FinitoWorld Issue Seven

Issue 7 2023

EMMA RADUCANU GAME, SET, MATCH

£5.99

ISSN

2732-5180

b

A FAMILY STORY

Yasmin and Amber Le Bon wear Raindance

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

c

savoirbeds.com

E L LY S U H , V I O L I N I S T & F L O R I A N L E O N H A R D , V I O L I N M A K E R

INTRODUCTION

Editor: Claire Coe

FOUNDER’S LETTER those who met him. We were going to do more together. He will never be forgotten.

Contributing Editors: Patrick Crowder, Emily Prescott, Lord Ranger CBE, Fred Finn Advisory Board: John Griffin (Chairman), Dame Mary Richardson, Sir Anthony Seldon, Elizabeth Diaferia, Ty Goddard, Neil Carmichael, Liz Brewer Management: Ronel Lehmann (Founder & CEO), Colin Hudson, Professor Robert Campbell, Christopher Jackson, Gaynor Goodliffe, Georgina Badine, Julia Carrick OBE Mentors: Derek Walker, Andrew Inman, Chloë Garland, Alejandra Arteta, Angelina Giovani, Christopher Clark, Robin Rose, Sophia Petrides, Dana JamesEdwards, Iain Smith, Jeremy Cordrey, Martin Israel, Iandra Tchoudnowsky, Tim Levy, Peter Ibbetson, Claire Orlic, Judith Cocking, Sandra Hermitage, Claire Ashley, Dr Richard Davis, Sir David Lidington, Coco Stevenson, Talan Skeels-Piggins, Edward Short, David Hogan, Susan Hunt, Divyesh Kamdar, Julia Glenn, Neil Lancaster, Dr David Moffat, Jonathan Lander, Kirsty Bell, Simon Bell, Paul Brannigan, Kate King, Paul Aplin, Professor Andrew Eder, Derek Bell, Graham Turner, Matthew Thompson, Douglas Pryde, Pervin Shaikh, Adam Mitcheson, Ross Power, Caroline Roberts, Sue Harkness, Andy Tait, Mike Donoghue, Tony Mallin, Patrick Chapman, Amanda Brown, Tom Pauk, Daniel Barres, Patrick Chapman, Merrill Powell, Kate Glick Business Development: Rara Plumptre Digital: Stephen James, Aarti Raicha, Rebecca Yeung Creative Director: Nick Pelekanos Photography: Sam Pearce, Will Purcell, Gemma Levine Public Relations: Pedroza Communications Website Development: Eprefix Media Buying: Virtual Campaign Management Print Production: Tim Solway Printed in the UK by: Printlogic Solutions Ltd, Kent, DA17 6AH Registered Address: Finito Education Limited, 14th floor, 33 Cavendish Square, London W1G 0PW, +44 (0)20 3780 7700 Finito and Finito World are trade marks of the owner.

We cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited submissions, manuscripts and photographs. All prices and details are correct at time of going to press, but subject to change. We take no responsibility for omissions or errors. Reproduction in whole or in part without the publisher’s written permission is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. Registered in England No. 9985173

At the end of last year, I was filmed by the Channel 4 series Britain’s Most Expensive Houses, speaking in praise of our own Chairman, John Griffin, who celebrates his 80th year. Readers will know the extremely high esteem in which I hold him and you will be able to see the programme shortly.

Leading the television production team was Chris Walley. We had a lot in common and got talking and reminiscing about our own career paths. He told me how his schoolteacher had actively discouraged him from seeking a career in television and film production. Chris told me how incensed he was and immediately penned a letter to Esther Rantzen. To his surprise, she responded immediately and invited him to join the That’s Life team for a work experience placement. He ended up working on the programme and it helped launch his career. Chris talked effusively about the day he went back into school and showed his teacher the letter; he recalls that the teacher in question was less than gracious about his success.

I shared with him my own experience of being rejected by the BBC along with thousands of others, until I too responded with my own letter, Dear BBC, you have made a mistake, Yours faithfully and found myself invited in for interview. You cannot lead an employability mentoring business without the recurring theme of finding ways to overcome adversity in search of a meaningful career.

It was the most shocking news when I heard that Chris had suddenly died.

This magazine issue is dedicated to his memory. His tenacity, enthusiasm and professionalism was an inspiration to all

Historians often try to compare past and current events, creating a valuable commentary about current affairs, potentially allowing them to predict what events might transpire in the future.

Sir Anthony Seldon, who serves on our Advisory Board, is one of Britain's leading contemporary historians, educationalists, commentators and political authors. He recently addressed the eighth annual Global Family Office Conference on our behalf and summed up best what really makes us happy. He explained that it was not having money but enjoying a purpose in life and good friends which provides the stability we crave during troubled times.

None of us will forget being happy for Emma Raducanu, who when she entered the US Open in 2021 was a hardly known tennis player ranked 150th in the world.

She had us all transfixed as we watched her play in Arthur Ashe Stadium, New York, and became the first qualifier to win the US Open Grand Slam title. Her win inspired the next generation, showing them that anything is possible and within their grasp, and we celebrate her incredible achievements.

The media itself doesn’t always receive favourable press. Starting a magazine that celebrates the good in others and debates the issues which can help someone get on in life has been a formidable challenge.

The fact that we were shortlisted for The Professional Publishers Association Game Changer of the Year Award has been a great honour. We are also soon to be reviewed by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, which provides industryagreed standards for media brand measurement of print publications, digital channels and events.

I hope that our readers will continue to engage and participate in future editions.

We have exciting plans to include more features about our students and career change mentoring candidates and their individual stories of achievement.

Although we never take credit for their successes, it is what makes us all happy.

Their own gratitude is immeasurable.

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

3

4

All products shown sourced from Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour. See www.dcch.co.uk/advertising-credits

THE WORLD’ S LE ADING INTERIOR DESIGN DESTINATION 120 SHOWROOMS | 600 LUXURY BRANDS THE ULTIMATE PRODUCT RESOURCE JOIN US FOR OUR SPRING/SUMMER EVENTS LONDON DESIGN WEEK 2023 13 – 17 MARCH ARTEFACT 9 – 13 MAY WOW!HOUSE 5 JUNE – 6 JULY

www.dcch.co.uk Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, London SW10 0XEwww.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

5

LEADERS

A CHANGE CAN DO YOU GOOD

I

t was Ernest Hemingway who said in

respect of bankruptcy that it happens

‘bit by bit, then all at once’. Societal

change can sometimes seem similar.

The year 2022 felt like a fast forward

button pressed on our lives: everything

appeared to be occurring helter-skelter, and at breakneck pace.

The state of play geopolitically was

accelerated by Vladimir Putin’s tragically stupid invasion of Ukraine. This, in turn, sent the economy spiralling, as inflation

gripped the UK, partly due to the legacy

of Covid-19, and partly due to successive administrations’ failure to produce a

plausible and independent energy policy.

The economic turmoil has been

exacerbated by an incompetent Bank of England interest rate response,

which piled unnecessary pressure on

homeowners. Add in the dicey and shortlived Truss administration, and the death of a beloved monarch, and the world

looked very different at the finish of 2022 to what it looked like at its start.

So what can we expect in 2023? First we must acknowledge that these

trendlines won’t vanish now the calendar has shifted. No period of history is

without turbulence; no age is without its anxieties and shocks, its disasters and its queasiness.

Besides, political turbulence always has an inner meaning. To take a historical

parallel: when Joseph Chamberlain and Winston Churchill were tearing apart

the Conservative Party over the question of free trade, in a way which might

remind us of the 2022 summer battle

between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, few could have known that this would lead to the redistributive Asquith pre-war 6

administration, and the beginning of

The world, especially as it is portrayed

was ceding to another: and that would

vicissitudes, crises and sudden shifts, but

the birth of the welfare state. One order mean, in time, opportunity for workers previously undreamed of.

Similarly, as Keir Starmer’s Labour Party seeks to pivot – not always convincingly

– to the right, and as sizeable swathes of the Conservative Party argue for higher taxes, and not, as used to be Thatcherite orthodoxy, a smaller state, then it can seem as if some new alignment is

struggling to be born. It will have its opportunities for young people.

That’s because turbulent periods always necessitate creativity – and creativity

leads to economic activity. The period in

the leadup to the Asquith administration saw an enormous amount of invention from air conditioning (1902), to radar

(1904), radio broadcasting (1906) and the electronic washing machine (1907). Even World War One engendered numerous inventions we still use today from

daylight saving time to Kleenex, zippers and even sanitary pads.

Ingenuity and perception sharpens in

by today’s media, might be full of

there are in reality certain positives that go less reported.

The first is human ingenuity. Consider

this array of geniuses in the 20th century: the Wright Brothers, Amelia Earhart, Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Charlie

Chaplin, Sir Timothy Berners-Lee, TS Eliot, Igor Stravinsky, Pele, and Nelson Mandela. All were undeterred by the grim news of the day, and of course,

another list might be compiled at will - and another and another – until it

filled up the whole of this magazine

simply with the names of high achievers – without even enlarging on the actual content of their exploits.

Now consider that they all operated in

the same centuries as Nazism, Stalinism, Maoism, and numerous genocides and disasters.

That brings us to the second reason for optimism: opportunity. While

times of crisis. Most economists agree

opportunity isn’t evenly distributed

insofar as it saves business costs and

inequality which has led us to create

recently noted by chief executive of

quantity is clearly on the increase as

Wood, that in 2022 companies are

of living rises.

that technology is inherently deflationary

across society at any one time – an

reduces labour requirements. It was

the Finito bursary scheme – its overall

Ark Investment Management, Cathie

education broadens, and as the standard

rapidly increasing innovation across a

range of areas including adaptive robots,

These considerations ought to buttress

editing, and neural networks. And these

realise that however the economy or the

and widely adopted, will either lead to

next development is round the corner,

autonomous mobility, blockchain, gene

job seekers against despair and make us

technologies, once they are introduced

world might look at any one time, the

jobs, or free up human capital for further

and it’s just as likely to be a good one as

invention.

a bad.

LEADERS

FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA

A

merica has seen its reputation seesaw in recent years. This

was largely due to the Trump administration, and it is still possible, despite underwhelming Republican results in the 2022 mid-terms, there might soon be another Trump administration to add to the noise of the last.

But, if you look beneath all the bombastic headlines, the data shows that America continues to show considerable strength. It remains, for instance, streets ahead in all global power indices which measure cultural, economic and military clout. The dollar has never been stronger against the pound, and the Biden administration has also to a large extent rebounded from its unconvincing evacuation of Afghanistan by helping to orchestrate a strong NATO response to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

As a result of all this, it’s not surprising that many UK students are thinking of studying in the US

now – a development which has, in

without university experience. There is

been exacerbated by the poor outcomes

worth pursuing for its own sake, and

the opinion of some commentators, many experience in.

We must be careful not to do down

the notion that learning is sometimes

that not everything in life comes down to money.

British education, which still has much

So if you want to retain the sanctity

of poor financial management, absent

are the benefits and drawbacks of

to recommend it. However, a mixture careers services, and even wokeness

is making some parents and students question the value of a typical UK degree.

In some instances, this is leading

students to consider apprenticeships

as a possible route, with public figures

of that university experience, what

heading to America to do so? That’s

what Finito World set out to do in its

exclusive report of the top Ivy League

universities in this issue. We looked at location, campus culture, graduation

rates, careers advice, and other factors in order to compile our exclusive list.

as diverse as Robert Halfon MP and

Either way, the data shows that many

this route.

and deciding that the US isn’t so bad

Multiverse head Euan Blair espousing

The merits of apprenticeship route are clear: work comes first and the

enormous expenditure – and in many cases, debt – which comes with a typical degree are avoided and a

paycheck obtained as soon as possible.

But it might be that something is lost

students are looking at their options after all – and, in fact, this held true even during the tumultuous Trump years – with 1,095,299 students

enrolling in the US in 2018-19. That number dipped below 1,000,000 in

2020-21 due to the pandemic, but it

will no doubt rise again in the coming years. UK universities beware.

A UKRAINIAN REFUGEE

W

e are pleased to announce that the Finito bursary scheme

continues to grow, thanks to a series of generous donations. But our goal isn’t just to grow the numbers who benefit from the scheme but also

react to world events and think about

ways in which we might help the truly needy into work.

With this in mind, we were delighted

to take on our first Ukrainian candidate,

in extraordinary times like these we all

fled her home in order to start a new

ways to help.”

who at the outset of Putin’s invasion,

life in the UK. By great good fortune,

our own CEO was sat next to the Chair of the Business Club at Women2Win, when he was informed of a refugee’s situation. “I immediately decided

to support her through the bursary

scheme,” Lehmann says. “It is vital that

do our best to find new and creative

The mandate, which will be discussed

in full in the next issue of Finito World, has proved successful with a talented designer, already offered a role in an

agency. We’re now looking to expand the scheme further, and are grateful to all those who have supported us so far. www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

7

CONTENTS

THIS ISSUE 76 SLEEP WELL, MA’AM

3 FOUNDER’S LETTER

Photographing Queen Elizabeth’s

6 LEADERS

funeral

11 DIARY Toby Young 12 L ETTERS Caroline Roberts lays readers’ anxieties at rest

82 LARKIN AT 100 Lessons from the poet’s centenary 91 GLOBAL EDUCATION

p108 Khawar Qureshi KC

COLUMNS

FEATURES

18 THE CEO

40 EMMA RADUCANU

Sir Martin Sorrell on advertising revenues 21 THE HEADTEACHER Katharine Birbalsingh on teaching 22 THE COMEDIAN Stephen Fry and the need to relax 23 THE PARLIAMENTARIAN Baroness Anne Jenkin on wokeness 25 THE INTELLECTUAL Tariq Ali on Churchill’s crimes 26 A QUESTION OF DEGREE Brooks Newmark on doing a PhD at 60 28 RELATIVELY SPEAKING Masterchef Adam Handling 30 10,000 HOURS

52 THE SHUFFLE TO THE RIGHT

Wikipedia.org

we age?

60 MENTORING UP Sophia Petrides says we need to learn from the next gen 62 LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE Georgina Badine on how to make it as a sommelier 66 GET BACK Were the Beatles a toxic workplace?

72 AT LEAST I’VE BEEN PRIME MINISTER Is this the age of nonsense jobs?

Wikipedia.org

p21 Katharine Birbalsingh 100 BURSARY UPDATE A tale from the front lines 104 KHAWAR QURESHI KC The great barrister on life at the bar 106 LETTER FROM CYPRUS Sophia Petrides reports 108 LETTER FROM THE ISLE

Julius Ibrahim on social entrepreneurship

OF MAN Douglas Stewart’s inside track

33 THOSE ARE MY PRINCIPLES Claire Cookson on learning difficulties in the workplace 36 WATERFLY

8

A talk with Umbra CEO Kate Bright

Do we really get more right wing as

32 TOMORROW’S LEADERS

of education

98 BRIGHT STAR

The tennis star and her philanthropy

Martin Gayford on the great artists

Our gossipy view of the changing waters

The benefits of studying abroad

p22 Stephen Fry

CONTENTS

Alamy.com

p40

Return of Serve: How Emma Raducanu is giving back ART, CULTURE & BOOKS 112 THE OTHER SAINT PAUL Cezanne at the Tate 119 J OBS BOARD Patrick Crowder on chess 126 SUSPICIOUS GRIND What Elvis says about the music industry

wikipedia.org

130 BOOK REVIEWS Inspiring books for difficult times 136 A TRIP TO SCOTLAND How does the Union look now?

141 COSTEAU Back to Fizzy Lizzy 144 CLASS DISMISSED Gabriele Finaldi

Wikipedia.org

nationalmuseums.org.uk

p126 Elvis the movie

p144 Gabriele Finaldi p136 Picture credit: Janos Grapow

p76 Farewell Ma’am SCAN BELOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO FINITO WORLD

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

9

DIARY

TOBY YOUNG

ON JOURNALISM, OVERSLEEPING, AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FREE SPEECH UNION

O

ne time I had to interview the film director James Ivory. I overslept

and I got woken by the publicist about

half an hour after it was meant to have started. The publicist said: “That’s not a good enough excuse to keep him

there!” “Well what should I say?” “Car crash!” When I got there he quizzed

me in great forensic detail about my car crash. He obviously knew it was a lie. I thought at the end of it he might hire me as a screenwriter so great was my imaginative capacity.

J

ournalism is a great career for someone in their twenties and

thirties, but these days journalists are unlikely to be given proper

employment contracts by newspapers with pension benefits and healthcare.

So once you’re in your forties and

you’re married and have a family, and mortgage contributions to make, it’s a less attractive profession. Some

people combine it with doing other

things. Others use it as a springboard into marketing and PR.

S

omething I found unsatisfying about being a journalist is that

I

’ve always had an entrepreneurial streak. I set up my first magazine

in primary school, so when I set up

have become more and more demanding that they be kept ‘safe’ by university administrators.

T

he Free Speech Union is often contacted by students and

academics who have got into trouble

for exercising their lawful right to free

speech – sometimes quite bad trouble.

A good example is Timothy Luckhurst, who’s the head of South College at

Durham, which is the equivalent of

an Oxbridge college, for inviting Rod

Liddle to speak. He was placed under investigation and the Free Speech

Union had to look after him. Durham

is one of the worst offenders, and we’re

The Modern Review in 1991 when I

often contacted from students there. On

the publishing business for 20 years. I

inquiries from Birmingham, and only a

and set up four schools, and then more

O

was 27 I was able to say I’d been in

the other hand, we don’t get too many

eventually got involved in education

few from Exeter.

recently The Free Speech Union. Setting up schools and institutions gives you a

sense of leaving something behind. You have to think much more commercially if you start things, and if there’s a

market for it, and if so, how to reach that market.

A

s British universities have admitted more and more students

ne of the reasons to be cautious about how quickly the spirit of

liberty can be restored is that it was

revealed to be in a very decrepit state during the last three years. It was

surprisingly easy for the government and various public health agencies,

civil servants and the BBC to persuade people to exchange their liberty for

safety, much more so than it had been

there’s not much sense of progression.

and grown in size, they’ve attracted

dyring the Asian flu pandemic in the

you’re doing the same thing day in

social mission who want to change the

but of most liberal democracies. Last

students to the cause of social justice.

in China, and people streaming from

generation of academics were radicalised

that’s what tyranny looks like. But

successors. As universities have grown,

measures. That was a sobering moment.

If you’re a reporter or a columnist,

day out for decades at a time. Unlike

an architect where you can look back

and say: “I built that” with journalism

there’s sometimes a lack of a cumulative sense of achievement. If you’re on the editorial track, and you shin up the

greasy pole and become editor-in-chief, that can be a different thing though.

left-wing academics with a sense of

1950s. That was true not just of Britain

world by evangelising and converting

year, when we looked at the lockdowns

It’s a generational shift. The older

their windows for help, we thought

in the 1960s and have hand-picked their

three years ago we experienced similar

more has been spent on diversitycrats.

As tuition fees have gone up, students

To contact the Free Speech Union go to freespeechunion.org.

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

11

LETTERS

SPRING ROUNDTABLE FINITO BUSINESS MENTOR CAROLINE ROBERTS RESPONDS TO READER ENQUIRIES I’m soon to be a ‘mature’

your university education to do for you.

student, and I’m a bit

Both a creative writing and a business

indecisive about how I should approach university. My passion is writing so I would love to attend a creative writing course at Goldsmiths, for example, but some family and friends have told me that it is best to choose a more ‘solid’ degree, like business or economics, and pursue writing on the side. I’ve worked since I left school, and now I feel that I can finally pursue my university dream without facing the debt which kept me from attending in the first place.

I just want to make sure that I’m not throwing my hard-earned money away. Do you have any advice for making this decision?

Cathy, 33, Paris

studies degree will give you skills which will make you very employable by others or allow you to become selfemployed. However, the right path for you all depends on your personal circumstances and how quickly you need to be earning a good salary. The reality is that a business studies degree will open up more opportunities for you in a shorter space of time, which means you’ll be earning more money faster. I would suggest you do some research into the world of creative writing, perhaps connecting with individuals on social media sites such as Linkedin who have pursued their dream in this field to find out what path they took. Whichever path you take, I am sure you will make a success of it.

CAROLINE ROBERTS

I am sorry to hear that your mental health is suffering as a result of the recent pandemic lockdowns. Firstly, you are not on your own. Many people have had the same experience as you, which is not to say that your own personal experience is not unique, but perhaps you can take some comfort in the fact that you are not alone. I would strongly suggest that at this stage you don’t try to make

First of all, congratulations on reaching a point whereby your dream of attending a university has become a reality and will not lead to any debt. That is not an easy thing to achieve, especially considering the economic turmoil we have faced following the pandemic.

However, it is important to remember that university is always an investment,

I completed my final two years of university during the pandemic, and while I finished with a 2.1, I think that I’m now stuck in a rut. I studied computer science, and I loved it at first, but after all of the lockdowns I feel that my mental health is really suffering from staring at a screen all day. I used to be really

any major life decisions until you have received some support for your current state of mind. Speak to family, friends, or your doctor to get some support. And when you are ready to think about the future remember one thing - the world of technology is huge and growing at a rapid pace, so there are many different fields you could

passionate about the computer world,

go into which won’t necessarily mean

so I’m wondering how to get that

that you will be sat staring at a screen

good return on your investment. In order

passion back, or if I should consider

all day. Think about the aspects of

to achieve that, you will need to think

another career path?

technology which made you excited in

hard about what ultimately you want

Tim, 24, Birmingham

the first place and, when you are ready,

and you are absolutely right to want to pursue a pathway which will give you a

12

LETTERS

research different careers in that field.

a role within civil construction, or in

from seeing those gaps as negative

It is always helpful to write to different

the engineering sector. Considering

things and instead think about what

employers for their views, as that will give you a better sense of what you will actually be doing than a job description.

I hope you feel better soon and good luck with your research.

your interests, you might really enjoy a career in mechanical engineering.

For construction, CITB have a tool called Go Construct, which you can find through any search engine. Go Construct asks a series of questions about you, your skills, your talents,

I’m in my final year of school, and I’m keen to go straight into an apprenticeship, but I’m not sure what to choose. The dream would be to complete a degree-level apprenticeship while getting paid to do a job that I enjoy. I’d rather not go to college as I want to jump straight in, but I will if it’s the only way. I’ve always been interested in

and what it is that you enjoy doing.

For engineering, many of the big companies such as BAE Systems and Siemens have careers information on their websites. Alternatively, Enginuity, an organisation which works with the engineering sector on skills and training, has a section on their website which will help you research suitable careers. Good luck with your research!

skills you developed during those times. Raising a family requires major organisational skills and experiencing redundancy builds resilience. These are skills which many employers really value, so why not point them out during the application process? Make a list of all those skills and add them to your CV, particularly those which are relevant to the job you are applying for.

List the skills learned and experiences gathered during those periods just as you would for any other period of employment. In doing that you will present yourself as a positive, insightful and professional individual. Good luck!

machines and how they work, and I’m also interested in how public infrastructure is designed and built.

What are my options? Are my goals realistic? I’d really appreciate your help.

Max, 16, Missouri

I’m thinking of making a career switch, but I have a few major gaps in my employment – once when my partner and I started our family, and again when I was let go from my previous job during Covid. How can I optimise my CV so

Your dreams are absolutely realistic, and I applaud you for thinking outside the box.

Apprenticeships are growing, so

that these gaps aren’t a problem? Is there a professional way to explain the issue? Thank you for your help.

Emily, 38, St. Albans

there will be no shortage of options – the important thing is choosing something which fits your skill set and interests you. For many industries apprenticeships are the quickest and best way to enter employment, not to mention the fact that you can earn whilst you learn. From where you

Gaps in careers are normal and should not be hidden on any CV. You have perfectly legitimate reasons for the gaps in your employment, and these gaps are fairly standard. Employers will not look on

say your interests lie, it seems that

these career gaps unfavourably so long

you would be suited for internships

as they know why those gaps exist.

within the construction sector, such as

Also, you should shift your thinking www.finito.org.uk ISSUE 3

13

Just add water.

Yachting offers the ultimate luxury, unrivalled freedom. From first time charterers cruising the iconic coastline of the French Riviera, to experienced yacht owners looking for a proven world cruiser, Edmiston’s global team have the knowledge to support you at every step in your yachting journey.

GRACE, 52m, Amels, 12 guests 14

Politics

LONDON

+44 20 7495 5151

NEWPORT

MONTE CARLO

+377 93 30 54 44

MEXICO CITY

NEW YORK

+1 212 792 5370

MIAMI

+1 786 977 4358

+1 401 619 2200 +52 55 52 80 95 74

SAN JOSÉ DEL CABO +52 624 247 5852

edmiston.com www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 6

15

COLUMNS Our regular writers on employability in 2023 18 | MARTIN SORRELL: Lessons from the Master: Sorrell’s tips for 2023

Wikipedia.org

16

Wiki

pe d ia. or g

21 KATHARINE BIRBALSINGH: SOCIALLY MOBILE The latest from Britain’s Strictest Headteacher W

di pe

iki

a.o

rg

22 STEPHEN FRY: FRY UP How the comedian relaxes

33 CLAIRE COOKSON Disability in the workplace

COLUMNS

The Chief Executive

SIR MARTIN SORRELL THE GREAT BUSINESSMAN DISCUSSES WHAT WE LEARNED IN THE PANDEMIC - AND HOW IT MIGHT POINT THE WAY IN 2023

O

f course, it has been a terrible time.

The 2020-2022 pandemic has been

a disaster for so many people, especially the disadvantaged – and it’s been

disastrous across all nations. Having said that, people don’t always realise the sheer scale of the digital transformation which took place alongside it.

will accelerate the technological changes

But I don’t see much reason to despair.

(augmented reality). The metaverse has

Covid; it meant that the centre was

around AI (artificial intelligence) and AR been thoroughly hyped but listening to

Bill Gates and others, it clearly will have a major impact.

As we look ahead, I think people who

underestimated Donald Trump are going

Consumers are buying healthcare online,

to be surprised – and I also wouldn’t

here in London. Habits have shifted

moves on the media side with Truth

continue to gain market share, and free-

We are still talking to one another in

are newspapers and traditional media

Executive of a leading package company

and High Street retailers are struggling

dramatically: in the media, the streamers to- air networks are under pressure, as enterprises.

In this context, inflation ought not to have

come as a surprise. Clients will always look for price increases to cover commodity increases. The big question is whether inflation is endemic or transient. We

clearly have shortages of labour supply, as well as supply chain disruption, and that

means that companies will be looking to

cover those problems. That’s why inflation was well above trend throughout 2022.

