Meet Tiger Lily Beck and Demi Smith, the founders of Flex and The City, which launched just over a year ago. Both in their mid-twenties and hailing from Hertfordshire, these young entrepreneurs have been lifelong friends who suddenly realised they could create a business together once they understood each other’s professions. Fiona Scott chatted with them about their ‘great idea’ and how it’s going. What is Flex and The City? Tiger Lily: It’s a new digital hub for professionals in the flex industry – so it’s all connected to the flexible workspace sector. We are also a press and media platform…

One rarely meets someone with a remarkable career trajectory—such as starting as a delivery driver and later becoming Managing Director of the same company. Paul Day did just that, beginning his journey at Filestream Ltd as a van driver and, over the course of 25 years, working his way up to become Managing Director. This progression provides Paul with unique insights when engaging with fellow entrepreneurs, business owners, and employees. His experience transitioning from employee to employer has equipped him with valuable knowledge and understanding that resonates with those working in Britain’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Paul’s down-to-earth and…

Rob Boland, Interim-COO, pirkx The world has moved on – employee benefits need to move on too The world of work has fundamentally changed over the past decade. People have more choice in who they work for, how they work and where they work. Most critically, people want to work for a business that looks after them as individuals and shows them they are cared for beyond simply being a ‘cog in the machine’. They want to know that there is support for them as they try to make the best of their lives, in and out of the workplace.…

A team of experts has come together to disrupt the expensive and complex social care. system by launching an ‘app’ to bring care homes/providers and carers together using AI.  AgoraStaff, a temporary staffing app for the social care sector, is the brainchild of Richard Williams-Pears, a longtime Cornwall councillor and former mayor of St Austell, who witnessed firsthand the rising costs and inefficiencies in social care. He teamed up with his wife Jolene, AgoraStaff’s Director of Outstanding Compliance, who has an extensive background in operating theatres, and Janet Shreeve, who brings hands-on care sector experience from running Shreeve Care Services,…

Whatever the device you are using a subscription can be activated in seconds with a few clicks. Hence, it’s astonishing that cancelling that same service can sometimes feel like navigating a maze. For UK consumers and businesses alike, a frustrating reality persists: while signing up is seamless and fully digital, cancelling often isn’t — and legally, it doesn’t have to be. Despite the UK’s growing digital economy and consumer expectations for frictionless service, many websites still require customers to pick up the phone and call a customer service line to cancel their subscription. Some even limit these cancellation windows to inconvenient office…

Leadership mentor and entrepreneur Gary Parsons is using Face Equality Week (13-17 May) and Mental Health Awareness Week (13-19 May) to spotlight a subject close to his heart – the mental health of leaders.  For too long, the mental health conversation in business has focused solely on employees. Gary is breaking that silence. As someone who built a multi award-winning, seven-figure business while battling the hidden effects of facial paralysis, he knows first-hand the cost of ignoring your own wellbeing at the top. Gary, 41, from Derbyshire, developed Bell’s Palsy as a teenager and has lived with permanent facial paralysis…

Project Brains, a UK-based startup connecting fractional specialists with businesses to solve specific business challenges, has launched ProdigyPB, an AI-driven job description platform. The platform allows users to accurately identify specific recruitment needs through business problem definition and create precise, engaging and bias-free job descriptions in a matter of seconds.  ProdigyPB moves beyond traditional recruitment methods by using advanced AI technology to help businesses precisely identify hiring requirements and quickly match talent to clearly defined business outcomes. The interactive platform allows businesses to uncover and communicate their exact talent needs clearly and quickly. Unlike traditional job descriptions that often miss…

Craig Rickman answers six key questions to help freelancers and businesses owners save enough for their golden years. Being your own boss, whether you freelance or employ others, has clear and obvious appeal. You have the freedom and flexibility to live your working life on your terms, something that many of us crave, and (to some degree) can control how much you earn. That said, not only is working for yourself hard graft but there’s lots of uncertainty. You also miss out on valuable financial benefits enjoyed by your employed counterparts, notably company pension contributions, which means the responsibility of…

