Show Notes
Vicky Pryce is Chief Economic Adviser and a board member at the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). She was previously Senior Managing Director at FTI Consulting, Director General for Economics at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Joint Head of the UK Government Economic Service.
Before that she was Partner at the accounting and consulting firm KPMG after senior economic positions in banking and the oil sector.
She has held a number of academic posts and is a Fellow and Council member of the UK Academy of Social Sciences, a Fellow of the Society of Professional Economists and a Companion of the British Academy of Management.
She was until recently on the Council of the Institute for Fiscal Studies and is a member of the Advisory Board of the central banking think-tank OMFIF and of the Economic Advisory Group of the British Chambers of Commerce.
She is also a Patron of the charities Pro-Bono Economics and Working Chance. Her books include: “Greekonomics:
The Euro crisis and Why Politicians Don't Get It”; “It's the Economy, Stupid- Economics for Voters”, with Ross and Urwin; “Redesigning Manufacturing”, with Nielsen and Beverland”; and “Why Women Need Quotas” and "Women vs Capitalism”, was published by Hurst in November 2019.
She is a frequent contributor to media broadcasts and debates on the economy and on the economic rationale for gender equality.
She is co-founder of GoodCorporation, a company set up to advise on corporate social responsibility, is a Freeman and Liveryman of the City of London, was the first female Master of the Worshipful Company of Management Consultants and has been sitting on the City’s Members Diversity Working Party.
We cover the following:
00:58 Overview of UK Budget and initial reactions
03:33 Post-budget market reactions and economic implications
06:37 Impact on businesses and investment
09:20 Technological advancements and productivity
12:54 Public services and long-term growth
22:07 Brexit and its ongoing impact
27:54 Training and apprenticeship levy
28:51 Diversity and inclusion in training
29:22 Supporting female founders
30:56 Investment in UK equities
34:52 Crypto, blockchain and CBDCs
44:47 Potential financial Shocks
48:38 Impact of US election on markets
51:28 Evaluating the success of the UK budget
52:42 Final thoughts.
***
More from The Purse Podcast
Lindy Claassen is a Certified Financial Planner and Wealth Planner at Brown Shipley, part of Quintet Private Bank, with more than a decade of experience in financial planning across South Africa and the UK. She began her career with Old Mutual in South Africa before moving to the UK, where she went on to work with Quilter Private Client Advisers and Balance Wealth Planning before joining Brown Shipley. Today, Lindy advises individuals and families on complex financial planning, with particular experience in retirement, estate and succession planning. Lindy is particularly interested in how the relationship between women and wealth is evolving, as more women become wealth creators, investors and capital allocators. We cover the following in our conversation: 0:00 Welcome 01:49 Lindy’s early money story 05:36 The 'Great Wealth Transfer' shift 09:30 How wealth management firms adapt 14:59 Who women clients are now 18:40 From saving to investing 21:16 Purpose beyond returns 24:37 Angel investing 30:28 Legacy and tax planning 33:09 The future of women and capital 35:56 Final thoughts
Marianne Abib-Pech, an international finance executive, investor, and author. Marianne previously led the strategic repositioning and expansion of Shell Aviation, a $30 billion global business, and went on to found LTF Partners and co-found Transitions First.She is now leading the development of a new industrial capital platform targeting $300 million to support the commercialisation and scale-up of industrial deep tech.Marianne is also the author of The FT Guide to Leadership. We cover the following in our conversation: 2:30 – Non-obvious patterns investors miss about industrial vs. software value creation (the "J curve") 5:12 – Why industrial investing requires underwriting an entire system, not just a technology 8:36 – Case study: AgriLoops, going from pilot to physical plant 10:55 – Where traditional VC breaks down for long-cycle, capital-intensive sectors 14:26 – The funding architecture problem and how to redesign it 17:11 – "Bits vs. atoms": the shift back toward industrial/physical investment 22:47 – Geopolitics: US-Iran, Russia, supply chain fragmentation reshaping capital flows 27:30 – Europe's opportunity to lead in industrial deep tech 32:10 – Lessons from Shell Aviation: process discipline, security of supply, collaboration over competition 35:53 – M&A in frontier markets: risk vs. perception of risk, pattern recognition over "intuition" 46:02 – The GE furnace analogy for continuous industrial systems 46:17 – Where AI creates real defensible value in physical industries (and where capital is mis-priced) 50:32 – Leadership in an age of AI and geopolitical uncertainty 51:35 – "It's courage" , one-word definition of leadership today 55:24 – Women in investing and cognitive diversity in deep tech 58:30 – Closing question: what's systematically underestimated — society's capacity to build 60:54 – Final thoughts
Sana Kapadia is Chief Catalyst at Heading for Change, investing in solutions that advance climate, nature, biodiversity and gender equality. Her career has spanned gender and climate finance, impact investing and equity research. She is focused on leveraging capital as a tool for social change and to support deep and intersectional systemic shifts. We cover the following in our conversation: 00:00 Welcome 01:44 Heading for Change mission 04:51 Why gender lens matters 08:41 Suzanne Biegel legacy 12:18 Understanding the 2X Challenge 14:33 From niche to mainstream 18:54 Climate and gender nexus 25:25 Inner work of systems change 29:44 Generational shifts in capital 32:02 Care economy as infrastructure 36:08 Measuring inclusion and impact 38:46 ESG and DEI backlash 41:33 Staying the course together 44:54 Redesigning finance for equity. **** The reports mentioned in this episode are: Heading for Change Insights Reports Investment Toolkit & Guidance Other climate and gender Tools, Resources Climate & gender investing overview Tools Metrics Gender care and climate rubric Project Catalyst & SAGE Criterion report Pivotal care economy report ***
Triin Linamagi is the Founding Partner of Arãya Sie Fund, an early-stage venture fund backing the next generation of women-led businesses in the UK and Europe. The fund invests at the pre-seed and seed stage across healthcare, climate, fintech, and deeptech/AI. She is also the Founder and CEO of Sie Ventures, an angel syndicate and capital platform. Sie Ventures improves access to high-quality investment opportunities for angel investors while supporting women founders through dedicated programs to help them fund and scale their ventures. Triin brings over a decade of investment experience across multiple venture capital funds. Prior to her career in VC, she spent several years as a founder and operator building technology companies, giving her a unique dual perspective as both investor and entrepreneur.
Dr Georgia Fleet is a scientist turned entrepreneur on a mission to tackle one of healthcare's most persistent challenges: hospital-acquired infections. She founded Zonova on International Women's Day in 2023 and is as CEO & Co-Founder. A materials scientist by training, Georgia spotted how medical devices drive hospital infections, and how few commercial solutions exist to address it. Three years on, the company's Z-ROS® antimicrobial materials platform is in active commercial discussions with global device manufacturers to make hospital-acquired infections a problem of the past. Georgia is a 2024/25 Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award winner, named Most Disruptive at Women in Tech EU 2025 and was listed #1 in TechRound's Top 50 Women in Startups & Tech in 2026 - recognising her commitment to impact, innovation, and women in STEM. We cover the following in our conversation: 01:59 Why hospital infections persist 04:40 Breakthrough: The "aha" moment 06:50 Pivot to platform model 08:25 Founder market fit 11:05 Fundraising reality check 17:20 Pitching platform and hiring CCO 19:43 Women investors 27:30 Fundraising experience 30:06 IP and impact strategy 31:44 Looking ahead: Ten year vision 33:51 Advice for new women investors 36:38 Final thoughts