The Business of Cambridge returns on 14 February on Cambridge 105 Radio to shine a light on fascinating stories from different corners of the business community after a tumultuous year of covid disruption.

Pivoting. Innovation. Sheer resilience in the face of a pandemic. Oh, and Brexit! Host Sue Keogh asks her guests including Huawei, Raspberry Pi and people in events, hospitality, and life sciences how they fared - and what’s coming next.

Who’s on the show?

Each episode will feature two guests talking about their sector or a business challenge, plus insights and advice from one of our resident experts in property, HR, money, business and branding.

Here’s the running order (just to cover ourselves, we are still recording and there’s a pandemic on, so it may still be subject to change but we very much hope not!)

14 Feb: Pivot, sponsored by CMResource

When business fell off a cliff in March 2020, so many companies had to adapt very quickly to survive.

Neil Bharadwa, founder of Cambridge Fruit Company, explains how they made a sudden shift to serving residential customers and Steve the Barman tells us how he’s making so much money from YouTube he might not need to wheel out his mobile cocktail bar again.

Plus! Resident expert Kirsten Smith from face2faceHR gives us tips on staffing.

21 Feb: Communicate, sponsored by CMResource

Martyn Sibley, founder of disability and inclusion agency Purple Goat, and Claire Thompson, CEO of Agility Life Sciences talk about marketing to clearly defined audiences. How can brands become more inclusive, how can scientists talk in plain English, and shouldn’t the government be better at covid comms?

Plus our property expert Gavin Human from Exquisite Home tells us how the business of buying and selling houses is changing.

28 Feb: Resilience, sponsored by CMResource

Fire…floods…plagues…it’s almost biblical! Two founders, Dawn Lamb from Elyte Fitness and Anjana Taank of Taank Optometrists, explain how you keep getting back up again when you get knocked down, again and again.

And John Bridge OBE, Chief Executive of the Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce tells us how local business are faring now that Brexit has become reality.

7 March: Hospitality, sponsored by Third Light

There isn’t a single pub, restaurant or hotel that hasn’t been impacted by the global pandemic.

From Christmas Day meal kits to livestreamed gigs on Facebook, Olly Thain from CambsCuisine and Nick Davis from The Plough in Shepreth have had to come up with creative solutions to keep the money coming in during such a rollercoaster year. But they’re still smiling!

Plus, resident expert Kelly Anstee from TaxSwag talks cashflow.

14 March: Cambridge v Covid, sponsored by CMResource

Dr Patrick Short from Sano Genetics talks about their research into long covid, and Simon Kew of Alchemie Technology explains how they developed their new anti-viral fabric coating, HeiQ Viroblock. How important is Cambridge’s collective clout in life sciences leading the fightback against covid ?

With resident expert Rajen Mistry from Are&Be sharing tips on launching a new brand.

21 March: Events, sponsored by Third Light

Justin Crane from The Crane Event and Charlie Evans of lighting company Pink Lamp tell us how they shifted their business model to survive and thrive when the pandemic hit, moving events online and building creative studio space for photographers and video producers.

Plus, property expert Gavin Human of Exquisite Home talks about the shift to home working.

28 March: Innovate, sponsored by Cambridge Wireless

Charles Sturman from Huawei and Simon Thomas from graphene startup Paragraf talk us through the process of developing new technology and explain why Cambridge is such a hotbed for innovation.

With resident expert Kirsten Smith from face2faceHR offering tips on workplace wellbeing.

4 April: Recruitment, sponsored by Third Light

It’s been a turbulent year in the job market. Sohini Biswas from SKAT Recruitment tells us about the impact on early years recruitment, and Toby Young of Bailey Fisher shares his experiences with placing top executives in science and tech.

Plus, resident expert Kelly Anstee from TaxSwag tells us how businesses are managing Brexit.

11 April: Tools, sponsored by Third Light

How do you spot a problem and develop a tool to solve it? Michael Wells, MD of digital asset management software Third Light is joined by Richard Hobson of cattle tracker Herdsy to talk us through the process and the pitfalls to look out for.

With John Bridge OBE, Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce, sharing his essential tips on starting a new business.

18 April, Learning, sponsored by Third Light

Phillip Colligan of Raspberry Pi and Rob Percival from learning startup Blutick talk about how their problems are addressing the digital divide and helping young people to carry on learning throughout a period of incredible disruption in schools and colleage.

Plus branding expert Rajen Mistry from Are&Be tells you how to spread you message effectively.

With thanks to our sponsors

As you may know, Cambridge 105 Radio is an amazing community radio station that truly punches above its weight with the quality of programming.

It’s staffed by volunteers, and funded by sponsorship and advertising, with the occasional grant.

So we are very grateful to the following people for kindly giving their support!

CMResource: Empowering you to achieve your full business potential

Cambridge Wireless: Membership organisation and technology community offering events and conferences in Cambridge, London and the rest of the UK.

ThirdLight: revolutionising how marketers around the world collaborate and manage their digital media.

Head to Cambridge 105 Radio sales to find out how you can promote your business to the local community through radio advertising and sponsorship.

And to the production team

The series is hosted by Sookio founder Sue Keogh, and produced by fellow Cambridge 105 Radio director and legend of broadcasting Trevor Dann. With expert production assistance from Imogen Lang.

This is Sue and Trevor after wrapping series one, which was broadcast at the end of 2019 and up to March 2020…just before a certain pandemic hit and caused disruption in the business world like no one could have predicted.

We can’t wait to hear everyone’s stories this time round - tales of pivoting, innovation and sheer resilience through such a turbulent period.

How can you hear the series?

The 10-part series will go out at 10am on Sundays and 6pm on Thursdays on Cambridge 105 Radio, starting 14 February 2021. You can also listen online, and it will be uploaded as a podcast too.

Have a listen to series one to get a flavour!