Big Boss Interview

Mondelēz International, the company behind Cadbury, Oreo, Toblerone and Ritz, has warned that future European investment could bypass the UK if regulatory instability persists.Chief executive Dirk Van de Put says the UK is the company’s second-biggest market globally and contributes more than £2.3 billion to the economy each year, supporting 12,000 jobs and spending £1.3 billion with more than 1,000 UK suppliers. But he is sharply critical of food and drink being left out of the government’s industrial strategy, despite representing around a quarter of industrial turnover. He says the sector is being taken for granted and warns that repeated policy shifts have already cost Mondelēz £40 million in reformulation work that was then superseded by further changes. Asked whether future investment could go elsewhere in Europe because of government policy, he says: “Yes, of course.”Van de Put also defends Mondelēz’s decision to continue operating in Russia, despite acknowledging the company pays taxes there that contribute to the war in Ukraine. He argues that withdrawal would have put 3,000 employees out of work, left 10,000 farmers without a buyer, and likely handed confiscated plants to Kremlin-linked interests that could generate even more money for the Russian state. He says: “I’m not pleased about that,” but maintains that staying was “not the most popular decision” but “the right decision”. The conflict in Ukraine is not theoretical for Mondelēz. Van de Put reveals that the company’s office building in Ukraine was hit on the morning of the interview, and its factories have been struck and rebuilt twice at a cost of tens of millions. He also said staff were evacuated to neighbouring countries during the worst of the fighting. More broadly, he describes the past two years as the toughest of his 30-year career. Wars, inflation, oil prices, packaging costs, fertiliser markets and weak household budgets have created cascading pressure across the business. He says global consumer confidence is among the worst he has ever seen.The cocoa supply chain has also suffered its worst disruption in at least 40 years. Concentrated production in Ghana and Ivory Coast, endemic crop disease and back-to-back extreme weather events drove an 18 per cent fall in harvests and sent prices soaring. Two stronger crops have eased the immediate pressure, but Van de Put says the structural fragility remains and the sector needs long-term intervention from governments, companies and farming communities.He also pushes back against the backlash against processed food, saying: “The world cannot live without processed foods.” He argues that processing is essential to food preservation and global food security, though he accepts the industry must continue to make products healthier.On GLP-1 weight loss drugs, Van de Put says Mondelēz is not yet seeing a material impact, but expects the trend to reshape consumer habits over time. He sees the drugs as broadly positive and says the company is adapting through acquisitions in protein and health snacking, including Grenade, Clif Bar and Perfect Snacks, as well as developing products with more protein, fibre and cleaner ingredients.Presenter: Leanna Byrne Producer: Olie D’Albertanson Editor: Henry Jones0:00 Will and Leanna intro the podcast 03:01 Dirk Van de Put interview begins / His background as a vet 08:53 Forces shaping the business: wars, tariffs, climate, cocoa, regulation, GLP-1 drugs 13:25 Europe as a difficult market / Consumer confidence at historic lows16:28 Continuing operations in Russia / Moral decisions & taxes funding the war 21:51 Cocoa supply chain crisis, El Niño & prices 24:27 Consumer pricing, shrinkflation & recipe integrity 29:30 UK industrial strategy: food industry left out 33:00 Future investment in UK & HFSS regulation 36:07 Education vs. regulation on obesity & weight loss drugs 41:48 Acquisitions (Grenade, Clif Bar) & protein/fibre trends 43:50 Chocolate tasters & "tasting Neanderthal" confession

Nicole Melillo Shaw, Managing Director of Volvo UK, joins Big Boss Interview at a pivotal moment for the electric vehicle market, as the company recalls 10,500 EX30 electric cars following four battery fires globally.“It’s against everything we stand for,” she says, reflecting on a situation that challenges a brand built on nearly a century of safety leadership. Despite a global failure rate of just 0.02% and no fatalities, Volvo identified the root cause in late December and immediately instructed owners not to charge beyond 70% while a fix is implemented. Repairs are scheduled to begin in late March. For Volvo, the response reflects what she describes as a precautionary, safety-first culture, even when the commercial implications are uncomfortable.Melillo Shaw examines what the recall means for consumer confidence in electric vehicles — a technology already under heightened scrutiny — even though petrol vehicles statistically present a greater inherent fire risk due to flammable fuel systems.The recall comes as electric vehicle adoption remains slower than manufacturers once anticipated, despite annual growth exceeding 20%. Volvo’s UK electric sales peaked at 28% following the EX30 launch but have since stabilised at just over 22 per cent as more than 160 additional models enter the market and buyers opt for “one more petrol” or hybrid before fully switching.Range anxiety, she argues, is no longer the central issue, but infrastructure concerns persist. Confusing government messaging — pairing incentives with discussions of pay-per-mile charges and benefit-in-kind changes — continues to add to consumer hesitation.Global instability adds further complexity. Volvo has been regionalising production, partly in response to tariff pressures, building vehicles closer to the markets in which they are sold. That turbulence elevates the UK’s importance as Volvo’s third-largest market, where a direct-to-consumer model has delivered 40% growth and lifted market share from 2.5% to 3.5%.Government Zero Emission Vehicle mandates now require manufacturers to meet steep electrification quotas or face fines of £12,000 per non-compliant vehicle from November. Volvo discontinued diesel models in the UK in 2023 and says it could sell 100% electric vehicles tomorrow if demand existed. However, meeting regulatory targets while absorbing development costs and discounting pressures presents a commercial balancing act.Finally, Melillo Shaw reflects on her own trajectory — from Scunthorpe through healthcare brands to automotive leadership. Volvo deliberately recruited her because she had never bought a car, valuing the perspective of someone who understood the anxiety of a major purchase. She argues the industry must broaden access and challenge assumptions about who belongs in automotive careers, creating clearer pathways for talent from working-class communities.

