Business Without Bullsh-t

Meet Phil Bernie, Co-Founder of KeyPay, a cloud based payroll solution like no other!

Phil is also a self-proclaimed closet computer scientist, a purveyor of the ever-questioning status-quo as well as being a former professional rugby player.

Doesn't sound like your average chat about payroll, right ? Well it wasn't .. far from it in fact.

Press play and hold on to your trousers.

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This week's BWB Extra continues our conversation with David Ricciardi, President & CEO of Proximo, an information services company specialising in Big Data which David founded in 1997. With over 30 years of experience in building, managing and utilising big databases for companies like Mercedes-Benz, L’Oréal and Time Warner, and now with a new UK based subsidiary open for business, David and Proximo are bonafide industry heavyweights.

Hear more about what makes David tick, how got to where he is today and his vision for Proximo's future company culture and business.

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Meet David Ricciardi, President & CEO of Proximo, an information services company which he founded in 1997 specialising in Big Data.

David’s experience spans more than 30 years and has led him to build, manage, and utilize large databases in industries as varied as financial, automotive and health care. David spends much of his time now as an advisor to clients, helping them plan and execute on data strategies to make better business decisions.

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This week's BWB Extra continues our chat with Alan Donegan, co-founder of the award-winning Rebel Business School, Finance School and podcast with the aim of helping people start their own businesses, take control of their finances and avoid debt. And they provide it all for free! because Rebel raises its capital through sponsorship which means they can give away the best education to those who need it the most .. and have being doing so in over 7 different countries to over 20k people to date.

Sounds too good to be true, right? on the contrary. Alan and Rebel are the real deal. Have a listen to find out more about the man behind the mission.

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Meet Alan Donegan, co-founder of the award-winning Rebel Business School, Rebel Finance School and the Rebel Entrepreneur podcast. He became financial independent at 40 years old and now uses his time to help people from all walks of life to start their own businesses, take control of their finances and avoid debt.

Rebel's mission was borne out of Alan’s own personal experiences where he was forced to fight the courts to prevent loosing his family home. Today, Rebel has educated over 20,000 people in seven different countries and no one has ever paid for their support. Rebel raises sponsorship so they can give away the best education for free to the people that need it the most.

In 2021, Rebel won a Queen’s Award for promoting opportunity. Its work has also been backed by organisations including Google, Henley Business School, Westminster City Council and the Department for Work and Pensions.

Kick back, press play and listen to how Alan went from being fired (twice) to becoming financially independent and award-winning.

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This week's BWB Extra continues our chat with Scott Hallsworth, ex-Nobu London Head Chef who launched his very own Freak Scene as a pop-up in July 2017.

Pre-Covid, Freak Scene went on to become the ever-popular restaurant in the heart of Soho, London and is opening in a new location very soon.

We get to know more about what makes Scott tick, his perspective on the realities of business in food and hospitality and how he went from washing dishes in Bunbury, Australia to walking through the doors of Nobu as Head Chef (with quite a few tales along the way!)

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Meet Scott Hallsworth. As head chef at the acclaimed Nobu for six years, Australian-born Scott has mastered the art of Japanese cuisine. His modern style combined with the explosive smoky, umami flavours found in his dishes make him one of London's most popular chefs.

Nobu was where Scott learnt how to cook Japanese food at the highest level and spent six years at the helm of the Michelin-starred restaurant, even helping open a new branch in Melbourne. However, he grew tired of creating recipes for the menus without making a name for himself and decided to leave to set up his own ventures, including setting up the hugely successful Kurobuta restaurants.

Fast forward to 2017, Scott sold Kurobuta and opened up Freak Scene, a three-month pan-Asian pop-up in Farringdon which proved to be another huge hit. Pre-Covid, Freak Scene went on to become the ever-popular restaurant in the heart of Soho, London and is now opening its door at a new location in the coming months.

Strap in, press play and enjoy listening to Scott's fascinating story.

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BWB Extra continues our very special conversation with Martin Wolf CBE, Chief Economics Commentator at the Financial Times where we dig deeper and discuss Modern Monetary Theory, the effects of the energy crisis on the economy and what SMEs should be doing to prepare, and pose questions like:

What are the UK's alternatives to the EU?

Can Britain become a global superpower again?

What does the future of UK politics look like?

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Kicking off 2023 with a very special chat with Martin Wolf CBE, Associate Editor and Chief Economics Commentator at the Financial Times.

Martin has received honorary doctorates from six universities, including the London School of Economics and was awarded the CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in 2000 for services to financial journalism. Martin's also won a raft of awards including the 2019 Gerald Loeb Lifetime Achievement Award and was also a member of the UK’s Independent Commission on Banking in 2010-11.

Our 2-part chat with Martin covers a range of topics including discussions about the UK's economic strength and global position - past, present and future, and pose questions like:

Which direction should the UK go in to re-build its industries and innovate?

Will the UK government come up with a realistic, practical and feasible plan to do so?

Should the UK become decentralised and split up into smaller states?

Buckle up and press play.

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Meet Phil Ives, Business Development Partner at BEAN Partners, a corporate finance and business intelligence advisory firm that provides the middle market with a differentiated service offering intelligence-led strategy to support growth, fund raising, and both 'buy and sell' side M&A.

For the past decade, Phil has travelled the globe as an award-winning speaker, including for Vistage (the world’s largest peer-to-peer learning platform for owners) and has been a strategic advisor to CEOs of high growth private companies looking to scale, fund and sell. He's also scaled two of his own businesses with major sales teams globally, as part of a leading data analytics company, GlobalData plc. 

Having referred clients to BEAN Partners throughout, Phil eventually joined forces with them on the basis that they truly understand business ‘in 3D’. Together, BEAN Partners bring an agile, values-driven focus on delivering the right outcomes — rather than just getting deals done — through solutions that blend intelligence, human insight and experience with unique creativity.

Sit back, press play and get to know Phil Ives through the BWB lens.

BWB is powered by Oury Clark.

Meet Phil Ives, Business Development Partner at BEAN Partners, a corporate finance and business intelligence advisory firm that provides the middle market with a differentiated service offering intelligence-led strategy to support growth, fund raising, and both 'buy and sell' side M&A.

For the past decade, Phil has travelled the globe as an award-winning speaker, including for Vistage (the world’s largest peer-to-peer learning platform for owners) and has been a strategic advisor to CEOs of high growth private companies looking to scale, fund and sell. He's also scaled two of his own businesses with major sales teams globally, as part of a leading data analytics company, GlobalData plc. 

Having referred clients to BEAN Partners throughout, Phil eventually joined forces with them on the basis that they truly understand business ‘in 3D’. Together, BEAN Partners bring an agile, values-driven focus on delivering the right outcomes — rather than just getting deals done — through solutions that blend intelligence, human insight and experience with unique creativity.

Sit back, press play and get to know Phil Ives through the BWB lens.

BWB is powered by Oury Clark.