The priority in central bank policy to date has been on employment, and now there is more friction in the labour market.

Employees have more power now: the

pandemic has encouraged people to think

about what they want to do and how they want to do it. That’s made inflation in

wages significant. I expect wage inflation to continue but that in turn means that

employers will look at their cost structures.

Crucially, it will also bring automation into the picture. If labour is in short

supply and increasingly expensive, that 18

personally underestimate Ivanka. Trump’s Social are interesting.

our echo chambers. I spoke to a Chief recently; he had just been holidaying

in Alabama, Kentucky and Mississippi

on a motorbike; there were Trump fans everywhere. Lionel Barber, the editor

of the Financial Times, tells the story

of the Tuesday before Brexit. He went to see Cameron and right up until the last minute Cameron’s polls told him

he would win; Barber told him he was

wrong. It is the same with Trump now; everybody underestimates his pull with

Companies were better run during unable to interfere, and individual employees were given greater

responsibility. By the end of 2022 at S4 Capital, we’d begun to see some of the downsides, having been initially very

positive about it. I’d say a digital fatigue

began to set in towards the end of 2021, and so we’ve had to manage that.

Sometimes, I think back on what we’ve lived through over the past few years. I

think in retrospect Kate Bingham was the hero of that hour, and I see she has just released her memoir The Long Shot: The

Inside Story of the Race to Vaccinate Britain.

What she achieved with her procurement team ought to be a continuing source of inspiration. She was more focused

on getting the product than the cost.

That was crucial – that she realised she

wasn’t buying sugar or commodities – but something essential. There are lessons

there for business: you have to devote your energies to the essential.

voters, though there is now a little doubt

about that given the Republicans slightly

underperforming in the 2022 mid-terms.

Lately I have been reading Ray Dalio’s book: The Changing World Order: Why

Nations Succeed and Fail, and that’s an interesting read which I highly

recommend. It contains some fascinating graphs on the rise of inequality; the book explains how there are forces at work

there whose power we have a tendency to underestimate. It’s a book which makes you realise the importance of China, where his intellectual focus is.

Sir Martin Sorrell is the CEO of S4 Capital

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

19

®

E X C L U S I V E

C A R P E T S

A N D

R U G S

®

E X C L U S I V E

C A R P E T S

A N D

R U G S

ANGLES Collection 2023 – Hover www.deirdredyson.com Deirdre Dyson 20is a registered trade mark of Deirdre Dyson

®

COLUMNS

The Headteacher

KATHARINE BIRBALSINGH THE FORMER CHAIR OF THE SOCIAL MOBILITY COMMISSION ON READING AND THE NEED FOR INSTITUTIONAL KNOWLEDGE

I

am sometimes asked if there’s any danger of children being put off

by reading Shakespeare. Some of our children at Michaela Community

start here at 11 years old and they’ve got the reading age of a seven year

old so we are just trying to get them

to read at all – especially in the age of phones and and so forth.

You might have a few kids in the top set who read. When I do assemblies and take copies of Julia Donaldson

and ask who’s read The Gruffalo and so on, a few children from the top sets might put their hands up, but

most won’t. So they don’t really know

books at all. For us, it’s not a question

the few who have certainly don’t talk to their children about it at home.

We’re trying to get families to talk to

their children – and it could be about anything. Many middle class people without knowing it are in on this

secret club where everyone knows how to teach their children. They mention

Hamlet, or they count how many peas are on the plate, or the daily news, or they teach them who the prime

minister is, and ask how their day is.

They know how to do it and it’s natural.

I’VE WORKED MY WHOLE LIFE WITH

of should we do Ian Fleming instead

PARENTS WHO

fundamental than that.

DON’T KNOW

of Shakespeare. It’s much more

In our library we have speed reads, are books written for six and seven and eight year olds, but we don’t

want them to feel they’re written for

MUCH ABOUT THEIR CHILDREN.

younger children. The idea of them

I’ve worked my whole life with parents

apart from a few children in the top

children. The question then is how

come into Year 7 is we want children

education moves very slowly. What’s a

additional to their English lessons. For

three years’ time. The Education Secretary

minutes a day.

set up a new school it takes five years

being voracious readers isn’t accurate,

who don’t know much about their

set. One thing we say when families

to change this. The problem is that

reading half an hour every day – that’s

good school today can be a bad school in

some of them, we say, they can do ten

changes every couple of years and if you

But in their lessons, they love

Shakespeare. In their lessons they

really enjoy it – they understand him,

It’s not that they leave government, or that they’re not paid enough, it’s just the way the government is set up.

Those who work there like the variety.

When I was at the Social Mobility Commission, I bought all my team to Michaela Community to show them what’s possible, but it takes a long time to get them on board. And then you get them on board and they go off to some other part of government.

Wiki

pe d ia. or g

had two education secretaries. It takes a while for things to change.

I know from working in the Social

Hamlet – not only do the kids not

change every few months – somebody

know, but the parents don’t know. And

I suspect it’s a problem across government. It’s one of the things which makes the state weak. The people at Apple have been at Apple for years and years. Of course, they’ll bring in new people and lose people, but at any point time you’ll find that the core people have been there for at least eight to ten years. In government, you’ll often find that people have been there for that period, but they’ve been moving around within government doing different roles.

before you have results but by then you’ve

they can access him, and it’s dramatic.

But our families have never heard of

is really hard and that’s why there’s no institutional knowledge. I don’t know how you fix that – you’d have to change the way government works.

Mobility Commission that people

new joins, and trying to find consistency

Katharine Birbalsingh www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

21

COLUMNS

The Comedian

STEPHEN FRY REBECCA WALKER CATCHES UP WITH THE RENAISSANCE MAN AND DISCUSSES THE NEED TO RELAX

D

espite his success, one sometimes feels a little sorry for Stephen Fry:

for some, he is the celebrity everybody

used to love, his popularity dimmed by Twitter spats and overexposure. Yet if you take his finest achievements: the

first seasons of A Bit of Fry and Laurie (1987-1995), his early books The Liar

(1991), The Hippopotamus (1994) and his memoir Moab is My Washpot (1997), his brave documentary The Secret Life of

The Manic Depressive (2006), as well as his lead role in Wilde (1997), it is a body of work remarkable in its brio and its breadth.

Fry about the need to offset work with

because they were smoking, because

“Not much, but I love a good cocktail,”

that’s what we should learn really! We’d be

relaxation. So, does he drink these days? came the kindly reply. And what is his

favourite cocktail? “When I’m hot like I am now, I find a John Collins – gin,

lemon juice, soda – really refreshing.” And are there any drinks he stays away from?

“I’m not a great one for really sweet, sticky

drinks. I like them to refresh you. But I do make a good negroni!”

It’s good to see him out and about. Fry, of course, hasn’t been well, having been

diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2018; the disease is now thought to be in remission,

It all serves to prove that few people work

and he has spoken out publicly at his good

in the entertainment industry. In fact, his

Nevertheless, there has to come a time

harder than Stephen Fry – and not just ubiquity amounts almost to absurdity.

It sometimes seems that what we’re

witnessing is the work ethic of Margaret

Thatcher relocated to an apparently more leisurely sector.

It’s as if every awards ceremony, supporting role and quiz show on earth seems to be dominated by Fry. His outspokenness

on politics, religion and other things isn’t always matched by knowledge: Peter

Hitchens famously referred to him as ‘the

stupid person’s idea of an intelligent man’.

But these gaps are offset by the perception that it’s been fun along the way – and so

Finito World felt no compunction about

asking him about his views on how to relax and wind down. ‘Work is so much more

fun than fun,’ as Noel Coward put it. It is a line which might have been Fry’s mantra.

When we caught up at the sweaty launch of Paul Feig’s Artingstall’s gin, we asked 22

fortune at catching the disease early.

when everyone slows down and thinks

about resting on their laurels. So will we ever see Fry host the BAFTAs again: “Oh, I don’t know. I think twelve is

probably enough – it’s a good number and I’m very happy.”

Our conversation soon turns back to drink and what role it should play in our lives.

“Whisky provokes violence more than gin,” says Fry. “Gin provokes tears. If you’ve had

cannabis is legal in the Netherlands, so

better off if someone were to create some exquisite hash brownies.”

Fry is a global citizen and I ask him how

he feels about this part of central London.

“This is a very Mayfair event, isn’t it? I feel

like an out-of-towner, somehow everybody

looks as though they belong here, and I feel I don’t.”

If even the famous feel perpetually out of place perhaps this gives us permission to feel nervous for that first job interview.

Even so, Fry is an emblem of what can be achieved if you set yourself to work across

disciplines and refuse to heed boundaries.

You get the impression that Fry knew his gifts from the start but that he has been surprised how far they have taken him.

Does he have any anonymity in London?

“If you walk fast enough and you look as if

you’re in a hurry, people are very good, they leave you alone.”

And with that he’s gone – and probably gone back to work.

Wiki

a lot of gin you just start crying.” Here Fry,

ever the actor, performed an immense howl.

“I’ve had a few friends who had a lot of whisky and it’s really unpleasant.”

Fry is also illuminating on national

differences. “I think we should learn from European football. Whenever there was a match in Belgium there was violence

afterwards, because in Belgium you drink

beer and get pissed. Whenever they played in the Netherlands, there was no violence,

Stephen Fry

pe d ia. or g

COLUMNS

The Baroness

ANNE JENKIN THE PARLIAMENTARIAN DESCRIBES HOW WOMEN2WIN HAS LED HER TO EXAMINE THE TRANS QUESTION

M

y prime political role in life is as an advocate for getting more Conservative women in parliament, through Women2Win. We still need more women to step up, so if there is anyone you know who has got what it takes, or wants to take the first steps to knowing more about public life, I would love to hear from them.

Lately however, since researching, reading and speaking to those who are deep into the roots of gender ideology, I’ve found myself speaking out more and more about how women’s sex-based rights are under threat, as well as children’s safeguarding. I think the question of gender distress, especially for girls going through puberty, and support for women’s rights have become impossible to separate – perhaps they always were.

We’ll see the result of that case, but the 5,000 per cent increase in the number of girls presenting with gender dysphoria is highly disturbing. Research seems to point to the fact that it relates in some ways to the amount of time young people spend on their phones. They look to find out why they are unhappy with their

In addition to that we have the widespread availability of violent porn, which until 15 years ago you’d have to reach for from the top shelf of a newsagent – and pornography was in those days tame by comparison to what we see today. Today everybody has access to everything and that is not only jeopardising relationships, it’s also making young girls very fearful about sex when they see what’s expected of them.

It’s always been a traumatic period, when your body is changing from childhood into womanhood – or childhood into manhood. Traditionally, girls who struggled psychologically and emotionally with that might have become anorexic at that point, to try and stop their bodies developing. But today they have this other option which is to bind their breasts, and be injected with testosterone.

In a way what we’ve done is to conduct – quite by accident – a huge social experiment on children without really having any understanding of what the long term implications are.

tolerant about the question of sharing female single sex spaces for too long.

We feel those rights, protected by the Equality Act 2010, are threatened.

So you’ve got this concern about safeguarding children on the one hand, and concern around single sex spaces on the other – and single sex spaces are single sex for a reason.

Some people try and make the comparison that the plight of the LGBTQ community resembles the fight over Section 28 in relation to gay rights.

What they don’t understand is that this is a clash of rights.

Fortunately, there’s a novelist out there able to satirise this – and insodoing make sense of it a little. This is the brilliant parody The End of the World is Flat written

by Simon Edge. It’s the story of a small charity which achieves everything it set out to achieve and then has to pivot into campaigning for absurd ideas – exactly as Stonewall has had to do once it achieved its goals in the field of gay rights. It is the Animal Farm of our times.

But although Edge’s novel ends happily, I don’t know where this particular story will end – I only know we need to act immediately to sort it out.

Wi

At the centre of all this is the so-called JK Rowling cancellation. If you look at what Rowling said in her original blog, I challenge anybody to find anything remotely controversial or transphobic in it. People who repeat it and say she’s transphobic, or a hater or anything like that – I don’t think any of them could have read what she actually wrote. Most of us are very proud to be women, and though it has its challenges, it’s also a tremendous privilege.

We’re at the point now where women feel they have been understanding and

kip ed ia .

g or

I have become interested, for instance, in the case of Sinead Watson, a Scottish ‘detransitioner’, who is a campaigner on this issue. She changed gender but now her argument is that she should never have been allowed to have a double mastectomy and hormone therapy, and she’s taking the Sandyford clinic in Glasgow to court. We are beginning to see an increasing number of detransitioners who realise too late that the problems they experienced going through puberty were not to do with gender distress but some other childhood trauma. Many are on the autism spectrum or young lesbians who would rather ‘trans away the gay’.

bodies, and are then driven to the social influencer sites. There is a disturbing 25 per cent year-on-year increase in profits for the companies making puberty blockers and cross sex hormones.

Baroness Anne Jenkin

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

23

LONDON

Makers of English Handcrafted Luxury Leather Goods Albany 10-12 Burlington Gardens London, W1S 3EY +44 (0)20 7493 9072 mail.order@pickett.co.uk www.pickett.co.uk 24

COLUMNS

The Intellectual

TARIQ ALI THE PHILOSOPHER AND POET DISCUSSES THE INFLUENCE OF SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL

W

hen I initially had the idea for Winston Churchill: His Times,

His Crimes I was in two minds about

it, but what convinced me it had to be

done was the out-of-control Churchill

cult that has just taken over. It's become completely absurd. The book is aimed

at a wide audience, but I do think that

it is for a younger generation who hears people speak the name Churchill in

hallowed tones as if he was considered to be a saint. This certainly wasn't the case during his lifetime.

referred to him as a semi-fascist and

office” – and immediately MacMillan

about him and it just didn't bother him.

MacMillan was far more effective is that

insane. He knew all that was being said The second period covers the cult of

he included himself in that joke too. This

began in 1982. Margaret Thatcher used

doing: his jokes were often pretty nasty.

Churchill as we know it now, which

is something Churchill wasn’t capable of

Churchill to bully Ronald Reagan a bit

Churchill could say what he did and get

over his moral compunctions towards

using nuclear weapons, saying that he

had constantly been in favour of nuclear

deterrents. Then the post-death Churchill became a substitute for an empire that

didn’t exist anymore. The use of Churchill

What I didn't want to do was write yet

became something they did whenever

to have a timeline of Churchill and

Churchill is used by British politicians

from my point of view where he was

relationship, and regardless of the fact

was wrong, which was in most parts of

Europe is Germany, we will be better

reading about Churchill which I knew I

because we've been attached to you with

another biography, so instead I thought

they found it necessary. The other way

a timeline of history, which showed

is to say: ‘Look, we have a long-standing

right – which was rare – and where he

that the most important country in

the world. I had taken into account the

than Germany or anyone else in the EU,

would have to do, and I did. But what I hadn’t considered were the books I had

to read around him – reading books on

Kenya, books on Greece, books on China and Japan. That took up a lot of time, but

it was very enjoyable. Without doing that, you can't understand Churchill. Kipling famously wrote, “What do they know

of England who only England know?”

That applies to Churchill as well. And so it became a history of Churchill and the Empire.

The book is basically divided into two.

The first period covers the years he was alive when he was constantly being criticised, with very sharp language

occasionally, by some of his colleagues.

Some in the Conservative government

said, “Lack of principle?” The reason

an umbilical cord made of piano wire.’

Churchill is often praised for his wit, and he did have a turn of phrase, but you'll

away with it because behind him was

the huge British Empire. That was the basis, and it was an empire supported

whether we like it or not by a large bulk of the British population. Some of the

most eager imperialists were the Scots, for instance, as well as the Northern

Irish and some of the Welsh. It wasn't

just an English enterprise, it's the empire that created the UK, so to speak. That's why, with the end of the empire, more

nationalist feelings are coming out in all these territories - Scotland in particular, but also to a certain extent Wales, and even in England.

Winston Churchill: His Times, His Crimes is published by Verso Books (£20).

see that turn of phrase was often coloured with outright racism against non-white

Wiki

people. Attacking the Chinese, Japanese,

pe d ia. or g

and Koreans – just not funny in any way. Obviously he could be witty at

times, but the wit was never neutral

in that sense. I think MacMillan was

genuinely witty, and Churchill’s wit was

quite forced. There was a meeting on the 200th anniversary of Downing Street

with six former prime ministers present, and James Callaghan said to no one in

particular, “I wonder whether there is a

collective word or phrase to describe all

Tariq Ali

those of us who have served this great

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

25

COLUMNS

A QUESTION OF DEGREE WITH BROOKS NEWMARK

A

s an MP, over 25 per cent of the people that approach me in

surgeries are generally asking questions about their children and their children’s education. My mum didn’t have much

education – she left school when she was 12 or 13 – so she was also a great believer in having a good education, and having me her eldest child going to Harvard

Business School and Oxford was a proud thing for her. So the importance of

education has been instilled in me from a young age.

While I was an MP, in my second year in Westminster around 2007, I had

the opportunity to work on a social action project in Rwanda. This was post-genocide Rwanda when they

were still trying to rebuild the country and Clare Short, who had been Blair’s

Brooks helping to build a playground at a Ukrainian orphanage in Stara Kiszewa, Poland

the infrastructure was better and so on.

International Development Secretary,

Back in the UK, six weeks later, I

Rwanda. The UK at the time was the

Health and Safety want to shut it

donated a huge amount of money for

received a phone call saying: “Rwanda

largest donor to Rwanda.

down”. I said: “What do you mean?” He

David Cameron decided this was

said: “Well there were 83 kids and now

important, and a trip was organised

there are 343 children there in these

different social action projects. I was

met with the Minister of Education and

helping to fix up a small nursery

will rebuild it.” In my head I thought it

There were 83 kids. I put in around

I found a new site which I bought about

with eight MPs, and we worked on five

tiny classrooms.” So I flew back and I

in charge of a project which involved

I said: “Don’t close the school down. I

kindergarten in a poor area in Kigali.

would cost me £100,000.

£5,000 of my own money and we fixed

up the school: we got electricity, we had two big water tanks, a lot of rooves and

walls had holes in and we fixed that up.

Cameron then came over for two years to see the projects we were doing. And I remember one of the journalists who was with me came and visited me and he said: “You’re here for a couple of

weeks and then leave it. What difference can you possibly make?” I explained that 26

a kilometre away, and spent two years getting planning permission, which I finally secured. We had a foundation laying and the President decided to

come and I asked him why he came. He said: “Most people come to me giving advice. You came, saw a problem and

put your hand in your pocket to fix it.”

He added: “I would like you to do one

thing: make sure there are all Rwandan teachers.”

At that time a lot of teachers came from surrounding countries like Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya and so on. So

I took that on board and we finally

opened the school in January 2012. I

then created a charity called a Partner

in Education and we went on to build a secondary school. By 2017, we were

ranked in the top three in the country, with nearly 100 per cent Rwandan

teachers. At that point, I built a teacher training centre too.

When I left Parliament in 2015, my old tutor came to see me and said: “Brooks what are you doing next?” He said:

“We’ll figure out what exactly you do.”

In 2016, I was sitting next to a Professor in the education department and I

was asked to give a talk. I was asked to sit in on his class. I suddenly realised

how little I knew about education even though I had this school. After three

classes I asked if I could do his Masters.

I passed and got in. I was 60 years old,

but I always love learning. It’s never left

COLUMNS

from Kviv and Lviv to the Polish borders.

As the war moved to the East, I had

hubs across Ukraine, and I spent a lot of time in Kharkiv: we moved 1,000

women and children out of a Russiancontrolled area. To do that we had to

move 500 metres of anti-tank mines, which was an amazing achievement.

I am torn between doing what I am doing in Ukraine and not wanting Brooks Newmark greets Ukranian refugees Julia Shyork Barvinrovo and her daughter Anna, 7, on a bus headed for Lviv (Photo: Brooks Newmark)

me. I went back to university at the age of 60 and my dissertation focused on

fine motor proficiency of seven-year-

old children as a predictor of academic achievement.

They then said I should stay on and do

a doctorate. I decided to look at policymaking in Rwanda. I realised there are

a lot of policy ideas which are generated

these things properly.

But things happen in life and get in the way. I started my DPhil and then in 2020 Covid hit, and I couldn’t do my field research. Then, my mum got sick in 2021 and I could see from January she would pass away, which she did in May of that year. Finally I did some research in November 2021, and then suddenly

to drop the ball on my DPhil. I’m

trying to navigate with my supervisors between my work with Ukraine and

getting to the next stage of my DPhil.

THE MORAL OF THE STORY IS YOU’RE NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN.

without real focus on outcomes. For

instance, they have this thing one laptop per child. But if there isn’t broadband

in schools, or the teachers aren’t trained

you won’t get satisfactory outcomes. We

can’t really think about these things in a linear way.

I decided to look at it through the lens of a systems approach and consider

what enables and what constrains policy

implementation. For instance, if teachers have only rudimentary understanding of English they can’t overnight suddenly

be able to deliver lessons in English to children who themselves don’t speak

English. It was understandable why the Rwandan government wanted to bring that in; but this top down approach wasn’t working.

Having been in government myself, I can say with some authority that we

have a habit of coming up with great

ideas which in principle sound good, but we don’t think enough about who we

need to bring on board to implement

the Ukraine war starts.

It seems I will continue to find reasons not to work! I saw a friend of mine was on the Polish border moving people along refugee centres into Europe. I messaged him and asked if I could come and join him. Four days became two weeks. Soon, I began bringing buses into Ukraine from Lithuania, moving people

But the moral of the story is you’re

never too old to learn. While my wife

does Sudoku as a form of brain gym, I have my doctorate. Having started 40 years ago, I feel much better prepared through having had life experience in business and as an MP.

Brooks Newmark is a British Conservative politician and former Member of Parliament and minister. www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

27

COLUMNS

RELATIVELY SPEAKING MASTERCHEF ADAM HANDLING ON PASSION IN THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY

M

y childhood wasn’t idyllic. It wasn’t one where food was

about experience and niceties, it was about nutrition. My dad was in the

army, so I didn’t really have a childhood where hospitality was a path that

me or any of my brothers and sisters were going to walk down. It was an

opportunity to not go to university.

It was an opportunity to get out of

schooling and get on with some solid

work, so I fell in love with the industry after experiencing it rather than dreaming of it.

My time as an apprentice at Gleneagles, a five-star hotel in the highlands in

Scotland, was where I was inspired by

how to do everything and teach the

future of the industry, you will create

I fell in love with the camaraderie, the

sustainably came into practice when I

new skill every day, and you should have

adrenaline, and then my love grew for

about saving the world or being green-

beyond just nutrition.

product and thinking about how to stay

food and also the culture of the kitchens.

chefs everything I know. Operating

teamwork, the passion, the fire, the

couldn’t afford to bin anything. It wasn’t

experiencing food in a different way

fingered, it was about respect of the

About eight years ago, when I opened my first restaurant, sustainability

open going forward.

wonderful chefs. You should learn a

a mentor; someone that inspires you

rather than teaching you something.

Someone that pushes you to become better is a mentor. Don’t limit your

mentors to one person though, you

should be open minded to everyone who

as economically as I could. My first

I WOULD SAY THAT SUSTAINABILITY CAN BE DESCRIBED IN ONE WORD; TOMORROW.

fish from day boats, buying exactly

I would say that sustainability can be

When I say that, I mean whole animals,

bought whole animals, because butchery

word sustainable can have multiple

nothing cut, nothing shaped, then

terms of sourcing or producing or

A lot of people chuck that ’sustainable’

And if you’re sustainable in terms of

of the moment, but in fact, many of

came into the equation – I needed to be able to afford the bills to open up

tomorrow. I didn’t become interested in sustainability for its own sake, it came out of a necessity to operate

restaurant was a small one. We bought what the fishermen had fished for. We skills are very important for me and

I wanted to make sure we used every part we could, out of respect for the animal and the farmer. All skills are

important to me, to be able to know 28

can teach you something.

The way that I think about my business is, first and foremost, how do we teach the staff ? You teach them about being respectful, it doesn’t need to be about saving the world. It’s about learning all the skills you can possibly learn.

described in one word; tomorrow. The

whole vegetables, nothing portioned,

meanings. How to be sustainable in

cooking sustainably comes naturally.

people or buildings, or your business.

word all around because it’s the word

mentorship and looking out for the

them misunderstand the principles.

COLUMNS

The thing that I’m seeing nowadays is all these sustainable restaurants are utilising by-products but they have no clue how

to utilise the product itself. That’s almost as wasteful as the other way around. You need to understand the foundations of

that product first before you can even try

and be inspirational and move boundaries.

Just because it’s the word of the moment doesn’t mean that you’ve got to bin the

prime and look after the waste. They’re utilising waste rather than utilising the products, and that’s stupid.

I’ve never hired a senior member to join my team since the day I opened my

restaurant. I’ve always hired young people and promoted from within. So all of my restaurants are run by the same team

who’ve worked with me since I opened

my first restaurant. They’re the sous chefs

and head chefs of all my restaurants now,

I don’t promote from within I’ll lose that wonderful talent.

and we hire based on personality, smile,

I prefer apprenticeship paths to university.

restaurants in lockdown, and it was so

rather than sitting in a classroom where

and real passion for what we do. I lost

There’s nothing like learning on the job,

painful because for me the staff are more

you can joke and play around and not

important than my business, so I had to

create a restaurant, not out of a love for the stress of opening restaurants, but to find a home for the staff that had dedicated so much of their lives to me. So that’s

why I did it. I can’t emphasise enough, opening restaurants is one of the most

stressful, horrible times of your life, and

I don’t particularly like doing them. I do it for the chance to grow a team, and to

give them the opportunity to learn a new

skill, to progress, to move forward, and to

absorb what you’re being taught. I prefer being in a kitchen and I don’t tolerate

wastefulness in terms of time. Your time is important. Don’t waste it. What’s the difference between wasting time and

wasting a product? Both are dangerous

to your future. You need to build up your

foundations first. For aspiring young chefs, I would say this; find a chef you get really inspired by, be it the food that they cook, the lifestyle they have, or the ethos they

For me, inspiration, motivation,

knowledge, those are the three things

that keep anyone excited, turned on, and really hungry, and can bring everything

into reach. It’s when you start to lose one of them, then the three crumble. I’m a

self-acknowledged workaholic. I’m going a million miles a minute, but I love it

and I wouldn’t change it. For me, the

work/life balance thing is irrelevant. I’ll

work as many hours as I need to achieve my ambitions. Of course, I don’t expect

that massive time commitment from my team. I respect that there is life outside

the kitchen and looking after my staff ’s mental and physical welfare is very

important to me. But when I look at

talented young people, I’m going to pick

represent - it could be one small thing that

those who are more driven, who aren’t

not going to get rocked by a storm, instead

when it’s not in service, and stay there

who are willing and hungry enough to put

a situation. They’re going to know how I

the life out of them. Because if someone is

who will get better and better, learning

style and process, but then they have the

if they don’t have a position open, they will

through and show their individuality. If

as hell. Passion is priceless.

run under the foundations of what we’ve

sparks you. Go into their restaurant, ideally

watching the minute hand on the clock,

they’re going to know how to get out of

until you get offered an interview. Pester

in the time and effort. These are the people

like to operate, they’re going to know the

really hungry, a chef will see that and even

opportunity for their personality to shine

make one available because you’re hungry

already created. It means that the ship is

new skills and moving up to that next step.

