Business Live: for curious entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs

Alex Cousins makes dice trays from reclaimed materials. Every one is different, they can be engraved or embossed and feature bespoke materials and finishing.

I popped down to Ed’s Workshop, a wonderful workplace and community of makers in Sheffield to meet Alex and learn more about his new business, Wolven Crafts.

He tells me how, when playing Dungeons and Dragons, dice often fall off the table – so a dice tray is...

Many households want to install renewable energy technology – but the market doesn''t serve them well, says serial innovator Barry James.

But his "Green Streets Club" has already enabled homes on his own residential street in Sheffield to halve the cost of adoption of solar and battery.

Barry explains how they've done it – and other households can too.

He also covers his plans for...

Rebecca Collins is the Brand Coach at The Conscious Communication School, which she launched after becoming burnt out from 10 years in the mainstream media.

Now she helps business owners and social entrepreneurs craft powerful brand strategies and learn how to tell powerful stories which resonate with their target audience.

In today's episode Rebecca walks through exercises to help you find your big bang mome...

Lotus Collaborations is a Community Interest Company, set up to address the needs of autistic survivors of sexual violence and sexual abuse.

Its directors are Neurodivergent Survivors and allies with experience in accessing and providing specialist support and mentoring to victim-survivors of sexual violence.

"There's big gap in understanding among  service providers and the general public," says  d...

YWCA Yorkshire supports over 250 young women, children and families to build better futures. They may be homeless, escaping abuse, or in financial or other difficulties. It runs programmes to assist them in living happy, fulfilled and independent lives.

A charity, it has operated locally since the 1940s. This Valentine's Day it launched a campaign to "spread the love and word" about volunteering. So I invite...

Welcome to episode 393 of Business Live, for purpose-driven entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs. When Rotherham wanted to transform its adult social care offer for people with learning disabilities and autistic people and offer personalised services that people wanted, local social and micro-enterprises proved crucial. Helen Allen and Harry Clarkson tell me how.

Community Catalysts (www.communitycatalysts.co.uk) is a th...

Social enterprises ploughed over a billion pounds into their social and environmental objectives last year. They make a vital contribution to the UK's economy, society and natural environment, as Dean Hochlaf describes today.

An estimated 131,000 social enterprises in the UK collectively turn over £78 billion, representing over 3% of GDP. Many operate in the most deprived areas of the UK. They employ around 2.3 millio...

When I heard about the UK's first open-access factory, offering "pay-as-you go accessibility" so entrepreneurs and makers can access state-of-the-art light industrial equipment I was intrigued.

Originally established in 2012, its co-founders call it the "missing link for solopreneurs and SMEs seeking to bridge the gap between start-up and producing at scale."

And when I learned it was a so...

Many businesses make the same basic mistake when they want to make video content, says today's guest Joseph Palmer of Open House Pictures.  His simple tip will help anyone wanting to use films to communicate, whether you want to work with a professional filmmaker, a local freelancer or even try to shoot them yourself.

It's been a few years since Joe was last on the programme and Open House has achieved significan...

"I ended up being offered a permanent role as a junior programmer which is a dream come true – and I worked on an awesome game which is actually my favourite of all the current projects at Sumo."

Many people would love to work in the games industry but don't know where to start. Today's guests Eva Kioseoglou and Ruth Dickens have both secured full-time roles as junior programmers, having graduated from ...

Naomi Hulston has experienced "pretty much every role" in her 21 years working for Catch22.

The social business has been around for 200 years. It delivers more than 120 public services that meet local needs and support individuals within our communities. "We consider ourselves a business with the heart of a charity and a business' mindset." Those services include justice, education services, suppor...

Today's guests have bumped off nearly 300 people through their business.

But they're not career criminals. Adrian Hobart and Rebecca Collins run Hobeck Books, a leading family-run independent publisher of award-winning crime, thriller, mystery and suspense books.

What better business to get on air in National Crime Reading Month?

Rebecca and Adrian launched Hobeck Books in the middle of the pand...

PossAbilities CIC provides services for people with learning disabilities, people with dementia and young people leaving care.

Formed in 2014, PossAbilities has increased staff from 220 to more than 600, had eight consecutive years of growth and surplus, and grown its capital and reserves from zero to £6 million.

It was formerly the Adult Social Care Provider within Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council (MBC) and ...

Do we want to live in places full of thriving businesses and social enterprises, and where people don't get trapped by exploitative lenders and loan sharks? Sounds good to me.

Eleanor Russell is policy and programmes lead at Responsible Finance, which represents the UK's social purpose lenders (community development finance institutions, CDFIs). Their work has been covered extensively by media including the Guard...

For a long time Claer Barrett vowed never to write a book about money. Now the award-winning financial journalist and broadcaster, who frequently answers the public's money questions on ITV's Lorraine, LBC radio and the Financial Times' Money Clinic podcast, has published 'What They Don't Teach You about Money.'

It's a brilliant read – like having a chat with a friendly expert who wants t...

We can do it if we really want to: Alpkit is a business success story which has doubled employee numbers since last appearing on this programme while dramatically reducing its absolute emissions and carbon intensity.

"It's really positive and something ALL businesses can do, from small to big" says CEO David Hanney.

The measures it is taking, Hanney adds, align with Intergovernmental Panel on Climat...

Dr Kirsty Smitten has gone from PhD Student to founder and CEO of MetalloBio Ltd: "I was writing my thesis while forming a company." Her firm is developing new compounds to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and is a spin-out from the University of Sheffield, incorporated in 2021.

Already the cause of 1.2 million fatalities every year, antimicrobial resistant infections are predicted to cause 10 million by 2...

It's three years since Louis Speight, a former men’s European record holder, was last on the programme.

His social enterprise Omnis Circumvado CIC is a specialist sports coaching company which works with children, young people and adults who have complex needs. "We are games-based" says Louis, and "our approach is to make sure everybody is having fun and they engage."

Omnis runs inclusive ...

In today's show: cost of living support and new funding opportunities for businesses and social enterprises. And it's the 'season of goodwill' – can't we have goodwill all year round? – but a time when many love to give presents.

It's a horrifyingly difficult and challenging time for many. But it's also a crucial time for small businesses and social enterprises. If you are on the hunt for...