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BBC World Service


The daily drama of money and work from the BBC.


Business Daily

When Lew Frankfort joined Coach, it was a family run, wholesale handbag business worth six million dollars.

He spent 35 years at the company, from opening the company's first shop to growing the business now valued at over five billion dollars.

We find out what led Lew to an unlikely career in fashion and how a chance meeting with a US president sparked his social consciousness.

If you'd like to get in touch with the programme, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Ed Butler
Producers: Hannah Bewley and Hannah Mullane

(Photo: Lew Frankfort, chairman emeritus and former CEO of Coach)

Lew Frankfort: Building a billion-dollar brand

Forty years ago Japan made more than half of the world's semiconductors. Today, it produces just over 10%. But the country has big ambitions to turn that around.

We hear from the CEO of a company at the centre of the government's high-stakes gamble to revive its semiconductor industry, and more broadly, its tech power.

And we'll learn how the island of Hokkaido is now the site of billions in investment to turn what has long been an agricultural powerhouse into a global chip manufacturing hub.

If you'd like to contact the programme, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Suranjana Tewari
Producer: Jaltson Akkanath Chummar

(Picture: A lavender field and colourful flower garden in Hokkaido, Japan. Credit: Getty Images)

Can an island of flowers become a global chip hub?

When Slovakia was part of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, the cars it made were noisy, thirsty and slow by western standards at the time. But when Volkswagen bought the car-maker Skoda, that was the beginning of a major change. 

Now, Slovakia makes almost a million cars a year and with Volvo opening a factory here in 2027, it’ll be a quarter of a million more. Extraordinary for a country of five million people. 

We visit a factory and find out why this small nation is attracting so much car industry investment. 

If you'd like to get in touch with the programme, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk

Presented and produced by John Laurenson

(Picture: Workers on a production line in a car factory, Slovakia. Credit: BBC/John Laurenson)

Small country, auto giant

In the second of two programmes, we look at Donald Trump's record on the economy one year into his second presidential term. Today, we are asking is the United States still facing a cost of living crunch?

Its economy - the largest in the world - is still growing faster than most others and the stock markets are hitting record highs, yet many Americans say they are still struggling to make ends meet. What's going on? We get the view from our North America business correspondent, Samira Hussain; a data scientist; an economist; and consumers from across the country.

If you'd like to get in touch with the team, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Rahul Tandon
Producer: Craig Henderson
Additional production (audio diaries): Niamh McDermott

(Picture: A woman walks down the aisle at the grocery store with her shopping cart looking at shelved goods. Credit: Getty Images)

America's affordability question

Twelve months into Donald Trump’s second term as President, we examine what it’s meant for the US workforce.

For government workers it has been a year of cuts, sackings and Elon Musk’s now disbanded DOGE - Department of Government Efficiency - group. Some sections of the workforce have felt their rights under attack. Meanwhile, many Republicans feel DOGE has been a success. 

Has the past year also provided opportunities for those switching to the private sector?

If you'd like to get in touch with the programme, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk
 
Presenter: Ed Butler
Producer: Craig Henderson

(Picture: President Donald Trump listens during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on the 26th of February 2025 in Washington, DC. He was holding the first Cabinet meeting of his second term, joined by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, then head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Credit: Getty Images)

Life after DOGE

We meet retail turnaround expert Joanna Reynolds, the woman behind the revival of the Folio Society, one of Britain’s oldest publishing houses. 

Ten years ago, the company was losing money and facing an existential threat from the digital revolution.

Joanna explains how she transformed the business from a failing book club to a profitable, employee-owned publisher.

If you'd like to get in touch with Business Daily, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Sam Fenwick
Producer: David Cann

(Picture: Joanna Reynolds, CEO of the Folio Society, holding a book. Credit: Dunja Opalko)

CEO of the Folio Society, Joanna Reynolds

Festive celebrations at Christmas and New Year often involve increased alcohol consumption in many parts of the world. For some, that’s followed by a decision to take a break from drinking. It's become widely known as Dry January.

However, data shows that more people are choosing to reduce their alcohol intake all year round. 

Alcohol-free drinks only make up about 1% of the total industry, but their popularity has risen quickly, and the vast majority is beer. 

How influential is Dry January really in this growing trend? And how will the smaller producers, who pioneered the non-alcoholic sector, fare now that the drinks giants are producing their own zero percent products? 

We examine the changing adult drinks market. 

If you'd like to get in touch with the programme, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk

Presented and produced by Imran Rahman-Jones

(Picture: Sonja Mitchell, founder of Jump Ship Brewing, based in Scotland, UK, holding a glass of non-alcoholic beer up in the air. Credit: Jump Ship Brewing)

The 'Dry January' effect

Outrage has been growing in Iran over the country's struggling economy. Any growth this year or next looks unlikely.

Protests starting in the capital have spread around the country, driven by mounting economic pressures, sanctions and rising consumer prices. They've been met with a violent crackdown by the government. More than two thousand people are reported to have been killed since the protests began and Iran remains under a days-long internet blackout.

In this edition of Business Daily, we examine what has gone wrong with Iran’s economy and why financial pressures have led to so many people taking to the streets.

If you'd like to contact the programme, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Rahul Tandon
Producers: David Cann and Matt Lines

(Picture: An employee arranges a shelf at a store in the Iranian capital Tehran on the 7th of January 2026. Credit: Getty Images)

What's gone wrong with Iran's economy?

The power of the global bond market seems to have grown in recent years, to the extent that it can now dictate government policy and even topple political leaders. How much clout do the debt markets actually have and should they be reined in? 

Many rich nations are more indebted than they have ever been in modern times, meaning that some are spending more simply on servicing their debt than on schools, hospitals or military defence. 

In the second of two programmes on the bond market, we ask, how sustainable is that debt and should we be worried about it? 

If you'd like to get in touch with the programme, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Ed Butler
Producer: Gideon Long

(Photo: A view of financial buildings in the City of London. Credit: Getty Images)

Bonds: Has the debt become too big?

We explore how the world became so dependent on bonds, those IOUs from governments and firms that helped build the modern economy. Bonds are often dismissed as a dull corner of finance, but behind the scenes they have played a central role in major economic dramas around the world. 

We hear about their history, how they have shaped companies and countries, and why some fear the bond market could trigger the next global meltdown. 

If you'd like to get in touch with the programme, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Rob Young
Producer: Gideon Long

(Photo: A bond issued in 1648 by a Dutch water board to finance improvements to a local dike system. The bond, written on vellum, is held at Yale University Beinecke Library and is believed to be one of the oldest in the world that still pays interest. Credit: Yale University)

Bonds: Heroes or villains?

You might have seen it online - social media influencers sharing their morning routines before work. Some start as early as 4 or 5 AM, turning those hours into their personal 5-to-9 before the traditional 9-to-5 grind. 

Michelle Obama, Bob Iger, and Apple CEO Tim Cook all claim to be up between 4 and 5 AM. 

There’s a “5 AM club”, inspired by the habits of very successful people. But does waking up that early actually make us better at work? 

And there’s even a whole industry of how to optimise your morning routine with supplements, journals and beauty products. In some cases, ice baths.

Against his better judgement, Business Daily's Matt Lines signed himself up to a week of 4 AM starts and met those for whom this is a way of life. 

If you'd like to get in touch with the programme, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk

Presented and produced by Matt Lines

(Image: Matt Lines braving an ice bath as part of his research)

Does getting up early breed success?

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