Clive Chesser, chief executive of PureGym, says surviving cancer fundamentally changed him as a leader — deepening his empathy and reshaping how he approached life, including changing career..His diagnosis came during an extraordinarily difficult period in December 2021. While leading his then pub business through a complex private equity transaction, he was experiencing persistent breathlessness and fatigue he initially attributed to long COVID. After noticing swollen lymph nodes in his neck, members of his family — several of whom are senior doctors — urged him to undergo further tests. He completed them just before finalising the business deal.Christmas brought what he describes as an unimaginable sequence of events. On Christmas Day, his father-in-law died while his wife isolated at home with COVID. Shortly afterwards, Chesser received confirmation that he had cancer in his lymph nodes. The following day, he says, he faced the hardest moment of his life: telling his three teenage children he had cancer.At the time, Chesser was marathon-fit, training regularly and running annually. That physical condition proved critical during treatment. His fitness enabled him to tolerate more aggressive radiotherapy and additional chemotherapy rounds, improving his chances of full recovery — which he ultimately achieved. The experience, he says, transformed his sense of purpose and made his subsequent appointment as PureGym’s chief executive feel profoundly aligned with his personal journey.That personal conviction underpins what he describes as a broader fitness revolution reshaping the UK gym industry. Nearly half — 47% — of PureGym’s January 2025 joiners were aged 25 or under, reflecting what Chesser sees as a generational shift in attitudes to health. Younger members, particularly Gen Z and Gen Alpha, are integrating fitness into their social identity. Gyms are becoming social hubs, not simply places to exercise, where mental wellbeing and community sit alongside physical strength.He describes a trend he calls “fitness snacking” — members moving fluidly between gyms, boutique studios and fitness events before returning to a core membership. Despite this apparent transience, average tenure stands at 19 months and is rising. Most new joiners are returning members, a notable fact given PureGym’s no-contract, month-to-month model, where members actively choose to stay.Women are driving another significant shift in the market, moving away from cardio-dominated routines towards strength and conditioning. In response, PureGym has introduced more than 50 women-only workout spaces across the UK after research showed many women prefer environments where they feel more comfortable and less exposed. These areas exist nationwide and sit alongside screened lighter-weight zones designed to reduce intimidation for first-time users. While the majority of PureGym’s 456 UK sites remain mixed-gender spaces, Chesser argues that offering choice has been critical to growth and inclusion.Chesser also delivers a critique of the Labour government’s economic performance, arguing it has failed to deliver the long-term growth strategy promised before taking office. He points to National Insurance rises and the continued burden of business rates on bricks-and-mortar operators — including gyms and pubs — while online businesses face comparatively lighter structural costs.He draws a stark comparison between government and business leadership, noting that the UK has had six Prime Ministers in ten years — instability he likens to running a football club rather than a company built on rolling five-year strategies and careful succession planning. In his view, the government remains trapped in short-term crisis management rather than long-term economic planning.Presenter: Sean Farrington Producer: Olie D'Albertanson Editor: Henry Jones00:00 Fliss and Sean intro pod 01:50 Clive joins BBI 03:30 Growth on Gen Z gym users 10:20 Women only spaces and safety 16:00 Low cost model 25:20 Govt's 10 Year Health Plan 28:40 Clive's cancer journey 39:15 Frustration at govt's growth promises

Brian Niccol took over at Starbucks in 2024. He became CEO at a time profits had been falling and customers going elsewhere. He says Starbucks had got too distracted on efficiency and technology and lost focus on customers and experience.Starbucks has re-introduced things like handwriting on cups and ceramic mugs in a bid to win back customers, and has also given the menu and stores a makeover. It's already seen sales improve but Brian Niccol says they still need to do more..Technology is playing a big part in Starbucks plans to improve efficiency. It's using AI to take orders and allowing people to schedule their orders. It's also using technology to simplify the ordering process and stock. Niccol says this is allowing staff to spend more time to chat with customers. Presenter - Michelle Fleury Producers - John Mervin and Justin Bones Editor - Henry Jones01:40 Getting customers back to Starbucks. Says had lost focus and got distracted 07:22 Using technology such as AI taking orders and scheduling orders for customers 15:30 Partnering with 2028 LA Olympics 19:16 Should investors expect a slow rebuild or will the pace pick up this year 22:20 Giving power back to the storePicture: Reuters