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How IKEA built its brand Oct 08, 2024

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The minimalist, flat-packed furniture company has revolutionised living spaces globally.

Originating from a small Swedish farm in the 1940s, it quickly grew and gained household recognition in the 1970s and 1980s.

Today, Ikea stands as the world's largest furniture retailer.

We speak to CEO Jesper Brodin to explore Ikea's brand evolution and its ability to adapt to consumer trends over the span of eight decades.

And how realistic are its sustainability targets?

Presenter: Sam Fenwick Producer Amber Mehmood

(Image: Jesper Brodin. Credit: Getty Images/ Archive Credit: British Pathé, Homes Limited 1945)

Ferry frustration Oct 07, 2024

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Islands around the world rely on ships as their lifeline service - for everything from their domestic supplies, to making hospital visits, as well as supporting vital industries like tourism. When the services go down, for weather or technical reasons, these remote communities are cut off from the mainland, with no back-up option.

We hear from opposite sides of the world - Scotland and New Zealand - where unreliable car ferries disrupt the daily lives of residents and visitors.

And we hear from a company running one island ferry service that's working to improve its reliability.

(Picture: Caledonian MacBrayne ferry coming into Brodick harbour, Scotland.)

Presented and produced by Neil Morrow

The cities selling homes for one dollar Oct 06, 2024

Show notes

Is selling off abandoned homes for a dollar or a pound the answer to invigorating a city?

We meet some of the people in the port cities of Baltimore in the US and Liverpool in the UK who have taken part in similar housing revival schemes. Is it an easy win, or is solving a city's problems more complicated?

(Picture: Maxine Sharples, who bought a house in Liverpool for a £1, holding a photo showing her undertaking renovation work in her home.)

Presented and produced by Rowan Bridge

Shipwrecks: Business Daily meets a treasure hunter Oct 03, 2024

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Carl Allen is a multi-millionaire former businessman who ran a trash bag company in the US.

He's now the owner of an island in the Bahamas, a philanthropist and deep-sea treasure hunter, scouring the seabed for sunken Spanish galleons, slave ships and long-lost treasure. He tells us about his relentless search for one Spanish galleon that’s fired his imagination for the past 40 years. We discuss the ethics of treasure hunting and his belief that the best way to bring up relics from the bottom of the ocean is through PPPs - public-private partnerships. Produced and presented by Gideon Long

(Image: Carl Allen on a boat with some treasure. Image credit: Brendan Chavez at Allen Exploration)

Shipwrecks: Who owns the sunken treasure? Oct 02, 2024

Show notes

There are more than three million vessels on the world's sea beds, and plenty of explorers looking for them.

But if they find something valuable, do they get to keep it? We talk to an arbitration lawyer about the laws governing the sea, and hear from maritime archaeologists about the perils of rummaging around on the ocean floor, disturbing long-sunken wrecks that offer a priceless glimpse into history. Some say we should leave these ships be, especially when they’re graveyards. Others say we should bring them to the surface, put them in museums to educate people, make money from them and perhaps even sell off some of their treasure.

Produced and presented by Gideon Long

(Image: A diver looks at a shipwreck. Credit: Getty Images)

Shipwrecks: The search for the San José Oct 01, 2024

Show notes

In the first of our three part series looking at the money behind shipwrecks, we start with what's been called "the most valuable shipwreck in the world".

The San José is a Spanish galleon sunk by the British off the Colombian coast more than 300 years ago.

The treasure onboard is estimated to be worth $18bn, which means plenty of people are looking for it, and trying to lay claim to it.

A salvage company, the Colombians, the Spanish and a Bolivian indigenous community all say the shipwreck and treasure is theirs.

We hear their claims and find out more about this "holy grail of shipwrecks".

Presented and produced by Gideon Long.

(Image: Wagner's action of Cartagena (depicting the moment the San Jose exploded) by Samuel Scott. Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London)

Rebuilding Canada's tourism industry Sep 30, 2024

Show notes

It’s the second largest landmass in the world, famous for its lakes and spectacular forests, yet Canada’s travel industry has faced challenges since the Covid pandemic hit in 2020.

International visitor numbers still haven't recovered, and extreme weather events like wildfires have destroyed some of its best-known resorts. Plus difficult diplomatic relations have meant a reduction in tourists from a key market - China.

But Canada’s government says it has a plan for the sector which is worth $38bn CAD to Canada’s GDP.

We’ll hear about it from the country’s tourism minister and from business owners and tourists too.

Presenter/producer: Megan Lawton

(Photo: Jack Rivers is an indigenous cultural guide on Manitoulin Island, he runs tours around the Wiikwemkoong Reserve)

Is business ready for 6G? Sep 29, 2024

Show notes

As the world gradually adopts 5G, there’s already talk of the next generation.

It’ll be around 2030 before 6G arrives, but network operators in Japan and South Korea are gearing up.

Meanwhile, some predict that 6G will render smartphones obsolete within a decade.

Devices like sensors, displays, drones and electronics in vehicles will spontaneously create their own networks, sending and receiving at super-fast data rates and low latency.

So, why the early excitement over 6G? How should businesses be preparing and what difference will it make to our lives?

Presenter: Gareth Mitchell Reporter: Michael Kaloki Producer: Izzy Greenfield

(Image: A person holds a mobile phone next to a cell tower. Credit: Getty Images)

Why we can't stop using corporate jargon Sep 27, 2024

Show notes

Ever been stuck in a meeting drowning in buzzwords? Terms like "synergies", "low-hanging fruit" or "deliverables"?

They're just a few examples of corporate jargon. A lexicon of colourful metaphors, buzzwords and acronyms that you’d never use with friends or family but have become common parlance in the world of international business.

Workplace lingo might serve as a useful industry short-hand, or a way to gel with colleagues, but it can also irritate, obscure meaning or even hide unpleasant truths. And it's more prevalent than ever.

In this episode, we team up with our colleagues at BBC Learning English to explore the origins and purpose of corporate language and why we love to hate it; hearing from workplace culture and linguistics experts, professionals in the City of London, a plain-talking CEO, and some of you - the BBC World Service audience.

(Picture: Business people looking at sticky notes on a glass board as part of an upskill workshop. Credit: Getty Images.)

Presenters: Ed Butler and Pippa Smith Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Want to learn more about this topic? Click on Related links or go to: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/business-jargon/240925

Has capitalism lost its way? Sep 26, 2024

Show notes

Former fund manager Ruchir Sharma spent most of his career as a money manager on Wall Street. Lately though, he’s become a fierce critic of modern capitalism – arguing that the economic system is less fair and less efficient than it has ever been.

What’s the fix?

Produced and presented by Vivienne Nunis

(Image: Ruchir Sharma)

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