Northern Leaders Podcast
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<p>Northern Leaders is BusinessCloud’s new podcast that interviews some of the North’s most dynamic leaders.</p>
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
6/10/2025
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Recent Episodes
August 12, 2025
Gavin Wheeldon: 'Named after a bank; shocking the Dragons; turning the world purple'
<p>Fittingly for a man who was named after a bank, Gavin Wheeldon has spent much of his life making money.</p><p> </p><p>His parents still hadn’t chosen a middle name when they stopped off a branch of Lloyds Bank enroute to his christening – and decided to call him Lloyd.</p><p>At the<strong> </strong>age of 11 he started buying window locks, chains and spy holes for 50p and selling them fitted for £5.50 - giving some of the proceeds to his Mum.</p><p>At the age of 14 he lied to his bosses to get a telesales job selling kitchens at night – and quickly became the star salesman.</p><p>The young Wheeldon attended 20 per cent of his last year at school – and it was only years later that his behaviour was explained when he was diagnosed with ADHD.</p><p>In 2003 he launched his business - Applied Language Solutions (ALS) - with the help of a second mortgage and ran up credit card debts of £54,000. </p><p></p><p>It was while at ALS that he appeared on Dragons’ Den in 2007 after unsuccessfully offering 3% of his business for a £250,000 investment. At the time it was the highest amount ever asked for the lowest amount of equity.</p><p></p><p>“I figured if I go on and get the money that’s a good outcome,” he said. “And if I didn’t, which I fully expected, I’d get some good PR if I didn’t make a mess of it."</p><p></p><p>He eventually sold ALS to Capita for £67.5m but quickly realised that doing nothing wasn’t for him and in 2012 he launched Purple because of his frustration at the quality of the WiFi he kept experiencing.</p><p> </p><p>With some help from his daughter, he came up with the name Purple and today the company has evolved into a vital tool to allow businesses to turn their physical venues into intelligent spaces.</p><p> </p><p>Despite having a happy knack of making money, he says that’s not his primary motivation.</p><p></p><p>“If money is ever the driving force you’re probably not going to do that well in life,” he said. “You need to love the journey and tech is what I love.</p><p></p><p>“The North is almost the underdog of the UK. It’s come out swinging, particularly in the tech scene. There’s more in London but Manchester and other parts of the North have got an incredibly thriving tech scene, which is fantastic.”</p><p></p><p>Purple raised £10.5m from BGF in 2023 and Wheeldon believes AI will change the world in more ways than people imagine.</p><p></p><p>“There’s so much potential for what it can do,” he said. “Whether it’s two or five years, coding won’t exist. There are so many jobs that will not exist in their current form. </p><p></p><p>“Right now people have got their heads in the sand. It will turn everything on its head. People who learn how to ride that wave will do very well.”</p><p> </p><p><strong>Host:</strong> Chris Maguire, executive editor, BusinessCloud</p><p><strong>Guest: </strong>Gavin Wheeldon, CEO, Purple</p><p> </p><p><strong>Producer:</strong> Ellice Street, What Media </p><p><strong>Sponsors:</strong> Sancus UK</p>
August 5, 2025
William Lees-Jones: 'Pints, pubs and politicians'
<p>William Lees-Jones is the larger-than-life managing director of JW Lees.</p><p> </p><p>He’s held the role for more than 22 years, growing the 197-year-old family brewer into a £100m turnover business.</p><p> </p><p>He’s helped navigate the company through some of its biggest challenges, including the smoking ban and Covid.</p><p></p><p>Now he’s gone to war with the Labour government over its controversial inheritance tax reforms.</p><p> </p><p>“When I became MD we had 172 pubs,” he told the Northern Leaders podcast. “We now have 138 but we’ve sold 124. Pretty much everything has changed.”</p><p> </p><p>The 60-year-old says he’ll never forget the impact of Covid and the day in 2020 when Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the country into lockdown.</p><p></p><p>“It was everybody’s worst nightmare,” he said. “I went to six of our pubs on the way home and I could see people were terrified.</p><p> </p><p>“I ended up in our local and went round all the tables buying everyone a drink saying ‘I’ll see you on the other side’ and people said ‘can you keep away from me please?’ You could tell we were going into something unprecedented.”</p><p> </p><p>Lees-Jones also told the podcast about the challenges facing his beloved Man Utd.</p><p> </p><p>“I love Man Utd in a completely irrational and crazy way,” he said. “I feel as though Jim Ratcliffe has got his work cut out if this is going to end well.”</p><p> </p><p><strong>Host:</strong> Chris Maguire, executive editor, BusinessCloud</p><p><strong>Guest: </strong>William Lees Jones, managing director of JW Lees</p><p></p><p><strong>Producer:</strong> Ellice Street, What Media </p><p></p><p><strong>Sponsors:</strong> Sancus UK</p>
July 29, 2025
Jennifer Atkinson: ‘Life isn’t like you see on Instagram’
<p>Jennifer Atkinson has legendary status in the world of travel.</p><p> </p><p>She first made her name at ITC Travel Group, where she went from marketing manager to CEO, growing turnover from £40m to £90m and a £5m profit.</p><p>Now, she’s at the helm of Travel Seen, which she’s already grown to more than £20m turnover with plans to grow even further.</p><p>However, in between these two events, she’s had to contend with everything life can throw at her, including divorce, Covid, menopause and imposter syndrome.</p><p>In an incredibly honest interview she tells the Northern Leaders podcast why there are so few women in senior leadership positions and why she’s yet to find the magic formula of having it all.</p><p>Her big break came when she went to work at ITC Travel Group, initially as the marketing manager before being promoted to CEO by her mentor Drew Foster, who tragically died in 2009.</p><p>Foster is credited with pioneering luxury travel and had a huge impact on Atkinson’s life.</p><p>“He gave me belief,” she said. “I don’t need much but I need someone alongside me to say ‘you can do that’. That’s what he gave me at ITC. He really believed in me.”</p><p>Atkinson also talks about ADHD, imposter syndrome, menopause and the lack of women in senior leadership roles.</p><p>“I’m yet to find the magic formula of having it all,” she said. “I don’t think you can have it all.”</p><p><strong>Guest:</strong> Jennifer Atkinson is the<strong> </strong>founder and executive chair at Travel Seen Ltd</p><p><strong>Host:</strong> Chris Maguire, executive editor, BusinessCloud</p><p><strong>Producer:</strong> Ellice Street, What Media </p><p><strong>Sponsors:</strong> Lockton, the world’s largest independent and privately held insurance brokerage</p><p> </p><p><strong>Contact:</strong> Chris Maguire <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="mailto:Chris.Maguire@BusinessCloud.co.uk">Chris.Maguire@BusinessCloud.co.uk</a></p>
10 total episodes available
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- What is Northern Leaders Podcast?
<p>Northern Leaders is BusinessCloud’s new podcast that interviews some of the North’s most dynamic leaders.</p> - How often does this podcast release new episodes?
This podcast updates daily.
- Where can I listen to this podcast?
This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
- Does this podcast accept guests?
Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.
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