That’s where the knowledge, motivation and inspiration really comes into play.

Adam Handling was speaking to Patrick Crowder. www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

29

COLUMNS

TEN THOUSAND HOURS WITH MARTIN GAYFORD you would be edged towards the door.

I think that’s probably still true in

a lot of media; if you don’t perform,

people won’t be nice forever. They won’t

publish dud columns on the basis you’re a nice person - or not for long. Possibly, if you know the owner it helps!

Really the question was, could you

do the work? Having a qualification in journalism would be nice, but it

“I THINK ARTISTS HAVE TO BE AWARE – RATHER LIKE WRITERS – THEIR WORK IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE LAST WORK.”

wouldn’t cut the mustard if you couldn’t produce 1,000 words on deadline, and with copy not needing extensive work by the subeditors. Bad copy makes Martin Gayford

F

rom my experience young people are sometimes perplexed about

how to begin a career in journalism.

Personally, I blundered my way in.

I started writing about music and I became jazz critic of the Daily

Telegraph which was a small niche.

Then I was talking to the arts editor

one day and she asked, quite casually

over lunch, if there was anything else

I wanted to write about, and I said art, and that was that.

I’m not sure if that sort of thing would happen today – and you often hear it said that it’s all much more difficult

nowadays, and there are more hoops

you’ve got to jump through. But then I was in the position I was as I’d carried out a campaign of self-education – I’d written many pieces and submitted them to numerous places until

someone said yes. That took a degree of determination, I suppose.

Contributors were as good as their last piece – if you started to go off, 30

editors irritable.

Do the big artists, the Lucians and

the David Hockneys feel that they’ve got to perform like journalists do?

Lucian Freud’s charm comes across in the current edition of the letters I’ve

written with David Dawson. He would say one of the two worst things you

could think is: “I’ve spent 80 or 100

hours on this so I can’t throw it away – it must be good.” The other is: “It’s

mine, so it must be good”. Lucian was

ruthless at editing work. Francis Bacon was a masochist in his private life, but

also quite masochistic in terms of selfjudgement.

David Hockney. (Wikipedia.org)

COLUMNS

Lucian Freud. Girl with a white dog (Wikipedia.org)

David Dawson thinks maybe 2530% of Lucian’s work was destroyed, and much of what was destroyed was more than adequate by most people’s standards. Lucian could be quite sweet about that: ‘I’m always in trouble with my pictures,’ he once told me.

David Hockney is quite different: he preserves things. I think artists have to be aware – rather like writers – their work is only as good as the last work.

You can’t coast on your reputation. All artists who succeed would regard that as a dangerous thing to do.

I think if you’re trying to do something new, the work carries on being difficult.

The work would only be easy if you’ve established a formula – and if you have integrity as an artist, you don’t want to do that. David was saying the other day

David Hockney. Pool with Two Figures (Wikipedia.org)

that turning out product is a dangerous

thing to do – piling up a lot of stuff of a fairly similar type.

Painters have different interests. In the

mid-1950s, Lucian got more interested in texture, and Hockney is more of a

painter-draughtsman. David would say that what’s absolutely fundamental to

him is drawing. Lucian started out with that sort of view, but it took him some time to become the kind of artist he became.

My inherent tendency is to want to

learn from artists. There are two kinds of people who call themselves critics: there are one or two who think you

should close yourself off from the art world. I was at a dinner party once

with a critic of that ilk, and this was

aimed at David Sylvester who was also there, and this critic said: “If you make

Lucien Freud. (Wikipedia.org)

friends with artists, that will undermine your critical distance”. David Sylvester replied that he thought all critics and art historians should talk to them if only to see how they don’t think.

My personal view is that interviewing artists isn’t like trying to interview the Chancellor of the Exchequer where you’re trying to get them to divulge information they’re keeping from the public: it’s not just not that sort of enterprise. I feel very luck to have had the career I’ve had.

Love Lucian: The Letters of Lucian Freud 1939–1954 is published by Thames & Hudson, pp. 392, £65

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

31

COLUMNS

TOMORROW’S LEADERS WITH JULIUS IBRAHIM

W

hen I was 16, before I started

few projects that didn’t quite reach our

warm personality, determination,

leadership academy which included a

take it upon myself to see what kind of

find temporary housing, and then he

university, I was part of a

two-day residential course where you learned all about problem-solving techniques, local group exercises,

trust exercises, and team building – it was amazing. One day I was sitting

down at breakfast with a mentor, who was from Future Foundations, and

he told me about the amazing things

that he was doing at Enactus KCL to

desired impact level, so I decided to solution I could come up with.

I am of the belief that whatever

solution you’re coming up with – or whatever social enterprise you want to launch – you personally have to be able to execute it. For me, I’ve

always loved hospitality. I worked in

restaurants from the age of 12 to 17,

and perseverance. He was able to

found Second Shot. When he started

working with us, he stopped being all

these negative things in other people’s eyes. He became a barista. He became a hub of his community, a person that people could look forward to seeing

and sharing a conversation with every single morning.

and I was that kid at school who would

Our concept, and the concept of our

was also the head chef at a street food

who are on one path get to a higher,

When I joined my Enactus team it was

felt comfortable that I could launch

always this overlap between when one

I was lucky enough to join immediately

and make it successful. While going

up to you to decide how you want the

project where we were helping a local

that I could open a coffee shop which

Whether you’re working on projects

them to become financially resilient

by homelessness, and that idea became

enterprise, or working in an industry,

that they were doing. Thankfully, within

There is no such thing as a homeless

tackle knife crime in London. That

bake cookies and brownies to sell. I

logo, is that we’re trying to help people

place when I was at university, so I

more prosperous path. But there’s

day one of freshers so I was excited, and

something in the hospitality space

journey ends and another begins. It’s

as a project leader of a consultancy

through the planning process, I realised

next phase of that journey to pan out.

community centre restructure to enable

retrained and employed people affected

now, thinking about launching a social

and continue all of the amazing things

Second Shot Coffee.

you must know how to place your

talk left me so inspired, and it sent me on this journey.

a few months, we were able to turn them around.

Straightaway from there, I became team president. In that role I was

facilitating impact, so I was advising team leaders, and doing that kind of work more than being actively

involved in the day-to-day running

of the projects. Sometimes I found it frustrating because I wasn’t involved

in the actual day-to-day activities, and

we had so many projects that I wanted to have a handle on, but I wasn’t quite

able to. For me, it was always a priority for myself and my team to have an

impact within homelessness. We had a 32

person, only people who are

experiencing homelessness, and it can

strengths, trust the process, show your resilience, and know that you can do amazing things and create impact.

happen to so many of us at different points in our lives. Victor was 51

years old when, five days after moving to London, he found himself alone

sleeping on the street. He didn’t have

great English skills, and he was one of those people stuck in that unenviable

position of isolation. He was homeless.

But what Victor did have was an unrelenting belief that he could

really improve his life, and that he deserved better than what life had

given him so far. Victor was someone with an incredible work ethic, a

Julius Ibrahim, the founder of Second Shot Coffee, was speaking to Enactus students at the ExCel Centre, London

COLUMNS

THOSE ARE MY PRINCIPLES WITH CLAIRE COOKSON

W

hen I first started my career in special needs, I realised that

people aren’t sufficiently amnitious

for people with learning disabilities

when it comes to their transition into employment.

That didn’t seem right: I was struck by

you learn everything about yourself,

In terms of value for the businesses who

with these people who have faced such

goes up. What we then see is that staff

because suddenly you are working

unbelievable challenges on a daily basis,

more than I've ever had to face, yet they still come to school and give you their best day.

the skills and talents of these young

The word disability is so negative, and

that the world of employment would

people with autism, for example, often

adults, and I just felt really concerned never know of their skills. For as long as I've been doing this, in the UK,

the statistics of people with learning disabilities transitioning into paid

employment are woeful. Right now, only 5.1 per cent of those with a learning

disability or autism who are known to

adult services are in paid employment.

I was looking at this trajectory for

these young children and young adults finishing their time at my school, and

I became really concerned about what

their adult lives would look like if they

were going to live a lifetime on benefits.

if you look at the skills and qualities of they have really amazing attention to detail and they’re able to follow

standard operating procedure to the letter. People with a disability are

incredibly solutions-focused because

they're constantly finding workarounds.

PEOPLE WITH A DISABILITY ARE INCREDIBLY SOLUTIONSFOCUSED

When you train to be a teacher, as

They're also typically in a world

around supporting people with

learning disability, so they have to find

I did, there is very little training

learning disabilities – it’s a real gap

in our training system. So in truth I didn't learn a whole lot about how to support people with learning disabilities, or autism spectrum

condition. It was actually in a role

that I had in a mainstream college, as part of an internal inspection team.

I was inspecting a special education department in the area, and just

became overwhelmed by the fact that nobody was being hired and nobody

was looking at their future, and that’s

when I transitioned to work in a special education school. I think that's where

that's not set up for somebody with a workarounds to fit in. That translates

so beautifully into the world of work –

take part, we know that productivity

satisfaction goes up. In organisations

that partner with us, people feel more proud to work for their organisation.

What we also think is that people

working within that organisation start

to disclose their own hidden disabilities, because suddenly they feel like they

work for an organisation which values

diversity and that is inclusive, and that

wants people to be open and honest and

bring their whole self to work. Suddenly they feel like they're working for an

organisation that demonstrates in real terms its social values.

Every single young adult who does our programme, they change. They change

the way they walk, the way they talk, the way they feel about themselves, and the way they present themselves, because

suddenly, and for some of them for the first time ever, they’re integrated into

society, they’re adding real value, they're

developing their skills, and they feel like they’re giving back to their community.

Wiki

where we need to be resilient, and we

pe d ia. or g

need to be reactive, and we need to be able to make changes and work with others, and I just became consumed

with how incredible they are. When I

started partnering with organisations,

I realised they were already employing

people with different learning styles, with undiagnosed learning disabilities, and

undiagnosed autism spectrum condition.

It was really enlightening to be able to say

to companies: ‘You are already doing this you are already making great adaptations’.

Claire Cookson is CEO of Delivering the Future Now (DFN), a charity dedicated to education, employability, healthcare, and conservation. www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

33

Columns

34

Columns

MARTINKEMPDESIGN.COM

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

35

GOSSIP

WATERFLY THE WATERFLY SEES THE REFLECTION IN THE WATER. IT TAKES NOTE AS THE WATER SHIFTS. HERE’S THE LATEST GOSSIP FROM THE EDUCATION AND EMPLOYABILITY SECTORS

The Prince of Wales was thanks to Lady Nourse who was chairing a charity

event at a West End theatre,” Lehmann recalls. “We all had to be seated half

an hour before Charles arrived. Lady

Nourse took great pleasure in marching

HM The King Charles III. (Wikipedia.org)

RACKING UP THE ROYALTIES

A

s we move towards the

coronation of a new King,

Waterfly hears that Finito’s CEO Ronel Lehmann has had the opportunity to

meet His Majesty on multiple occasions

when the current King was the Prince of Wales. The first meeting was facilitated

by Lady Nourse, who enjoyed her

superior position perhaps a little too

much. “The first time that I met HRH 36

picking up biscuits, placing them in his jacket pocket, and excitedly telling guests “these were mine!”

Lehmann also recalls a meeting at the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, which

into the Royal box and immediately

he attended through an invitation from

quickly,” he recalls. It’s not recorded

the future King spoke of his own long-

didn’t involve a rogue pen.

OBE, who founded The Malcolm

chastising us for not standing up

Marianne Fredericks CC. Lehmann and

how Charles reacted to this: at least it

standing association with Sylvia Darley

But the future King’s humour comes through in Lehmann’s recollections.

After a lifetime of service, charity, and championing the environment, His

Majesty took particular pride in another accomplishment of his when he and

Camilla visited The Jewish Museum

Sargent Cancer Fund for Children. “I told His Royal Highness that I was trying to get the Royal Albert Hall to honour Sir Malcolm on one of their stars located under the canopy of the building. These are dedicated to key players in the building’s history, from

to mark its Camden Town expansion.

its opening in 1871 to the present day,”

Original Biscuits, which the then-

have no idea of his impact on classical

1990. Now they are a Waitrose product,

the survival of The Royal Albert Hall.

go to charity. At the museum’s grand

for common sense to prevail!” We feel

Among the refreshments were Duchy

Lehmann says. “Most young people

Prince of Wales began production of in

music or Sir Malcolm’s importance to

though to their credit the royalties still

I felt that I was beating a Royal path

opening, His Majesty was seen to relish

another black spider memo coming on.

GOSSIP Neil Robertson. (Wikipedia.org)

OUR MOLE IN TV

T

he author Tim Robinson recalls what it was like directing and

producing Reading the Eighties for BBC2. He recalls: “Sue Townsend of Adrian Mole fame was perhaps the most amiable, although she

couldn’t stand Beryl Reid who played

W

of snooker is a place where

journalists experience a variety of

welcomes. According to Finito staff writer Patrick Crowder, Australian champion

Neil Robertson exuded quiet confidence and kindness, asking nearly as many

questions about Crowder’s life during the interview as Crowder was asking him.

Eventually the expats connected over

the question of homesickness – and even swapped mobiles.

But when Crowder approached Ronnie O’Sullivan after a match, the legend was initially closed off. O’Sullivan

generally has little patience for the media, preferring to focus on his play. He asked which publication Crowder was writing

for, and as he began to explain, O’Sullivan cut him off with, “I don’t give a f**k

mate, how much time have we got?” But O’Sullivan warmed up when he picked up on Crowder’s Californian accent –

an unusual nationality on the snooker

circuit. Eventually the pair bonded over their shared love of scones and clotted

cream from ‘Marksies’, which O’Sullivan was surprised Crowder had even heard of. From expletives to cream – the true trajectory of a Rocket.

told me the anecdote was complete, so

I jumped up, shouting out: ‘Wonderful,

that’s simply wonderful!’ Still, it made it to the final cut.

CALL A DOCTOR

the neck,’ said Sue, ‘who, unable to Brummie caricature and then tried

idiot. She’s a plain, complete, clearly

adaptation. ‘She was a mad pain in

aterfly hears that the world

Doctor Who.’ The silence that followed

R

Adrian’s grandmother in the TV

BAISED AND CONFUSED

he told me about working on scripts for

do a Sheffield accent, did an awful

to force the rest of the cast to imitate her.’ I confessed to her my terrible

fear of aging and losing my looks, and she, who was close to death, replied, laughingly: ‘Because of my diabetes,

I’m completely blind and can’t see you at all, but I’ll tell you how lovely you look if that helps.’

HAWKING HIS BOOK

R

obinson, whose acclaimed new

novel The Orphans of Hatham Hall

has recently been published, also had

other fascinating encounters: “Stephen

ussell T Davies was heard to be quite rude about MP Nadine

Dorries over her appearance on Radio 4.

“The woman is an idiot – a big f**king idiotic woman,” Davies tells Waterfly.

Speaking of his return to writing for

the nation’s favourite time-travelling

doctor, the Welsh screenwriter expressed concern about going back to the BBC, which he believes is coming under

fire. “I think it’s under attack all the

time. Every single day,” he tells us. His proposal to save the historic broadcast

service? “Vote the government out, it’s simple as that. But we won’t, it’s not

going to happen, so when your children are sitting watching cartoons it’s your

fault for not voting them out.” Call the Paw Patrol.

Hawking wasn’t noticeably more agile than Sue, but still manfully plugging

A Brief History of Time which had sold in huge numbers – although, it has

been scandalously suggested, a smaller

percentage than usual ever reached the

end. I was allowed only one unprepared question and as we were featuring

‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’,

asked him about Douglas Adams. For 20 minutes the camera ran while he

dutifully programmed his gizmo, and I crossed and uncrossed my legs. But it was well worth the wait as finally

everybody’s favourite household dalek began speaking: ‘I once met Douglas

Adams in Los Angeles for lunch where

Stephen Hawking. (Wikipedia.org)

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

37

FEATURES Deep dives into the issues which matter

Alamy.com

67 | JOHN V PAUL: Was the Beatles a toxic workplace?

38

Wiki

pe d ia. or g

52 SHUFFLE TO THE RIGHT Grey hairs, blue views?

76 VALE, ELIZABETH A tribute to Her Majesty

Wiki

pe d ia. or g

82 LARKIN ABOUT The poet’s centenary

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 6

39

COVER STORY

EXCLUSIVE

HOW EMMA RADUCANU CHANGED THE WORLD OF TENNIS CHRISTOPHER JACKSON EXAMINES THE RISE AND STALL OF THE 2021 US OPEN CHAMPION, AND ASKS WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM HER IN OUR OWN CAREERS

E

mma Raducanu sits in a luxury

hotel, immediately more interesting

that the backdrop behind her. Interior designers will have specific words for

the subtle gradations of brown, beige

To recap for those who may have missed

string of top players: Stefanie Vögele,

most astonishing fairytale in all sport,

Shelby Rogers, Belinda Bencic, Maria

what has been without exaggeration the Emma Raducanu began 2020 as a little known tennis player. The armchair fan

Zhang Shuai, Sara Sorribes Tormo, Sakkari and Leylah Fernandez to

win the tournament. More than this she did so without dropping a set.

and mauve which I see, conveying

might easily have pigeon-holed her

light disappear out of shot. Behind her,

tennis players who ‘don’t quite make

congratulations from the late Queen

other buildings, suggesting Raducanu

without any disrespect intended to any

achievement at such a young age…

appropriate since she has been in the

Johanna Konta, Elena Baltacha, or

dedication”.

14 or so months.

hopes, who shine briefly then move

of course, but Raducanu herself has been

Raducanu is perched on the sofa,

management, or agenting.

low-key opulence. The gold struts of a

as the latest in a long run of British

On her victory, she received public

half-lost in the night, are the ghosts of

it’. It would have been easy to imagine,

Elizabeth II, who called it: “a remarkable

is in some upper floor suite: this feels

of these players, that here was another

testament to your hard work and

stratosphere of sporting stars for the last

Heather Watson – one of those British

These developments have led to pressure,

off into commentating, coaching,

philosophical about that. “I’m a Slam

professionally lit. She is dressed in what looks like a purple ballgown and which is probably Dior – one of her sponsors.

The spangly crucifix which she wears

for all her matches – including her 2021 US Open final victory – disappears in the glitter of her dress. It is as if she has found herself by accident in the

interviewee’s chair and decided to allot some brief time before heading out for the night.

Recalling the last helter-skelter year,

she says: “I’ve had a lot of new things that have been exciting. It’s great to learn from different industries and

see new things, and I can apply it into every aspect of my life really, even my

It didn’t work out like that. Instead, Raducanu had a promising run at

Wimbledon in 2021. At that time,

she was ranked outside the Top 300,

and entered the tournament as a wild card. She charmed everyone on her

that away from me,” she has said. “If

anything, the pressure is on those who haven't done that.”

In short, this sort of thing doesn’t happen; to Raducanu it did.

way to the fourth round. That match

SCHOOL’S OUT

saw her lose to Ajla Tomlianoviç after

in itself: it also revealed somebody

was disappointing at the time, and

Raducanu’s victory was astonishing

experiencing breathing difficulties.

well-spoken, educated, charming and

But in retrospect it was formative:

Raducanu subsequently entered the US Open Championships and had to win three qualifying matches to be able to enter the main draw.

What happened next would be deemed

tennis.

So I think that's been really Official portrait of Vice President KamalaeyeHarris unlikely if submitted as a Hollywood The Countess of Wessex (Lawrence Jackson) opening.”

British Grime Rapper Stormzy (Alamy Stockscript.

Photo)Raducanu went on to beat a 40

champion, so no one's going to take

humorous. She has sometimes been

deemed, as we shall see, a poster-girl

for social mobility or diversity in sport.

Interestingly she has a grammar school

background having attended Newstead Wood School in Orpington, which

though it celebrates her on its website

does so in a more understated way than other schools might.

Alamy.com www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

41

COVER STORY Alamy.com

In fact, for much of her ascent to

It’s this which sets Raducanu apart: her

tasking her burgeoning tennis career with

consider the person on the hotel sofa,

superstardom, Raducanu was multi-

A Levels, but now things have shifted a

bit. Raducanu continues, telling Harper’s

Bazaar: “Even though I’ve finished my A Levels now, I like to keep my brain quite

active. Bath time is also when I watch TV or Netflix– I find I don’t get much spare

time to do that otherwise. People always ask what I’m watching but it’s usually quite obscure.”

And what is she watching and reading?

“Right now I’m really into these different Chinese shows because I’m trying to

improve my Mandarin! As for books, I

recently finished The Monk Who Sold His

Ferrari by Robin Sharma which is about this lawyer searching for the meaning of life. I like non-fiction books best. I also

like talking to my friends – not so much on the phone, but I’m a big texter.”

42

maturity and willingness to learn. As you you realise how she is already an old

head on young shoulders, used to being the object of attention and fascination;

the impression is of somebody who has very swiftly reconciled herself to fame,

as if her astonishing story was what she expected to happen long ago. She came prepared.

So what is it like when the limelight

comes for you? When I speak to Chris Eaton, the former World No.317, who reached the second round of

Wimbledon in 2008, he compares his own experiences as a tennis player to what Raducanu is experiencing: “I

would say that my experience would

be extremely different to a lot of other

peoples’: it’s rare to have an experience with the press which is only positive.

“PROFESSIONALLY SPEAKING, I’M VERY PROUD OF MY RESILIENCE THIS YEAR. I'VE FACED QUITE A BIT OF ADVERSITY AND I’VE HAD TO KEEP GETTING BACK UP A LOT.”

COVER STORY

For me, there was no expectation.

Stormzy on stage (wikipedia.org) Nobody got my phone number, social

disappointment will mean criticism,

of Raducanu: “It all depends on what

wise, you didn’t have Instagram where

an aspect of her life; perhaps it’s even

its defining note – along with her newly

to wear a watch at the end of everything

media wasn’t what it was. Accessibilityyou could message somebody or post something. Emma has outrageous expectation.”

I remember once talking to a tennis

coach at Reed’s tennis school, which the

former British No.1 Tim Henman – and Eaton – had attended. He told me that many students had been as talented as Henman but Henman had been the

only person who, if you told him to hit

a ball against a wall for 10 hours, would follow the order unquestioningly.

most of it unfair. Press intrusion is now

found wealth which itself cannot come without its own measure of difficulty.

Raducanu admits this publicly, telling Sheer Luxe: “Professionally speaking, I’m very proud of my resilience this

year. I've faced quite a bit of adversity

disciplines, and young people already

wish to find out how they can emulate

The past year has meant getting used to that side of things – the publicity and hearing all these things I never even tour is so intense.”

Raducanu we think we know there is

someone far more complex, and indeed

perhaps less obviously enviable than the one we had her down for.

her achievements in their own lives.

NUMBERS GIRL

“I think the confidence comes from

By their endorsements shall ye know

Vogue. “My mum comes from a Chinese

monied and famous brands beating their

just inner belief,” Raducanu has told

background, they have very good self-

belief. It’s not necessarily about telling everyone how good you are, but it’s about believing it within yourself. I

really respect that about the culture.”

But Raducanu’s story is already a layered one as much to do with setback as it is to do with that astonishing victory. In

2022, she began to experience reversal

as she adjusted to joining the main tour: the latest example of this was her defeat to American teenager Coco Gauff in

straight sets in the second round of the 2023 Australian Open.

Raducanu has been both a meteoric success story and someone who has increasingly had to wrestle publicly

with disappointment. In the merciless world of stratospheric celebrity,

ten days a year, suddenly you’re looking

at 50 days a year which then means you don’t get any time off and you’re always working.”

we spoke to Christopher Helliar, her

Behind the beauty and the smile and the

its relationship to success in other

of five different sponsorships requiring

isn’t true, but I try not to let it affect me.

lot. So much stuff is said about me that

success means in sport, and how much it. Furthermore, success in sport has

shouldn’t be a problem. If it’s a question

For Raducanu, the sponsorship

The story, apocryphal or not, seems

should be sacrificed in order to obtain

and do one corporate day a year? If so, it

and I’ve had to keep getting back up a

knew about myself ! The attention on the

to open up onto the question of what

contracts she has with these brands. Is it

them. Raducanu has had the most

way to her door, and this has given her,

in addition to instant financial security, a host of commitments.

Raducanu explains in that plush hotel

room: “I’ve been lucky enough to work

with Dior and Maria Grazia Churi who I've met a few times and she's so nice.

I also like that she's all about feeling

comfortable and having casual stuff in your wardrobe that you can wear day to day. Nike is probably another one because I'm always in tennis clothes

and don't go out very often! That said, I think they’re the masters at making the sporty stuff just look a bit cooler. I’m

also into quite masculine pieces – you’ll

often find me wearing a men's polo and tennis shorts.”

Eaton explains how it goes for the likes

questions feel different; for this article, agent, who was willing to cooperate on the basis that our magazine was interested in Emma’s substance.

And there’s a lot of that. In general, her endorsements feel thought-through.

Raducanu is able to talk articulately

about the sponsors she’s signed up with.

Consider this excerpt, for instance: a

dropped-in reference from an interview with Harper’s Bazaar: “I wake up a lot during the night and my hydration

always takes a hit overnight – I'm an

athlete, so I need to keep on top of that to perform properly during the day.

You’ll always find a big bottle of Evian

next to my bed, so the first thing I do is normally have a big glug of water!”

