The Gentleman‘s Journal Podcast

Harry Shukman, our writer on the dubious 'billionaire beat' of late, takes us inside the world of luxury estate managers — the string pullers who choreography the lives of the 0.0001%. Expect Shamans on private jets, £100,000 scented candles, an FBI-grade screening process, and 27-hour work days. 'Overheard at the Clubhouse' is our brand new podcast series at Gentleman's Journal, where we delve into the stories behind the stories from our magazine and beyond. Do let us know what you think.

John Russo, the CEO of Maddox Gallery and an expert in street art, takes us inside the sometimes discombobulating contemporary art market. In a fascinating conversation, John tells us what we should look for in our first art acquisitions; how Instagram is dramatically changing the way art is discovered; why smart TVs could be the future of art displays; and what the atmosphere was like in the room at Sotheby’s as Banksy enacted his famous shredder stunt.

Ruth Rogers is the founder of the River Cafe — London's last true power restaurant, and a bastion of brilliant Italian comfort cooking. But the only thing harder than getting a reservation here, perhaps, is getting a seat on her new podcast, 'Table 4.' The brilliant new interview show, helmed by Rogers herself, uses food as the jumping off point for a series of candid, strikingly honest interview with the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, Bob Iger, David Beckham, Edward Enninful and Pete Davidson. We were lucky enough to sit down with Ruth for half an hour just before lunch service down at the River Cafe. Here — as the knives are sharpened, the onions cut, and the seabass filleted — she tells us how the restaurant originally came about almost by chance; her first memories of coming to England; what her ultimate comfort food is; and why you should always have a meal with someone before you hire them.

Ben Francis is the founder and CEO of GymShark, a fitness company he started with some school friends back in 2012, drop-shipping supplements to their pals in the bodybuilding community. The first thing Ben sold was a £52 pound tub of USN Hyperbolic Mass protein powder — an order that earned ben a whopping £2 profit, but which left him, in his own words, dancing around his bedroom. A few years later, a single event caused one of Gymshark's tracksuits to go viral, and the young company went from selling £300 of clothes a day, to making £30,000 of revenue in just half a single hour. But it wasn’t until last year, perhaps, that the company became a true household name, and the 29-year-old Ben became a poster boy for modern British entrepreneurship — after General Atlantic invested more than $260 million in the business, valuing it at over a billion pounds. In a highly enjoyable episode of the podcast, we sat down with Ben up at company's Solihull campus to discuss why humility is the best trait of all; the time Ben suffered a total ‘ego death,’ and how we should always feel like we’re winging it, all of the time. Enjoy.

Our guest today is Jamie Laing, the founder of Candy Kittens, former star of Strictly Come Dancing and Made in Chelsea, and now author of a new memoir: I Can Explain. Jamie is one of the most open and honest and energetic guests we’ve ever had on the show. A natural entrepreneur with infectious enthusiasm, in his early twenties he walked into a meeting with Harvey Nichols to pitch his new business Candy Kittens — and walked away with a £150,000 purchase order, despite never having produced a single sweet. When he was a kid, Jamie’s friends used to joke that everything he touched came with L.A.T: Laing Added Tax. But more than that, he’s a true entertainer — and a thoughtful commentator on topics of mental health, popular culture, and the perils of social media. In a wonderful episode of the Gentleman’s Journal podcast, Jamie tells us why he originally thought Made in Chelsea might be the biggest mistake of his life; the problem with the label ‘posh’; how he always used to worry that a swarm of wasps might turn up and ruin the party; and why we should all tell our parents we love them as much as possible.

Scooter Braun is a media proprietor, record executive, investor and manager, best known, perhaps, as the mastermind behind the careers of Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and many others. He started his career selling Fake IDs at Emory University, before becoming one of the most successful club promoters in Atlanta. After dropping out of college, Scooter jumped headfirst into the music industry — where he discovered an angelic young street busker called Justin Bieber while scrolling through YouTube one evening. The rest, as they say, is history — but that leaves out all the wild highs and lows of the years that followed: the way that the music industry bigwigs described the pair as “that internet kid and his crazy manager”; the trials and tribulations of fame and success; and the succession of canny deals that turned Scooter Braun into one of the most formidable forces in his field today. In a fascinating and candid interview, Scooter talks to us how he slept with a gun by his bedside for years; why he loves founders with a ‘burn the ships’ mentality; and how he’s finally re-claiming his real name, Scott, once and for all.

