Wake Up To Money
The latest from the world of business and money, covering financial news, market updates, and economic insights. Produced by BBC Radio 5 Live, it provides a comprehensive overview of the day's business stories.
Episodes
Do Not Disturb
With older teenagers set to join their younger counterparts in seeing restrictions put on their social media use, we speak to an expert about what the government hopes to achieve with the tech curfew for 16 and 17-year-olds.
And we get into the detail of the UK-India free trade agreement to find who the winners and losers of the historic deal.
Also, the World Cup bonus. What does England getting t
Strait talking?
Trump says the US will take control of the Strait of Hormuz - we look at how that works. As firefighters continue to tackle wildfires across England and Wales we hear from one landlord doing his bit to help - along with the evacuee he's taken in. And ahead of England playing in the World Cup semi-final Sean Farrington revisits the business of big screens.
13/07/2026
News and insight from the business world. Download the podcast via the BBC Sounds app.
Arthur's Fery-tale ending?
Felicity Hannah explores the earning power of tennis as British wildcard Arthur Fery reaches the semi-finals of Wimbledon.We'll also find out why the number of new-build housing developments coming to market is at its lowest level since 2017.Elsewhere, we'll be joined by the Friday panel to review another hectic week in the worlds of news and economics.
Poor Customer Service?
Following the £28-million-pound fine given by Ofcom to Virgin Media for poor customer service, we ask Wake Up to Money listeners to share their experiences with bad customer service.As Donald Trump says that the US will "hit them harder" in more tit-for-tat with Iran, Sean Farrington speaks to an expert monitoring events in the region.And to mark the 25th anniversary of the first airing of the wor
Cryp-no?
Investors on one of Europe's biggest retail platforms are turning away from crypto. Sean Farrington has the latest.Elsewhere, the gambling industry pushes back on a new mandatory financial risk assessment. And we find out what goes into making the fabric half of Andy Burnham's 'pair of eyelashes and a black t-shirt' look.
Sky's The Limit?
Following the news that Sky will buy ITV in a £1.6-billion-pound deal, Sean Farrington speaks to John Ryley, who was the head of Sky News for nearly 20 years.Ahead of a summit of NATO members, what could this mean for the health of start-ups in the UK defence sector?Plus, we speak to the Norwegian dairy firm that's shipping hundreds of kilos of cheese to their national football team in the US.
World Cup, Weapons & Wegovy
After England's World Cup game against Mexico, Will Bain speaks to one publican who's just closed up at 5am after screening the match.Separately, an interview with the prime minister of Luxembourg, who tells Wake Up to Money that a new Defence, Security and Resilience Bank should be established for NATO countries.Plus, Novo Nordisk's new once-daily weight-loss pill becomes available in the UK toda
The Week in Review
In a week that saw Andy Burnham make his first speech pitching for Labour leader and the current prime minister revealing the government's Defence Investment Plan, Will Bain talks to our panel of experts on what that might mean for the economy.On Friday the former boss of John Lewis, Sir Charlie Mayfield, gives an update on his 'Keep Britain Working' review; one construction boss involved explains
A Roaring Trade
Sean Farrington hears how pubs benefitted from England's win last night. Plus, PlayStation announces no new games will be sold with a physical disc from 2028.
Steeling themselves
Sean Farrington hears what new rules on steel tariffs mean for manufacturers in the UK. Plus, why is the Culture Secretary "minded to intervene" on Paramount's $110 billion deal to take over Warner Bros?
Time for a DIP
Sean Farrington hears what businesses think of the long-delayed Defence Investment Plan. Plus, as England get ready to take on DR Congo in their last-32 World Cup game on Wednesday, how much are fans having to spend to follow the Three Lions through the knockout stages?
The Burnham Plan
Will Bain asks businesses what they want to hear in Andy Burnham's speech on the economy. Plus, as Wimbledon gets underway, why are some players not happy about this year's prize money?
AI bites Apple
Felicity Hannah finds out why Apple is putting up prices on some of its products, and how data centres - is putting pressure on the same components used in everyday devices.With record-breaking heatwaves leaving the nation sweltering this week, we speak with a family run central heating and plumbing business in Warwickshire on how this heatwave has impacted their business.And our Friday panel look
Back humans, tax robots.
The boss of one of Britain's largest and longest-established recruitment firms tells Sean Farrington that a radical overhaul of the tax system is needed to deal with the impact of AI on jobs.Elsewhere, he'll speak to the construction industry about the difficulties of working in a heatwave.Coffee shops can't sell iced coffee quick enough as Brits try to keep cool in the heat, we'll hear from an in
Feeling the Heat
Sean Farrington has the latest as the UK braces for a heatwave. Elsewhere, the International Maritime Organisation announces an evacuation plan for 11,000 seafarers still stranded in the Gulf and Number 11 Downing Street looks set for a new occupant.
Where do we go from Keir?
After another Prime Ministerial resignation, Sean Farrington hears how businesses are feeling. Elsewhere, Sean hears how the markets might react to a new leader and what the change could mean for the government's economic policy.
Brexit: Ten Years Later
Ten years since the Brexit referendum, Leanna Byrne hears how businesses have fared. Elsewhere, businesses react to political turmoil at the top of government.
Made in Makerfield
Will Bain gets business reaction to the Makerfield by-election with his expert panel of guests. They'll also round up the week's business and economic news, including the interest rates decisions of the US Fed and the Bank of England. And he'll check in with the Tartan Army pipe band based in the US state of Rhode Island.
Art of the deal
We discuss what the US-Iran deal could mean for global trade with our experts. Elsewhere the boss of the company behind Cadbury tells us why we don't always choose the healthier option. And we hear from a British pub in Dallas after England's World Cup win.
They see me scrollin', they hatin'
Will Bain looks at Sir Keir Starmer's plan to ban under-16s from social media - and what it means for children, parents and Big Tech.Oil prices have been falling at the prospect of a truce and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, but when will these price changes be felt at the pump? We catch up with one forecourt manager.And Scotland's fans have charmed the city of Boston in the US - but nearby
Sir Alec Reed
On Wake Up To Money, we talk a lot about jobs, wages and the labour market. And we often hear from the bosses of some of our biggest recruitment firms.One of those is the Reed Group.Sir Alec Reed started the company 65 years ago and made it into one of the UK's biggest private businesses. He was knighted for his services to business and charity in 2011.He'd long stepped down as Chief Executive of
Business of Sport with Sean Farrington
Sean Farrington has a look at the money behind sport - this week: mass-participation events.It's big business - from the thousands of competitors that sign up to take part, to managing the event itself, to the fundraising.Sean hears from Paul Foster, the Chief Executive of The Great Run Company - the company behind the Great North Run and many other events across the country. He'll also speak to N
Business of Sport with Sean Farrington
Sean Farrington speaks to Andrew Georgiou, President & Managing Director of Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe and Paul Barber, Chief Executive of Premier League club Brighton and Hove Albion FC
Business of Sport with Sean Farrington
Sean Farrington speaks to owner of Worcester City Women FC Nicole Allison and former Head of Women’s Football at The Football Association of Wales Lowri Roberts
Business of Sport with Sean Farrington
Sean speaks to chief executive of British cycling brand Rapha, Fran Millar, and former World Cycling Road Race Champion and four-time British Road Race Champion Lizzie Deignan.
Business of Sport with Sean Farrington
Sean takes a look at the rise of the use in technology in sport. From automated line-calling, VAR & AI data analytics - we ask how tech is shaping the future of sport.
Business of Sport with Sean Farrington
Sean spoke to Padel boss Sam Kemp from R3 Sports, Women's football consultant Andrea Ekblad and sportswear company MandM Chairman Mike Tomkins
Review of the Business Year
Will Bain presents a review of the business year with some of our best interviews from 2024, featuring the biggest stories in money and business this year.
Shein Slammed
Sean Farrington sits down with Superdry boss Julian Dunkerton, who doesn't hold back on Shein. Plus The Friedkin Group has agreed a deal to buy Premier League club Everton.
Trials and Tribunals
What do a football club, a media mogul and a social media giant all have in common?Fresh from another victory, Manchester City faces the start of hearings into its 115 alleged financial fair play charges today - Sean Farrington finds out what's in play.An American court will hear arguments on whether the US government can ban the Chinese social media giant TikTok from the country.And the children
Does rail funding need a revamp?
Felicity Hannah finds out if the private sector should fund a new rail link. And, after the success of the first spacewalk, is the sky the limit when it comes to space tourism?
Trump v Harris
it’s just 8 weeks till the American Election and Trump and Harris go head to head in their first live TV debate. Plus the skills Olympics finally gets underway in Lyon, France.
Apple: Intelligent Thinking?
Sean Farrington takes a look how Apple's latest gadgets will feature all things AI. Plus we find out why ASOS has been getting a lot of backlash online.
Building after Grenfell
Will Bain looks at what has to change in construction following the Grenfell Inquiry.Elsewhere, the Chief Executive of Mountain Warehouse speaks about the company's latest acquisition and broader plans for US expansion, and live music's contribution to the UK economy topped £6bn for the first time last year.
The best of Wake Up To Money 2023
Will Bain looks back at some of the highlights from Wake Up To Money in 2023. There's the story of the takeover of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft including an interview with the Microsoft President Brad Smith which made headlines around the world. Former England and Manchester United footballer Gary Neville explained why he's investing in property and the UK boss of Google Debbie Weinstein told
Wake Up To Money Special - Gary Neville
He's most famous for his football career and more recently, his punditry, but Gary Neville is also hugely successful in the worlds of business and property developing.In this interview, he tells Sean Farrington about his plans for a new £400 million project in the centre of Manchester.They discuss how rising interest rates are affecting the building trade, why Gary feels the hospitality industry i
Wake Up To Money - Elon Musk
The BBC's North America Technology Correspondent James Clayton talks exclusively to Elon Musk about Twitter. They discuss why he bought the social media site, controversy around tackling disinformation and the future for blue ticks.
Boardroom Stories: Sir Ian Livingston
Sir Ian Livingstone talks to Rahul Tandon about founding Games Workshop and the popularity of Dungeons and Dragons. He reveals his collection of hundreds of board games as well as discussing the development of Tomb Raider.
Million By 30: Timothy Armoo, part 2
Timothy Armoo talks to Sean Farrington about his decision to sell the business he founded in a multi-million pound deal. He discusses why he decided to sell, what he's learnt and his plans for what he's going to do next.
Business of Sport: The Ashes
Rahul Tandon looks at the money behind The Ashes. He discusses how important sponsorship is in cricket, how to grow the fanbase and get more people involved in the game. Rahul also speaks to Manoj Badale, one of the owners of the IPL team the Rajasthan Royal.
Boardroom Stories: Guy Hands, founder Terra Firma
One of the biggest names in the world in private equity, Guy Hands, talks candidly about what he calls 'going from hero to zero'.
Speaking with Felicity Hannah he shares his experience of growing his business Terra Firma Capital Partners which became one of the largest investment companies in the world.
He discusses the controversy around his ownership of record label EMI and losing control of th
Boardroom Stories: John Lyttle, Chief Executive, Boohoo
John Lyttle, chief executive of Boohoo, tells Sean Farrington about the company's massive growth and future expansion plans. He says the company doesn't make throwaway fashion and is taking measures to tackle climate change. He also discusses the recent controversy around allegations of mistreatment of staff at some of its suppliers in Leicester.
Business of Sport: Tokyo Olympics
Felicity Hannah looks at how the Olympic games are financed and the competitors are funded. She's joined by Sir Keith Mills, former Deputy Chair of London 2012 organising committee; Nigel Walker who's National Director of the English Institute of Sport; Marie Oldham, Executive chair of the advertising agency VCCP Media and Danny Downs of online sports retailer Fanatics.
The Origins of Reebok
Joe Foster, founder of Reebok talks with Sean Farrington and Reggie Nelson about creating one of the world's biggest brands. From the origins of a family business to breaking America and making trainers a must-have fashion item.
Million By 30: Roei Samuel
Roei Samuel talks to Sean Farrington about setting up e-sports business Real Sport which he sold in a multi-million pound deal and about how having ADHD affected his education and career choices.
Million By 30: Tom Beahon, co-founder Castore
Tom and Phil Beahon set up their sportswear brand Castore in Liverpool after their professional sporting careers came to an end. They chat with Sean about growing the brand, how their parents re-mortgaged their house to give them the money to get it off the ground and working with Sir Andy Murray and football clubs Rangers and Wolves.
Million By 30: CC Clarke
CC Clarke talks to Sean Farrington talks about growing her fanbase to more than two million followers and setting up her make-up business. She discusses how she's carried on with her singing career and dealing with social media trolls.
Business of Sport: Future of Football
After the collapse of plans for a European Super League, Sean Farrington discusses the future of football with current and former club bosses, fans and sport business experts.
Million By 30: Grace Beverley, influencer and founder of sustainable style brand TALA
Sean Farrington chats with Grace Beverley about how she built up a million followers on Instagram before going on to launch her own fitness brand Shreddy and sustainable style brand TALA.
Photo courtesy: Andy Cuthbert
Million By 30: Chester Mojay-Sinclare, founder and chief executive of Enthuse
Sean Farrington chats with Chester Mojay-Sinclare who first got his business off the ground by launching a potato into space. Eleven years later, he has raised over £100 million for charities through his company Enthuse.
Million By 30: Jenna Brown, co-founder and chief executive of Shipamax
How Jenna Brown turned her passion for start-ups into a multi-million backed business.
Million By 30: Alex Lovén, founder of Net World Sports
Sean Farrington chats with Alex Lovén, who started selling cricket bats when he was 13 to his mates at school, graduated to selling the bats on eBay and made £1m in sales by 22 and now, aged 33, his sports equipment business makes £50m in turnover.
Million By 30: Kofi McCalla, The Unknown Vlogs
Kofi McCalla, a menswear fashion YouTuber, on how he hit over 100 million views. If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this podcast please visit the BBC Action Line website https://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline/
Million By 30: Liberty Foreman, CEO and founder of DynamXMedical
Sean Farrington interviews Liberty Foreman, who started up a cancer screening tech company DynamX Medical by spinning it out from her PhD. Since then she’s raised millions in investment all before the company has even turned a profit. If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this podcast please visit the BBC Action Line website https://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline/
Million By 30: Maciek Kacprzyk and Karina Sudenyte, founders of Flawsome!
Sean Farrington interviews Maciek Kacprzyk and Karina Sudenyte, the founders of Flawsome!, a food waste company that saves wonky fruit from landfill and makes them into cold pressed juice and sparkling fruit juice waters.
Million By 30: Timothy Armoo, chief executive of Fanbytes
The story of how 26-year-old Timothy Armoo built a million-pound marketing business.
Million By 30: Adnan Ebrahim, founder of Car Throttle
Sean Farrington chats with Adnan Ebrahim who sold his first website before he was 18. He then founded Car Throttle, which quickly reached millions of followers around the world. He sold it in his mid-20's and has since embarked on a new venture
Business of Sport: Rugby World Cup
Sean Farrington looks at the money behind the Rugby World Cup in Japan including how can smaller countries break into the top tier of the game.
Business of Sport: The Price of Gold
It's a year until the Tokyo Olympics will be getting underway. The British Olympics Association has told us it could be one of the most expensive yet.A number of sports will be making their debut at the games - one of them is competitive climbing. But who sponsors a brand new sport, and how do they get funding?
Business of Sport: Not just about the scores
Sean and Mickey look at how sport is being reported off the pitch, from long reads to podcasts to social media.
Business of Sport: eSports
The industry is worth over $1bn globally. Is it time to take gaming as a competitive activity a bit more seriously?
Boardroom Stories: Sanjeev Gupta, Liberty Steel
Danni Hewson talks with Sanjeev Gupta, boss of one of the world's largest steel producers Liberty Steel.
Boardroom Stories: Co-Op
Chief Executive of the Co-Operative Group, Steve Murrells talks with Danni Hewson about supermarkets; funerals and schools and how it's recovered from a difficult period.
Boardroom Stories: Lovehoney
Lovehoney co-founders Neal Slateford and Richard Longhurst talk about developing their online sex toy company, meeting the Queen and adapting their business for international markets.
Boardroom Stories: Paul Pomroy, McDonald's UK
Wake Up To Money's Sean Farrington meets Paul Pomroy, the Chief Executive of McDonald's for the UK and Ireland to discuss the High Street crisis; plastic straws; Brexit; zero hours contracts and waste.
Boardroom Stories: Linda Jackson, Citroen
Linda Jackson, Chief Executive of Citroen talks about women in the car industry, electric cars and whether the 2CV could ever make a comeback.
Boardroom Stories: Rob Stringer of Sony Music Entertainment
Working with David Bowie on one of pop’s best kept secrets and how he won George Michael back after the star’s bitter split from Sony.
Boardroom Stories: Pure Gym
Humphrey Cobbold, boss of Pure Gym talks to Sean Farrington about how the chain has gone from zero to a million members in less than a decade.Plus how the treadmill is falling out of fashion as workouts change with the times.
Boardroom Stories: Intu's David Fischel
The boss of the company which owns some of the UK’s biggest shopping centres tells Wake Up To Money’s Mickey Clarke that retail is alive and kicking.
Boardroom Stories: Marston's Ralph Findlay
Marston's Chief Executive Ralph Findlay, Quality not quantity: How drinkers’ tastes have changed and why so many restaurants are struggling at the moment.
Boardroom Stories: Domino's Pizza
Domino's Pizza CEO David Wild on executive pay, The Simpsons and chanting.
Boardroom Stories: Bronek Masojada, Hiscox
Terrorism, cyber crime, luxury cars and diamonds. Who says insurance is boring? Bronek Masojada boss of Hiscox talks insurance with Wake Up To Money’s Louise Cooper.
Boardroom Stories: Craig Donaldson
Why banks need more branches and "it was a miserable place to be”: Life at RBS during the bailout.
Boardroom Stories: David Duffy
David Duffy, Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks boss, talks Open Banking, drones and the rise of the robots.
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