Enter the Boardroom

Hosted by Enter the Boardroom Community

BusinessInterviews guests

Website RSS feed

Episodes

187

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

EN-GB

About the show

Enter the Boardroom is the podcast of the Enter the Boardroom Community. Each week, Nurole CEO Oliver Cummings sits down with leading Chairs, board members, CEOs and academics, drawing out the insights and hard-won lessons that rarely get shared in public. If you enjoy the podcast, the Community goes much deeper. You'll sharpen your board proposition, build a network of serious peers, stay current on the issues reshaping boardrooms, and access opportunities you won't find anywhere else. Visit etb.nurole.com to find out more. Listeners get a 10% discount by applying the code ENTER at checkout.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

August 26, 202643 min

188. James Thornton: How to get founder-to-CEO succession right

James Thornton is CEO of Intrepid Travel, the world's largest adventure travel B Corp, operating in more than 100 countries with $809 million in revenue and 317,880 customers in 2025. He became the company's first non-founding CEO succeeding co-founders Darrell Wade and Geoff Manchester. Tune into this episode to hear about: The five-year test: how James was quietly auditioned to become CEO (01:38) His advice for any founder building a CEO (04:31) Why becoming CEO felt anticlimactic (08:16) The founder trick for empowering a CEO without micromanaging them (12:55) How to stress-test an acquisition (18:50) What James looked for when hiring board members (22:22) Running a travel company through Covid (34:14) The advice James would give himself looking back on his nine-year journey (37:43)⚡The Lightning Round⚡(39:44) Host : Oliver Cummings Producer : Will Felton Editor : Penelope Coumau Music : Kate Mac Audio : Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web : https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

August 19, 2026Episode 18742 min

187. Ilse Howling: How to be the chair a board needs - create space, listen, pick the team

Ilse Howling is Chair of Frontier Developments, the AIM-listed video games company behind Planet Zoo and the Jurassic World Evolution franchise. Previously, she spent over a decade as Managing Director of Freeview. Listen to this episode to learn more about: The three things that actually make a great chair (02:23) How to get shareholders to give up what they individually want for what the company needs (07:18) What Ilse learned from Sky about a ruthless focus on the customer (09:29) How disagreeing with the founder got Ilse the job (17:24) The question Ilse asked in her first board meeting that she was told not to ask (23:25) Frontier's 20% cost cut, and the exec team's surprise offer to the board (30:03) ⚡The Lightning Round⚡(36:24) Host : Oliver Cummings Producer : Will Felton Editor : Penelope Coumau Music : Kate Mac Audio : Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web : https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

August 12, 202639 min

186. Tom Toumazis MBE: How to build a portfolio career: getting your foot in the door, identity challenges and the exec-to-non-exec transition

Tom Toumazis spent 8 years as EVP and Managing Director of Disney-ABC-ESPN in EMEA. Since stepping off the executive track a decade ago he has built a portfolio career which includes SID at PRS for Music, NED at Directors UK and Deputy Chair of the University of Westminster amongst others. Interested in what it takes to build a portfolio career? Tune in to hear about: How investing his own money became Tom's way into his first board seats (01:35) His rule for the money he put behind those first bets (05:20) What Tom didn't anticipate about small-table board life (07:51) How he figures out what he's actually bringing to a board beyond money (10:11) What nobody tells you about explaining a portfolio career at a dinner party (11:26) How Tom got his first board seat, and the mistake he admits he made once he had it (12:58) Do you need a stellar career to sit on a board? (15:48) Getting a board role is a numbers game (22:05) Tom’s tips for board interviews (26:28) An easy way to enhance your networking strategy (29:39) Enter the Boardroom Community Q&A (32:42) ⚡The Lightning Round⚡(34:51) Host : Oliver Cummings Producer : Will Felton Editor : Penelope Coumau Music : Kate Mac Audio : Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web : https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

August 5, 202642 min

185. Dame Anne Richards: From CERN to Coutts: How boards behave under pressure

Dame Anne Richards is Chair of Coutts, NED at Land Securities and Chair of TheCityUK Leadership Council. Previously, she was CEO of Fidelity International. Listen to this episode to find out more about: The three boardroom experiences that shaped Dame Anne Richards (01:57) The afternoon the entire board resigned (06:01) Why trust matters more than governance processes (14:38) Why boards should think of their CEO like a battery, and how to recharge them (17:00) How boards can kill good ideas without realising it (18:45) The puddle and stream problem every CEO faces (21:48) Why board agreement doesn’t mean board commitment (24:07) The unexpected risks of planned CEO successions (25:02) The chair's balancing act during a CEO handover(26:29) ⚡The Lightning Round⚡(28:57) Audience Q&A (34:05) Host : Oliver Cummings Producer : Will Felton Editor : Penelope Coumau Music : Kate Mac Audio : Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web : https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

July 29, 202643 min

184. Gavin Patterson: How boards make or break a CEO - lessons from the BT boardroom

Why becoming a NED made Gavin a better CEO (01:33) The advice Gavin would give himself looking back (09:12) How to unlock the high-flying CEO who always thinks they’re right (14:34) The two warnings Gavin ignored before BT fell apart (18:27) The truth about his departure from BT (21:46) Why Gavin doesn’t agree with ‘I’ll back you ‘till I sack you’ (26:41) What everyone could learn from PE firms about senior appointments (30:29) Gavin’s advice on firing a CEO (34:21) ⚡The Lightning Round⚡(36:11) Enter the Boardroom Community questions (40:47) Host : Oliver Cummings Producer : Will Felton Editor : Penelope Coumau Music : Kate Mac Audio : Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web : https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

July 22, 2026Episode 18343 min

183. Ian Filby: Power in the boardroom: PE control, public scrutiny & activist pressure

Ian Filby spent almost 30 years at Alliance Boots before becoming CEO of DFS. He then served as Chair at Joules and Pendragon, where he navigated activist shareholder pressure. Listen to this episode to learn about: What private equity taught Ian about how boards should behave (01:34) The danger of drifting from data to anecdote (05:36) The KPI mistake that leaves boards blind to the future (08:04) Why Ian had an operating board and a strategy board (10:36) The warning signs your bank may not back you when it matters (17:20) The private equity lesson every PLC board should steal (19:33) How Ian handled an activist investor, a blocked takeover and a boardroom revolt (23:14) Why Ian stepped down as chair (29:02) How to handle activist-investors (30:05)⚡The Lightning Round⚡(34:26) Host : Oliver Cummings Producer : Will Felton Editor : Penelope Coumau Music : Kate Mac Audio : Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web : https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

July 15, 2026Episode 18244 min

182. Celia Huber: The complete guide to AI in the boardroom

Celia Huber is a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company and leads McKinsey's boards services work in North America. Celia also serves on the executive committee of the California Business Roundtable, is a board member of AMN Healthcare and is a trustee of the AltaMed Foundation. Tune into this episode to learn about: The two questions that reveal where your board really stands on AI (01:27) The stat that shows how far behind most boards are on AI governance (09:00) Business pioneer, pragmatic adopter, internal transformer or functional reinventor: which AI archetype are you? (10:42) The five value levers that reveal where your AI opportunity actually is (16:13) How McKinsey builds its own AI tools instead of just relying on existing ones (23:45) How boards are using AI in the boardroom (26:30) Transparency, access, and risk: the three things boards get wrong about AI guardrails (30:50) The six-month AI learning journey every board should design (36:20) The one change Celia would make to improve any board by 20% in a year (38:08) ⚡The Lightning Round⚡(41:37) Host : Oliver Cummings Producer : Will Felton Editor : Penelope Coumau Music : Kate Mac Audio : Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web : https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

July 8, 2026Episode 18145 min

181. Chris Murray MBE: How board members succeed in high-risk-high-regulation environments

Chris Murray MBE has chaired National Grid Gas plc, National Grid Electricity pls and National Grid Gas Holdings. He now sits on the board of SGN. Listen to this episode to hear about: What Chris got wrong about boards early in his career (01:28) The most common mistakes first-time NEDs make (02:55) How Chris defuses a board disagreement before it reaches the table (08:10) Four things to know before joining a regulated board (14:58) Which of privatisation, liberalisation and decarbonisation did boards handle worst? (19:30) The three phrases Chris never wants to hear in a boardroom (28:14) How to know if your safety culture is real or just rhetoric (31:17) The moment that made safety personal for Chris (38:06)⚡The Lightning Round⚡(41:17) Host : Oliver Cummings Producer : Will Felton Editor : Penelope Coumau Music : Kate Mac Audio : Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web : https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

July 1, 202640 min

180. Betsy Atkins: Key lessons from 38 public company boards across four continents

Betsy Atkins has sat on more than 38 public company boards, been through 17 IPOs, and has done it all while running three companies of her own. She co-founded Ascend Communications and took it to a $23 billion acquisition by Lucent. She's also the author behind 'Be Board Ready' and 'Behind Boardroom Doors'. Tune in to this episode to learn more about: Why every board member should take the Hippocratic oath (01:28) The superpowers Betsy looks for in every executive (04:45) What she would do differently if she started her board career again (06:51) The day the FBI walked into Betsy’s boardroom (08:08) How she stress-tests a board candidate's character (12:47) The moment Betsy knew she had to leave HealthSouth (16:32) What happens when an AI agent goes rogue in your company (23:50) How to upskill a board that thinks AI is just a buzzword (28:49) How boards are using AI in the boardroom (33:36) What Betsy does differently to stay at the top of her field (35:27)⚡The Lightning Round⚡(37:23) Host : Oliver Cummings Producer : Will Felton Editor : Penelope Coumau Music : Kate Mac Audio : Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web : https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

June 24, 2026Episode 17940 min

179. Gareth Penny: Diamonds and Coal: Governing when the odds are stacked against you

Gareth Penny spent 22 years at De Beers, joining the board in 2003 and serving as Group CEO from 2006 to 2010 during which he dismantled over a century of supply-side monopoly. From 2013 to 2022 he was Independent Chair of Norilsk Nickel, winning Russian Chairman of the Year in 2016, and from which he resigned following the invasion of Ukraine. Listen to this episode to find out more about: Why being the world's biggest diamond monopoly was almost worthless (01:52) The people inside a business are the last to see what's wrong with it (06:20) Governing a boardroom with a government, a corporate and a family in it (11:20) The advice Gareth gives any CEO about to reinvent their company (14:36) What a fit board and a great sportsman have in common under pressure (20:36) The secret to a calm boardroom (24:42) Why the chair should always be the last person to speak (27:21) How a board handles one of the worst oil spills in Arctic history (30:15) The board function Gareth thinks almost every company is missing (35:36) ⚡The Lightning Round⚡(37:55) Host : Oliver Cummings Producer : Will Felton Editor : Penelope Coumau Music : Kate Mac Audio : Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web : https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom