BusinessCloud’s Naked Founder podcast has broken into the Top 40 of Apple’s entrepreneurship podcast chart for the first time after recording its best-ever day for downloads.

This week’s episode with Ruth Percival, founder of Contollo Group, entered the chart at No. 37 – the podcast’s highest position since launching in April.

It follows a record number of downloads in a single day on Tuesday.

Downloads have increased by 142 per cent in the last month, while listener numbers are up 120 per cent.

The UK accounts for three-quarters of all listeners, with the podcast also attracting downloads in Spain, Australia, the US and Singapore.

BusinessCloud executive editor Chris Maguire, who hosts the podcast, said: “Wow! We only launched the podcast in April, so to break into Apple’s Top 40 is stunning.

“We’ve now produced 20 episodes of The Naked Founder podcast and the downloads and listener numbers have been growing significantly.

“We’ve seen a noticeable spike in recent weeks and what’s really gratifying is that people are going back to listen to older episodes as well as new ones.

“We’ve also seen a significant increase in the number of people consuming the episodes on YouTube.”

Professional look

Maguire also praised producer Dan Brown, at Renowned, for his contribution to the podcast’s growth.

“Dan is the perfect podcast partner,” he said. “He’s always looking at ways of improving the product.

“This week we launched new thumbnail images for each episode and they look really professional.”

BusinessCloud is currently looking for a commercial partner for The Naked Founder podcast.

Maguire said: “Podcasts are the perfect platform for companies to grow their brand and we’ve got some very ambitious growth plans for The Naked Founder, so get in touch.”

In this week’s episode, Percival speaks about becoming a first-time founder in her 50s.

Just two years after launching built environment consultancy Contollo Group, she has completed five acquisitions and grown the business to £37m turnover and 230 staff – with ambitious plans to double in size.

Percival praised the role of private equity investor NorthEdge but admitted she wished she’d had the confidence to ask for more money at the start.

She said: “(Having the right investor) is the difference between enjoying yourself as the leader of the business and having an absolutely miserable time and I’m fortunate that I’m enjoying this role and I’ve got an investor that I trust and I like.

“There’s a lot of reasons for that. They are really straight with me but I am really straight with them. You’ve got to give them the bad news straight away. They don’t want surprises.”

You can listen to the episode here