A Founder is seeing competitors quietly roll back their focus on ESG and double down on cost-cutting and short-term gains. After years of disruption – from the pandemic to inflation to political uncertainty – the pressure is mounting.
They're proud of the values their business has been built on. Purpose is part of their DNA. But now they're asking: is this unwavering commitment helping the business succeed, or is compromise inevitable?
This is Alternatively Speaking. The Grant Thornton podcast where we explore the healthy tensions that shape modern business.
In this episode, host and broadcast journalist Samantha Simmonds is joined by Entrepreneur and Investor Piers Linney and Head of Transformation Carolyn Hicks to ask: can purpose truly drive profit, or does one come at the expense of the other?
They discuss the clash between short-term financial pressures and long-term values, why embedding purpose into strategy – not bolting it on – could be the difference between thriving and falling behind, and how shifting consumer expectations and talent priorities are forcing businesses to rethink the importance of purpose.
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Piers Linney is an entrepreneur and investor with experience across a range of sectors including technology, media, converged communications, and additive manufacturing. He is well-known as a champion of entrepreneurship and SMEs and is probably best known as a former Dragon investor on BBC Dragons’ Den and from Channel 4’s The Secret Millionaire.
He has been recognised as one of the UK’s Top 100 Most Influential Black Britons and in 2020 he was recognised as one of the UK’s Top 20 Ethnic Minority Executives. Piers is an adviser to Sky and sits on its Diversity Advisory Council and sits on the future strategy for the leading global automotive company, Jaguar Land Rover.
Carolyn Hicks is Head of Transformation and People Advisory at Grant Thornton, with over 13 years’ experience helping businesses navigate complex change across sectors including financial services, healthcare and retail. She specialises in reimagining operating models and embedding people-centric strategies to deliver sustainable growth.
As a female from a working-class family in the Northwest, Carolyn is passionate about gender equality and social mobility. She is committed to supporting the firm in continuing to drive change across these agendas - particularly role modelling and being active in mentoring females to increase the percentage of females we have in senior leadership roles.