The Business

What does it take to become a top football agent in the UK? From negotiating million-pound contracts, to managing player transfers, a football agent holds the power to change the game long before players walk onto the pitch.

In this episode of The Business, we explore the high-stakes world of sports management, where agent fees topped £400 million in the Premier League last year. Jo Tongue, leading football agent and chief executive of Tongue Tied Management, joins Hannah Prevett, associate business editor at The Sunday Times, to take us behind the scenes of commercial deal making in football.

Jo discusses managing players' careers, negotiating commercial deals, and representing some of the biggest names across British football, including the manager of Manchester United, Michael Carrick.
As a board member of Women in Football, Jo also reflects on working in a male-dominated industry and addressing the persistent inequalities facing female sports professionals.

On social media she says abuse "is rife for women, to the point where I think a lot of females just go, ‘I'm just not gonna put anything out there because it's just not worth the stress."

More from the Times:
‘It never occurred to me that I couldn’t succeed in football as a girl’
Michael Carrick hails ‘fresh start’ but one win in seven tells own story

More from the Business
Beyond TV: How Trinny Woodall Built A Beauty Brand
“I was ashamed”: How failure built Castore

Guests:
Jo Tongue, football agent and chief executive of Tongue Tied Management

Presenter:
Hannah Prevett, associate business editor at The Sunday Times

Producer: Hope Federico
Executive Producer: Miriam Hall and Emily Leahy
Video Producer: Super Llama
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With pump prices passing £2 a litre and national reserves dropping, could the diesel crisis force ministers to activate emergency fuel rationing? In this episode of The Business, Dominic O’Connell looks at what current diesel pricing means for the UK economy.

Joined by Helen Thompson, Professor of Political Economy at Cambridge, and Joe DeLaura, Global Energy Strategist at Rabobank, we examine whether low reserves and refining capacity threaten long-term economic growth. They break down how global supply disruptions, refinery closures, and changing government fiscal policy are squeezing margins across British business.

Crucially, they consider - could rationing truly be a reality in the United Kingdom?

“There's always that possibility because the Trump administration has shown that we will extract our pie from other countries. [The thinking is]: ‘If you don't buy American we'll stop selling you diesel, or maybe we'll do a diesel export ban for 90 days unless you release some of your strategic petroleum reserves, or unless you sell us something, or unless you let us have an aircraft base in your country,’” DeLaura says on the show. “Fortunately, I think the US and the UK have a pretty strong long-standing relationship, but the Administration has tested a lot of those long-standing relationships … it's the fact that we even have to ask this question that really concerns me.”

Thompson, however, said it is a risk, but not likely - though she pointed out that some Asian countries did have to take that path. “I think for that situation to materialise in Europe, there would have to be something else on top of what has already happened … [but] the Trump administration itself might bring that about,” she says on the program. “This administration's first port of call, in a way, in dealing with its supposed allies, is the energy weapon.”

More from the Times:

Get drilling at Rosebank or risk diesel shortages, ministers warned
Trump’s diesel deal with Putin is gift to Russia, says Zelensky

More from the Business
North Sea Oil and Gas: The Future of UK Energy Security
Could the UK Electricity Grid Fail?

Guests:
Helen Thompson, Professor of Political Economy at Clare College, Cambridge
Joe DeLaura, Global Energy Strategist at Rabobank

Presenter:
Dominic O’Connell, Times columnist and Times Radio business correspondent

Producer: Hope Federico
Executive Producer: Miriam Hall and Emily Leahy
Photo: Getty
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can Dubai’s $35 billion Al Maktoum International Airport expansion survive growing Middle East conflict, or will regional tensions stall the world's biggest aviation megaproject?

In this episode of The Business, Dominic O’Connell is joined by Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports, to discuss the ambitious expansion of Al Maktoum International Airport. Designed to handle 260 million passengers across five runways, the airport represents a massive investment in the future of global travel and trade. Griffiths reflects on navigating regional instability, missile threats, and managing airport security during heightened tensions.

“I think there are some things that we are considering which could harden some of the infrastructure against possible threats, but I think most of this is going to be technology that actually stops the impact of any conflict being felt by the infrastructure, that’s the most important thing,” Griffiths says on the show.

Following Houthi missile attacks on Saudi’s Riyadh airport, the UK Foreign Office has now advised against all but essential travel to a large portion of Saudi Arabia. Griffiths tells the program Dubai’s airspace is so far unaffected. “The attacks on civilian infrastructure that are happening in Saudi are very regrettable and abhorrent in so many ways,” he says. “We have to remember that the Middle East is a pretty big place - and Riyadh and Jeddah are as far away as Italy is from the UK, so it is a war between two countries that are not fortunately touching the UAE. Obviously we are maintaining vigilance.”

From his early career alongside Sir Richard Branson at Virgin Atlantic to running Gatwick and leading Dubai Airports, Griffiths outlines his corporate strategy for connecting world markets. He also discusses how international aviation disruptions impact passenger recovery, supply chains, and the wider UK economy - as well as how he has balanced his other career as a pipe organ musician.

Guest:
Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports

Presenter:
Dominic O’Connell, Times columnist and Times Radio business correspondent

Producer: Hope Federico
Executive Producer: Miriam Hall and Emily Leahy
Get in touch: thebusiness@thetimes.com
Picture: Getty

More from the Business:
EasyJet vs Wall Street: The £5.7bn Battle for a British Budget Airline
Inside the Multi-Billion-Pound Resurgence of Marks & Spencer
Wealth and inheritance tax driving away the UK’s super rich?

More from the Times:
Saudi Arabia airport hit by second Houthi strike after 13 killed in attack — as it happened
Dubai airport prepares for take-off amid US-Iran conflict
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This series is sponsored by PwC.

What should business leaders expect from the chancellor's first Budget? President of the British Chambers of Commerce and former Bank of England Chief Economist Andy Haldane joins The Business to discuss.

Hannah Prevett and Dominic O’Connell explore what John Healey will be weighing up before heading to the despatch box. Joined by Andy Haldane and Claire Blackburn (PwC’s UK Tax Leader), they examine the economic pressures facing the UK economy, the politics behind the potential fiscal policy choices, and potential changes to capital gains tax.

They discuss what British business and industry leaders need from this Budget to drive economic growth, manage corporate strategy, and restore commercial confidence.
You can also watch this episode on Times Business channel on YouTube.

Guests:
Andy Haldane, President of the British Chamber of Commerce and former Chief Economist at the Bank of England
Claire Blackburn, PwC’s UK Tax Leader

Presenter:
Hannah Prevett, associate business editor, The Sunday Times
Dominic O’Connell, business correspondent, Times Radio

Producer: Shabnam Grewal
Executive Producer: Emily Leahy
Video Producer: Super Llama

Get in touch: thebusiness@thetimes.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will a re-imagined version of Help to Buy solve Britain's housing crisis? Dominic O’Connell examines whether government mortgage subsidies can rescue Labour's ambitious homebuilding targets.

In this episode of The Business, we explore "Your First Home" - the government's proposed scheme to resurrect Help to Buy and subsidise mortgages for first-time buyers without the bank of mum and dad. With construction stalling across the UK economy, we ask whether restarting Help to Buy will stimulate homebuilding or simply inflate property prices.

Dominic is joined by Jennie Daly, chief executive of Taylor Wimpey - one of Britain's largest house builders - and Carol Lewis, property editor at The Times. Together, they discuss planning delays, red tape, and how changing government fiscal policy impacts British business confidence. They analyse whether mortgage subsidies and supply chain reform can overcome material costs, unlock land development, and deliver long-term economic growth.

“We have to step back and think: what does housebuilding deliver? It’s a fundamental human right,” Jennie Daly said on the show. “New home building is the only route to increasing the housing stock. So there's a fundamental economic and social case for intervention at times in the economic cycle where house building is particularly in danger of contracting.”

Guests:
Jennie Daly, chief executive of Taylor Wimpey
Carol Lewis, property editor at The Times

Presenter:
Dominic O’Connell, Times columnist and Times Radio business correspondent

Producer: Hope Federico
Executive Producer: Miriam Hall and Emily Leahy
Video Producer: Bronwen Latham
Get in touch: thebusiness@thetimes.com

Hear more from The Business:
Why are the super rich leaving Britain?
Does Andy Burnham’s government have the guts to deliver growth?
The rise of the corporate landlord - with Grainger’s Helen Gordon

Read more from The Times:
New home approvals sink to 13-year low as PM revives Help to Buy
How housebuilders won argument to revive help for first-time buyers
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