do? And what about those landlords who've become the actual occupier of the property against the rules of their mortgage? Russell gives us his view.