Likewise, her commitment to BA

chimes with the jet-setting lifestyle of an international tennis player, and her

physical beauty makes her a natural fit for Tiffany’s jewellery and Dior.

But the same brands would be a good

fit for many other tennis player on the circuit. As one looks through the long list of her endorsements, one leaps

out as somehow being more specific

to Raducanu and that is her deal with HSBC to work on financial literacy,

about which she has said: “To partner

with HSBC is so natural for me having

grown up playing in the HSBC Road to

Wimbledon and having been a customer for many years. If I wasn’t a tennis player, www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

43

COVER STORY

EMMA'S EDUCATION TI 2002

2004

Born in Toronto, Ontario to Lon Raducanu and her mother Renee

2006

Moves to England at the age of two, raised in Bromley

2013

Attends Bickley Primary school in Bromley

Begins attending Newstead Wood School in Orpington

2007

Begins playing tennis, alongside a number of other hobbies including gokart racing, ballet, and horse riding

Unsplash.com

Wikipedia.org

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

I would definitely want to work in finance

I talk to Anna Freeman, founder of

Of course, it’s not necessarily a

industry in the years to come.”

literacy. So, what does she make of

continues: “While it’s hard to ignore the

so I’m excited to learn more about the Raducanu’s parents are both in finance and so it is of interest to look at what

the sponsorship might mean. Strangely, HSBC say they are unable to comment

which makes one wonder a little about the

depth of their commitment to the question itself. However, there can be no doubt that financial literacy is of importance and that the broad idea is valuable, even if HSBC’s approach to the sponsorship might be deemed unduly standoffish.

44

Zavfit, a business committed to financial the partnership between Raducanu and the bank? “From a marketing

perspective it makes a lot of sense,” she tells me. “HSBC has always looked to

use ambassadors who connect cultures

while using sport as a tool for education

around their brand and products. Emma is a great example of someone who

is young and has found her passion

and taken her chance with a brilliant platform to carry a message to a new generation.”

straightforward match. Freeman

fact that Emma won’t be having financial struggles herself anytime soon and she’ll have obligations to support HSBC with their advertising returns, she is relatable

to a younger audience while representing aspiration, so using her to help bring

education to the next generation is very important. However well it does as a

campaign, we’d like the big players like

HSBC to continue using real people in

everyday situations to tell their stories and make the conversation reach everyone.”

20

COVER STORY

IMELINE:

012

2018

Wikipedia.org

2020

Professional debut on the ITF women’s circuit, winning the $15,000 ITF Tiberias, her first professional title. Later that year, she would go on to win a second title at the ITF Antalya.

2021

During the pandemic, she wins LTA British Tour Masters title while preparing for her upcoming A-level exams.

She reaches the fourth round in her Grand Slam maindraw debut, before winning the US Open without dropping a set. She tests positive for Covid-19, causing her to miss her second exhibition match at Royal Albert Hall. She completes her A-levels, earning an A* and an A in mathematics and economics, respectively.

2022

Wikipedia.org

2015

Faces after effects of Covid-19 and injury, leading to an early withdrawal from the Nottingham Open and causing her to miss Eastbourne. She competes in Wimbledon where she is defeated in the second round, and enters the US Open again where she loses her opening match.

Becomes the youngest ever to win an International Tennis Federation tournament at the age of 13 when she wins the Nike Junior International in Liverpool

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

So why is financial literacy a problem

So what is Freeman’s solution?

Zavfit. “From our perspective, we

it’s not interesting. It’s not interesting

bad things associated with finance,

fitness - we know people want to do

in society? “It’s not understood because because it’s not relatable,” Freeman

replies. “Children and young people have learnt preconceptions about financial

literacy and money from their parents which will usually have a negative

connotation. We’re made to think that ‘money = problems’ and so we avoid

learning about it. We’re then brought into a society where every finance operator

“Instead of talking about all the

why don’t we talk about the good it could do?” she asks. “How to spend

our money in ways that improve our health and happiness and get away from the model that finance is all

about protecting a future that feels like lightyears away to the younger generation.”

sells the same thing ‘Saving is Good,

This failure has real mental health

from generation to generation.”

insight which led to her founding

Spending is Bad’ and the cycle continues

effects in Freeman’s view, and it’s this

see money in the same as diet and

the right thing but they don’t know

what that is. We’re all different and so we need to find what works for us. Instead of ‘how much money

do I have’ we should be thinking

about 'How can my money make me happy’.”

The above conversation illustrates the power of Raducanu: she can make us talk about things which we wouldn’t otherwise talk about.

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

45

COVER STORY

of performance, analogous to sporting performance.

To learn more, I talk to leading

psychologist Dr. Paul Hokemeyer, who tells me: “Succeeding in both

competitive sports and a competitive life in times of elevated stress requires us to elevate above our emotional reactivity and utilize our prefrontal cortex. This

is the part of our brain that enables us

to control our emotional responses and

channel them into concrete and focused action.”

Alamy.com

ESCHEWING THE NEGATIVE But, of course, building a brand is a complicated business. Formerly of

partner Matthew James. Professional

sport as it grows and expands produces

an array of well-paid careers undreamed of even 20 years ago.

BDB Pitmans, Stuart Thomson is one

Despite her entourage, tennis is often

practitioners and explains: "Hitting the

– and it is. There is a loneliness about

a young age has presented Raducanu

partially offset by the creation of a large

brand the way she wants it to be. For

fascination: it is a game of fine margins,

isn’t the level of interest or relative blank

possible to win more points than your

history is a real benefit to her.”

you didn’t win the crucial points at a

of the UK’s foremost public affairs

considered a highly individual sport

heights of winning the US Open at such

the match situation which can only be

with the opportunity of building her

support team. This is tennis’ particular

many more established players, there

where the scoring system makes it

sheet that Raducanu has. That lack of

opponent but still be defeated because

And does he foresee any difficulties

there? “Well, with that, of course, comes the pressure not only to win more

crucial time. There isn’t another sport

like this which so advertises the need to compete well in pressure situations.

What’s interesting is that Hokemeyer doesn’t just find this in his sporting

patients; it’s replicated in other sectors.

“Many of my highly successful patients frequently describe this ability as

'supernatural' or as an 'out of body'

experience,” he continues. “They go on to explain how in this state, they are

removed from what they see as their human form and come to occupy a

highly mechanical state that has no

feelings. In this highly automized state of being, their emotional reactivity is suspended, their physical sensations fall away and their mind becomes

myopically focused on the immediate task at hand – be that task winning a tennis match or closing a real estate deal.”

tournaments but also to live and breathe

In others words, it’s an abnormally

When it comes to Raducanu, she has

Many audiences will be interested in any

said that Raducanu’s story opens up

players have ever managed, but then

her newly established personal brand.

stressful career choice. It might also be

deviations from the brand and use that

onto the whole question of positivity

against her or to generate click-bait adverse headlines. She will need to get the right

people around her in both a sporting and

communications setting so that her brand is built and protected for the long-term.”

And, of course, there is a substantial team of people behind her from her

in sport and in our lives generally. Her

uniqueness is so far encapsulated by that incredible run at Flushing Meadows in 2021. If she never wins another

major championship it will always be a remarkable story: it can never be taken away from her.

financially savvy parents; her agents

So how did she manage to hit those

physiotherapist Will Herbert; her

learn in our careers from her? After all,

Helliar and Max Eisenbud; her

nutritionist Kate Shilland; and hitting 46

heights, and what might we ourselves

work must be said to have its element

been able to reach heights few other

she has found it hard to rediscover that form. Likewise, in our own lives we

have good days and bad days, a period of peak performance, and moments

when we end up wondering why we couldn’t replicate our best.

So what is happening to us in our

careers when things aren’t working out?

Hokemeyer tells me: “When it comes to sport, not everyone is biologically

wired to withstand this intense level

of being. Some people, in spite of their

COVER STORY

talents and discipline, are genetically wired and environmentally tuned to

reject the pressures and stresses of elite competition. Their central nervous systems short circuit the elevated

cognition needed to stay focused. For these people, failing or surrendering becomes a primitive and highly

successful strategy to put them back

into a place of physical and emotional safety.’

So on some level then, it’s almost as if we want to lose. Eaton, who now

coaches at Wake Forest, one of the top tennis universities in the US, agrees with Hokemeyer, and tells me that

the very top players – Federer, Nadal,

Djokovic and Murray – all of whom he has got to know well on tour and as a

coach, very rarely let this mindset enter into the picture. “These very top guys have five or six people to take care of

them, which definitely helps. But take

Andy Murray, who I got to know well – his attention to detail is amazing. Here

at Wake I’m coaching 22-year-olds and some are very good and some will turn pro. But what’s hard is to get across

how far along the best guys are in terms of desire.”

Eaton gives me an example: “Look at

the Andy Murray Netflix documentary Resurfacing. It just punches you in the face how desperate he is to be

great. You watch the practice drill, the warm-ups, what he’s doing between shots: everything is immaculate. It

stinks of desperation to be great. Very

successful people are operating on that different level of detail.”

And yet for everybody – even for Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal,

and certainly for Raducanu – things go wrong. “For my players here,”

continues Eaton, “I see the frustration when it comes to dealing with things

going wrong. It’s not this generation’s strength: they’re very used to getting

Wikipedia.org

what they want and so when things

in the semi-final, and saying, ‘This

well.”

change this?’”

don’t go well they don’t always respond

is not acceptable. What can I do to

For Eaton, if you look at the stories

And Raducanu? “It will be interesting

met a moment similar to the one

young and she’s got expectation and

of the great players, they always

Raducanu finds herself in 2023. “It

seems like everybody has to conquer a personal flaw to get to be great.

Federer for a while was too angry, or maybe too relaxed in his personality.

He conquered that. Nadal used to

seem scared or too timid; he certainly conquered that. There was a point when Djokovic would complain

too much about injury. And in that

to see how she deals with it. She’s

there’s this way out smiling at her – her marketing ability. It will be interesting

to see how desperate she is to be great.”

Careers wise, there are sports

psychologists out there to help the likes of Raducanu, and a good coach will

also be a mentor: here, then, we meet

another analogy between the world of work and sport.

documentary, you can see Andy

One of the leading sports psychologists

Australia having just lost to Djokovic

Drive. So what work does he do and

Murray sitting in a hotel room in

is Matt Shaw who works for Inner

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

47

COVER STORY

how did he discover it was what he wanted to do?

“In my role, I work in two main

contexts, in sport and in education. In

the emotional control associated with

in 2014, is much missed is to riot in

moments that the best grow in and

left a terrible gap in many lives.

that. However, it’s often the tough

learn from to get better next time.”

sport I tend to work in two key areas:

By that measure, Raducanu is entering

and performance under pressure. In

now; what she chooses to do in these

all-round development and learning

the all-round development element, I help athletes to learn better, improve and to grow as a person, whereas

in the performance under pressure

element, I help athletes to thrive under pressure when it matters most. Both

my sport and education roles require

the most important years of her life

years will define her as an athlete and as a person. It will be difficult, as all

careers are, but that difficulty is also a

gigantic opportunity for a new level of greatness.

me to deliver 1:1 support to athletes

SIMPLY THE BEST

pupils, staff, and parents.”

Raducanu is grounded and self-aware.

and speak in front of large groups of So how does he teach players to

optimise performance? “Our athletes work with us to explore what being mentally strong really looks like

in the build-up to a big event. For

There are many promising signs that

She knows she is in that rare category who have not only discovered what

they might be capable of, but explored it, conquered their demons, and achieved a career as a result.

example, working on things like how

But this isn’t the case for everyone;

and how to appraise stressful and

might be for them, but they have no

to deal with mistakes, asking for help, important events. This enables athletes to better focus on what’s important in the moment and to think in helpful

ways in order to perform at their best.”

many have an inkling that tennis

serious chance of knowing for sure one way or the other. For instance, she has shown herself admirably concerned over the question of social mobility

Shaw wisely refrains from

and tennis.

plight as he says it’s not helpful to

is that many young people from

commenting on Raducanu’s precise

The great issue in relation to tennis

comment from the outside. I ask him

disadvantaged backgrounds don’t have

instead what it is about those like

Tiger Woods who do come back from injury, and what we might ourselves –

and perhaps Raducanu herself - might learn from them? “What we tend to see with experts like Tiger Woods

and other successful athletes is not

only a physical muscle-type memory whereby they are able to complete

successful movements over and over

the opportunity even to discover if a

tennis career is possible for them: our country is full of a latent athleticism which, lacking an easy outlet, fizzles out in far too many cases.

Fortunately, there are many people,

and some of them highly influential,

who are making it their life’s mission to fix the problem.

again, but also a resilience that is built

One is Nino Severino, a former

to success. For many athletes we often

former British No. 1 Elena Baltacha.

by a long and often challenging path

only hear about their success, which of course teaches them how to win and 48

tennis coach, and the widower of

To say Baltacha, who died of liver

cancer at the horribly early age of 30

understatement: when she died, she But this might be to state the case too despairingly: because of what

Baltacha committed to during her life, she continues to impact lives

positively: her generosity of spirit is her legacy, and, as you talk to Nino,

an astonishingly active legacy at that.

Raducanu donated two tennis rackets to the charity auction organised by

charity Love All, with proceeds going

to several charities including the Elena Baltacha Foundation.

I ask Nino how the foundation started: “It was when we were travelling.

What Bally noticed whenever we were travelling was that tennis is typically

for more affluent children and the kids in the deprived areas weren’t getting a chance because tennis didn’t go to

the schools. She said she wanted to do something about it.”

Many would make the observation

and then do little about it. Bally, by all accounts, wasn’t like that. “In between

travelling the world on tour, we started to organise school trips with a view to introducing tennis to deprived areas.”

Soon others became involved: “Judy

Murray loved the idea. That was back in 2010 and she loved Bally like a

daughter. She came on as patron and then she was followed by Martina Navratilova. All we’ve tried to do

is get as many girls as possible into tennis.”

Raducanu has sometimes been deemed a poster girl for social mobility in

tennis. After the famous 2021 US

Open victory, the Olympian javelinthrower Tessa Sanderson wrote in

The Sun: “For years, tennis in Britain was generally regarded as a white

and middle class sport but thanks to Emma Raducanu now it is not.”

COVER STORY

Alamy.com

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

49

COVER STORY

The Emma Baltacha Foundation

Severino agrees: “Emma is as close

TennisForFree: “It’s a bizarre story as to

cutting email to the Minister for Sport,

Qualifying was tricky enough so to

a tennis player and when I took it up I

luminaries and we essentially said:

to a tennis miracle as you can get.

go and do that. It’s funny though, in

all my years of coaching, you come to realise there’s no accident. It’s their pathway to greatness, and it’s their

opportunity to continue their rise.”

how it all started. My wife was always

must admit that I found the cliquiness in clubs quite off-putting. It’s not the most welcoming of environments if you’re not a good player.”

This caught his attention and as his

the Head of the LTA and other tennis

“This is a public sporting facilitiy that is locked and excluding people. You don’t do this with basketball, or skateboard

parks. Why do you do it with a tennis court?”

What Severino is now focused on is

interest in the sport grew, something

Fast forward to 2023 and many people

many people as possible. The Elena

that the public courts were never

and Hawks have an impressive list of

young people who may well get on

to go down to a hut, pay to get on

have listened. For one thing, Hollwey

giving that same opportunity to as

began to bug him: “I began to notice

Baltacha Foundation is focused on

used and were padlocked. You had

the track to a professional career. Judy

the court and it made the game a bit

dirty”, Severino says) is focused on

And how did he pair up Hawks? “A

Hollwey is among those who

Henman is active in the area too with

coming back from India with Tony, and

LTA in committing to delivering this

Murray (“she really gets her hands helping kids near Dunblane. Tim the Tim Henman Foundation.

Another is Patrick Hollwey, who has

founded TennisForFree with comedian Tony Hawks, a charity which aims to regenerate park space with a view to

giving young people the opportunity to take part in tennis.

Hollwey tells me about the genesis of 50

unwelcoming.”

few months later I was on a plane

we had both had pretty rough trips.

We sat at the bar and put the world

to rights; among the topics discussed was the elitism of middle class sport.

A few days after the flight, Tony called me up and asked if I was serious about making a difference. I said I was. So

we went down to the local tennis court and chained Tony to it. Then we sent a

celebrity endorsers including Pat Cash, Hugh Grant and Stephen Fry. But the government and the LTA are listening now too.

applauds the government and the

changed landscape: “We talk with the Department for Culture, Media and

Sport. DCMS is currently investing £22 million into public tennis courts, and

the LTA top that up with £8 million,

and £3o million over the next few years.

That’s a lot of money going into the

question of rectifying the dilapidation of public facilities.”

COVER STORY

“DON’T GO STRAIGHT INTO A JOB. FOR EMPLOYERS, IT’S QUITE APPEALING TO HAVE SOMEBODY WHO’S BEEN A SPORTSMAN, AND WHO HAS SOME REAL EXPERIENCE OF HAVING TRAVELLED THE WORLD.”

teach us about how to attain excellence

Eaton also points out the win-win

me: “I rarely find a highly successful

other sports. “Some of my students go

in the wider world. Hokemeyer tells

person who has not engaged in some

sort of sport in the past or is currently engaged in a sport of some kind in

the present. For this reason, I advise

the parents I work with to find some sort of sport, activity or hobby their

children can engage in.” So what are the precise benefits? “Sport enables

our children to cultivate discipline and develop a sense of agency over their

lives,” Hokemeyer explains. “In clinical

speak, through sport we develop what's known as an internal locus control. We

But there’s still a long way to go, he adds:

see the connection between effort and

people to get out there. People need to

and minds that can manage stress and

benefits are, and I don’t think enough

important to note that people can start

“What we need to do is to encourage

outcome and we develop healthy bodies

know what is available and what the

conflict in productive ways. It's also

people know of the opportunities.”

playing a sport, be it tennis or bridge, at

This is where Raducanu is of such

any stage of their life.”

nature of trying to make it at tennis, or on to be pro, and go onto the tour; some do well and others struggle,” he says.

“We have the same conversation, and I always say: 'Go on tour and play for a year.' Don’t go straight into a job. For

employers, it’s quite appealing to have

somebody who’s been a sportsman, and

who has some real experience of having travelled the world. Sport gets you

far: it shows that you’re decent under

pressure, able to deal with things when they go wrong. I say to my guys: 'Do

you really want to be the same person as 700 other applicants?' You can say: 'I’ve done everything they’ve done, but I’ve spent the last two years in 25 different countries, basically running my own business.'

And Raducanu? The curious thing

about these tennis players is that they

importance. Hollwey says: “I can’t think

Severino sees other synergies between

exercise a certain fascination because of

– not even Leicester City winning the

a Plan B,” he explains and points to his

about the way they acquired all this is

like that – it’s Roy of the Rovers stuff.

aims to help young people beyond

dedication and talent at a single sport

SS4B Student Athletes to know that

next thing about them. But often there

learning how to become technically and

that is what feeds the media frenzy: an

to be connected with the virtues and

which isn’t there.

of any comparisons to Emma’s story

sport and business. “You’ve got to have

fame, talent, and wealth. But something

premier league. To go through qualifying

work at SportsSkills4Business which

so extraordinarily simple – a case of

their sporting journey. “We want our

– that you find yourself looking for the

their time in sport is not only about

really isn’t much more to it than this and

tactically skilful at their sport, but also

appetite has been created for something

skills that being a competitive athlete

With Raducanu, the more I look into

She’s inspirational to young girls and

teenage girls are the hardest to get into the sport – and then to retain.”

BUSINESS CASE Tennis then keeps intersecting with

other things: with politics, with business, and with our essential ideas about

justice. Perhaps this is a function of its

will provide them with,” the website’s mission states.

popularity; but of course not all young

Hollwey is also bullish about the

have a lengthy career in it.

are so many opportunities for people to

people who take tennis seriously can

We might forget what a high level the top players are at: it is quite likely that

even if you are stratospherically good at tennis, you’ll eventually meet a ceiling where you can’t get any better.

But if that’s the case then there are other options; excellence at tennis has much to

opportunities available in sport: “There work in sport. A lot of coaches left the sport during the pandemic; they had

no work and took up other temporary

careers which have turned into full time careers. So there is a shortage of supply of coaches and particularly new young

coaches with a different mentality and a different outlook.”

her I feel differently: she has hit the

heights but shown rare dignity when

difficulty has arisen. She’s been wise and thoughtful in her choice of sponsors, and articulate about what she wants to achieve, and philosophical when

she’s had setbacks. Our world is full of

sporting phenomena. Raducanu, in her

talent, her single-mindedness, and in her fallibility is something rarer. The only

word for it is inspiration – and you don’t need to be a budding tennis player to feel it.

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

51

LONG READ

THE SHUFFLE TO THE RIGHT IRIS SPARK LOOKS AT THE QUESTION OF WHETHER WE INHABIT AN AGE OF CONSENSUS – AND ASKS WHETHER THERE’S ANYTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT

O

nce a literary spat caught my eye. It was between the novelist Julian Barnes and

the polemicist Christopher Hitchens,

towards the end of the latter’s life. This was initially conducted in the pages

of The New Statesman, when Barnes

gave the following précis of his former colleague: “He was the most brilliant talker I’ve met and the best argufier.

At the Statesman he was largely gay,

idly anti-Semitic and very left-wing.

Then ripple-dissolve to someone who

was twice married and had discovered himself to be Jewish and become a

neocon. An odd progress, though he didn’t do the traditional shuffle to

the right; he kept one left, liberal leg

planted where it always had been and made a huge, corkscrewing leap with

his right leg. I enjoyed his company but never entirely trusted him.”

52

Leaving aside the absurdity of the word

In his defence in his memoir Hitch-22,

at the time was the ‘traditional shuffle

had discarded utopianism in favour of

‘argufier’, the phrase which was discussed to the right’. The description generated

column inches as part of the debate over

the rights and wrongs of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. But it remains interesting in

that it seems to assume that right-wing attitudes are in some way incorrect and

reprehensible – or, as Hitchens would later put it, ‘allied to senility’.

Hitchens went on to argue that he

complexity. “It is not that there are no

certainties, it is that there is an absolute certainty that there are no certainties,” he would write in his memoir.

And there the matter lay. But sometimes the phrase has returned to me – ‘the

traditional shuffle to the right’. When it does, it’s never in relation to the

protagonists, but in relation to the

“IT IS NOT THAT phrase itself. In short, is it true that people move to the right with age? And THERE ARE NO if so, why? And what does this all mean CERTAINTIES, IT IS for our careers and for our education?

THAT THERE IS AN ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY BLUE ELECTION THAT THERE ARE NO Recent data suggests that Barnes is broadly correct that people become CERTAINTIES.” more right wing with age. The best

LONG READ

and slightly less likely to opt for Labour, though a small percentage seek refuge in the middle position of the Liberal

Democrats: the figures are 30 per cent Conservative, 46 per cent Labour.

Fascinatingly, the trend continues all the way through life, with on average a nine per cent rise in Conservative voters for

every ten years of additional experience.

By the time you reach the age bracket

60-69, the figures have flipped: 57 per

cent vote Conservative, and a mere 22 Christopher Hitchens (Wikipedia.org)

recent indicators are the 2019 General Election, which Boris Johnson’s Tories won with an 80-seat majority.

per cent Labour. The trend continues

into our seventies: there, you find 67 per cent vote Conservative, and a mere 14

per cent Labour. If you ever find yourself

everyone from Georges Clemenceau,

a two in three chance you’re talking to a

Winston Churchill. In other words, it

talking to a grey-haired stranger, there’s

When one considers that Brexit,

Conservative.

present inflationary woes have happened

something is going on here. But what?

Covid-19, Russia-Ukraine and our since, it must be admitted that the

following statistics emanate out of an

So there seems little doubt that

A TAXING PROBLEM

ancient period, several historical epochs

In the first place, there’s tax. Human

number of directions since, and it’s likely

altruistic and the rarity of saintliness

more friendly to the idea of voting

their own self-interest. Quite simply,

ago. Reality may have shifted in any

nature is more often acquisitive than

that the 2019 data depicts a nation

likely means that most people vote in

Conservative than shall be the case at

over time people’s own self-interest

the next election.

Furthermore, it must be admitted that the election ended in an unusually personal mandate for the outsized

figure of Boris Johnson, who though

technically a Conservative, isn’t easily

pigeon-holed on the political spectrum: his commitment to Net Zero and

his acceptance of lockdown, however reluctant, are, for instance, arguably leftwing positions.

Even so it’s the best data we have. And what does it say? It backs up Barnes.

Between the ages of 24-29, 23 per

cent of voters voted Conservative, with Labour at 54 per cent. By the time

voters have reached the age of 30, they’re

slightly more likely to vote Conservative,

Julian Barnes (Wikipedia.org)

George Bernard Shaw, Victor Hugo and feels sufficiently true and wise to have been ascribed to numerous people.

For the Conservative MP Sir Bill

Wiggin, tax is the core driver of the Conservative vote. As we get older,

if our trajectory has been reasonably

normal, then the chances are we’ll be earning more – and, of course, being taxed more as a result.

it out. Of course, there have sometimes

“OVER TIME PEOPLE’S OWN SELFINTEREST ALIGNS MORE WITH THE TAX POLICIES LIKELY TO BE ESPOUSED BY THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY.”

lesson. It was Edmund Burke, that

“Definitely when I was a young man,

said: “Anyone who is not a republican

recalls, “and I remember when I got my

aligns more with the tax policies likely to be espoused by the Conservative Party.

In Roger’s Version (1986), John Updike

describes a Democrat voter as ‘a fighting liberal, fighting to have her money

taken from her.’ Most people can see

the humour in this position – and the

light touch of the novelist who pointed been attempts to extrapolate a broader great orator and parliamentarian, who

the world an ideological place,” Wiggin

at 20 casts doubt on the generosity of

first payslip. You look at your payslip

his soul; but he who, after 30 years,

perseveres, casts doubt on the soundness of his mind.” Over the course of time,

variants of this have been attributed to

and see how much tax you pay and ask

yourself the question: “That seems a lot of money, is it good value?” And some people will always say ‘yes’ and some www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

53

LONG READ

alleged tendency to meddle in personal

which is ready to supply a workforce

British to imagine a superstate. When I

of the world. However old you are, you

freedom. “It’s much harder if you’re

stood in Burnley in 1997, people had just stopped having outside loos – a privy in

the bottom of the garden. And I thought to myself, ‘Why isn’t the council – which was eternally Labour – interested in

improving their housing?’ The answer

was because once you’ve got people who MP Sir Bill Wiggin (Wikipedia.org)

vote Labour, if you make their situation better they’re less likely to vote Labour,

people will say ‘no’. Most people will say:

but if you keep them suppressed they’re

that money if things were done slightly

authoritarianism keeps them where they

But Wiggin has another point to make:

“IF YOU SQUASH THE PEOPLE AT THE TOP, THEN EVERYBODY’S INCENTIVE TO SUCCEED IS SUPPRESSED.”