Charlie Bigham is the man behind the gourmet food brand that bears his name — and the saviour of many a weekday dinner time. Known for his wholesome takes on British classics, Charlie’s eponymous company — which celebrates its quarter century this year — sells 80,000 meals every single week, and will likely hit £100 million pounds in sales this year alone. But for Charlie, you sense that the finances are much less important than the food — and in a fascinating episode of the podcast, the founder tells us how a night on the Iran-Pakistan border provided his lightbulb moment; how the financial crisis of 2007 nearly scuppered the business; why he resents his food being called ‘posh’; and what happened when a noted food critic tasted his lasagne.

Federico Marchetti is the founder and Chairman of YOOX-Net-a-Porter. He grew up in Ravenna, an ancient town in Northern Italy, which is home to some of the most historically significant mosaics in the world. And Federico describes his career, in fact, like a giant mosaic — a long process of placing building blocks on top of building blocks, slowly working towards a grand design. After an early career in finance, Federico hit upon the idea of a luxury e-commerce site in 1999, at the height of the Dot Com boom. Most people thought he was crazy for attempting to fuse these two worlds — but after cold calling Italy’s most famous venture capitalist, Federico quickly managed to get the idea off the ground — and the rest, of course, is history. Today, YOOX-Net-a-Porter is one of the biggest e-commerce players in the world, with customers in over 180 countries. In a fascinating episode, Federico describes how Apple took some of its inspiration from Italian typewriters; why none of us will be using mobile phones in five years time; and how the next Coco Chanel won’t be a designer — but a programmer.

Most of us would be content to have one big hit in our lifetimes, and to milk it for all its worth. But Marcia Kilgore has had four resounding successes with four separate businesses — Bliss, a range of New York beauty spas, of which she sold a majority stake to LVMH for a reported $30million in 2004; Soap & Glory, a toiletries brand thar Boots bought acquired in 2014 and has hundreds of millions in annual revenues; FitFlop, the ingenious ergonomic footwear brand; and now Beauty Pie, a subscription cosmetics service which may well turn the beauty industry on its head. In a fascinating and highly enjoyable episode, we discussed the unique atmosphere of New York in the late 1980s; why bullshit is the enemy of success; and how the opposite of a good idea is almost always a great idea.

On a special episode of the podcast we talk to three figures from the world of retail about the quiet revolution taking place on our streets. Ross Bailey is the founder of Appear Here, the venue marketplace for shops, pop-ups, and just about anything else; Luca Faloni is the founder of the beautiful Italian outfitter that shares his name; and Archie Hewlett is the founder of London footwear label Duke + Dexter. It is a fascinating conversation with three entrepreneurs who live and breathe these issues every day — and they tell us how our high streets might look in the near future; why certain brands have ridden out the storm and others have sunk; the shopping gimmicks that they're tired of seeing; and why, in fact, we should cancel the word ‘retail’ altogether.

Jack Rivlin is the founder and former CEO of the Tab — a network of student newspapers. Started while Jack was at Cambridge, the Tab hoped to bring energy, levity, and a tabloid edge to the dull and worthy university papers — and used volunteer student journalists to report on the things that actually mattered to them. It soon grew to plenty of other universities in the UK, and in 2016 Jack raised a few million pounds of investment from none other than Rupert Murdoch himself, who Jack and his partner met the week after Glastonbury, with glitter still stuck to their faces. After expansion into the US, the Tab’s fortunes began gradually to wane; until Jack decided to sell up entirely at the start of 2020 — a process that became a fascinating ordeal in its own right. In a wonderfully honest episode, Jack tell us just how hungover he was for that infamous meeting with Rupert Murdoch; give us the inside scoop on the Aziz Ansari story that broke the internet; tells us how one of the Tab’s early legal corrections is now used in Journalism textbooks; warns against the perils of the Facebook algorithm; and discusses why newsletters have become the media outlet of the moment.

Louis Theroux is a documentary filmmaker, journalist, broadcaster, national treasure, and latterly podcast host. Louis joined us on the podcast to talk about the release of his brilliant new documentary Shooting Joe Exotic, in which he revisits the star of last year's Tiger King documentary — but the conversation soon became about so much more: the state of America right now; the trouble with social media; the poignancy of shooting horses; the perils of podcast coziness — and the very art of interviewing itself. Louis Theroux: Shooting Joe Exotic is now available on BBC iPlayer

Marco Pierre White is the legendary chef often described as the enfant terrible of English cuisine, and the youngest cook ever to receive three Michelin stars. Marco’s story has now passed into legend: the childhood on a council estate outside Leeds; the prodigious genius mentored by Albert Roux, Pierre Koffman and Raymond Blanc; the outrageous work ethic and infamous temper; the pre-Raphaelite curls and smouldering brow. But to hear him tell his own story is an unpredictable joy. You don’t so much interview Marco Pierre White as uncork a genie — and so this episode does away with our usual structured conversation format and becomes something else entirely: a rolling meditation on childhood, luck, pain, celebrity, greed, and good food. We recorded this episode in one of the living rooms of Marco’s home — a Victorian gothic hotel he is converting near Bath. It kicks off with Marco explaining what walking into a Three Michelin Star restaurant should feel like — and it rolls like a juggernaut from there. Enjoy.

Andy Coulson is a strategic advisor, former Downing Street director of comms, former editor of the News of the World — and onetime resident of HMP Belmarsh. Across the nineties, Andy worked his way up from a local newspaper to take on one of the biggest jobs in the UK media, before jumping over the fence to join the Cameron campaign as DC ascended to Number 10. Then, following the News of the World’s phone hacking scandal, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison — a part of his life that inspired his new podcast: Crisis, What Crisis, in which he talks to a wide array of people who have, as he puts it, been up and down the hill a few times. In a fascinating episode, Andy tells us how he dealt with what we might call David Cameron’s Toff Problem; discusses the entrepreneurial lessons he learned in prison; and describes the dangerous symptoms of a condition he calls 'Editoritis'. Enjoy. You can find a link to Andy's podcast, Crisis, What Crisis?, here.

Gerald Ratner is the former CEO of the Ratners jewellery empire, and a professional corporate speaker. As a young man, Ratner worked his way up the ladder of his family company, eventually turning it into the biggest jewellery chain in the world. And then, at the height of his powers, a single speech changed his fortune forever, and sent his life and his business into a downwards spiral that took some years to recover from. His story — and that infamous moment — is now the subject of business degrees the world over, and his name still trends on Twitter several times a year at moments of corporate blunder. This is one of the most interesting episodes we’ve had in a while — a true rollercoaster of a story, with a born entrepreneur whose colourful career has come to be defined by just a few words. With his famously deadpan sense of humour, Ratner talks us through the meteoric rise of the Ratners Group, the morning leading up to that speech, and why, if you want to get something done, it sometimes pays to impersonate a police officer.

In a special episode of the podcast, we're joined by Tommy Stadlen and Jonnie Goodwin — two prominent members of the UK’s investment community. Tommy is the co-founder of Giant Ventures, and has had a remarkably varied career — working as an advisor to both Barack Obama and David Miliband, setting up a photography app that was then sold to Microsoft, and even finding time as a teenager to release an ambient music album. Jonnie, meanwhile, is the head of Alvarium Merchant Banking. He’s enjoyed a rich and colourful career in television and radio, advising on over 100 very high-profile media deals in his time. He is best known now, perhaps, for setting up Founders Forum — a network for entrepreneurs — with Brent Hoberman. This episode is all about tech investing in 2021, and the current climate and outlook for the wider venture capital community. In it, Tommy and Jonnie discuss how purpose is now front and centre in most investment decision; the rise of the Special Acquisition Company; how they stay on top of the sea of noise and nonsense in startup land; and the sort of entrepreneurs that they do and don’t like to invest in. Enjoy.

