Enter the Boardroom – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

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Enter the Boardroom

Enter the Boardroom Community

Business

Frequency: 1 episode/9d. Total Eps: 196

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.

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Data updated on 22/10/2026

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https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
196 shares

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1935939/support
188 shares

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RSS feed quality

Good

Score global : 73%

Publication history

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196. Conor Boden: How private equity decides who gets the board seat

Season 1 · Episode 196

Wednesday, October 21, 2026 • Duration 40:40

Conor Boden spent over two decades building boards for private equity funds. He was Head of Portfolio Board Development at Advent International. Listen to this episode to learn more about: What decides who private equity appoints as a chair or NED (01:42) Where to focus your time when no private equity board role is on offer (05:18) How private equity weighs track record against potential (10:05) How to move from someone's radar into an interview process (14:21) Psychometrics versus other assessment techniques (19:48) The most common reason credible candidates miss out (21:37) Whether you can change how you come across in a private equity interview (23:01) The board intervention that changes a business most (25:19) Why chairs and NEDs don’t get invited back (30:55) ⚡The Lightning Round⚡ (33:41)

Support the show

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

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195. Debbie Hewitt MBE: Chairing the FA - how to do the top job in the face of public scrutiny

Season 1 · Episode 195

Wednesday, October 14, 2026 • Duration 40:55

Debbie Hewitt MBE is Chair of The Football Association, the first woman to hold the role in its history. She is also a Vice-President of FIFA. Alongside football, she chairs Visa Europe and Compare the Market. Tune into this episode to hear about: Common misunderstandings about the FA (02:36) How to prioritise amongst stakeholders (05:30) How Debbie decides when to step in (09:08) Working with governance rules created in 1863 (11:12) Why Debbie didn’t immediately push for women's clubs to join the FA (15:00) What CEO succession teaches you about choosing an England manager (20:10) The personal cost of chairing the FA (22:18) Three questions to ask yourself before you speak to the press (29:30) Debbie’s mistakes, building a portfolio (31:12)⚡The Lightning Round⚡(37:42)

Support the show

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

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194. Matthew Lester: How a chair finds out what's really going on inside the business

Season 1 · Episode 194

Wednesday, October 7, 2026 • Duration 41:49

Matthew Lester is Chairman of Kier group plc and NED and Chair of the Audit Committee at Intermediate Capital Group plc. Previously, he was CFO of Royal Mail plc. Listen to this episode to learn more about: Two moments where non-execs had the biggest impact on the business (01:39) Why motivation outweighs knowledge in CEO hires (08:03) The hardest habit to break when you become a chair (16:21) How Matthew checks whether the board is getting the full picture (22:18) The case for giving employees a seat in the boardroom (31:06)⚡The Lightning Round⚡ (33:54)

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

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193. Dame Hayaatun Sillem: How to use early board roles to accelerate your exec career and set up a non-exec portfolio

Season 1 · Episode 193

Wednesday, September 30, 2026 • Duration 44:36

Dame Hayaatun is the founder and CEO of Argentic Associates. Previously, she was CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation. Listen to this episode to learn more about: How a non-exec role helped carve Dame Hayaatun’s path to CEO (01:35) How she landed her first non-exec role (11:22) How sitting on boards helped her improve in her day job (15:16) Two moments Dame Hayaatun felt like the board added the most value (18:52) Why asking for more information can create a bottleneck (26:09) Where non-execs cross the line with management (28:36) A 3-step framework for deciding what’s next: motivation, aspiration, consideration (35:22) ⚡The Lightning Round⚡(38:52)

Support the show

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

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192. Nick Wheeler OBE: The tortoise who built Charles Tyrwhitt - focus, founders and knowing when to step back