‘Actually, I think I could get more for

more likely to stay with you. That

differently’.”

are or presses down on them.”

“That’s not why people vote labour. They vote for it and go, ‘That’s a lot of money.

If rich people paid more I wouldn’t have

to pay so much.’ That’s where the shuffle to the right begins.”

So Wiggin is sympathetic to the current government – as one would expect – for precisely these reasons: “I want a small tax, low interference government.,” he

tells me. “Rishi Sunak’s pledge to reduce the income tax from 20 to 19 per cent for two years’ time was a really good

thing. Although it would be better if

that were happening today, the direction of travel is the right way. Boris Johnson lifted the restrictions on Covid early against some of the medical advice because he wanted us to be free to

make some of our own choices and live our own lives. These are very powerful

messages for me. So whether you run,

hop, skip, shuffle, crawl or are dragged

screaming to the right you will do that as your age suggests that that is more important. It’s not more important

because you’re older, it’s because you’ve witnessed the alternative.”

For Wiggin then the question of how much tax you pay segues into broader

questions of the size of the state and its 54

which is able to take on and beat the rest want your mates and their children to be world-beaters and we can’t afford to get education wrong. Your pension is going

to be paid for by the people reading this magazine. It’s across the board and in

everyone’s interest to get the best out of every individual.”

So what does Wiggin think? “Young

people should be in school for longer.

I look at schools in my constituency:

the teachers are good, the facilities are

good but if you’re not there, you’re not

going to get the most out of it. So why do they go home at 3.30? Of course in

the younger age groups they might not be able to last. If you look at the South Koreans, they have after school until

10 o’clock at night, because they need

to beat the Chinese and the Taiwanese.

The world is a savage place and if you

don’t believe it, look at people all over

the world who live on a dollar a day. You don’t want to be one of those.”

For Wiggin, there is therefore an

HOBBES ET AL.

levelling up agenda. “Levelling is fair but

but it is a comprehensive description

essential justice to the government’s

Not everyone will agree with all this,

squashing people down is what we’re

of the Conservative mindset. Wiggin’s

against. Lifting the people who have the least and the most vulnerable up is the

opposite to what you see under a Labour government when everybody is pressed down, especially the highest earners. If you squash the people at the top, then everybody’s incentive to succeed is suppressed.”

This leads Wiggin to an interesting

dissertation on education. “The grammar school system did that educationally. It

took the cleverest kids and pushed them up through the grammar schools but it

didn’t deal satisfactorily with those who weren’t able to pass their 11-plus. The

biggest challenge for Britain in the 21st century is to have an education system

descriptions might have had their origin in tax policy, but what is noteworthy is

how rapidly their logic travels outwards to other things: education, the health service, work.

Conservativism feels unified in this

sense, and this is perhaps something of what people feel they are experiencing when they identify with the Tories.

It was summed up best in recent

times by Margaret Thatcher with her devastatingly simple maxim: ‘The

facts of life are Conservative’. But its

pedigree is deeper and one might trace

a line back through Edmund Burke and Thomas Hobbes to find its origins in Enlightenment thought.

LONG READ

Hobbes, like Wiggin, viewed the world as a savage place and life, for him, was, in his famous phrase: “nasty, brutish,

and short”. This notion of a world full

of dangers and disasters, where human beings are hemmed in on all sides, led

Hobbes into the idea that people would

readily accept a king or a parliament as a remedy to their predicament.

This turns out not to be a simple idea, since the blind handing over of one’s

interests to the state doesn’t always pan out very well – as numerous miserable

peoples in the 21st century, from Stalin’s Russia to today’s China, would attest.

This is where the formidable figure of John Locke comes along, stating that while a government is necessary it

nevertheless depends on the ‘consent

of the governed’. These words were of

huge importance not just to the story of British democracy, but to the Founding

Fathers of the United States of America – and to Thomas Jefferson in particular, so much so that they found their way into the Constitution.

It is Lockean democracy which informs much of what Wiggin is saying, and much of what Thatcher did. It goes

without saying that it isn’t accepted by

everyone; if it were the UK would be a

one-party state. But it is certainly the case that the world presents itself to us over

time, and that as we go on in our lives we are more likely to increase our experience

“PUT SIMPLY, THE STATE IS A GIGANTIC FACT OF OUR LIVES, AND LIFE IS IMPERFECT, AND SO ITS IMPERFECTIONS ARE LIKELY TO STACK UP OVER TIME.”

of the state: we have children who

then attend school and can assess the

suitability of the state education system; health scares crop up which enable us to take the measure of the NHS; and

over time, the odds go up that we shall become a victim of crime, and wonder about the efficacy of the police.

None of these experiences of the state is likely to be perfect, and so they will

at the very least generate a questioning mindset about the efficacy of the tax system.

Put simply, the state is a gigantic fact of our lives, and life is imperfect, and

so its imperfections are likely to stack

up over time. It is possible – even likely – that we can yoke the two together

and say: “Things are imperfect because of the state.” For some this will always seem a false joining up – or worse, a lofty denigration, for instance, of all the good work state-paid nurses or

teachers do. For others, Conservatism

is more measured and might amount to

something more like this: “Yes, I know

the world isn’t perfect and that a smaller role for the state won’t make all my

problems vanish all at once. But it will give me greater agency in my life if I

bump up against the state less regularly.

And I am at my best when the prime

mover of my activities comes from free

inspiration – from a felt liberty within.”

SURVEYING THE SCENE However, the issues Wiggin describes all fall broadly within the question of

core policy and do not touch particularly on the question of social conservatism.

A non-exhaustive list of issues which would fall under this umbrella would

be: immigration, gay marriage, the role

of women in the workplace, and climate change.

Now, if one were to imagine what a

clicheic ‘shuffle to the right’ might entail www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

55

LONG READ

% of UK adults saying that immigration is among the most important issues facing the country

Figure A, Source: Ipsos MORI Issues Index (1997-2018), Line, bar and pie charts by Flourish team it would be something like this. That as

insurmountable gap between generations

many of these questions and produces

sense of resentment about the reach of

and the young wise and virtuous.

nation. In relation to immigration, its

you age, not only do you feel a mounting HMRC into your own wallet, and the incompetence of government, but you

also begin to lament societal shift of every kind. You yearn for the past and yearning for the past means the restoration of a predominantly white, Christian world

where women look after the children and don’t get any crazy ideas about becoming

CEOs of FTSE 100 companies. To boot, you’re shortly to leave the world and so

relatively cavalier about the seas rising in 20 years’ time since you won’t be around to drown in them.

Barnes’ original ‘shuffle to the right’

where the old are stupid and prejudiced If taken to its logical conclusion the

data to capture the mood of the

conclusions are stark and don’t make for

country, and every organisation within it,

particularly good reading. Here is the

war between elderly idiots and young

graph in figure A:

especially in the climate and trans

of the most divisive social issues in the

is undergoing a sort of surreptitious civil

report’s conclusion, as indicated by the

sages. This viewpoint seems inwoven

"Attitudes to immigration became one

debates: the protestors who vandalise a

UK in the last decade or so – and that

Van Gogh, for instance, or stop traffic in rush hour in a major city, have assumed a certain behavioural licence which

they feel has been bestowed on them

by precisely this generational stupidity

which is so rampant and obscene that it must be aggressively countermanded.

has a strong generational dimension.

In the late 1990s, hardly anyone in any

generation considered immigration one of the most important issues facing

the country, but over the following 15 years, its prominence increased, and

generational gaps exploded, so that the

may not have meant precisely this as

The trouble with all this is that human

oldest cohort was twice as worried as

like this impatience with a perceived

this, and that the generational divide

referendum."

it, and it is present within, for instance,

on many of these questions, though it is

Guardian, and in parts of the BBC. It

Research published by NatCen’s British

of its tone to establish almost as fact an

on the intergenerational divide looks at

regards Hitchens, but I think something

beings turn out to be more complex than

stupidity is housed somewhere within

isn’t so distinctive as one had thought

the discourse in the pages of The

still there to some extent.

doesn’t need more than the implications

Social Attitudes at The Policy Institute

56

the youngest in the years before the EU This would seem to back up the

Barnesian idea of a ‘shuffle to the

right’. It can seem as though a sort

of xenophobia – ‘allied to senility’ as

Hitchens put it – had somehow become

rife among the elderly on this important

LONG READ

before. This is a characteristic of age: the ability to compare the present

time with what had gone before. It

must also be said that during the first EU referendum, it was the left of

the Labour Party, as represented by Tony Benn, which took the Leave

position which was then, as now, to

some extent synonymous with doubts about immigration. But for him the

EU was a rich man’s club, where the

free movement of workers was in fact

a freedom for capital to exploit labour.

Nigel Farage (Wikipedia.org)

point. This notion has generally had its

Exhibit A in the career of Nigel Farage, and, for instance, his referendum poster

of refugees from Syria and other places,

which seemed to portray Islamic people other, and to be feared on account of their external appearance.

However, some reservations about this narrative need to be aired. In the first

place, we don’t know why and on what basis this generational shift in opinion has been brought about. Douglas

Murray is one of those alarmed by the way in which the rising movement

of peoples during the Blair years isn’t something we’re allowed to discuss.

He once told me: ““It’s easy to be ‘for’ more empathy – to stand up and say,

All this is to say that immigration isn’t

a topic easily categorised as being of the

left or the right. The NatCen data needs to be treated carefully.

SHARED CLIMATE Interestingly, this generational gap turns out to be less marked when it comes to other matters, most notably the environment.

As the NatCen survey points out,

nearly half of the pre-war generation state that they are now concerned

about the environment. It’s a reminder that the Clean Air Act in America

was passed by the Republican Nixon

administration and that the environment

has traditionally been a cross-party issue.

The report states:

like Jess Phillips, ‘If everyone was more

"The gap between generations on

decisions require something hard. We’re

overstated. It’s true that younger

inclusion, but the language of inclusion

to say that climate change is very or

Try doing exclusion language in public.

great deal of difference, and older groups

like me, everything would be better.’ But

environmental concerns is often grossly

very good at talking the language of

generations in the US are more likely

necessitates the language of exclusion.

extremely dangerous, but there is not a

You can’t.”

are far from unconcerned."

In other words, it might not be

So the age disparity exists in relation

immigration in some broad sense, but

in itself opens up onto other possible

that elderly people are opposed to

that they’re particularly aware of what has been going on in recent history –

the opening up of borders during the

Blair years – versus what had happened

to certain issues more than others. This theories about the age divide – and

these in turn might open up onto new solutions for the workplace and for education.

Mark Morrin (www.respublica.org.uk)

THE BOOK OF MARK I talk to Mark Morrin, a policy and

research strategist at ResPublica who

first digs down into the 2019 General Election. “2019 was a different sort of

election,” he explains. “Brexit had been framed in such a way that those who

voted Brexit were more right wing than left, and more likely to be old than

young. It doesn’t really do justice to the argument.”

“THE YOUNGER GENERATION – THE MILLENNIALS – ARE MUCH MORE SOCIALLY CONSERVATIVE.” Then Morrin gives it to me straight: “The younger generation – the

millennials – are much more socially

conservative as a generation and Rishi Sunak is on the cusp of that. There’s a

book called The Fourth Turning is Here

by William Strauss and Neil Howe which I like a lot, even though the

theory in the book can’t be empirically proven. The book states that there are

four different generational archetypes www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

57

LONG READ

and each lasts for around twenty years

point in relation to higher education.

cycle lasting between 80 and 90 years.”

of those people aged 30 will have had

– and between them they constitute a

But soon we’ll get to a stage where 50% some experience or exposure to higher

So what point are we at in that cycle?

education.”

“What happens is we go through a

high point, to a rejection of the high

point, to an unravelling and then onto a crisis – and we’re at a point of crisis at the minute.” That sounds like bad

news. Morrin has this sobering thought.

“The last time we were in crisis was in the 1930s and according to The

Fourth Turning is Here, it was that GI generation who were the heroes who resolved things last time.”

This strikes me a far more complex

theory of generational mentality than the typical ‘shuffle to the right’ dichotomy.

Morrin continues: “The equivalent of

the GI generation today would be the millennials, who have similar traits to

the GI generation: they’re less likely to commit crime, less likely to take drugs

Tony Blair (Wikipedia.org)

to some extent hybrids on the ‘right-left’

spectrum. Morrin gives an example: “Look at Boris. He’s economically and socially

liberal. He has no regard for family, and he wants to be free Europe. Uniquely,

he tried to play at being a One Nation

Conservative while really being a liberal.”

“YOU COULD ARGUE THAT IF THAT CONTINUES, THEN THE POPULATION BECOMES MORE EDUCATED THEY’RE LIKELY TO BECOME MORE LEFT.” Morrin pauses then says: “You could

argue that if that continues, then the population becomes more educated they’re likely to become more left.”

And then the shuffle to the right would become a thing of the past.

and more inherently optimistic in their

Which would mean that that 2019

on the property ladder.”

straightforward move to the right at all.

Morrin explains how this affects

Morrin agrees, and then gives another

dependent. So what can the workplace

and socially liberal. There was perhaps

Petrides writes overleaf about the

and his Catholicism of course. But

making sure that young people are taken

parties are a hodgepodge and can’t

setting.

character even though they also can’t get

their approach to policy. “When you poll, they’re happy to pay tax on the

Scandinavian model if they’re getting

decent services as a consequence. I don’t see a huge popular movement on the streets wanting to lower tax.”

So does Morrin think people make the traditional ‘shuffle to the right’ at all?

His response is nuanced. “There are

people who start on the left and then

end up Conservative but I don’t know

how archetypal those people are. Philip Blond, the CEO of ResPublica, tends

to argue that the Conservatives on the

right are economically Labour, and that Labour on the left are socially liberal.

You need a quadrant to explain it really.”

This means that those politicians who

make it to the top of British politics are all 58

Boris mandate doesn’t describe a

Such a development would go hand in hand with an economy which

had become larger and more state-

example: “Blair was economically liberal

do now to adapt? Finito mentor Sophia

a communitarian nod at the beginning,

importance of ‘mentoring up’ as a way of

it all just goes to show that the main

properly into account in the workplace

really represent values. Within Labour

So the question of our broad political

you’ve got two parties: the far left and the moderate right, and within the

Conservatives you’ve got the moderate

wing and the far right – so that’s at least four parties between them.”

leanings turns out to be both more and less important than we might have

expected. We bring these tropes with us into the settings which define us: into

work and into our education. But they’re

So what bearing does this all have on

not fit for purpose, and the moment

pervasive idea when you look at the

meaningful dialogue becomes possible

education? Morrin says: “There’s this

we start looking past them, a more

university attendance figures that the

– and we have the chance to grow

younger people who didn’t vote are

more educated than the older people who did. We’re not yet at that 50%

together in a way in which our previous simplistic notions about one another had tended to prohibit.

Powered by hydrogen Built on graphene

Proud to be supporting

Hydrogen

Graphene

Applying the materials of the future to the greatest challenge of today: the fight against climate change.

levidian.com

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

59

ESSAY

SOPHIA PETRIDES ON MENTORING-UP

W

e live in an age of

rapid change. It feels like many of the

workplace conventions we accepted without question for the last 30

years are turning on their heads on

a daily basis. I am not talking about

digitalisation; I am talking about the

human experience of working. Today,

we are encouraged to bring our whole selves to work, to express our sense

of personal identity without fear of discrimination or disapproval. We

expect equality and inclusivity, and we expect our mental health to be

prioritised as much as our physical health and safety. This is a good thing.

However, there is still a long

way to go in so many areas. The

human experience of the workplace is changing, but are workplace

relationships changing with them?

After all, don’t we still have seniority, hierarchy and decision-making structures that look rather oldfashioned?

Sophie Petrides

blockbuster – says the mentor is older.

Well, clearly the person with the

here, the age-old association between

50-year-old executive in a C-suite

There is an unconscious bias at work

older and wiser. But wait, what exactly does wiser refer to? Knowledge and

experience. Those two attributes don’t necessarily track with age. In fact, in

MENTORING IS STILL TOP-DOWN Let’s use mentoring as an example of traditional workplace relationships.

What image does mentoring create in

the modern workplace – especially

given its reliance on new technologies – knowledge and experience are

rapidly transferring to a much younger demographic.

your imagination? When you visualise

Could we consider mentoring from

one is older? Conventional wisdom

is better suited to mentor on using

Wars style epic and Hollywood action

to communicate in the workplace?

the mentor-mentee relationship, which

a different perspective? Yes. Who

– and every Kung Fu movie, Star

social media channels and selfie videos

60

most experience would be who? A role or a new graduate with a thriving Instagram account? Emerging

professionals – digital natives – have

grown up in a world of mobile digital communications and social media.

Obviously, the new graduate is the

best mentor candidate in this context.

That concept of getting new hires to mentor the C-suite is a truly

progressive approach to improving company performance on a range

of different levels. It sets-up a skills transfer that is two-way, because by teaching the older members of the

ESSAY

company to engage with new ideas,

larger organisation – to look over the

hit a snag. Emerging professionals

with experienced senior leaders, and

improves talent retention, which saves

are generally associated with Japan

the emerging talent gets to work

their knowledge will rub off in both directions.

cubicle wall towards the top. It also

bottom-line HR dollars, and increases the knowledge within the workforce,

didn’t like the term ninja. Ninjas

and traditionally male, it’s a cliché, loaded with rather old-fashioned

“THE BEST CANDIDATES WOULD TURN DOWN JOB OFFERS ONCE THEY DISCOVERED COMPANY POLICY WAS TO USE AN OFFICE BLACKBERRY WITH OFFICIAL WORK APPS.”

which in turn improves results

apps, and couldn’t use their personal

We live in times where terms like

This brings us to the elephant in the

personal chat apps to communicate

feeds, and there seems to be increasing

room. If you believe the hype, the

leadership of every organisation has a door that is always open and an open mind for any and all ideas. In reality, there’s a stubbornness about age and seniority. The stubbornness comes

from workplace status, and status is the

enemy of inclusion and effective change.

Is that cynical? Well, how many new

recruits are mentoring their C-suites?

How many graduates are helping their CEOs to create podcasts or advising

their CTOs on company smartphone contracts? Not nearly enough.

MENTORING-UP IS SMART BUSINESS What is really at stake for

and productivity. It also promotes inclusion. It’s a win-win.

a major New York bank, who had

not something out of a Kung-Fu movie.

professionals. The best candidates

an office Blackberry with official work

MENTORING-UP IS NEXT-LEVEL INCLUSION

smartphones, personal emails or

‘woke’ and ‘culture wars’ fill our news

talking to an HR professional at

would turn down job offers once they

discovered company policy was to use

with colleagues. My HR friend

couldn’t work out what the problem was, saying “it’s just a phone”. I

explained that personal smartphones

weren’t just phones, they represented a new way of living and working – and new expectations of the workplace.

That wasn’t something the leadership of that organisation could learn from

their own experiences, they needed to listen to emerging professionals in a way they hadn’t before.

“WE LIVE IN TIMES WHERE TERMS LIKE ‘WOKE’ AND ‘CULTURE WARS’ FILL OUR NEWS FEEDS.”

telecoms company, where each senior

within the field of employee

experience. It increases engagement for emerging professionals with the

professionals – something validating,

problems with hiring emerging

here, profit and loss common sense.

is a really good example of innovation

The people who were named ninjas wanted to be referred to as skilled

Similarly, one of my coaching clients

Mentoring-up (or reverse mentoring)

unconscious gender and racial issues.

About 12 years ago I remember

organisations when tackling this kind of change is bottom line, buck-stops-

notions of technology and loaded with

told me about a project at a major

leader was assigned a “digital ninja” –

a young person who helped a C-suite mentee to make the most of their

new internal Yammer platform. This

is a step in the right direction, but it

polarisation in politics and society.

This is ultimately bad for business because workplaces rely on social

co-operation and teamwork. Diversity

and inclusion aren’t just about personal identity, they refer to smarter working practices and decision making. The

workplaces that embrace the power of

inclusion across traditional hierarchies will ultimately win out, with reduced

recruitment costs, lower staff turnover and better productivity. It’s about recognising how concepts like

inclusion relate to improving business performance. Mentoring-up is just

one example of a practical approach to turning the good intentions of

diversity and inclusion into better, hands-on company processes. As

for the next great idea, perhaps the

emerging talent should be suggesting that to their C-suites, rather than

waiting for the older generation to

take the initiative? Now that is a very exciting idea.

Sophia Petrides is a Finito mentor www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

61

WINE

BULLETIN FROM ‘WINE O’CLOCK’

A PERSONAL GUIDE TO CAREERS IN THE WINE INDUSTRY

BY GEORGINA BADINE Either way, I’m delighted because he

occasions where a different vintage has

special when that happens. The chef

once brought a 2007 Château Talbot

remembers me and every guest feels

patron wows me by knowing who I am

instead of the 2005 listed on the wine

wine o’clock, highlighting what a tight-

sommelier to see I really wanted 2005

before I have even uttered the words

list. Luckily, it didn’t take long for the

knit industry this is.

so he rectified this and surprised me

Remembering a guest goes further

than just knowing his or her name. It involves knowing his or her favourite wines, any allergies and dietary

requirements – as well as those of his or her guests – and knowing what Unsplash.com

I

occasion, if any, is being celebrated.

t’s a cold rainy day in November

As wine is my passion, I am often asked

myself how I managed to forget

may think great knowledge and exams.

in London and I keep asking

what makes a great sommelier. Some

my brolly today: it’s London after all.

But for me, before all of that, a great

cloudy with only a 20 per cent chance

you like a rosé or a light white wine?”

make an entrance and I know exactly

by sommeliers and it has become a bit

In my own defense, the forecast said

sommelier is one who listens. “Would

of rain. The winter has just begun to

are words that are often uttered to me

what will cheer me up: a lovely glass of Bordeaux.

I enter a London restaurant for

the second time in my life and the

receptionist greets me with a warm

smile and remembers my name, adding that she will gift me an umbrella when I leave. I am already smiling before being shown to my table. Equally

impressive is the Manager who had only met me once before and who remembers not only my name but

also when I last came and where I

was sat. Physiognomist or lucky shot?

62

been brought to me by accident. I was

of a joke within my circle of friends to see how many sommeliers will ask me

this. Is it because I’m a young woman?

Don’t assume every young woman likes only rosé. In fact, I love red Bordeaux with power and body and white

Burgundy with oak and creaminess.

The best sommelier will remember this while challenging me by taking me

on a journey and making me discover

other wines in that range that he or she thinks I will really enjoy.

As a wine-lover I have other foibles.

Vintage is key and there have been

with a Rauzlan Ségla 2005 that had just arrived. Stock shortages can happen,

although I think it’s always important to notify the guest of this to enable

them to make an informed decision.

But what are things like on the

sommelier side? I recently caught up with Angelo Altobelli, the Beverage Director and Head Sommelier of

Dinings SW3. I know I am always

in great hands when Angelo is there.

With his Italian flair and charisma,

Angelo knows what it takes to make his guests feel welcome and happy.

He knows my love of Bordeaux as

opposed to Malbec, and for Burgundy

as opposed to Riesling, and won’t even dream of recommending orange wine as he knows it makes the vein on my

forehead pop. He also understands my obsession for decanting all my wines

as well as my love of perfectly chilled champagne.

I started by asking Angelo why it is so

difficult to find sommeliers in the UK? Angelo explains to me: “After Brexit,

many people decided to leave the UK. This was reinforced after the many lockdowns. Wine is not as present

in this country as in Spain, France

WINE

DININGS SW3

I

f you are looking for a world-

the Kurabu. It is carefully furnished

class Japanese culinary

with comfortable and elegantly

experience in the heart of

upholstered seats and perfectly set

London, it is in your best interest

up to accommodate your needs,

to take a stroll down Walton

whether that be a company event

Street, nestled between Chelsea

or an intimate outing. It is known

and Knightsbridge. Since 2017,

that celebrities choose the place not

Dinings SW3 has produced

only for the exceptional quality of

an authentic Izakaya-style

food and service, but also because

experience under the leadership

they are unlikely to be recognised

of head chef Masaki Sugisaki.

and bothered in such a hidden away

An Izakaya is, in a way, the Japanese take on the pub; an informal restaurant and bar with good food where many people go for afterwork drinks. While the restaurant would not be considered informal by most, it is certainly a place where you can go with no fear or expectation of pretension. The main restaurant formerly served as an artist’s studio, and remnants of the past can be seen in the form of neon lips on the wall and an intricate historical fireplace dating back to the 1500s.

space.

The food and drink here are of the highest quality, and the nature of the dishes shows that they are not afraid to place their locally sourced ingredients front and centre. Fitting their style of mixing traditional Japanese cuisine with European dishes, our first dish was truffle-topped sea bass carpaccio.

The delicate fish mixed with the earthy truffle created a wonderful combination, especially when paired with Dinings SW3’s own 78 Kin Daiginjo sake. For those who are more accustomed to European

sake’s mild yet familiarly floral taste.

Even something as simple as a tuna roll is done to the nines here.

This dish is a tuna tour de force, incorporating all cuts of the fish including the belly of the tuna highly sought after for its buttery, mild flavour. For those who do not share my love of fish, the restaurant offers a number of vegetarian options including miso aubergine.

This baked aubergine, marinated in and then topped with both light and dark miso sauce, quickly won the favour of our table and was a true highlight of the meal. If wagyu beef is more your speed, Dinings has you covered with a truly unique take on slider burgers. No matter your palate, this establishment will have an option for you. This place is something special, and once you’ve experienced the exemplary cuisine and service of Dinings SW3 you’ll find it extremely difficult to stay away for long.

