All Things Business - The Podcast

Today’s guest is Nigel Wagstaff, Managing Director of Houghton Hams. Better known as Waggy, Nigel has had a storied career in business throughout multiple industries, but Houghton Hams has remained his pride and joy. A family-owned and run business, Houghton Hams began life in 1983. Waggy used his connections in the food business from his time as a sales manager to get started, getting his first ham cure from his former employer. S...

Ben and Nick welcome Ryan Evans, Director at MK Loft Boarding. The business offers loft conversion services: creating raised loft boarding, installing ladders and adding mains light support. Their boarding method, where the board is fixed directly to the joist, allows for better air flow and greatly reduces issues such as damp and condensation and is much more suited for lofts with insulation or wiring installed. This makes their l...

All Things Business – The Podcast welcomes Faryl Smith, who Ben bills as ‘Northamptonshire’s finest singer’, a title she’s hesitant to accept but one that’s difficult to dispute. Born in Kettering, Faryl recently returned to the county with her fiancé after ten years living in London. She was training to become an opera singer at Guildhall School of Music & Drama, completing undergraduate, postgraduate and opera-specific course...

For the first episode of 2025, Ben is joined by Mike Tilson, Partner at Grant Thornton and Matt Thompson, Corporate Partner at Howes Percival. They’re here to discuss the Northamptonshire Limited Report, an annual report celebrating the top 100 businesses in the county produced collaboratively between the two law firms. This year, they’re including more detailed information on the fastest growing businesses and international contri...

Today’s guests on All Things Business – The Podcast are Sally Alexander, Chief Executive at Milton Keynes College, and Nick Mann, Chair of Milton Keynes Business Leaders Partnership. Nick is also an organiser of the Milton Keynes Business Achievement Awards. They are both here to discuss the links between business and education.

One of Ben’s oft-repeated mantras is ‘business needs education, education needs business’. These two gue...

Ben is back, this time with a panel of HR and employment law experts to discuss the Government’s new Employment Rights Bill, a new package of laws that grant new rights to employees and new obligations for employers. As owner of an SME, Ben has plenty of questions about this new bill. With 26 employees, that’s a lot of new rights to manage, so he’s assembled this amazing team to explain the key factors.

Ben is joined by Naomi Butte...

This special episode of the podcast focusses on the challenges of mergers and acquisitions, using occupational health business Medigold Health as a case study. Ben interviews Alex Goldsmith, Medigold’s CEO and James Syrotiuk, their CFO.

Medigold Health is a leader in the occupational health sector and recently acquired a competitor business, Health Management Limited, in early 2023.

The move saw them double in size, becoming the la...

Kacie Foskett and Joe Gilbert from Red Giraffe, a digital marketing agency based in Milton Keynes, join Ben for this discussion on one of the frontiers of flexible working: the four-day work week.

Joe started Red Giraffe a decade ago and, in his role as Managing Director, has always been an advocate of practices that promote a healthier work-life balance. His thoughts around the four-day week began at home. His wife was struggling ...

Ben is joined by James Geary and Hassan Shah, Managing Partner and Partner respectively at EMW Law. Hassan joined the firm as part of a merger, with his own firm SP Law becoming part of the EMW family.

This deal expanded the range of services available to clients of both firms. SP’s specialties lay more in private law practices such as employment and property law, while EMW’s services are more focussed on commercial law, such as me...

Ben welcomes Northampton-based singer-songwriter Billy Lockett to All Things Business – The Podcast. Billy is about to embark on a European tour in support of his album Abington Grove and is in the midst of writing his second full-length project.

His love for music began at an early age, discovering a natural gift for playing the piano and committing himself to a music career, despite his Mum’s wish for him to continue in education...