Wednesday, September 23, 2026 • Duration 46:47

Nick Wheeler OBE founded Charles Tyrwhitt in 1986 from his university room in Bristol. Forty years later it is a £400 million revenue business operating across the UK, US, and Europe. Listen to this episode to hear about: The tortoise rule: why the first 20 years are boring and the next 20 get exciting (04:34) Why the best business decision Nick ever made had nothing to do with shirts (08:03) The fine line between founder magic and founder interference (12:27) Why Michael Dell's £158 billion business still annoys Nick (19:38) The expansion mistake that sent Charles Tyrwhitt bust (21:02) Why a great interview tells you almost nothing - and what Nick does instead (26:18) The difference between building a brand and building a business (32:12)⚡The Lightning Round⚡(34:30) Audience Q&A (39:31)

Support the show

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

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191. Debbie Wosskow CBE: How entrepreneurs can become high-impact board members

Season 1 · Episode 191

Wednesday, September 16, 2026 • Duration 44:42

Debbie Wosskow CBE is one of the UK's best-known entrepreneurs. Today, she is NED of Channel 4 and co-chair of the government-backed Invest in Women Taskforce. Tune into this episode to hear about: Debbie's discipline around cash (01:17) Picking your boards wisely: what’s on the line as a non-exec (08:32) Why storytelling is important for founders (09:48) What surprised Debbie the most during her first exit (16:55) The Series B decision that split the Love Home Swap board (18:53) Three questions a NED should ask before accepting investment (26:07) "Organ donor rejection": why big names don't always survive in startups (28:49) How Debbie built her portfolio career (38:04) ⚡The Lightning Round⚡(42:08)

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

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190. Sir Lloyd Dorfman CBE: Why boards need to encourage more persistence and risk - lessons from Travelex and the Royal Ballet and Opera

Season 1 · Episode 190

Wednesday, September 9, 2026 • Duration 41:18

Sir Lloyd Dorfman CBE is founder of Travelex, the world's largest retailer of foreign exchange. Today, he is Chair of the Royal Ballet and Opera and sits on the Mayor of London's Business Advisory Board and is Chair of Dorfman Media Holdings. Listen to this episode to hear about: How Sir Lloyd talked his way into Heathrow Terminal 4 (01:35) How Travelex outbid the clearing banks for the Heathrow contract (09:06) Why entrepreneurial businesses see opportunities incumbents miss (14:04) Why Sir Lloyd bet Travelex on a £440m acquisition (16:05) The integration lesson from the £440m Thomas Cook acquisition (20:47) The challenge of leading a cultural institution after COVID (24:32) Why he banned hybrid board meetings (28:17) The mistake nonprofits make about commerciality (31:42) ⚡The Lightning Round⚡(34:34)

Support the show

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

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189. Jacqui Ferguson: How boards choose a chair, and how to be the one they pick

Season 1 · Episode 189

Wednesday, September 2, 2026 • Duration 40:44

Jacqui Ferguson started her career as a technologist in Scotland and rose to become a divisional CEO at Hewlett Packard. Today, she is a SID at Croda International plc and NED at National Grid plc. Listen to this episode to hear about: How Jacqui found out she was becoming chair of Tesco Bank (01:52) How a board actually decides who becomes its next chair (08:27) Working for Meg Whitman during Hewlett-Packard’s $8bn turnaround (10:12) Leading the search for Croda’s next chair, and why there’s no such thing as a perfect candidate (14:57) The 30 days it takes to run a FTSE 100 chair search (19:21) What separates the finalists in a chair search (22:13) Why Softcat kept its chair past the nine-year limit (25:38) The succession maths that made Jacqui rule herself out at Croda (30:44) Why 12 months as chair designate creates more problems than it solves (33:38)

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

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

Wednesday, August 26, 2026 • Duration 43:17

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

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

Season 1 · Episode 187

Wednesday, August 19, 2026 • Duration 42:42

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)

Support the show

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

Read moreCollapse

Enter the Boardroom – Details, episodes & analysis

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Enter the Boardroom – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other1

Buzzsprout1

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

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Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Other1

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