The restaurant also features an even

wines than sake, Dining’s offering

Bookings can be made at:

more private section upstairs called

is a great place to start due to the

www.diningssw3.co.uk

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

63

WINE

The industry is clearly struggling and we are likely to see many restaurants shutting their doors, which is

heartbreaking. Angelo admits that he

is a little bit scared about the situation: “Demand for sommeliers is high at

a time when there is a real shortage,” he explains, ”and this may lead

restaurants to have to recruit people

who are either not sommeliers or not passionate about the trade.” So does

the government need to be doing more for the sector? Angelo strongly argues

that it should: “A key priority is easier

access for people to come and work in

Angelo Altobell, Head Sommelier at Dinings SW3

A GREAT SOMMELIER NEEDS TO HAVE A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF BUSINESS SO THEY KNOW WHAT SALES AND PROFIT MARGINS THEY NEED TO ACHIEVE.

and Italy as a profession. Most of the

sommeliers in the UK are not British.”

Angelo adds that in Italy, there is even a

school where budding students can study hospitality and wine whereas in the UK this is not so common, the exception being Le Cordon Bleu.

I’m curious to know what Angelo thinks makes a great sommelier. He replies: “A great sommelier needs to adapt to the

guest’s needs, whilst still making it fun

based on their palette. Some sommeliers make it a bit too academic.” I couldn’t

agree more: what I like best about Angelo is that he listens to the guest. He knows

my love for full-bodied wine so he avoids recommending me any Pinot Noir.

Angelo continues: “A great sommelier

needs to have a good understanding of business so they know what sales and profit margins they need to achieve.

While we may be quick to complain

about high wine prices, a lot of research goes into what wine I put on my

list. We look at the producer and the

vintage in depth: it has taken me nine

months to get the Dinings SW3 wine

list to where it is now and I’m not even halfway there yet.”

64

the UK. Four years ago, it would not be uncommon to see a starting sommelier position advertised at under £25k.

Today, you will struggle to advertise for that position under £30k, with some restaurants offering even more.”

Angelo has plenty of funny wine

stories: “I once had a guest who said to me: ‘Can you recommend a good

white wine?” When I asked the guest what wine she usually preferred, she

replied that she would try everything

except Chardonnay. I then went on to

recommend a Riesling, yet she insisted on having a Chablis.” My eyebrows

are raised, and I ask him if he told her that Chablis is a Chardonnay grape

variety. Angelo smiles: “Well, I opted for diplomacy.”

Readers might not know how much time sommeliers dedicate to their

exams known as the Court of Master Sommeliers. The first of these exams took place in London in 1969. The

aim is to encourage quality standards

for beverage service in the hospitality

industry. The first of these exams is called Introductory, then comes Certified,

followed by Advanced and ending with

the most prestigious and highly coveted

WINE

of all, the Master Sommelier exam. On

of the most prestigious ones in the

When it comes to hospitality,

Sommelier is about 5 per cent and there

restaurants are proud to be able to say

feel welcome will have me coming

average, the pass rate for the Master

are only 273 worldwide, which shows how difficult it is to achieve. More

than a decade can pass between the

first exam and the Master Sommelier

exam which involves a blind tasting of

three red wines and three white wines, as well as an evaluation on service and a theory-based exam. So why put

yourself through such intense studying?

Well, on one level it’s the pride of the

wine world so it is understandable that they have a Master Sommelier in their team.

Investment in wine has become an

interest of many wine lovers as it is an alternative way to make some money

from something people are passionate about. It can get quite complex so having an advisor for this in the industry is very helpful.

consistency is key and being made to back for more. My dad used to say: “This restaurant is my home away

from home”. Nothing beats sharing a

bottle of wine in good company. Warm treatment of your guests will make

them a walking advertisement and they will not only become regulars but also spread the word to their network.

True hospitality is achieved when

achievement but as well as this, it does

The key is buying the wine En

people leave feeling better not about

that the candidate is among the most

the wine before it has been bottled

plays a huge part in hospitality so

lead to better progression and a higher

ensures you will make good revenue on

and the sooner this is achieved, the

buy a bottle of Guiberteau two years

from me and get your decanter out

demonstrate to a potential employer

Primeur, which means you are buying

you but about themselves. Psychology

qualified in the industry and can also

straight from the producer. This

understanding your guests is really key

salary within the industry.

your investments. You could expect to

better, so keep the orange wine away

ago for between £20-£25 that would

because it’s wine o’clock!

sommeliers were not paid very well,

given all their hard work and the long hours they spend in the restaurant.

ON AVERAGE, THE PASS RATE FOR THE MASTER SOMMELIER IS ABOUT 5 PER CENT Before the pandemic, it was not

uncommon to see a starting sommelier salary between £24k-£25k. Now this is closer to £30k although it will

depend on the restaurant of course.

This is something positive though as

the lack of supply has also highlighted the need to reward talented and

passionate people. A Head Sommelier

will typically start at around £40-£45k in London although it could be more

depending on the person’s experience.

As for Master Sommeliers, it is not unusual to expect them to be on

£80k-£90k in London. The title is one 65

now sell for between £35 and £40 per bottle. Both Burgundy and Bordeaux wines are great investments and two that I always turn to. Burgundy gets mature quicker so the return will

come sooner, usually in about five to six years whilst Bordeaux can take up to 10 years. It is all dependent

on the producer and the vintage also

2018 Château Lafite

Historically, one could argue that

plays a part. The top two wines I

would recommend for investment are Domaine Romanée Conti (known as

DRC), although getting an allocation

is a challenge in itself. A case of three bottles about five years ago was £900,

whilst today it is up to £4,000. DRC is so attractive as it can generate returns of more than 200%. For Bordeaux, I

would turn to Château Lafite. As an example, a bottle of 2018 Château

Lafite was £2,300 en Primeur whereas now it is selling for £3,500. The key

with wine investment is patience and a careful selection by someone who understands the market.

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

65

MUSIC

GET BACK:

A STUDY IN WORKPLACE TOXICITY GEORGE ACHEBE ENJOYS A BEATLES DOCUMENTARY, AND DELVES INTO WHAT IT HAS TO TELL US ABOUT THE WORKPLACE.

Early group portrait of the Beatles from a rooftop in 1962. (Alamy.com) 66

MUSIC

T

he data is mixed as to whether The Beatles have broken through to

the younger generation. The band

which used to make a habit of being number 1, is currently listed as the

93rd most streamed artist on Spotify, with 20 million followers. This pales somewhat predictably when set

against the sort of numbers totted up

by Taylor Swift (83.23 million), who recently made headlines by greedily having the whole of the top 10 to

herself; The Weeknd (79.04 million) and Ed Sheeran (76.60 million).

Of bands people over the age of 35 will likely remember from their youth, the

best performing are Coldplay, who are

12th on the list with 58.54 million, and

Elton John who is 21st with just over 50 million listeners.

While the available statistics on

the Beatles, testify to the fact that

Beatlemania itself happened over half a

century ago, they do show that the band’s popularity endures among the young, with over 30 per cent of downloads coming from 18-24 year olds.

well with the Beatles. We, the viewers,

know that the band is in fact close to its

terminus: the break-up which coincided with the end of the 1960s and brought that colourful epoch to its conclusion.

In fact, in places the film turns out to

be a study in workplace toxicity. Though there are passages where the magic of

music-making makes you feel, though you know differently, that the band

could continue, the air of tension is at other times unmistakeable.

“IN PLACES THE FILM TURNS OUT TO BE A STUDY IN WORKPLACE TOXICITY.” The dynamic of the four feels dictated throughout by Paul McCartney,

sometimes to a surprising extent. We often think of John Lennon as the

leader of The Beatles but there appear to have been a few factors which worked

against Lennon being in charge by this point in their careers.

These statistics seem to assure the Beatles

The first is that Lennon at times

21st century. This will include not just

McCartney accompanies Paul to the

continuation in the culture well into the

the music but movies, and therefore Peter Jackson’s epic three-part series Get Back.

The film follows the Fab Four as they

record an album which would become

Let It Be , the last album the band would release, and a few songs from Abbey Road, which was the last album the

group recorded. As the pair meet in

seems disengaged. Whereas Linda

studio only occasionally, and always

seems a straightforward and optimistic presence when she does, Yoko Ono accompanies John throughout,

sometimes maintaining what must have been an unnerving silence and at others screaming into a microphone in an alarming way.

Twickenham it seems possible that

One might add that it might have

but as the hours go by, it becomes clear

the man who wrote ‘Yesterday.’ Even

they will shoot a new film of some kind, that nobody has a clear idea of what the

film might entail and so it is abandoned in favour of the famous concert on the Durham Cathedral Cloister

That’s because in this film, all isn’t quite

roof at 3 Savile Row. This would turn out to be the band’s last live performance.

been especially alarming on the ears of so, despite the difficulty, one notes

throughout a certain tenderness, which feels heartbreakingly residual, about the way in which Lennon and McCartney look at each other, and converse. It www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

67

MUSIC

suggests, even as that friendship is

Meanwhile, George Harrison is working

on having journeyed through strange seas

has the bones of a song which would in

unravelling, a profound connection based of song together for so long.

on I Me Mine and Old Brown Shoe and time become a standard, Something. One

But something else is clear. McCartney,

sees here the ludicrousness of Harrison’s

throughout, is in a leadership position

will reverberate forever yet there is a clear

certainly at this stage, and perhaps because his talent feels of another

kind. Lennon’s was always the stronger

personality, but McCartney is the one with

position: Harrison is writing a song which assumption that his songs are unlikely to be included in any significant number.

the preternatural gift, the writer of the

McCartney is not only ahead as a

piano today. It is notable that McCartney

was Lennon who was once asked if Ringo

Hey Jude, Yesterday, Yellow Submarine,

replied, “He’s not even the best drummer

melodies which we still sing around the

composer but as a player of instruments. It

wrote without much input from Lennon:

Starr was the best drummer. When he

When I’m Sixty Four, and in this film he

in the Beatles” he was referencing

is seen writing Let it Be. These songs are

standards in a way which Lennon’s songs aren’t: they have their origins sometimes in music hall or in jazz. They have a

capacity to endure in any setting which

you cannot say of songs like Strawberry Fields Forever’ or I am the Walrus, so

McCartney. Likewise you sense that

McCartney can also play guitar better

than Harrison. This knowledge leads him to micromanage and makes you realise that the band can’t function really as a team anymore.

tethered to the unusualness of Lennon’s

But there’s a paradox here because

Genius of McCartney’s kind creates

the comparative decline of the post-

the way in which McCartney seems to

on the Beatles, and so you feel there is

personality, really have.

McCartney’s talent, as we know from

imbalance. In this film it is shown in

Beatles years, also feels oddly dependent

be working on a huge number of songs.

more at stake for him in wanting the

By my count he is writing more or less simultaneously: Let it Be, I’ve Got a

Feelin’, Oh Darling, Let it Be, Maxwell’s Silver Hammer, Her Majesty, The

band to remain together. At one point he plaintively tells everyone: “We can sing together when we’re older.”

Long and Winding Road, Get Back,

Ringo Starr meanwhile is worth

Window, Carry That Weight, around

he remains unobtrusive and popular. He

fame, and the other half of which

handle workplace toxicity.

She Came in Through the Bathroom

watching closely throughout the film as

half of which are songs now of lasting

is in fact an exemplary study in how to

are musically interesting. Lennon, by contrast, is working on Across the

Universe, Don’t Let me Down, Dig a

Pony, Polythene Pam, an early version

At times the juxtaposition between

McCartney’s gifts and the others can be almost ludicrous. While the others are

of what would become Jealous Guy, and

talking at one point, we see McCartney

Want You (She’s So Heavy). These songs

Nobody looks up to tell him how good

McCartney is working on, as well as

genius by long exposure to it, or they do

has the riff for what would become I

in the background writing Let It Be.

are slight by comparison with what

it is. Either they are inoculated to his

fewer in number.

68

notice and suppress some feeling of envy.

Alamy.com

MUSIC

ON 30 JANUARY 1969, THE BEATLES PERFORMED AN IMPROMPTU CONCERT FROM THE ROOFTOP OF THEIR APPLE CORPS HEADQUARTERS AT 3 SAVILE ROW

Durham Cathedral Cloister www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

69

MUSIC

Sometimes, you feel that the horsing around is irksome to McCartney as it takes him away from the heavier

workload caused by his own prolific

nature. Yet he takes part anyway, as he

senses that whatever else he will go on

to do with his abilities, The Beatles will

be the end of something important: you can taste his fear throughout.

Then beautifully all this disappears

in the final episode which deals with the rooftop concert. Here we see the

Beatles perform Get Back, Don’t Let Me Down, I’ve Got a Feeling, One

After 909 and Dig A Pony. We get a

glimpse of the typical pedestrians on

the streets of Mayfair towards the end of the 1960s: most are positive about

the concert but enough people in the area have issued complaints to mean

that a pair of bobbies, who seem young enough to be alive today, are sent over to ask them to turn the sound down.

Wikipedia.org

At one point he mutters: ‘They’re disrupting all the local business.”

The scene is a fascinating snapshot of the police in the 1960s. On the one

hand one can see the powerlessness of law enforcement in the face of global

celebrity; it is all told beautifully in the delighted smile McCartney gives at

the beginning of Don’t Let Me Down

when he turns around to see the police have joined him on the roof: this is what he wanted.

During the concert one feels drawn

particularly to Lennon; in fact, power somehow seems to devolve to him

during the live performance. Public

charisma and private force of character seem to be very different things.

What is it that enables someone to

have sufficient confidence to insist on their idea of music before allcomers?

70

As we watch Lennon, we see two

things. First he is proclaiming the

idiocy of the homogeneity of anything

establishment. Much of the film shows

us how absolutely victorious he had been in pushing back against the dullness

of the post -War settlement. Many of the pedestrians are dressed in styles

which emanated out of the Swinging

Sixties which they themselves had to a

large extent brought about. Meanwhile, everybody else has to accept their presence.

But I don’t think Lennon would have got so far with all this if he hadn’t

also had positives to offer. Throughout the songbook, love is always being

proclaimed. It is the sadness of this film

that that ideal couldn’t prevent the break up of a band whose music still matters today.

MUSIC

Q&A WITH CLINICAL PSYCHOTHERAPIST DR. PAUL HOKEMEYER ABOUT 'GET BACK' AND WORKPLACE TOXICITY Pyschologically speaking, how do toxic

One of the defining features of anxiety

with extremely gifted employees will be

find them so difficult to deal with?

what feels out of control. Micromanagers

of the construct. At its core, a culture of

work situations arise and why is it that we Toxic work situations mirror toxic family of origin situations. In them, we and our

colleagues consciously and unconsciously

disorders is a compulsive need to control

are operating from a place of heightened

anxiety. Once we understand the etiology

of their behaviours we can create a plan to

well served to look at the foundations

psychological safety ensures that people will not be humiliated or punished for

challenging the cultural norm or speaking

play out unresolved patterns from our

address them. The best way to do this is to

I've seen this is particularly true in

Become conscious of what your manager

organizational boundaries to keep people

has hot buttons that send them into

Toxic work relationships arise because

identified these patterns in your manager,

not getting what they need to feel safe

in your efforts in these areas. Also, address

As in most challenging situations,

way to look at this is through the lens of

her straight out what you can do to improve

investing your principal energy in

people can only be their highest and best

these areas. The mere fact that you evidence

their physical and emotional needs are

and intentionally striving to improve in

psychological safety.

anxiety and enable her to put her focus on

primary developmental relationships.

focus first on self and second on the other.

creative industries where there are fewer

fears most. Look for her triggers. Everyone

operating with a modicum of decorum.

states of emotional reactivity. Once you've

people feel threatened. They feel they are

consciously strive to go above and beyond

and secure in the organization. The best

these issues directly with your manager. Ask

Maslow's hierarchy of needs. In this lens,

your service to her and the organization in

self and produce their best work when

awareness of her triggers and are diligently

satiated and they operate in a culture of

these areas will go far in reducing her

We struggle to productively deal with toxic

someone or something else.

up against authority.

Contrastingly, Ringo Starr in the film

seems to carry himself extremely well, and maintain excellent relationships

with all people, even in an increasingly

toxic situation. How is he able to do this and what might we learn from him? successful resolution comes not from changing the system but rather on

focusing on how you can change your

reaction to the toxicity that exists in the system in which you are operating. In

short, this means coming up with healthy

ways to manage the toxicity that surrounds you. The first step in this process is to

work relationships because they affect us

To be fair to McCartney he is partly

accept the reality of the situation. Toxic

them, we are constantly feeling the whole

greater talent – his ability to play more

be able to change them but the probability

being, our limbic system goes on overdrive.

means that he invades their space more.

and stress. Our central nervous system

with extremely gifted individuals to

Cortisol and causes our prefrontal cortex,

a workplace setting?

work environments exist. Yes, you might

on the most primal level of our being. In

in a position of authority due to a

of our being is under attack. In this state of

instruments than the others for instance

It keeps us in a state of hypervigilance

How should CEOs and managers deal

floods us with stress hormones such as

ensure that they don’t alter the balance of

the part of our brain that rules our rational

The construct of psychological safety is

in the film, Ringo had the most balanced

it is in traditional organizations. Through

life and invested his human and relational

voice that's outside the norm. Studies

interpersonal portfolio. He manifested

safety produces exceptionally innovative

meaning from setbacks and grit which

employees. Managers who are working

discomfort for a long term gain.

behaviours and enables us to make smart strategic decisions, to go offline.

In Get Back, Paul McCartney emerges as a boss figure. He seems in some way

a micromanager, particularly of George Harrison. How should we deal with

micromanagers and ensure we retain our equilibrium in these situations?

of changing major systems can be quite

low and the return on your risk in trying to change them low. Instead focus, like Ringo Starr focused, on that in which

there is a high probability of success and a high return on investment. As we see

every bit as relevant in creative families as

life. He had a rich and rewarding personal

it, people feel safe to fail and have a

capital through a diverse intrapersonal and

show that a culture rich in psychological

resilience, which is the capacity to make

work and is made up of happy, healthy

is the capacity to tolerate short term

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

71

CAREERS

72

CAREERS

ARE WE IN THE AGE OF POINTLESS JOBS?

BY CHRISTOPHER JACKSON

I

t is one of the most astonishing remarks ever attributed to a UK prime minister. The story, as told,

by Harry Cole and James Heale in the recent book Out of the Blue: The inside

story of the unexpected rise and rapid fall of Liz Truss, is that as Truss’ mayfly

premiership wound to its helter skelter

conclusion, Downing Street aides were crying as the then PM prepared her

resignation statement. But Truss was in philosophical mode and not about

to cry over spilt milk. “Don’t worry I’m relieved it’s over,” Truss said. “At least I’ve been prime minister.”

With all due allowance given for the

Peace, pointed out that anytime you hear the words ‘These days’ prepare

to hear a lie. There have always been

people ambitious for position; in fact,

it’s a safe bet that every prime minister

of the past had precisely that same kind of ambition which animated Truss. As

Gore Vidal once noted: “Any American who is prepared to run for president should automatically by definition

be disqualified from ever doing so.”

Sometimes when one sees a politician

assume the highest office, one notices a range of emotions, but often a certain relief is there: a remorseless itch has finally been scratched.

possible casualness of the remark,

It’s not just presidents who have

to mark the apotheosis of political

Reading Carl Sandburg’s magnificent

and overthrown, it will come from the

the president issue the poetry of his first

live without toil, work, and labor, from

into the prose of governing. In that

In these words, it might be said, is

the president to the extent that Lincoln

of the Truss administration, where the

this is nevertheless revealing. It seems ambition whereby holding a position is

good in and of itself, regardless of one’s

suitability for the role, and what one was able to accomplish in it. One might read the remarks aloud and place particular

emphasis on the words ‘I’m’ and ‘I’ve’ and thereby better arrive at the truth of the matter.

“DON’T WORRY I’M RELIEVED IT’S OVER,” TRUSS SAID. “AT LEAST I’VE BEEN PRIME MINISTER.” Truss aside, do the remarks tell us

something broader about who we are,

and what we’ve become? Of course, it is important to proceed with trepidation.

Johnny Cash

It was Leo Tolstoy who, in War and

ambition, but those who surround them.

States Government are demoralized

biography of Abraham Lincoln, we find

voracious desire for office, this wriggle to

great inaugural speech and then settle

which I am not free myself.”

spring of 1861, job-seekers descend on

squirrelled away a far-sighted prediction

invented the humorous salutation:

“Good morning, I’m very pleased to

see you’ve not come here asking for a position.’

Sandburg picks up the narrative: “Of a visit of several days in Washington Herndon wrote that Lincoln could scarcely cease from referring to the persistence of office seekers. They

slipped in, he said, through half-opened doors; they edged their way through

crowds and thrust papers in his hands when he rode.” On another occasion,

Herndon quoted Lincoln directly: “if

our American society and the United

PM knows only one thing: that they want to be PM.

Lincoln was too wise not to include himself within his own criticism,

but also too humble to differentiate

himself from all those office-seekers

who hemmed him in during those first months of his presidency. History has shown abundantly that Lincoln did

have a reason for being there: he is one of those people, like Churchill, with a

historical mission to fulfil. In Churchill’s case, he was always the preserver the

British Empire and the foe of Hitler

before he was prime minister. Lincoln, www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

73

CAREERS

meanwhile, was always the defender

of the Union and the enemy of slavery before he was president.

It’s possible that an advocate for Liz Truss might argue that she was the evangelist of

lower taxes before she was the occupant of Downing Street, but it seems likely that this won’t quite wash. In a sense Truss

also represented the real life embodiment of the comedy of Armando Iannucci, the leading satirist of our times. Iannucci is the creator of not only The Day Today

but Alan Partridge, The Thick of It, Veep, In The Loop and latterly a satirical prose

poem Pandemonium. The common thread

in which numerous jobs have cropped

who fix temporarily something which

world occupy roles which seem to lack real

fundamental value is highly questionable.

software engineers, or those working

of Iannucci’s comedy is that people in his

up in contemporary society whose

meaning: Alan Partridge wants to be TV

Graeber’s point is not just that many

star while having no talent to entertain or inform; the civil servants and spads in The Thick of It, are rushing around

Westminster bereft of real political beliefs; in Veep, an entire position – the vice-

presidency of the United States – has no discernible function.

contemporary roles are pointless, but

this lack of meaning is made to rub

administrators.

to tie work to status. He writes of ‘a

those whose primary function is to create

those who carry them out. Furthermore,

such as compliance officers, or survey

along with the contemporary tendency

Finally, Graeber refers to ‘taskmasters’,

form of paid employment that is so

unnecessary tasks for others: Graeber is

for satirists to mock. This sense of futility

cannot justify its existence even though,

is far worse beyond Westminster than in

the employee feels obliged to pretend

satire – making it increasingly difficult

pernicious that even the employee

regarding the roles we need to carry out

as part of the conditions of employment,

writer David Graeber identified the way

that this is not the case.’

This, Graeber says, in what amounts to a searing indictment of contemporary

life, is ‘profound psychological violence’.

So what kind of jobs is he talking about?

Firstly he refers to ‘flunkies’ whose

purpose is to make important people feel more important: he is discussing

the whole raft of receptionists, assistants and assistants’ assistants who populate

the typical corporate setting. Graeber’s second category is ‘goons’, those who

set out to deceive or do harm on behalf of their employers: he is thinking of

lobbyists, some lawyers, telemarketers, and the like.

Thirdly, there are ‘duct tapers’ – those 74

‘box tickers’ who create the appearance of utility without actually doing anything,

It is as if the world has itself turned into

sociology Bullshit Jobs: A Theory, the late

in computer science. Fourthly, there are

that their pointlessness is known even to

completely pointless, unnecessary, or

Westminster itself. In his 2018 work of

ought to be fixed permanently, like

thinking of the whole realm of middle

management which is often blamed, with a degree of justice, on the Blair years.

None of these calls to mind the prime

ministership. Is it then that during the Truss administration we temporarily

saw the Graeberisation of 10 Downing Street – a strange, fleeting glimpse of

what happens when the highest office of state somehow cannot be injected with any particular meaning? This

probably cannot be complete because the affairs of state will always have

inherent meaning and so it is hard to

see how the role of prime minister could ever become as numbing as Graeber’s

other listed roles. Nevertheless the fact remains that, insofar as is possible, the

spectacle of Truss holding the position of prime minister, predominantly for

the pleasure of holding it, represented a

nadir in the office, and makes one realise

CAREERS

that a position isn’t a static thing, but a space which one fills – above all, an

opportunity, around which one needs to deploy initiative.

In general, it should be said Graeber’s

target isn’t the public sector, where one

imagines a fair number of ‘taskmasters’

not to mention ‘flunkies’ and ‘box tickers’ reside, but the private sector. And I

think his reticence on that question is probably related to his solution for all

these problems: universal basic income.

This, in one (expensive) swoop, would get rid of the need to work for those

who don’t want to, and in theory free

people up for more meaningful activity.

The jury is out on how sensible this is.

We had a glimpse of how it might look like during Covid-19 when something almost resembling Universal Basic

Income had a morbid parody of a trial run. The results for productivity are

already there to see with the economy in recession, and some businesses

struggling to find momentum amid the pervasive malaise. It would also

likely lead to inflation, since earnings

would increase while productivity would remain the same, or even decline.

Therefore there has probably never been a time less propitious for UBI than the

present one. It would appear we need an alternative.

Happily, a recent film suggests it might all be rather simpler than we think.

This is Living, starring Bill Nighy and written by Kazuo Ishiguro. This is

remake, deriving from Kurosawa’s ‘Ikiru,’ and tells the story of a middling civil

servant, Mr Williams, played by Nighy,

who discovers he hasn’t long to live. He is one of Graeber’s taskmasters. In the opening scenes, some women turn up

Abraham Lincoln (Wikipedia.org)

– as they had been on the previous day

around us no matter what our title, or

all of whom absolve themselves of

right answer isn’t to unpick the whole

– taken from department to department responsibility. The playground won’t

be built, not because it’s not a genuine

possibility but because nobody is using initiative in their roles.

But as Mr Williams begins to accept his diagnosis, it becomes clear that he hasn’t been granted so much a death sentence,

net which might then be expensive and difficult to administer, but to find it

within ourselves to do the jobs we do

have with the right spirit and creativity?

Living suggests that such a thing is possible. It’s also, of course, free.

It can’t be a complete solution. Some

superpower, all the more vivid because it is

and the answer to that will be a mixture

seems strangled in possession of a kind of contrasted with what he had been before.

He comes to realise that with the right mindset and creativity his role can be

put to use. He begins to lobby for the

playground with a mixture of persistence and smarts until, without giving

anything away, his sense of himself and his role’s potential is transformed.