Will Ahmed is the founder of Whoop — the man behind an ingenious wearable strap that tracks your sleep, your recovery, your strain, and all sorts of other clever metrics. Its early fans included LeBron James and Michael Phelps — and its newest fans include most of the VC universe, who have just pushed Whoop to a $ 1.2 billion valuation. (Will, by the way, is still only 30 years old.) In this episode, Will tells us where the Whoop name originally came from; how the band became an accidental diagnosis tool for Covid; and the secret that nobody knows to gaining access to the world’s most influential figures.

My guest on today’s show is Jamie Siminoff, the founder of Ring. Jamie is the start up world’s tinkerer-in-chief — a true inventor who first stumbled upon the idea for a smart, video-enabled doorbell because he wanted to communicate with delivery drivers while he was down in his garage. The journey from that moment — to a famous $1 billion acquisition by Amazon — is fascinating: full of ups and downs, near death experiences, luck and graft and even an appearance on Shark Tank. In this episode, Jamie tells us about the moment a random glitch very nearly destroyed everything he’d worked for, why celebrating is not always that helpful, and why you shouldn’t listen to any of his advice (or anyone else’s).

Jasper Cuppaidge is the founder of Camden Brewery. After missing a flight on a round the world trip, Jasper found himself stranded at the Westbourne Pub in Notting Hill — and soon worked his way up from glass collector to owning his own establishment, via every single rung on the hospitality ladder. Later, he began brewing his own lager — and the rest, as they say, is history. By 2015 , Jasper had sold Camden to AB InBev, the biggest brewer in the world — though it still retains the start up ethos that Jasper instilled in it, all those years ago. In a highly enjoyable episode, Jasper tell us about the power of walking; how he brushed off accusations of selling out; and why a teenage brewing experiment nearly exploded his childhood home.

Sir Martin Sorrell is the advertising mogul who took a small company called Wire and Plastic Products (they used to make shopping baskets back in the day) and transformed it into the biggest advertising company in the world. After leaving WPP in 2018, he set up S4 Capital — a new, data-driven, obsessively futuristic marketing company for the modern age. It is already worth more than £2 billion, and, in his own words, has left the traditional agencies looking like dinosaurs. In a brilliant episode of the podcast, Sir Martin talks about his role as the third Saatchi brother; about plans for retirement (spoiler — he doesn’t have any); and about how his grandfather cut off a cossack’s arm at the age of 10.

Tim Warrillow is the co-founder and CEO of Fever-Tree, the mixer maker extraordinaire. The company was set up in 2003, when Tim and his co-founder Charles Rolls realised there were all this lovely gin sloshing about the place, but a pretty lacklustre selection of tonics. So he trooped off to the Democratic Republic of Congo to find the best ingredients in the world — and just about lived to tell the tale. There were naysayers, of course — there always are. But the product has always spoken for itself. Today, Fever-Tree is the number one tonic in the UK, in the face of some pretty serious competition. In this episode, recorded at Fever Tree’s global HQ in West London, Tim told us how an article in a discarded newspaper changed everything; what he thinks of the new hard seltzer trend; and why the phrase ‘pivot’ should be banished from the earth.

Today we’re taking a deep dive into a brand we’ve loved for a very long time — Crockett & Jones. You’ll know them as one of the first names in English shoemaking — they make beautiful handmade shoes in timeless styles, with true attention to detail and infectious enthusiasm. So a couple of weeks ago we headed to their famous factory up in Northampton to meet the people behind the brand — from the pattern cutters, to the clickers, and the closers — and even several members of the Jones family themselves, who still run the business after more than 140 years. If you’re interested in British craftsmanship, interested in entrepreneurship, interested in how a historic, family run business adapts itself to the modern day — or if you just quite like shoes — then we hope you’ll enjoy this episode.

