A year of WBR/BM/cake

16th May 2022. 2230BST. The mic opens...

Back in January 2022, I started my new role - Senior Journalist Team Manager, BBC Money and Work. I knew I was going to work on World Service live business radio programmes. I knew they were called Business Matters and World Business Report. I didn't know much more.

I'm not very good with regularly writing LinkedIn posts detailing each wonderful achievement the team has performed - apologies to them. It's been a year in which a group of people have come together at short notice, made some (excellent) programmes and are learning lots along the way. As am I.

We've interviewed multiple finance ministers, a fair number of CEOs, a decent amount of small business owners, and just today we're hearing from a man who makes the best baguette in Paris. We've covered IMF debt negotiations in Ghana, Pakistan and Sri Lanka among others; covered inflation rising all over the world and closer to home been across the UK government's rather extraordinary mini-budget, trying to explain all of it to an audience that has very different experiences of life and what all of this means to them.

It's also been exceptionally challenging. I'm sure many of the team have felt a bit overwhelmed at times with the amount of information they've had to take on board. I know I have had. I know too I haven't quite managed to take care of myself well enough this year, and that's something I'm trying to work on. At some point I'll write more fully about it all, and the change process we've all been through, but I don't think I'm far enough removed from it all to look at it all properly. I do feel though that it's fair to say I've learnt an awful lot about managing people and about myself this year - the whole year has been my biggest professional challenge to date.

We've got a long way to go; lots to improve on, lots to do to make the team feel better, lots to make the product better. But it's important to celebrate big moments, and to reflect on the achievements on the way. So that's why I bought a cake; and I hope you get the chance to listen to what we do, because it's good. Also, you should eat more cake. Cake is important.