If you’re passionate about building a more sustainable future and curious about the business models making it possible, you’re in the right place. Join Alex Smith, CEO of FuturePlus , to dive into the world of sustainable business, talking to founders and industry pioneers who are redefining success with the planet and society in mind. This isn’t just another business podcast. At FuturePlus , we’re redefining ESG, Environmental, Social, and Governance, by bringing you data-driven insights and future-focused actions that make a real impact. From breakthrough technologies to bold new policies, FuturePlus explores the strategies, challenges, and innovations driving the global shift toward sustainability. So, whether you're a business leader, investor, or sustainability enthusiast, join us to stay ahead of the curve. Find out more about FuturePlus .Connect on Linkedin .
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46 recent
June 10, 2026Episode 4612 min
46: The Human Element in Sustainability
Clare Toombs joins Alex in the studio to share her journey from tech consulting in Australia to ESG and sustainability advisory at FuturePlus.Clare reflects on what sparked her passion for sustainability as a teenager, why she believes sustainability is still too siloed in most businesses, and why the human element is the critical differentiator when it comes to turning data into real progress.Discover more at https://future-plus.co.uk/
June 3, 2026Episode 4513 min
45: Verified, Not Vibes: Carbon, Consultancy and Getting Started with Sustainability | Business of Sustainability Bitesize
Molly Todd, sustainability and carbon consultant at FuturePlus, joins Alexandra to talk about her journey from nearly a decade in hospitality to becoming one of the team's go-to experts on carbon and ESG consultancy.Molly breaks down the three types of clients FuturePlus typically works with, why so many businesses are doing good things without the evidence to back it up, and how the FuturePlus platform and consultancy team work together to take businesses from where they are to where they need to be.
May 27, 2026Episode 4442 min
44: The AI Advantage: How Smart Bidding is Transforming Sustainability in Procurement
Procurement is where sustainability commitments get made or broken. But most businesses don't realise that the bid process itself is being transformed by AI, and that social value is increasingly the deciding factor in who wins.In this episode, FuturePlus CEO, Alex Smith sits down with Tricia Blatherwick, Chief Evangelist at AutoGenAI, to explore what is really happening at the intersection of AI and procurement. Tricia brings decades of experience leading bids and commercial teams at organisations like Atos and Capita, and now works with over 300 clients helping them build smarter, faster, more competitive bids.They cover how AI is reshaping the end-to-end bid process, why social value can now account for up to 10% of a contract score (and in some cases is the only thing that separates the winners from the rest), and what it means for businesses of all sizes to have a credible, evidenced sustainability story ready when it matters most.Tricia also makes the case that AI does not replace skilled people. It lifts them. The grunt work goes to the machine. The judgment stays with the human.A sharp, practical conversation for anyone working in procurement, sustainability, or business growth.For more information on: AutoGenAI or FuturePlus.
May 13, 2026Episode 4348 min
43: What Everest Teaches Us About Sustainable Leadership with Kenton Cool
What can the world's highest mountains tell us about building a sustainable future?Kenton Cool has summited Everest 19 times, each time as a guide. He's spent 35 years operating in environments where resources are scarce, conditions are unpredictable, and the margin for error is razor thin. In those environments, sustainability isn't a strategy; it's survival.In this episode, Alex Smith talks to Kenton about the visible impact of climate change on glaciers across Europe and the Himalayas, the tension between pursuing adventure and reducing your environmental footprint, what "leave no trace" really means in practice, and how the lessons of high-altitude leadership translate directly into how businesses respond to complexity, risk, and long-term thinking.This one is a little different. But the core message is the same: what you do today has consequences, and the best leaders understand that clearly.For More InformationFuturePlus: https://future-plus.co.uk/In Cool Company: https://www.incoolcompany.com/
May 6, 2026Episode 4210 min
42: Are You Getting Sustainability Hiring Wrong? | Business of Sustainability Bitesize
Sustainability hiring has grown fast. But a lot of businesses are still getting it wrong, writing job specs that are too broad, hiring without knowing where sustainability fits in their organisation, and then wondering why it isn't working.In this episode, FuturePlus CEO Alex Smith talks to Sustainability Executive Poppy Clarke, who spent two and a half years recruiting in the climate tech space before making the move to FuturePlus. Poppy brings a rare outside-in perspective on what businesses actually need when it comes to sustainability talent, and where the gaps are.They discuss the rise of specialised sustainability roles, the commercial communication skills that technical experts often lack, and why the first question isn't whether to hire but where sustainability needs to sit in your business.🌐 future-plus.co.uk
April 29, 2026Episode 4112 min
41: AI and Sustainability: What Every Business Needs to Think About Now | Business of Sustainability Bitesize | FuturePlus
AI is changing how every business operates. But how many are thinking about what that means for their sustainability?FuturePlus CEO Alex Smith and COO Polly Milne sit at the intersection of sustainability and AI every day, and in this episode they share what that looks like in practice, from how FuturePlus is integrating AI into its own platform to the practical steps any business can take right now.They cover:
How AI is being integrated into the FuturePlus platform to speed up client assessments
Why AI's environmental footprint is bigger than most businesses realise
The governance questions every SME should be asking about their AI tools today
Bias, gender, and the social implications of how AI is being trained and adopted
Why responsible AI adoption and ESG are more connected than people think
🌐 future-plus.co.uk
April 22, 2026Episode 4015 min
40: Where Should Sustainability Sit in Your Business? | Business of Sustainability Bitesize | FuturePlus
Put sustainability in marketing and you risk it becoming a storytelling exercise without the substance behind it. Put it too far from the boardroom and it loses the weight to drive real change. So where should it actually sit?In this episode, FuturePlus CEO Alex Smith and Sustainability Consultant Ana Biedermann Villagra work through that question from multiple angles, drawing on Ana's experience across in-house roles, consultancy, B Corps, the UN Global Compact, and UNICEF.They discuss how organisational maturity shapes where sustainability lands, why board-level ownership is the difference between sustainability as a checklist and sustainability as a driver of value, and how to have the conversation with a CEO who sees commercial success and sustainability as separate goals.Ana also shares her approach to working with competitive CEOs: find out what they fear, what motivates them, and show them what their competitors are already doing with it.🌐 future-plus.co.uk
April 15, 2026Episode 396 min
39: Sustainability Through Fresh Eyes | Business of Sustainability Bitesize | FuturePlus
Poppy Clarke spent time in climate tech recruitment, watching other people do the jobs she wanted. So she made the move.In this episode, FuturePlus CEO Alex Smith talks to Poppy, now a Sustainability Executive at FuturePlus, about what the industry looks like when you're new to it, what surprised her, what confused her from the outside, and what she's found most engaging in her first few months.It's a short, honest conversation that covers the real breadth of what sustainability means inside a business, and why treating it as a tick-box exercise means leaving most of the value on the table.🌐 future-plus.co.uk
April 8, 2026Episode 3851 min
38: Roots, Resilience and Real Impact
Tuppenny Barn started with a single hectare of land and a simple idea: teach children where their food comes from and grow it organically.Over 21 years later, it has become one of the most quietly impressive sustainability success stories in the South East. In this episode, Alex Smith sits down with Maggie Haynes, founder and outgoing CEO of Tuppenny Barn, an accredited education charity based in Southbourne, near Chichester, to explore how the barn operates, what it has built, and why it works.They cover the barn's three core charitable activities, six green therapy programmes, the Veterans Bloom initiative, and a circular strawbale education centre funded entirely through grants.Maggie also explains how working with FuturePlus through the Chichester District Council Sustainability Accelerator helped the team review and sharpen what they were already doing, from waste and recycling to supplier choices and how they communicate sustainability to beneficiaries.It's a practical, grounded conversation about what running a genuinely sustainable organisation looks like, and what other businesses can learn from it.Find out more about Tuppenny Barn.Discover more about FuturePlus.
April 1, 2026Episode 3712 min
37: Greenwashing and Green Hushing | Business of Sustainability Bitesize | FuturePlus
Two of the biggest sustainability communication mistakes businesses make sit at opposite ends of the same spectrum. Overclaiming. And saying nothing at all.In this episode, FuturePlus CEO Alex Smith and COO Polly Milne discuss both, why they happen, what the consequences can be, and how businesses can find a more confident, authentic middle ground.Polly shares a practical example of a company that accidentally misrepresented their carbon position with entirely good intentions, explains why the regulatory landscape around green claims is tightening fast, and makes the case for why starting small and talking honestly about progress is far more powerful than waiting until everything is perfect.🌐 www.future-plus.co.uk
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