Currys CEO Alex Baldock & Octopus Energy’s Greg Jackson on Retail, Energy, Regulation and AI Jimmy hosts a panel with Currys CEO Alex Baldock and Octopus Energy CEO Greg Jackson on how retail and energy drive jobs, growth and prosperity. Baldock outlines Currys’ scale (nearly £10bn sales, 24,000 colleagues) and argues retail employs around 20% of the private sector workforce with rising productivity, but faces policy-driven cost increases, red tape and employment regulation that threaten flexible entry-level jobs. Jackson describes Octopus’ rapid growth (8m UK households, operations in 30 countries), the demerger and valuation of its Kraken platform, and diversification into EV leasing and charging. Both stress competition over heavy regulation, cite inefficiencies and distortions in UK energy pricing, discuss geopolitical risks and electrification, and explain how AI is transforming customer service, operations and energy system optimization. 00:00 Welcome and Introductions 03:06 Currys Retail Snapshot 03:41 Retail Jobs and Productivity 05:10 Octopus Energy and Kraken 08:47 Enterprise and Profit Narrative 12:17 Regulation and Competition 17:10 Energy Shocks and Electrification 21:43 Inflation and Cost Pressures 29:36 Employment Costs and Flex Work 36:09 Work Culture and Transparency 41:44 AI Impact on Retail and Energy 49:27 Closing Thanks and Networking Credits: Host / Exec Producer: Jimmy McLoughlin OBE Producer: Sunny Winter https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunnywinter/ Junior Producer: Thuy Dong AP: Ethan Pearman Special thanks to the Margaret Thatcher Conference organising team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices