By Steven Bartlett鈥檚 own admission, Amy Golding is already smarter than he is.
Golding鈥檚 LinkedIn blog – 鈥楾he truth about being a CEO 鈥� with kids鈥� 鈥� is a must-read and she鈥檚 returned from her third maternity leave to become CEO of Bartlett鈥檚 expanding聽 private office, working across his growing list of companies and investments.
It鈥檚 a statement appointment and comes days after the 32-year-old announced his intention to produce a TV documentary about the growing crisis facing boys and young men.
Bartlett said he was moved to do something after reading a report by The Centre For Social Justice entitled 鈥楲ost Boys鈥�.
Whisper it quietly but both announcements appear to show a change of approach from Bartlett after a 2024 he would probably choose to forget.
Controversy
In December 2024, a BBC investigation claimed guests on his Diary of a CEO podcast were making an average of 14 harmful health claims on each episode.
The controversy came only months after the Advertising Standards Authority banned聽 two adverts he featured in for brands Huel and Zoe after ruling they were 鈥榤isleading鈥�.
Now Bartlett, fresh from picking up the Best International Podcast award at the 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards, has appointed Amy Golding to oversee his burgeoning private office, which now consists of more than 50 companies.
鈥淚t looks like Steven is introducing a bit of rigour and governance into his affairs,鈥� is how one person described it to me.
Bartlett said of his new CEO: 鈥淎my is one of the most accomplished and forward-thinking leaders I鈥檝e met. Her ability to scale businesses, develop talent, and drive meaningful change is exceptional.
鈥淚鈥檓 thrilled to have her on board as CEO of my private office, where she鈥檒l play a crucial role in shaping the future of our investments and ventures.鈥�
The former co-founder of Social Chain has been no stranger to a bit of hyperbole in the past but his confidence in Golding appears to be well founded.
After taking her A-Levels at Eltham College she took an English Literature degree at Cambridge University between 2005-2008, where her interests included netball, football, volleyball and drama.
The yoga enthusiast spent six months as assistant editor at the English-speaking magazine Shanghai Talk before working as a strategy consultant at Deloitte for four years.
She was headhunted to work for former Dragon, James Caan CBE, before she founded Recruitment Entrepreneur in 2014, growing the company to 拢17m revenue and 130 staff within three years.
In 2017 she made history as the youngest female CEO of a $100m turnover company when she took the helm at Opus Talent Solutions, culminating in a high-value private equity sale in 2021.
Unsurprisingly, she came to the attention of the media and as well as featuring in the Daily Mail she appeared on BBC鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Hour in 2018.
鈥淚 always did what I loved,鈥� she said explaining her career choices. 鈥淚 never expected to be able to be an entrepreneur because growing up I always associated the word entrepreneur with being an inventor, creating something completely new.鈥�
After Opus, Golding founded _nology.io, an innovative tech training and talent hub to boost diversity in the UK鈥檚 technology sector.
In 2024 she become a board director of Bartlett鈥檚 media and investment company FlightStory and shared an insight into Bartlett to her LinkedIn network.
Dragons’ Den – Steven Bartlett, Touker Suleyman, Deborah Meaden, Sara Davies, Peter Jones. (Credit BBC)
鈥淐hatting to Steven one day in an empty pub in Heathrow聽airport at 8am, (the glamorous life of an entrepreneur…) I mentioned I was pregnant with my third child, assuming perhaps we might pick up our conversations next year,鈥� she said.
鈥淏ut if I needed confirmation that 鈥榙isruption for good鈥� was a genuine business mantra at Flight, not a PR slogan, the fact that a week later, I had been offered a role overseeing Steven鈥檚 entire business empire as group managing director (starting six months pregnant and with generous maternity pay) was a pretty strong indication.鈥�
This聽 week Bartlett announced she鈥檇 be returning from her third maternity leave as the CEO of his private office.
In her role she will be responsible for overseeing the investment strategy across the portfolio, leveraging her expertise in tech, talent, and investment to drive sustainable growth.
You don鈥檛 have to look very far to see the personality that Bartlett has hired.
Her hilariously honest blog –聽 鈥� is the best thing I鈥檝e read on LinkedIn for ages and has had around 5,500 likes
鈥淭oday I go back to work from (my third) maternity leave,鈥� she started. 鈥淚t seems like serendipity that it鈥檚 also the Monday after International Women鈥檚 Day. Very symbolic. Very 鈥楪irl Boss鈥�. Which is funny really, because yesterday I spent 28 minutes searching for my keys. Which I eventually found, in my actual hand. I say 鈥榝unny鈥�, more like deeply anxiety inducing. But I鈥檓 British, so we鈥檒l go with 鈥榝unny鈥�.鈥�
She continued: 鈥淲hen I start work on Monday morning, I will have already lived a whole day. My husband is away on his eighth work trip of the year. I was up three times in the night with the baby. I then woke at dawn to the screams of three people who demand that I spring into action before I鈥檝e even had time to check my sleep scores on Whoop (they鈥檙e bad, thanks for asking).
Licking the toilet brush
鈥淚 have barricaded everyone into the bathroom with me so I can shower (with my head sticking out the side to make sure no one is licking the toilet brush). I鈥檝e got four people dressed with one hand while holding a screaming baby in the other (and then dressed again after the porridge throwing incident).
鈥淚鈥檝e breastfed from one boob and pumped from the other so that someone else can keep the baby alive whilst I鈥檓 in meetings.鈥�
In terms of how parenthood has changed her approach to work she said: 鈥淪ince becoming a Mum, I enjoy my job even more and I am 10x better at it because I realise that it isn鈥檛 life and death. (Female surgeons can stop reading here I鈥檓 not talking to you, you鈥檙e excused – doffs hat).
鈥淓very day I make the active choice to leave the most important job I will ever have (keeping my children alive and happy and safe) and come to do something else that I adore. And that鈥檚 a privilege for which I am so grateful, and will try my hardest to never take for granted.鈥�
Amy Golding could turn out to be Bartlett鈥檚 best ever appointment.