Asket is the fashion brand that doesn't want you to buy clothes. The company was set up in 2014, and it focuses on a permanent collection of a few beautifully designed and very well made garments. There are no seasons, no sales, no gimmicks, no fads. The manifesto is simple: buy less, buy better, and keep it longer. In this episode, the boys talk about their first impressions of one another; their love of crayfish and schnapps; why the word 'sustainability' is rubbish; and how a year-long odyssey to design a single t-shirt nearly drove them mad. Enjoy!

John Foley is the founder and CEO of Peloton, the at-home exercise company. John started out working in a candy factory, before a meandering career took him to Silicon Valley, the record industry, Barnes & Noble and beyond. At 40, he decided to start selling exercise bikes that let you attend spin classes whenever and wherever you wanted. Almost everyone told him it was a terrible idea. But after several years of sheer grit (and a few slightly wonky prototypes) the company is now a huge global success — it IPO’d last year, and has been one of the few real success stories of the Coronavirus pandemic, as more and more of us take to exercising at home. In this episode, John talks to us about the atmosphere in Silicon Valley during the dotcom boom; about his love for Snickers; about the demise of Kickstarter campaigns; and about his hatred for the phrase “chillax”.

Sir John Hegarty is the British Adman extraordinaire, and the industry’s favourite contrarian. He’s the founder of BBH, one of London’s best established and most successful ad agencies, and the brains behind decade-defining campaigns for Levis, Audi, British Airways and Johnny Walker. This is an episode from the Gentleman’s Journal archive — we recorded it back in the summer of 2018, but it’s only just seen the light of day. Thankfully, Hegarty’s advice, Oracle-like insight and counterintuitive outlook are timeless. In this episode, we spoke about how humour can always save a campaign; about the birth of Flat Eric; about how, actually, you don’t learn much from your failures; and about how storytelling gave birth to the modern human race.

Imran Amed is the founder, CEO and editor-in-chief of Business of Fashion, perhaps the most authoritative voice in the entire fashion industry. Imran started the company on his sofa in London in 2007, and has since grown it into a media powerhouse that employs more than 100 people. In this episode, we spoke about all sorts of things in this very interesting episode: why you should look for your global niche, how ten days on a silent retreat changed Imran’s life, why his dream is to slam dunk like Michael Jordan, and how the high street can save itself in the current crisis.

Jeremy King is the restaurateur behind so many of London’s finest and most adored restaurants. Along with his long time collaborator Chris Corbin, he opened the Ivy and J Sheekey and Le Caprice in the nineties, all of which became London’s first true ‘power’ restaurants — and more recently, they’ve been behind places like the Wolseley, the Delaunay, Colbert, Fischer's, Soutine and Brasserie Zedel. In this episode, we spoke about how Jeremy decided to bet his whole career on the role of the dice; why he would pretend to be Long John Silver when working in finance; why you should always go with your gut; how the hospitality industry can survive this pandemic; why “I’m doing my best” is a terrible thing to say; and why you should never open a restaurant on a full moon.

Our guest today is Eddie Jordan, the former boss and founder of the Jordan Formula One team, racing pundit, and all round legend of the sport. This was a hugely enjoyable conversation — we spoke about how Eddie almost became a dentist as a young man, about the Wild West days of Formula One in the early nineties, about working closely with Bernie Ecclestone, about his unique style of dealmaking, and about how he has calculated that he’s the luckiest man in the world.

Joe Grossman is the founder of Patty & Bun, who, as you probably know, make some of London’s most coveted burgers. Set up at the height of the 'burger boom' in 2012, Patty & Bun has outgunned its many competitors at every turn, and now operates 12 sites across London and elsewhere. At the start of lockdown, Joe launched 'DIY kits' so that his customers could re-create their favourite burgers at home — and by all accounts it's been a roaring success. This is a typical Joe Grossman move, as you’ll discover — Joe doesn’t do things by halves, and he likes to charge into a problem all guns blazing. This is almost certainly why his company has been so successful where so many others have faltered. In this episode, we talk about how the first people he spoke to told him Patty & Bun was a terrible idea; why his first ever lunch service at Patty & Bun was so bizarre; and how home delivery is changing the industry day by day.