Manchester, England –  Workplace dangers aren’t confined to a galaxy far, far away. From Death Star design flaws to poor stormtrooper performance and lack of proper PPE, workplace challenges span galaxies. Ahead of Star Wars Day (May the fourth be with you…), BrightHR have crunched the numbers on the various HR and health breaches that the Empire enacts upon the Death Star, comparing them to real world HR and health & safety stats. Alan Price, CEO of BrightHR says “Our research reveals that while 1.2 million lives were lost to reactor flaws, as a result of bad planning and a…

A new competition from Constant Contact and Enterprise Nation in collaboration with Channel 4 is set to offer UK small business brands an opportunity to win a professionally produced broadcast TV advert on Channel 4 and expert marketing support — a package worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. Small Business, Big Break is a collaborative initiative from digital marketing and automation platform Constant Contact, small business support platform Enterprise Nation and national broadcaster, Channel 4. The initiative will spotlight the UK’s brilliant small business community, opening up an opportunity for three successful brands to tell their stories to millions of potential customers on TV —…

A MARATHON EFFORT: MANAGING DIRECTOR RAISES OVER £4,000 FOR CHARITY Paul Day, Managing Director of Filestream, a leading document management specialist based in Berkshire, completed the 2025 TCS London Marathon and raised over £4,000 for Helen & Douglas Children’s Hospice. This year’s London marathon was a record-breaking one! It set a new Guinness World Record for the number of finishers on Sunday, 27th April. London’s 45th annual marathon saw over 56 thousand runners cross the finish line, including Paul Day from Filestream, who took part in his first marathon for charity. “It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” Paul…

In this exclusive interview, we speak with Jenny Campbell – renowned entrepreneur, speaker and former Dragon on BBC’s Dragons’ Den. With a career that began on the banking floor at just 16 years old, Jenny has since carved out an extraordinary path, transforming the cash machine business Hanco into the extraordinarily successful YourCash and earning national recognition as one of the UK’s most inspirational businesswomen. Her straight-talking style and sharp eye for opportunity made her a standout figure on Dragons’ Den, where she not only backed bold ideas but also helped shape the next generation of entrepreneurs. Today, Jenny remains…

The way we work has outgrown the nine-to-five full-time office model – today, flexibility and hybrid are the standard. While all generations are embracing this new approach, Frank Weishaupt, CEO, Owl Labs,  looks at the younger generation of workers, with an upbringing shaped by the hyper-digital, remote-first world, who are most accustomed to this ongoing change. Different from the ‘hustle’ culture that previously defined the workplace, the challenge now rests on employers to adapt. They are now required to rethink how they structure a workplace to suit a workforce that expects flexibility, purpose, and digital-first ways of working. How can leaders…

How our core professional values significantly impact client retention and business success, and why they matter. Dr Cheryl Whiting, Freelance business trainer and writer.  For all businesses, whether product- or service-based, acquiring new clients in a competitive market is tricky; retaining them can be even more challenging. And yet, loyal clients minimise financial strain, increase revenue, enhance our reputation, and create a highly influential fan base that attracts new clients. Client loyalty is a key factor in our success, so it is essential for us to explore ways to nurture it. Distinguishing loyal and ideal clients is a key first…

Award-winning entrepreneur and allergy awareness advocate Julianne Ponan MBE will be a keynote speaker to educate, inform and inspire the team at one of the UK’s leading recipe box companies Gousto. As the CEO of Creative Nature, a pioneering free-from food brand, Julianne will share her personal journey with life-threatening allergies, the daily anxieties faced by individuals with severe allergies, and the importance of increased awareness and inclusivity in the food industry. Julianne said, “I’m incredibly excited to speak at Gousto’s Allergy Awareness Week event. Raising awareness about the realities of living with allergies is crucial, especially in the food sector. Every day,…

Meet Elvis, the Parma Wallaby Joey, who was recently born at Cotswold Wildlife Park. Elvis was orphaned soon after birth, as Deputy Head of Mammals, Jenni Maxwell (pictured above), explains: “Sadly, his mother died whilst he was still in the pouch, so the decision was made to rear him by hand. Without intervention, he wouldn’t have survived”. Jenni took on the responsibility and became a surrogate mother to the vulnerable newborn. Not only is this the first time Jenni has raised a joey, it’s also the first time in the Park’s history that a Parma Wallaby has been hand-reared. Staff…