It seems to me that many of us enter our

in a disused slum. There follows a

that if we are significantly vigilant we

tragicomic scene where the women are

world of work with a vast social safety

as a heightened sense of life. In fact, he

lobbying to change a dilapidated part of East London, by building a playground

even our function, might be. What if the

roles in life with too much passivity, and can actually make a difference to those

people do jobs which beat them down,

of technological advance and education.

But the Truss administration, mercifully brief for both the country and, one

senses, for Truss herself, has perhaps as much to teach us as a more successful

administration. It asks us to look inside

ourselves and ask what we’re fit for, and then to wonder what we’re capable of.

It’s a reminder not to attempt what we

cannot do; by getting that decision right, and with the right measure of modesty,

we just might nudge the world a little in the right direction.

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

75

PHOTO ESSAY

THE FUNERAL OF QUEEN ELIZABETH II PATRICK CROWDER IN CONVERSATION WITH FINITO PHOTOGRAPHER SAM PEARCE

A

t 10:42AM on the 19th of

with the experienced photographer

of Queen Elizabeth II left

vicariously experience the landmark

September 2022, the coffin

Westminster Abbey. It was the start of a procession which would be seen by over one million people who lined the routes to say a final farewell, and it was the end of an intriguing era in history.

Finito World’s own Sam Pearce was there at the Abbey to document the momentous occasion, and she has furnished us with the beautiful photographs you see here. I caught up 76

after the ceremony in an attempt to event as it happened on that day.

“No one knew the protocol. I mean, I

didn’t know either, but people did a mix

of staying quiet or clapping or cheering.

People didn’t know, but it was done

respectfully irrespective of how they did it.

It was all done with the greatest amount of respect,” Pearce says, “I think people really did feel that it was a story of a

lifetime. People were a bit apprehensive

and nervous and intrigued, and they were

“I THINK PEOPLE REALLY DID FEEL THAT IT WAS A STORY OF A LIFETIME.”

PHOTO ESSAY

Marefat Painting Studio

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

77

PHOTO ESSAY

also watching as the events unfolded

because no one quite knew what was

going to happen. But I know everyone was thinking about the last time there

was a state funeral and pictures from that, and how this was going to compare. And, you know, it was just a really interesting atmosphere. The police call it a ‘sterile

area’ when they have really high security, and it was a bit sterile because there was no public around. But it was completely

fascinating, because the whole procession passed straight by you. With the royal

family, the Queen’s coffin, the soldiers, and all of the pageantry, everyone was sort of just watching and waiting quite calmly,” she says.

Pearce captured the above photograph

of a soldier who had to be tended to by paramedics during the ceremony, and

when I asked her about that picture, she recalled another soldier who fell ill.

78

PHOTO ESSAY

“IT WAS COMPLETELY FASCINATING, BECAUSE THE WHOLE PROCESSION PASSED STRAIGHT

BY YOU.”

“There was a young naval officer, a

did not understand or approve of the

she obviously didn’t feel very well. She

jobs today – and that is understandable

young girl, and she didn’t collapse but

was supposed to be part of the team of naval officers that pull the coffin up to

Wellington arch, but she had to be taken to the paramedics. It often happens in

these processions,” Pearce says, “To me it

wasn’t a very hot day, but I suppose when you’re dressed in those uniforms, they’re

quite heavy, and you’d have to be standing for hours and it can’t be that comfortable.

I felt really sorry for her actually, because that was supposed to be a big moment.”

A lot has changed in the 70 years

since Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, especially surrounding the world of Chicago (Benjamin Suter)

work. It is known that the Queen

frequency with which people change

considering the landscape of work when she was in her twenties. Pearce, too, has seen the way things have changed from

when she got her start at Mirror Group Newspapers.

“I got into photography because I worked as a PA to the Managing

Editor at Mirror Group Newspapers. I mentioned that I wanted to learn how to use a camera, and my boss at the

time organised me to go out and train

with the photographers on the Sunday Mirror. So I would go out with the

photographers on Saturday. It was all on

film, and we all used to have to go to the www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

79

PHOTO ESSAY

Chicago (Benjamin Suter) 80

PHOTO ESSAY

“I’M SURE THEY WANTED ME TO GO AWAY AT POINTS, BUT THE PHOTOGRAPHERS WERE REALLY NICE AND QUITE PATIENT WITH ME.”

office at that time. I don’t think anyone

goes into an office anymore, but we had to turn up at eight in the morning, and

then we’d be assigned jobs, and I would be sent out with another photographer.

It was an apprenticeship really, and I would just go out and ask lots of

questions. I’m sure they wanted me to

go away at points, but the photographers were really nice and quite patient with me,” Pearce says.

“I think with like any job, including

photography, you have to really want

to do it, and therefore you’ll go around

and take pictures all the time and hope to find where you want to be. There is

a lot of competition. Years ago it would be a six-week period before you could actually go in and speak to a picture

editor at a newspaper, so I think you just have to keep pushing,” Pearce says. www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

81

LITERATURE

THE LAUREATE OF WORK PHILIP LARKIN AT 100

Alamy.com

BY CHRISTOPHER JACKSON

82

LITERATURE

P

hilip Larkin, who celebrated his

centenary recently, is the modern poet people actually read. His

words have entered the language in

a way which few other poets’ have. If

you’ve ever consoled yourself with the

thought that ‘What will survive of us is

love’ then you’re quoting Larkin’s poem ‘An Arundel Tomb’. If you’ve ever said, either with a note of bitterness or self-

awareness: “They fuck you up your mum and dad/they may not mean to but they do’ then you’re also quoting Larkin.

But Larkin is also a work poet and this is the case to an extent very rare today.

A few issues ago Finito World began a

series intended to feature poets writing about their jobs. The idea had to be

curtailed in short order since so few poets today do interesting work: it’s true that Alison Brackenbury has worked in the family metal company, and that Philip

Hancock served a City & Guilds craft

apprenticeship, which informs much of his

work. But these are exceptions: many poets now end up teachers, or academics. Direct experience of commercial enterprise,

administration and the working world turns out fo be rare.

This can throw up problems in

contemporary poetry: it can lead

either to bloodless verse, which feels comfortable and therefore abstract.

Nine-to-fivers don’t just get to know

about the job they happen to do; they

get to know about the broader condition of people, the struggle of life.

Of course, this is true for teachers and

academics too, and some very fine poets, needless to say, have worked in those professions. But Larkin would also

point sometimes to the cosiness of these roles as a hindrance to the realisation Philip Larkin (Alamy)

of true art. “Every century has its cushy profession,’ he once said. ‘It used to be

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

83

LITERATURE

the clergy but now it’s academia.’ For Larkin, it would be a false move to

accept such a position since it would be

injurious to the creation of poetry with a knowledge of adversity within it.

If this is what Larkin means then why might that be the case? I think what Larkin is questioning is the idea of

structuring your life around the desire to be a poet. The implication is that poems ought to be hard-won. This was partly a question of temperament. ‘Deprivation is to me what daffodils were to Philip Larkin (wikipedia.org)

University of Hull (wikipedia.org)

Wordsworth,’ he once said, and this at

least opens up onto the possibility that not every poet need make themselves

miserable with drudgery. But it certainly implies that a creative person shouldn’t place their heads in the clouds and

consider themselves somehow a separate case. To do would irreparably harm the lines of communication to the general reader. And Larkin’s advice now has Alamy.com

particular force because unlike almost every other poet, he has readers.

“NINE-TO-FIVERS DON’T JUST GET TO KNOW ABOUT THE JOB THEY HAPPEN TO DO; THEY GET TO KNOW ABOUT THE BROADER CONDITION OF PEOPLE, THE STRUGGLE OF LIFE.” Philip Larkin (Alamy)

The other sense in which Larkin is out of step with modern poetry is in his

awareness of money. It’s true that being a librarian at the University of Hull –as Larkin was for the majority of his life

– wasn’t quite tantamount to managing a hedge fund but in conducting the administration and organisation of

the library, he was not only immersing himself in the flavour of worklife, but also denying himself the successful writer’s chateau existence.

It was all to a purpose then, and it

means that Larkin is able to see life

from a distinctive perspective. It turned out all to the good: his great friend

Kingsley Amis, who did spend time in universities, and who also celebrated

his centenary (to far less fanfare than Larkin), doesn’t fill anything like the 84

LITERATURE

same place in the national consciousness

which we don’t need to notice to enjoy

to write poems which no one else could

he made led to him losing the

up with a better name rhythmically

fact, most people write love poems. But

as Larkin. At a certain point, decisions

opportunity to become universal. Larkin protected his universality at all costs.

The result is that Amis became famous, didn’t have to do boring jobs, and has a

campus novel Lucky Jim to his name. But he’s read less and less. With every year the suspicion mounts that he won’t be

read particularly into the future. Larkin meanwhile looked in envy at Amis’ life

the verse. Few poets would have come than Dockery and so have spoiled the poem from the outset. They might,

paradoxically, have had more time in

their job, but created less room for the

poem. Larkin is always denying himself leisure to write, then denying himself

easy poems when he does. It is typical of him to set himself a difficulty and then double it.

(or as he put it in Letter to A Friend

A tremendous mixture of obstinacy

in train, tutorial and telephone booth,);

wings of great poems. Larkin’s poetry

About Girls ‘your staggering skirmishes/ but he’s one of the English poets. It’s a position he won’t now lose.

Both Clive James and Martin Amis

have observed that Larkin’s quotability is what makes the difference. Quotability is about compression and voice, but it’s

also to do with a certain earned quality

about the writing. What is it about this which makes it endlessly readable?

‘Dockery was junior to you, Wasn’t he?’ said the Dean. ‘His son’s here now.’

Death-suited, visitant, I nod.

‘And do You keep in touch with—’ Or remember how Black-gowned, unbreakfasted, and still half-tight We used to stand before that

and patience celebrates quietly in the

also has more places to go than other poets: note how the colloquialism

of the conversation (‘His son’s here

now’) cedes so beautifully to lyrical

expansiveness in that dazzlingly wide

lawn. Furthermore, the lyricism also has room for a double time scheme: we see not only the lawn, but are also told that the bell is as an aspect of the past.

This sense of superior dedication is

something we might all learn from: it

opens up onto the idea that, for Larkin, poetry is sacred and matters to such an extent that it is worth denying himself

other things in life for the sake of getting it right. One suspects that all his best

poems share this common backstory: the build-up of energy into necessity, so that

the act of creation is anything but rushed

desk, to give

or arbitrary.

‘Our version’ of ‘these

This in turn has a lesson for all of us: that

incidents last night’?

I try the door of where I used to live: Locked. The lawn spreads dazzlingly wide.

A known bell chimes. I catch my train, ignored.

It is to do with a thousand decisions

we each have a duty to find some activity in our own lives which has that level of importance, to verify our suitability for that activity, and then to commit.

For Larkin, work had its boons which he might not have entirely anticipated. His

work as a librarian made him mindful of

money and commerce and so he was able

write. Every poet writes love poems; in only Larkin ever wrote anything like ‘Money’:

Quarterly, is it, money reproaches me: ‘Why do you let me lie here wastefully?

I am all you never had of goods and sex.

You could get them still by writing a few cheques.’

So I look at others, what they do with theirs: They certainly don’t keep it upstairs.

By now they’ve a second house and car and wife: Clearly money has something to do with life

One of Larkin’s perennial themes is the undesirability of marriage; for him that scale of commitment was impossible.

It is another aspect of his contrarian

nature, and his absolute determination

for self-realisation at all costs. He looks on marriage, as he looks on religion in ‘Money’ as a pervasive insanity.

I listen to money singing. It’s like looking down From long french windows at a provincial town, The slums, the canal, the churches ornate and mad In the evening sun. It is intensely sad.

This intense sadness is the core fact of

Larkin’s universe. Sometimes it makes him grumble a bit, as in This Be the

Verse but more often than not it incites a

certain tenderness. It also makes him seek work as a means of filling up the time

and distracting himself from the terror of death.

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

85

LITERATURE

philosopher’s stone of unending

sense to him. And these feelings were

he is also suspicious of them. Besides,

the dignity of it, and conversely, the

happiness. Larkin envies such types, but he suspects it simply isn’t his destiny: Ah, were I courageous enough To shout Stuff your pension!

But I know, all too well, that’s the stuff That dreams are made on: For something sufficiently toadlike Squats in me, too; Larkin's poetic mentor, W. B. Yeats.

(Wikipedia.org)

Its hunkers are heavy as hard luck, And cold as snow…

Work then for Larkin fills numerous

purposes. It stops him thinking about death, and gets him out of the house;

as a useful adjunct, it helps his poems by an obscure mixture of self-denial

and also giving him somewhere else to report from.

The whole question of work is

addressed definitively in two poems: ‘Toads’ and ‘Toads Revisited’. In

the first he is in a contrary mood, questioning his life choices:

Why should I let the toad work Squat on my life?

Can’t I used my wit as a pitchfork

All of us then have to come into some sort of acceptance of our lot: limits are

prescribed, and perhaps, the poem says, we sort of prefer it that way, or perhaps don’t

have the energy to rail too long against it.

Even Taylor Swift, who recently had the

whole Top 10 to herself, may never wake to having the whole Top 20 to herself: work will never complete us entirely.

Something else will, and that’s death

– Larkin’s great topic, the one which is

always at his shoulder – or like the Raven in Edgar Allen Poe’s poem tapping at his door. This was likely the impulse behind ‘Toads Revisited’ which is like a second

all intimately bound up with work: undesirability of not working.

So who does Larkin meet in the park, freed up momentarily from the toad

work? It’s not a very encouraging cast of characters, to put it mildly: Palsied old step-takers, Hare-eyed clerks with the jitters, Waxed-fleshed out-patients Still vague from accidents, And characters in long coats Deep in the litter-baskets All dodging the toad work By being stupid or weak.

For many this will open up onto

arguments about the right’s caricature of those on benefits as being, to quote the poem, ‘stupid or weak’. As sometimes

happens when you read Larkin today, you think: ‘you can’t say that’. But on

the flipside of the un-PCness of some of

what Larkin has to say is the presence of truth we might benefit from revisiting.

Larkin came from that generation which saw work as duty; he would have been very uncomfortable with today’s gig

economy. It was Boris Johnson who said

And drive the brute off?

panel in a diptych:

Six days of the week it soils

Walking around in the park

With its sickening poison –

Should feel better than work:

Just for a paying a few bills!

The lake, the sunshine,

off without cake.

That’s out of proportion.

The grass to lie on,

We have all felt this, the sense of time

Blurred playground noises

This curmudgeonly work ethic was a

working to meet our basic needs. And

Not a bad place to be.

are, in contemporary parlance, living

It is worth remembering here Larkin’s

ebbing away due to the necessity of

Beyond black-stockinged nurses –

we all possess envy about those who

Yet it doesn’t suit me.

their ‘best lives’ – the Instagrammers and the You Tube sensations, Taylor Swift and people granted some sort

of celebrity who seem to have squared

Conservatism – in his case both big

and small ‘c’. When Margaret Thatcher came on the scene, it was both a

revelation and a relief to Larkin, a

Season 11 of Curb Your Enthusiasm devided critics

the circle, and found a way to the 86

moment when politics finally made

his position on cake was pro-having it

and pro-eating it: Larkin would almost

have certainly wondered if he was better

remarkably stable arrangement which led to some of the most important

poems in English in the 20th century. It was still present in his last great poem ‘Aubade’. It was his last significant

utterance: much to his own bafflement and frustration, poetry left Larkin for his last five or six years.

In this terrifying poem, Larkin references work at the outset: ‘

LITERATURE

I work all day, and get half-

the postmen might be delivering good

drunk at night’. He then wakes

news as well as bad.

with a more than usual dose of

This is a reminder that work happens

morbidity, as he encounters again ‘unresting death, a whole day nearer now’ in the middle of the night.

throughout Larkin; it weaves in and

out of everything he writes. The poems are either moments stolen from work

or which acknowledge the endeavours

It is a poem which you gave to be in a

of others. The most notable of these is

it is an extended – but extraordinarily

at three people carrying out their work:

certain frame of mind to confront since

‘Livings’, a sort of triptych, which looks

measured – look into the heart of

In the first poem, which was written

darkness. But critics sometimes miss that it is work which lightens things

just a little at the end, and in a sense comes to his rescue.

in King’s Lynn, we meet a salesman of sorts:

I deal with farmers, things like dips and feed.

Slowly light strengthens, and the

Every third month I book myself in

room takes shape.

at

It stands plain as a wardrobe,

The --- Hotel in ---ton for three days.

what we know,

The boots carries my lean old

Have always known, know that we

leather case

can’t escape,

Up to a single, where I hang my hat.

Yet can’t accept. One side will

One beer, and then 'the dinner', at

have to go.

which I read

Meanwhile telephones crouch,

The ---shire Times from soup to

getting ready to ring

stewed pears.

In locked-up offices, and all the

Births, deaths. For sale. Police court.

uncaring

Motor spares.

Intricate rented world begins to

The hotel, the town and the county are

rouse.

The sky is white as clay, with no

all edited out to show perhaps that this

Thomas Hardy: A major influence on Larkin's work.

(Wikipedia.org)

without it: Later, the square is empty: a big sky Drains down the estuary like the bed Of a gold river, and the Customs House Still has its office lit. I drowse Between ex-Army sheets, wondering why I think it's worthwhile coming.

Father's dead: He used to, but the business now is mine.

It's time for change, in nineteen twenty-nine.

scene might have taken place anywhere

In the magazine you’re reading, we

homogeneity of many people’s lives

Speaking, which looks at the way in

unexciting anonymity which Larkin

our parents do for a living. Here is

shows work happening: not only the

The second part of the trilogy consists

businesses advertising in the local paper,

Here Larkin describes what for him

in England. It shows the comfortable

have a regular column called Relatively

– the sort of quiet dignified and

which we're defined by the work that

Work then bookends the poem: its

sought to create in his own. The stanza

a man carrying on his father’s work.

enables him at some basic psychological

boots carrying his bags, but the small

of a poem about a lighthouse owner.

and the goings-on of the police court.

may have been a sort of fantasy career

sun.

Work has to be done.

Postmen like doctors go from house to house.

necessity is what keeps him going; it

level to function at all. The final line in the poem shows postmen carrying out

their tasks. I have sometimes wondered

But all this is preparatory to one of

didn’t reference ‘doctors’, and whether

a new perspective enters, distinct from

if the poem would be stronger if it it ladles on the despair a little too

Louvre, Paris, France (Michael Fousert)

thickly. Larkin never quite accepts that

Larkin’s wonderful zoomings out where the humdrum world of toil, but also impossible to have been arrived at

where work is conducted apart from the world and where there is nevertheless the opportunity for revelation: Lit shelved liners Grope like mad worlds westwards. www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 4

87

LITERATURE

It is just about thinkable for Larkin to

disagree with the gig economy, and would

here. Although he'd be watching the

Islamic extremism, big government, our

have enacted for himself the life described waves with a poet’s attention to detail, he’d still be fulfilling some form of duty: he’d still be working.

We can read and learn from Larkin

probably be alarmed by the Internet,

fascination with American politics, and

much else that comes with modern life.

But perhaps it’s his instinctive

Conservatism which means he is a valid

while resolving not to be too much like

poet of the issue which most defines our

and a fearful poet. It is as if, given the

In ‘Going, Going’ he writes:

him. Ultimately he was a fearful person, dimensions of the problems which beset

human life, we need to make sure that we don’t add to them unnecessarily, either by an excessive progressivism, or simply by

making life too exciting or complicated.

In the final part of the Livings triptych,

times: the environment.

I thought it would last my time— The sense that, beyond the town, There would always be fields and farms, Where the village louts could climb

we encounter the medieval economy of a

Such trees as were not cut down;

the conversation murmurs, and nothing

In the papers about old streets

university where the port goes round, and much is happening.

I knew there’d be false alarms

And split level shopping, but some

The implication is that Larkin prefers that

Have always been left so far;

sees around him in the present. There’s a

As the bleak high-risers come

which shows you what Larkin thinks of

None of this suggests that Larkin would

slow unobtrusive society to the world he

And when the old part retreats

marvellous poem ‘Poetry of Departures’

We can always escape in the car.

unthought-through career changes:

Sometimes you hear, fifth-hand,

Philip Larkin Statue (Alamy.com)

have chained himself to a wall of the

National Gallery and vandalised a Van

Livings poem where everyone if fulfilling

Gogh, but he might have more in common

their roles within the context of a sluggish

He chucked up everything

with such people than one might expect.

economy: he would approve the pace of that.

And just cleared off,

On the Business Page, a score

And always the voice will sound

But when he sought to apply these ideas

Of spectacled grins approve

Certain you approve

Some takeover bid that entails

This audacious, purifying,

Five per cent profit (and ten

Elemental move.

Per cent more in the estuaries):

But Larkin, of course, does not approve.

move

chucks it all in and rushes off into

(Grey area grants)! And when

As epitaph:

Instead he knows that the person who

Your works to the unspoilt dales

something new ‘crouched in the fo’c’sle

You try to get near the sea

stubbly with goodness’ will not get

very far: they’re just trying to create

further down the line the same set of ‘reprehensibly perfect’ circumstances.

All of this means that Larkin is out of step with who we are now: he would 88

In summer . . .

Larkin prioritised self-reliance above all else. He wanted to work and thought

others should too. In some ways, he was

a man out of his proper time. He felt that

his ethos was best encapsulated in that last

to the contemporary world his poetry

came up against contradictions which it couldn’t solve. Thatcherism was moving rapidly in an individualistic direction

which Larkin the man could endorse, but

which I think was problematic to his work as a poet, and may go some way toward

explaining the silence which came upon

him in the 1980s. Rapid movement of any kind always held the negative connotation that it was bringing death forwards in some way.

And it’s this fear which places a selfish

imperative at the centre of his poetry. He

LITERATURE

once compared himself to Kingsley Amis: Oh no one can deny Arnold is less selfish than I He married a woman to stop her getting away Now she’s there all day.

And the money he gets for wasting his life on work She takes as her perk…

Larkin goes onto argue that Arnold is in

fact as selfish as him, he has just expressed his selfishness differently. But the poem

never really doubts that selfishness is the inevitable driver in most people.

fear of death. But this causes a duplicity

in his poetry whereby Larkin knows deep down that the policies he's espousing will lead to the desecration of the countryside

and a soulless world of business takeovers

which will make everything uglier. But the position suits him for now, and anyway

he knows he’s not going to be round long enough for it really to matter to him.

Ultimately, this slightly soulless view of the universe needs to be rejected since if it’s

followed logically it leads to an atomised and unhappy society without sufficient

ties between people. But even once you jettison that, there’s a lot to treasure in

He espoused Conservative individualism

Larkin: he’s that good a poet that you can

work, and that work distracted him from

want to quote him 20 times a day.

for the selfish reason that he believed in

“LARKIN PRIORITISED SELF-RELIANCE ABOVE ALL ELSE. HE WANTED TO WORK AND THOUGHT OTHERS SHOULD TOO. ”

push aside his entire view of life and still

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

89

TIMELESS ELEGANCE T H R O U G H G E N E R AT I O N S office@henrypoole.com | +44(0)20 7734 5985 | henrypoole.com Henry Poole, 15 Savile Row, London W1S 3PJ 90

SPECIAL REPORT

A PARENTS' GUIDE TO INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION

BY FINITO WORLD

Princeton University (Unsplash.com)

FROM IVY LEAGUE TO THE SORBONNE WHERE'S BEST TO SYUDY ABROAD?

Harvard University (unsplash.com)

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

91

SPECIAL REPORT

Wikipedia.org

Wikipedia.org

Wikipedia.org

1. HARVARD UNIVERSITY

2. YALE UNIVERSITY

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT

3. UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Ave. Undergraduate Tuition: $55,587

Ave. Undergraduate Tuition: $59,950

Acceptance Rate: 5%

Acceptance Rate: 6.5%

Ave. Undergraduate Tuition: $61,710

Top Majors: Law, Economics,

Top Majors: Economics, History,

Acceptance Rate: 9%

Medicine, Engineering

Political Science

Top Majors: Finance, Registered

Notable former alumni: Former

Notable former alumni: Former

Nursing, Philosophy

Presidents JFK, Barack Obama, actor

Presidents George W. Bush, Bill

Notable former alumni: Former

Matt Damon and novelist Margaret

Clinton and actresses Jennifer

President Donald Trump & his daughter

Atwood

Connelly and Jodie Foster

Ivanka, and billionaire Elon Musk

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

With a history dating back to 1636, Harvard University is the oldest university in the US, predating the founding of the country by 140 years.

Harvard is perhaps most famous for its stellar reputation in the fields of law and medicine, but it is also worth noting that the Harvard School of Divinity is widely considered to be the world’s most respected theological programme.

Harvard students are known to be extremely driven and hardworking, and that’s no surprise considering the school’s extremely low acceptance rate, but Harvard also offers ample opportunity for students to explore the City of Cambridge and Boston as a whole. A historical city which feels more like an oversized town than a sprawling metropolis, Boston is a place to explore the history of the nation and enjoy the rich culture embodied by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Museum of Fine Arts, and Fenway Park.

92

Yale is often seen as the Ivy League school with the heaviest focus on the arts, and for good reason – Yale’s art, film, dance, and music courses are among the best in the world. Since 1701, Yale University has provided the highest level of instruction to History, Social Science, Engineering, and Mathematics students, but their offering doesn’t stop there. If a student’s interests cannot be contained by a single traditional programme, Yale also offers multidisciplinary programmes. The city of New Haven is not as large or bustling as Boston or Manhattan, but there is a good amount of culture and nightlife to be found near Yale. Crime in the city can be a problem, but the vast majority of Yale students have no issue and rapidly adjust to life in New Haven.

Yale is also home to the world famous Whiffenpoofs, so if a cappella singing appeals to you, it’s worth checking out the longest-running a cappella group in the US.

The University of Pennsylvania is known for its work hard/play hard attitude, but active social lives distract from their tireless work to maintain the institution’s reputation as a top research university.

Founded in 1740 by Ben Franklin (who was also no stranger to the party life) the University of Pennsylvania is best known for the Wharton Business School, which is one of the best in the country. Wharton often overshadows the university’s other offerings, though the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the School of Nursing are also highly respected. The university’s location in Philadelphia will give students the chance to feel the weight of the history surrounding them each time they walk down the street. Bars, museums, and music halls offer great places for a night out, and PennU’s sprawling campus can often feel like a city of its own. While UPenn is still highly selective, it does sport a higher acceptance rate than other Ivy League schools, and extracurricular activities are considered more heavily when making admission decisions.