Our guest on today's episode is Jo Malone CBE — the nation’s favourite perfumer. She founded Jo Malone London, her first fragrance brand, when she was just 21 from a tiny flat in London, before selling it just a few years later to Estée Lauder for undisclosed millions. She now runs Jo Loves, a more experimental and personal perfume brand that takes its inspiration from her own life and memories. Today, Jo tells us about synesthesia, the incredibly rare neurological condition that gives her a “super powered nose”; how she had to learn to sell as a seven year old to put food on her family’s table; and why setting up her second business was in fact so much harder than the first. (We recorded this episode via Zoom, and we were at the mercy of my provincial internet connection, so I hope you don’t mind if I sometimes sound a little muffled. I think Jo’s stories and wit more than make up for it.)

Our guest on today’s episode is Simon Woodroffe, the founder of YO! Sushi. Simon had never opened a restaurant before when he launched YO! Sushi in Soho in 1997 — and at first, it seemed like the robot waiters, smoke-extracting ashtrays and raw fish served off conveyor belts might be too much for Londoners to get their heads around. But they soon fell in love with it, of course — and it was Simon’s gung-ho spirit and experimental ideas, in fact, that made the brand such a colossal hit. We recorded this episode on Simon’s beautiful house boat on Cheyne Walk on the Thames — and the conversation bobbed along nicely from Simon’s early days as a set designer for rock and roll acts, to the reasons why he decide to leave Dragons Den, and even his dream to bring private islands to the masses. Enjoy!

Our guest on today’s episode is Bill Browder, the American financier, author and activist — and Vladimir Putin’s public enemy number one. This is one of the most eye opening and poignant episodes we’ve ever recorded. Bill is, like all of our guests, an incredible entrepreneur and business person — in fact, he set up and ran perhaps the most successful hedge fund of all time. But it’s what Bill did after this initial success that really places him in a category of one — and, as you’ll hear, his incredible story takes in crooked plutocrats, exorbitant wealth, international intrigue, torture, imprisonment, tragedy and, in the end, a bold and ingenious bid for justice. Our thanks to Mark's Club for playing host

Our guest today is Tej Lalvani, the formidable CEO of Vitabiotics. Vitabiotics is a brilliant British success story — it was set up by Tej’s father in 1971, and has since grown to be the biggest vitamin company in the United Kingdom. You’ll probably know it because it keeps David Gandy looking so handsome on all those billboards and tube adverts across the capital — but Vitabiotics and their marquee products have millions of daily advocates who aren't underwear models, too. Tej is also a Dragon on Dragon’s Den, which is a first for us and is incredibly exciting — not least because he reveals some of the most intimate secrets of the Den during our conversation. We also talk about his first job at McDonalds and his love of Fillet'o'Fish; the success of Vitabiotics' innovative new gummy products; and Tej's secret life as a house music producer — if you don’t believe me, just search Tej Lalvani on Spotify and thank me later. Enjoy the episode.

Our guest on today’s episode is John Caudwell, the founder of Phones 4u and super philanthropist. John is an incredible entrepreneur, and he was at the cutting edge of telecoms throughout its earliest, wildest days. Some of his war stories from the first years of Phones 4u are incredible — like the time Motorola tried to destroy his entire business with a single dastardly deal. But John survived, of course, and built Phones 4u into a high street staple, before selling it in 2006 for just under $1.5 billion. Today, most of his efforts are spent on Philanthropy, and this, as you’ll hear, gives him more satisfaction than anything else. Enjoy.

Emma Sayle is the founder of Killing Kittens, and one of the world’s leading “sex-entrepreneurs”. You might know Killing Kittens as the brand behind a world of high-end sex parties that put female empowerment at their core — perhaps you've even been to one of their events. The company turns 15-years-old this year, has more than 80,000 active members, and turns over many multiples of millions, as you’ll find out — so it’s heartening to learn it was born out of a three day party with no sleep on the island of Ibiza. In a brilliant episode of the podcast, we spoke about the importance of having a thick skin; the reactions of Emma’s friends and family when they first learned of the idea; and the incredible cross-section of powerful people who attend these remarkable events. Enjoy.

Professor Stefan Allesch-Taylor CBE might best be described as a serial entrepreneur — though that doesn’t really cut it. Stefan has been a policeman, an advertising agency founder, a film producer, a stock broker, the director of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s charities, an arch philanthropist, and an advisor and investor to countless successful start ups. He's also the first Professor of the Practice of Entrepreneurship at King's College London. In a lively recording, we spoke about Stefan's Harlem Globetrotter-like approach to rugby union; the reason he used to keep a tank of piranhas by his desk; and the giant blag he pulled off at the age of 19 that kick started his business career.

Our guest on today's show is Will Butler-Adams, the CEO of Brompton Bicycle. We recorded this one at Brompton’s factory in West London, and it's a fascinating episode that tells the story of one of Britain's most singular brands and the man behind its quiet revolution. In it, we spoke about Will’s two trips to the amazon (one of which very nearly killed him); his visions for a truly bike friendly London; and why it's what we do in the five-to-nine really defines us. Enjoy.

On today’s episode we sit down with two men from the top of the property game: Liam Bailey, the Global Head of Research at Knight Frank and Tim Hyatt, the Head of London Residential at Knight Frank. The property market can sometimes seem like an opaque and mysterious business. But in this episode, Tim and Liam lift the lid on its inner workings, revealing how they got into the game, the challenges that will face London in the year’s ahead, and where to put your cash in 2020. Our thanks to Mark's Club for playing host.

Our guest on today’s episode is Luca Faloni, the founder of the Italian menswear brand that bears his name. Luca’s business is a classic style start-up success story — one excellent hero product, a little artisan craftsmanship, a successful online store, a loyal and discerning following… and then the slow steady climb to start competing with the big boys. Today, the brand has four major stores across the world (with seven more on the way next year) and has an adoring following wherever it appears — their linen shirts, in particular, come highly prized. In this episode, Luca tells us why 28 is the ideal age to start a business; why the restaurant owner next door can teach you just as much about business as Elon Musk; and why there’s no such thing as being over prepared.

In a special live episode of the podcast, we've teamed up with esteemed Northampton shoemaker Church’s for a Rugby World Cup extravaganza. Editor Joseph Bullmore is joined by Dylan Hartley, the most capped hooker in England history; Ben Franks, the Kiwi two-time World Cup winner; and Harry Mallinder, the U20s World Cup winning captain. With plenty of audience participation from the gathered crowd, the Northampton Saints players spoke candidly about life at the top of the game, their first rugby memories, their greatest style disasters and their predictions for the 2019 World Cup. Our thanks to Church's for playing host

This special ‘al fresco’ episode of the podcast is all about 'collecting masterpieces' — investing in luxury, celebrating beauty, and building a covetable collection of anything, from cars to watches to wine. Recorded at Hampton Court Palace at the annual Concours of Elegance car show — and made in partnership with our good friends at German watchmaker A. Lange & Söhne — it features Simon Cundey of Savile Row tailors Henry Poole; Evan Zema, collection manager for Bruce McCaw; and Wilhem Schmid, the CEO of A. Lange & Söhne. Enjoy.

David de Rothschild is an explorer, conservationist, and Breitling watch ambassador. He looks a bit like a more handsome Jesus, and is, in many ways, the older brother you've always wanted. He’s got a ripping yarn for any situation, often with the battle scars to match — like the time he danced for an Ecuadorian chieftain, at gunpoint, to Kajagoogoo. Or the time he sailed a catamaran made of plastic bottles around the world. In a thoroughly enjoyable episode, David tells us why GDP is the worst metric for success; why advertisers should pay a dividend to nature; and why fear, actually, can be a very good thing.

