{"podcast":{"title":"Business Leader","slug":"business-leader-5718807","podcast_index_feed_id":5718807,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/665f2584aa134f0012248c29","website_url":"https://shows.acast.com/665f2584aa134f0012248c29","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/665f2584aa134f0012248c29/1773238209478-64865cc5-209d-41cb-b0c3-06a01ee13ffd.jpeg","author":"Business Leader","episode_count":212,"summary":"Richard Harpin grew his business HomeServe from a single idea to a £4.1bn sale. On the Business Leader Podcast , he speaks to entrepreneurs and business leaders about the moments that shaped their success and failure, unlocking original advice and practical insights for anyone building or leading a business. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/business-leader-5718807"},"episode":{"title":"Can BT beat the odds?","slug":"can-bt-beat-the-odds","published_at":"2026-04-28T04:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/business-leader-5718807/can-bt-beat-the-odds","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/business-leader-5718807","url":"https://shows.acast.com/business-leader-podcast/episodes/leadership-is-a-muscle","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/665f2584aa134f0012248c29/e/69ea83c8aa3f81e2b9a84c2d/media.mp3","summary":"BT's chief executive, Allison Kirkby, talks to Sir Richard Harpin about how her working class upbringing and training at Procter & Gamble set her up for becoming CEO. Kirkby built her reputation as a straight-talking turnaround leader and since taking the top job at BT, over two year’s ago, she’s been cutting costs, reshaping the leadership team, and trying to bring clarity to the business. As its first female CEO in 180 years, she is bringing back BT as a brand and is determined to return the company to growth. Kirkby says more needs to be done to encourage British investment in the UK stock market and reveals what it is like having Sunil Bharti Mittal, the Indian 'telecoms tiger', as the company's biggest shareholder and board member. Business Leader is a membership community for ambitious CEOs and founders of mid-sized UK companies, designed to help them grow with purpose through strategic support, peer-to-peer learning, expert coaching, and high-impact events. Join the Business Leader community here and sign up for our newsletter here . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","meta_description":"BT's chief executive, Allison Kirkby, talks to Sir Richard Harpin about how her working class upbringing and training at Procter & Gamble set her up f…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2819,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/business-leader-5718807/episodes/can-bt-beat-the-odds/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/business-leader-5718807/can-bt-beat-the-odds.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}