Summary
The view from the top of business. Presented by Evan Davis, The Bottom Line cuts through confusion, statistics and spin to present a clearer view of the business world, through discussion with people running leading and emerging companies. The programme is broadcast first on BBC Radio 4 and later on BBC World Service Radio, BBC World News TV and BBC News Channel TV.
Prompted by a comment from a guest in last week's programme that Facebook could never have been created in the UK, Evan and his panel swap thoughts on why the US does so well when it comes to startups compared to Europe. They also discuss whether a big ego helps you get on in business, or gets in the way.
Joining Evan in the studio are Anita Frew, chairman of plastics company Victrex; entrepreneur and investor Richard Farleigh; Michael Spencer, founder and chief executive of money broker ICAP.
Producer: Ben Crighton Editor: Stephen Chilcott.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Thank you for downloading this podcast from the BBC. In this edition of the bottom line, |
| 0:05.2 | Evan Davis and his guests swap thoughts on start-ups and egos. |
| 0:09.8 | Hello and welcome to the programme. I wonder if my three guests today have big egos. You don't |
| 0:16.5 | have to be narcissistic to get on in business, but it does help according to one piece of research. |
| 0:21.5 | It, quote, serves as a catalyst for risk-taking and innovation. |
| 0:26.1 | We'll delve into the egos and perhaps even the super-egos of my panel of three. |
| 0:31.2 | And we're going to follow up on what was almost a throwaway comment from a guest in last |
| 0:35.5 | week's programme that Facebook could never have been |
| 0:38.1 | created here. So why does the US do so well when it comes to start-ups? If that is true, why is it |
| 0:45.9 | true? But before we go into any of that, let's spend a few minutes meeting each of my three guests. First up is |
| 0:51.6 | Anita Fru, who's chairman of a Futsi 250 company called |
| 0:55.0 | Victrex, a global manufacturer of high-performance polymers. Anita, do you have to tell us a bit about |
| 1:02.0 | this? It is, Evan. It's a great British success story. We're capitalised on London Stock Exchange |
| 1:07.3 | about a billion and a half, and we are the world's leading producer of high-performance thermoplastic polymers. |
| 1:12.8 | You'll have to tell us what they are. |
| 1:14.2 | You jump one step ahead. |
| 1:15.8 | One of the key drivers is metal substitutions. |
| 1:18.4 | So our polymers are lighter. |
| 1:21.1 | They have the same tensile strength as metal. |
| 1:24.2 | They can withstand high temperatures. |
| 1:26.0 | They're chemically resistant. |
| 1:28.7 | And so you would find them in the aerospace industry. metal. They can withstand high temperatures. They're chemically resistant, electrically resistant. |
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