Johan Obel and Clemens Boeninger run the Drug Store — the UK’s foremost and finest seller of CBD. And if you don’t know what CBD is, you soon will — the cannabis extract is behind one of the biggest new industries of this century, and it's being applied in a huge amount of treatments and supplements. The market around it, meanwhile, is predicted to be worth some $22 billion by 2022. For two young guys, Johan and Clemens are annoyingly switched on, and their ideas around start ups are applicable to anyone interested in starting a business. Enjoy the episode. Our thanks again to Mark's Club for playing hosts. Excellent olives.

Davide Cerrato is the Managing Director of Montblanc Watches and one of the most fascinating figures in modern watchmaking. In a special episode recorded down at Hound Lodge on the Goodwood estate — Montblanc, of course, are the official timekeepers for Goodwood’s Festival of Speed — Davide tells us why we should always strive for imperfection; how he lost his favourite ever watch as a young man; and why we should all try to stay five years old forever.

Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon is the chef de cave at storied champagne house Louis Roederer, and one of the leading voices in this ancient and enigmatic industry. This was an incredibly fun episode to be a part of — Jean-Baptiste brought a couple of bottles of champagne along to the recording, and over a flute or six we spoke about his predictions for the world of wine, the truth about biodynamic champagnes, and why all wine, really, is about our childhoods. Enjoy. Our thanks to the Savoy for playing hosts.

Our guest on today’s episode is Nick Wheeler, the founder of Charles Tyrwhitt. Now a true pillar of the high street and perhaps the best known shirtmaker in Britain, Charles Tyrwhitt began when Nick started flogging shirts by mail order at university. In the decades since, it’s had monumental highs and a couple of lows — in fact, Nick tells us how the brand very nearly went bust twice, and how he’s learned just as much from these near failures as he has from his successes. Recorded at the hub of Charles Tyrwhitt operations in London Bridge, in this episode Nick tells us why he’ll never, ever sell the business; how the high street might just save itself; And why he keeps a beard in a jam jar.

Our guest on today’s episode is Simon Kidston, perhaps the best known vintage car broker and connoisseur in the world. Born into a motoring family, Simon was destined to work with cars — and what he doesn’t know about the things really isn’t worth knowing. Today, he’s a world authority and private advisor and who helps the likes of Ralph Lauren and Marc Newsom get their hands on some of the rarest cars on the planet. In a very enjoyable episode, Simon tells us how to make your own luck, how to make a career out of your passion, and how he once took the Batmobile for a joy ride. Our thanks to Mark's Club for playing host

Alexandre Mars is a serial entrepreneur and the CEO of Epic Foundation, a groundbreaking charity platform. Epic focuses on taking the grey areas and worries out of charitable giving, and builds philanthrophy into the structure of all the companies it works with. Alexandre has been described as the “French Bill Gates” — and the comparison is pretty fitting. A businessman from his teenage years, Alexandre has started and sold a series of successful tech companies, before finally turning his skills and his fortune to humanitarian problems around the world. In this episode, we talk about his eerie knack of predicting the future, his love of break dancing, and his brilliant new book. Our thanks again to Mark's Club for playing host.

Zia Yusuf is the co-founder of Velocity Black, a mould breaking digital members’ club and one of the fastest growing venture-backed technology companies in the world. Zia is one of those tech founders who really does live and breathe his business, and he has an almost philosophical approach to entrepreneurship that I think a lot of business people could learn from. In a fascinating conversation, we spoke about the secret to all great partnerships, how to create word of mouth publicity, and why we should all chase that 'top of the rollercoaster' feeling. The Gentleman's Journal podcast is brought to you by Martell Blue Swift

This is a very exciting episode for us — it marks the first time we’ve ever recorded the podcast in front of a live audience. In December I sat down at the Conduit Club in Mayfair with five of the most exciting young entrepreneurs in London, and spoke to them about their memories and experiences in those make-or-break first days of the start up game. We were very lucky to be joined at the Conduit by Freddie Garland of Freddie's Flowers, Daniel Scott of AirSorted, Henry Hales of Sir Plus, Arthur Kay of BioBean, and Archie Hewlett of Duke and Dexter. It’s definitely one of the most interesting and downright useful episodes we’ve ever recorded, and we’re incredible grateful to Martell Blue Swift for collaborating with us on a very special evening.