SPECIAL REPORT

Harvard University (Unsplash.com)

Cornell University (Unsplash.com)

University of Pennsylvania (Wikipedia.org)

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

93

SPECIAL REPORT

Wikipedia.org

Wikipedia.org

4. PRINCETON UNIVERSITY 5. CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY

ITHACA, NEW YORK

Ave. Undergraduate Tuition: $56,010

Ave. Undergraduate Tuition: $61,015

Acceptance Rate: 5.6%

Acceptance Rate: 10.7

Top Majors: Social Sciences, Engineering, Economics

Top Majors: Computer Science, Biology, Labor and Industrial Relations

Notable former alumni: Former

Notable former alumni: Former

First Lady of the United States Michelle

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader

Obama and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos

Ginsburg, actress Gillian Anderson and novelist Kurt Vonnegut

One of the finest of the Ivy League schools, with a world-renowned reputation for International Relations and Public Affairs, and the humanities in general. Princeton’s alumni, among other prominent figures, include the US Presidents Woodrow Wilson, James Madison, and John F. Kennedy. Founded in 1746, making it one of the oldest universities in the country, Princeton offers students the unique opportunity to become accustomed to thesis-writing through the Junior Project, which is completed under the supervision of a faculty member. The application process and requirements are notoriously difficult, placing much more emphasis on pure academics than extracurricular activities.

While the university campus spans more than 600 acres, the town of Princeton, New Jersey is much more suited to nature lovers than city-dwellers. While the town is not large, with a population of around 30,000, there are good restaurants to be found, and downtown Princeton offers opportunities to see a bit of history while visiting the shops. It is recommended to drive, as while there is public transport, having a personal vehicle is far more convenient if you plan to leave town.

94

Cornell University may have the highest acceptance rate of the Ivy Leagues, but that does not mean that the quality of instruction is second class. Since its foundation in 1865, Cornell students have had the opportunity to study under Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, and other major leaders in fields ranging from Agriculture to Industrial and Labour Relations. Greek life is a large part of life at Cornell, but if joining a fraternity or sorority doesn’t appeal to you, there are many other extracurricular activities including the Glee Club, Kung Fu, and Archery. The city of Ithaca is fairly small, and though it does contain some solid restaurants and nightlife, you will almost certainly want to be comfortable driving a car as the small town can be isolating to those accustomed to the big city. The novelist Vladimir Nabokov taught here and some of his novels, especially (1962), allude to life on campus.

Ian Walmsley Interview:

A UK PERSPECTIVE ON THE US MODEL

The Provost of Imperial University talks to Patrick Crowder about the way in which the US model is coming to the UK

M

any students make their way through university without coming into

contact with any of the people in

charge, and the roles in university management can be difficult to

understand. We spoke with Ian

Walmsley, who serves as Provost of

Imperial University, to help explain the duties of top university officers.

After a long career in physics, Walmsley is now in charge of Imperial’s academic vision and the delivery of that vision.

His experience also helped him face

the unknowns of maintaining academic excellence during the pandemic.

So what does his role actually entail?

“My job as Provost is to make sure the academic mission is delivered to high

quality. To that end, I oversee all of the

faculties and have to interpolate between

SPECIAL REPORT

them. I work with all of the Student

model anyway? “The UK has evolved a

Services, I work very closely with the

“and I think at Imperial we have a

Support and the Student Educational Student Union, and I work with HR

and Finance to make sure the resources are allocated in order to deliver that

mission. So it's partly setting the vision

for what the academic trajectory is going to look like, and then it’s working with the deans, the Vice Provost, and all of

the heads of service to make sure that's properly delivered,” Walmsley says.

Though the President and Provost

model is becoming increasingly popular in the UK, some readers may be more familiar with Chancellors and Vice

Chancellors. While quite similar, the

role of Vice Chancellor is more of an

all-rounder compared to that of Provost, who focuses mainly on academic

delivery. Walmsley explains how this

comparatively new system is taking hold, and the advantages that it brings.

“The President and Provost model is,

in fact, very much an American model.

In its sort of full-blown American

form, one might roughly say that the

President is responsible for the outward facing things; selling the university,

raising the brand, fundraising, alumni,

etc. while the provost is responsible for

little more that way,” Walmsley admits, system that looks perhaps most like the American one as any in the UK. That’s partly because the first president who

worked under that model was from the US, so she understood what that was model was about.”

THE ROLE OF VICE CHANCELLOR IS MORE OF AN ALL-ROUNDER COMPARED TO THAT OF PROVOST As Provost, Walmsley was tasked with what at the time seemed impossible:

how to deliver an excellent academic

prevalent. The Vice Chancellor model,

I think, grew more from a provost-like activity, but recently they’ve had to do a lot more outward-facing activities

because there's a lot more work with government, there's a lot more work

with alumni, and there's a lot more work with donors,” Walmsley explains.

So while many students are looking

towards the US today, the UK is moving towards something like the American

partly how we delivered our educational mission as well. The Imperial name

synonymous with high calibre research and world leading education, I think,

improved dramatically,” Walmsley says.

It is evident that university

administrators at the top levels, while

often overlooked, do play a vital role in the continuing success of a university – and, when hard times come, it’s up

to them to rally the team and come up with quick, effective solutions.

some more gracefully than others, but

of that might have been providing IT

work.

cases, and a more general one was that

we supported students at home. Part

it took a keen sense of vision to make it

equipment if they needed it, in certain

students, who have had to be really

Vice Chancellor model is much more

and indeed international level, and

universities faced this same challenge,

activities, setting the budgets to enable has sort of adopted that model, but the

pandemic was managed at a national

“There were various ways in which

“The pandemic was a hugely stressful

that, and allocating resources. The UK

for research that helped inform how the

product during the pandemic. All

the academic mission. That includes

all the education, research, innovation,

Imperial University (Wikipedia.org)

time for everybody, especially for

resilient in coming through that,”

Walmsley recalls. “But with that in

mind, everybody pulled together in a

very positive way to make sure that our education was still being delivered to

the students, students were still being

supported, and the calibre of what we

were providing was absolutely top notch.

some of our laboratory technicians were very creative,” Walmsley explains. “They came up with ways in which they could construct laboratory experiments, pack

them in a box, send them off to students and students could do that work at

home. And that lab in a box concept was a highly original one that came from our community members who were really

thinking about how to support students in those circumstances.”

And I think that got recognised - we

So it might be that before you consider

Times University of the year, University

your children overseas – worth looking

ended up getting a number of awards,

of the Year for Student Experience, our

NSS scores went up dramatically, and we got the Queen's anniversary prize, partly

applying to US universities – or sending at the likes of Imperial, where the US

model is already active and beginning to pay dividends for its students. www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

95

SPECIAL REPORT Music

Wikipedia.org

Wikipedia.org

Wikipedia.org

6. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

7. DARTMOUTH COLLEGE

8. BROWN UNIVERSITY

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND

Ave. Undergraduate Tuition: $63,530

Ave. Undergraduate Tuition: $60,870

Ave. Undergraduate Tuition: $62,304

Acceptance Rate: 6.7%

Acceptance Rate: 9.2%

Acceptance Rate: 7.7%

Top Majors: Political Science, Computer

Top Majors: Biological Sciences,

Top Majors: Applied Mathematics,

Science, Engineering

Engineering, Social Sciences

Economics, Computer Science

Notable former alumni: Singer Art

Notable former alumni: Television

Notable former alumni: Current

Garfunkel and Alicia Keyes, and actress

legend Fred Rogers, and children’s

Secretary of State for the Treasury

Julia Stiles

author Dr Seuss

Janet Yellen and actress Laura Linney

Founded in 1769, Dartmouth College has the history one would expect from an Ivy League institution while maintaining the new ideas present at more modern schools. A great example of this is their flexible “D Plan”, which is a schedule consisting of four 10week terms per year. This means that students have time to take advantage of internships which run during normal university times, and Dartmouth’s many study abroad opportunities. The Thayer School of Engineering is one of the oldest schools of its kind in the country, and it offers a dual-degree programme allowing students from other universities to attend. Greek life is a huge part of Dartmouth’s tradition, and students from the many fraternities and sororities flock to the great outdoors available in Hanover. Hanover is a small town, but what it lacks in bright lights and vibrant nightlife it makes up for with its beautiful hiking trails, rivers, and opportunities for outdoor sports. If living near nature interests you, Dartmouth is the place to be; the College even owns its own ski hill!

Brown University takes a different approach to other Ivy League schools, in that students are not locked in to one field of study, and the school has no strict majors. The “Open Curriculum” programme at Brown allows students to combine classes from different fields to tailor their experience to their own specialisation, though they must complete at least one “concentration” to graduate. Brown was founded in 1764 on the novel idea that students of all religions were welcome to attend, and that open attitude is still present in the university’s philosophy today. Brown’s eight-year Program in Liberal Medical Education is highly regarded and is an excellent way to work towards an MD, and extracurriculars including sailing, journalism, and martial arts provide an effective way for students to take a break from their studies while also bettering themselves. Located in Rhode Island’s capital Providence, students at Brown have ample opportunity to explore a lesser-known city which nonetheless features excellent restaurants, an active nightlife, and the historical architecture of College Hill.

Originally founded by King George II in 1754, Columbia University can now be best defined by the cutting-edge research taking place there. Home of the Pulitzer Prize, Columbia’s humanities courses are well-respected, however the long-standing engineering programme is the most famous and prized course.

Columbia’s application process is heavily academic, however they value a wellrounded student over one who excels in only a few areas. The core curriculum at Columbia also seeks to expose students to diverse ideas far beyond the confines of their chosen field of study. Columbia’s location in Manhattan comes with all of the advantages and drawbacks of living in New York. For those who crave the big city life and the wealth of opportunity which comes with living in such a major financial and cultural hub, Columbia is an ideal choice, however factors such as cost of living and fast-paced lifestyle should be carefully considered. Students at Columbia will not need a car, as public transport is well established in Manhattan.

(Picture credit: Michael Ochs)

96

SPECIAL REPORT

On top of that, in the French system

very concise personal statement, and

THE CLASS SIZES IN THE US ARE MUCH LARGER: DEPENDING ON THE COLLEGE THERE COULD BE 600 PEOPLE IN A LECTURE.

whichever level you've studied, and then

When attempting to navigate all of

people tend to do advanced placement

distinct traits, as well as complex

you might study economics or finance, for example, and then go on to work

for a bank. The English system is much more flexible in that you could study

history, or politics, or literature, and then you could go on and work in finance or another field. In terms of the way you

study, there's a lot more group work and flexible thinking in the UK. In the US

it's another completely different system, even when you're applying. The essay

is a lot longer, and that surprises a lot of UK students. Here it tends to be a

Georgina Badine on

INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION Finito World’s own Director of Admissions has studied in Geneva, Paris, and London. Here, she fills us in on the myriad options available to prospective university students.

T

he hard thing for young

people is the sheer range of

options, and the fact that you

often won’t have sufficient information about the institutions on offer in order to make the right decision for you.

For instance, if I compare Paris –

where I studied at the Sorbonne – to

Imperial College, the experiences were

extraordinarily different. The Sorbonne

was very structured, and challenging the lecturers wasn't really welcome. Whilst it was very competitive, it was a lot

more formal than in the English system.

In the English system we worked a

lot more in groups, and while you had

the lectures you also had the seminars, whereas in Paris, it tended to be just

more lectures. It was a less open forum than in the British system.

then it could depend on A Levels or to you get a contextual offer. In the US, and the application process is much more rigorous.

the different systems with all of their application processes, it helps to have someone helping you who’s been

The class sizes in the US are much

through it. That can be someone like an

college there could be 600 people in a

mentor. That's why I get a lot of people

more campus life in the US. In the

my son or daughter? They want to apply

studying, but if you study in London,

doing.”

larger as well: depending on the

older sibling or someone like a Finito

lecture. However, you do have much

coming to me and saying, “Can you help

UK it really depends on where you are

to uni, but they don't know what they're

you don't really have much of a campus.

You're kind of right in the middle of the city, whereas if you were to go to Scotland or something like that you might have more of a campus life.

And then there’s Switzerland, which

again is completely different. There you have the elimination process, in which they'll tend to eliminate about 30 per

cent of the intake during the first year.

In contrast, the entry requirements

are quite easy, but then they start to

eliminate people. Unfortunately that

drives a lot of bad behaviour because some people then get so competitive that they will give you the wrong

information on purpose, which is

It helps to have an older sibling who's gone through it, but if you don't have

that, it's all about being well-connected and knowing someone somewhere in your network. Currently there's not much guidance available, except at

Finito. Schools need to prepare their students better for that. The process

goes like this: What would you want

to study? Why are you choosing that

particular course? And what system do

you think will fit you best as a student?

The answers to these questions will

vary from person to person, but anyone who can answer all three honestly and confidently is on the right track.

really horrible. That’s the main reason

To contact Finito’s Director of Admissions

Switzerland.

work journey write to georgina@finito.org.uk

why I chose not to go to university in

Georgina Badine about your education or

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

97

STORIES FROM THE FRONT LINE

UMBRA INTERNATIONAL CEO KATE BRIGHT ON HER CAREER IN THE SECURITY INDUSTRY

K

ate Bright, CEO and founder

I advise young women and people from

spent the first 15 years of her

get into security to get onto a pathway

of UMBRA International,

career working in the private office

sphere. During this time she worked

for three international families, with

varying degrees of needs for security.

After rising through the ranks she became Chief of Staff in charge of

the families’ operational, lifestyle and security functions, from the supply

network through to the recruitment

of all members of the household and security staff.

Bright decided to do her Close

Protection bodyguard training in order

to understand the role’s function better.

Bright found that she stood out, not just as a woman but also because she did

not come from a military background.

“I then started to look around, network,

and connected with other women in the

industry, and the seedling of the idea for the business started,” she tells me.

Bright launched the business in 2015 with the goal of “focusing on doing security differently, making it more

accessible, more lifestyle-oriented, hence our phrase ‘Secure Lifestyle’ was born.”

When I ask about the different roles for women in security, she counters with

“everyone can do all aspects of security,

man or woman. It’s also not the preserve of rich and famous people. We’re trying to make it accessible to all, to create

clear pathways to not just protective

services, but corporate security and all the

different angles, particularly cybersecurity.

98

BY ALICE WRIGHT non-military backgrounds that want to like the government’s new initiative,

The National Cyber Force (NCF) was

launched in 2020 for example. It would

make me very proud for one of my young

nieces and their friends to consider this as a legitimate career path in the future.”

“THERE IS CURRENTLY MORE DEMAND FOR WOMEN IN SECURITY THAN THERE IS SUPPLY.”

Kate Bright

Bright’s clients come from various parts

of the world, are different ages and from

different cultures. “What I noticed when There is currently more demand

I was working operationally was that

supply. “I’m always trying to encourage

I was asked to do a TEDx talk about it in

Assistant community to do the training

protection can be discreet and able to

important for us all to have a sense of

clients may be the super wealthy, but have

experiencing individuals from former

instantly recognisable but do not wish

as rugby in her private office career that

mother used to say: every lid has a pot.

Rugby Clubs in the Premiership and

different set up, protocol and team

Players Associations as well as the Switch

to somebody who may feature on a

ex-elite sports men and women to

not be a household name.”

a great transition coming from a

and cyber safety as well. “The invisible

for women in security than there is

‘invisible security’ is supremely useful, and

particularly my former Personal

2018.” Invisible security is the idea that

because I think it’s really useful and very

maintain a low profile for clients. Some

safety and security.” It was from directly

no public-facing profile and others are

professional sporting backgrounds such

to draw attention to themselves. “As my

UMBRA now has partnerships with

Lady Gaga would need a completely

Championship leagues as well as several

composition to go unnoticed compared

The Play Foundation to encourage

Sunday Times Rich List, but who may

move into the security industry. “It’s

Invisible security also encapsulates digital

teamwork disciplined structure into a

threats that you can encounter online

similar environment,” Bright explains.

“We’ve had a lot of success in particular with women’s rugby, even despite the pandemic.”

are just as important to counter in a very

discreet way,” Bright explains. “UMBRA doesn’t just help clients with their

physical safety – we’re also taking into

STORIES FROM THE FRONT LINE

consideration the whole lifestyle online

hands and set of eyes, such as chaperones,

non-executive committee roles, such as

the other. This can include everything

This trend has not gone away. Yet Bright

the Worshipful Company of Security

and offline, because one risk will affect from broader household and private

office recruitment (alongside security

personnel) , staff background checking

and home security upgrades through to

protective or intelligence-based projects.”

particularly for younger family members. emphasises that she wants to avoid “the ‘gilded cage’ where there is too much

protection which she believes “ultimately takes away and disempowers the

understanding of what it is to be safe.”

in the charitable sector as a Trustee of

Professional Charitable Trust. She is a keen military charity supporter, as an

Ambassador of both Supporting Wounded Veterans and Veterans Aid. Last year she was invited to join the Gender Advisory

UMBRA works in partnership with

I’m interested in the technology angle,

Council for the British Army. “It’s actually

to help families to achieve what Bright

read about sensational heists that have

British Army,” Bright explains. “There is

trusts, law firms and fiduciary advisories, describes as a ‘secure lifestyle’. “Clients and their advisors come to us either

proactively or reactively with problems, increasingly before they happen, or

problems as they’re evolving.” This can

include everything from home security upgrades through to protective or

intelligence-based projects. “There’s a lot of psychology involved. It’s a lot about

the feeling of safety. Insecurities, as well as securities, things that are going on in

someone’s life, big litigations or disputes.

Family disruptions can cause a lot of security considerations by causing a rupture in the norm.”

Indeed, UMBRA also helps clients while they navigate difficult situations such as

a private or company court hearing that

particularly the role of social media, having

really parallel, the security industry and the

taken place after a traceable social media

10 per cent female representation across

post. Bright answers that she always keeps abreast of crime trends including burglary tourism, where people post where they’re going on holiday then organised crimes gangs easily locate them.

“UMBRA DOESN’T JUST HELP CLIENTS WITH THEIR PHYSICAL SAFETY – WE’RE ALSO TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION THE WHOLE LIFESTYLE ONLINE AND OFFLINE.” “Particularly in the last five years it’s

dealing with press intrusion. “The sudden

interesting time for digital and online

shining of a light on someone is not

something that I would wish on my worst enemy, it has implications that are far

reaching.” Another area is divorce: “When a family separates, the two different

structures that are created as a result is a big area of work,” Bright explains.

Another consideration in Bright’s

“blended approach” to creating a secure

lifestyle is the idea of hyper-personalised security. As clients return to travel again despite the difficulties of the Covid-19

landscape, UMBRA has received a lot of requests for people to be travelling with

either someone that’s security-trained, or just someone to provide an extra pair of

both cases, I’m committed to supporting ways to create opportunities for women and support within their roles around the unique issues they face. I want to

encourage the next generation and build

is in the public interest. This can involve working with reputation lawyers and

both the security industry and army. In

been a very experimental time, a very

risk to be emerging. Certainly clients

are more interested and more willing to understand how to protect themselves

online.” UMBRA’s approach is to always

a pipeline for the future, to give young

women role models and a career path to aspire to. You have to see it to be it!”

Bright adds that she’s always looking

at“how to create safe spaces, particularly for women, who so often are victims of gender-based violence and crime

worldwide, so they can feel safe – for

example at night or, travelling around.”

This has never been so at the forefront,

after the tragic high profile cases of Sarah Everard, Sabina Nessa, and others in the last few years. “Women have this duality of at once our invisibility being our

strength, but also, we need to speak more about where we need to be counted, and that we are not just small men.”

be proactive. “It’s less stressful, it’s less

“Both myself personally and the

and incorporates protocol. It’s a very

positive conversations, and realise I’ve

expensive, much more process-driven, good approach, particularly for those

that are coming to security for the first

time, whether they’ve come into a large amount of money suddenly, eg through

the sale of a company, or a valuation such

as a Unicorn founder, and therefore come into some sort of fame or profile in a relatively short space of time.”

Bright also holds a number of prestigious

UMBRA business are trying to have got ‘first’ syndrome, in being the first

to do, or vocalise, new ways of working and approaching big problems. It

can sometimes feel like we’re having

conversations that we just shouldn’t be

having in 2023. But I’m more than happy to keep having them. If I leave behind a

slightly more empowered and safer world, that will be a good job done.” www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

99

BURSARY

JOSEPH MCDONALD ON HIS EXPERIENCE OF THE FINITO BURSARY SCHEME CHRISTOPHER JACKSON UPDATES READERS ABOUT PROGRESS ON FINITO’S WORK WITH A PARTICULAR STUDENT FROM THE LANDAU FORTE ACADEMY

Kate Bright

Joseph McDonald

A

t Finito, we are sometimes

At Finito we take it a step further and

to-one mentoring works:

the benefit of numerous mentors: the

asked why it is that one-

one possible answer is that people

are complex. During our lives – and

especially our early lives – experience can often feel bewildering. Things come at us fast, and contradictory

impressions are arrived at. Soon the world can seem insoluble.

There is no better way of tackling all this than the concerned help of a mentor.

100

make sure that our candidates have

reality is that it takes time and a degree of luck to establish the right kind of

mentor-mentee relationship. This means that students often need to try several mentors before discovering the right one.

At Finito, not all we do is aimed at

those punch-the-air moments: the place secured at a top university, the new job, the promotion. These are rewarding,

of course, but they’re very far from the whole story.

More typically, mentoring is full of small wins – it can open up onto a world of quiet reward, and subtle attainments.

Sometimes when you look back at the road travelled, you can be surprised by how far you came by small steps. But it usually happens that in these more

mundane things might be contained the seeds of some important revelation.

All these factors are present in the

BURSARY

fascinating story of Joseph McDonald, a

granular, in a way – all about the detail.

World are proud.

How would he make applications for

Bursary candidate of whom we at Finito McDonald is one of our mentees on

the outstandingly successful Bursary

How would Joseph get to university?

student loans? Where would he shop for a duvet and for cutlery?”

Scheme, which we continue to conduct

But what Joseph most feared was

Academy. Finito mentor Andy Inman,

love that, but for Joseph it’s really the

in partnership with the Landau Forte who was instrumental in setting up

this arm of the bursary, remembers his

first impressions of Joseph when he was introduced to us.

“Joseph is, by his own admission, not

particularly social. He doesn’t like groups and crowds, and has very little home

support to speak of. The important thing

Fresher’s week. “Most people would

antithesis of what he enjoys – so he had to be talked through that.”

Stevenson stepped up and in time

developed a profound relationship with Joseph. She tells us she was mindful of

the magnitude of Joseph’s achievement

in getting to university at all: “Joseph is

the first in his family to go to university

Coco Stevenson

was about to leave to take a computer

of the difficulty for Joseph: “Going

he was already in a state of anxiety

young person’s life and is all the more

was nervous about making friends and

especially when you are a neuro-diverse

I first came to university,” he tells us.

for people who are not neurotypical,”

“INMAN DECIDED THAT JOSEPH REQUIRED A CARING, NURTURING MENTOR AND HE COULDN’T HAVE MADE A BETTER SELECTION IN THIS THAN COCO STEVENSON.”

in the past at school. It was definitely

Stevenson gives us her first impressions

fondly: “We discussed the kind of

Inman decided that Joseph required

especially confident in the months

the structure of academic events and the

couldn’t have made a better selection

there were a number of worries and

that Coco would look after him,” Inman

Difficulties of this kind must be

more solid plan that helped me find my

sound insignificant but they were not to

and Joseph began to explore the issues:

home for the first time.”

to realise when you have a candidate

and we should remember that Lancaster

like that, is that small tasks become big

University has one of the best Computer

things.”

Science courses in the UK,” she tells us.

When Joseph joined our programme, he

But Stevenson also never lost sight

science degree at Lancaster University;

to university is a major transition in a

about what life would be like for him. “I

difficult coming out of a pandemic -

finding the right friendship group when

person, as the world is not always set up

“This is something that I struggled with

she continues.

my number one priority upon arrival.”

of Joseph: “My mentee was not

activities I could get up to, including

a caring, nurturing mentor and he

leading up to moving to university and

in this than Coco Stevenson. “I knew

concerns.”

recalls. “What was required might

tackled head-on, and together, Coco

grounding as I began living away from

“Working regularly together, we were

Soon the pair of them had alighted on a

Joseph: we’re talking about things like

packing lists, and so forth – all the preuniversity tasks which you have to do before the leap to university. ”

Inman’s remarks are a reminder that

as we go on in life, we typically come

to know the world and forget what it

able to ‘workshop’ issues, come up with strategies and plan for eventualities,”

she recalls. “Planning and strategizing helped enormously in accomplishing tasks and not being derailed by unforeseen things.”

was like not to be sure about things we

Stevenson used her experience of

recalls: “It was mentoring at its most

for Joseph. Joseph now recalls this

later come to regard as obvious. Inman

university life to begin to create a plan

social events I could engage with outside of my studies. Coco encouraged me to

convert my ideas of involvement into a

strategy: “Coco explained that societies

are fundamental to finding people with

similar interests and a great place to make friends. She advised me on how many

societies to attend, and how to approach

the problem of deciding which societies I would continue attending. This was how

I became part of the Sober Society, and I am so grateful to Coco for this.” www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

101

BURSARY

had put on such as game and film nights.”

By regular attendance, Joseph soon

discovered another opportunity: “It

was announced at one of the events

that the Society would soon be holding

It was suggested by a friend of mine

that I should apply for treasurer. I was

uncertain of this since I was concerned

it would create more work than I would be able to handle at this early stage of my university life.”

and in time able to feel at home.

By this point the mentor-mentee

at the way in which Joseph’s sense of

a call to Coco, I was reminded of the

Lancaster University: “Each small step

Such positions are seen positively

increased confidence and satisfaction.

commitment, and initiative. As one of

nervous to confident, assured and

won the vote.”

well as achieving academic and social

Society was a huge success. He presided

Stevenson looks back with satisfaction

relationship was far advanced. “Upon

self developed in those early months at

advantages of holding such a position.

led to successes which in turn led to

by future employers as leadership,

My mentee went from unsure and

the two candidates up for the position, I

assuming various leadership roles, as

Joseph’s tenure as treasurer of the Sober

success.”

over a period of expansion: “By the

One of the core principles of Finito’s

end of the first term, we had over 150

for the long haul for our candidates.

one of the larger societies on campus.

as Joseph settled in, and Joseph still

our hearts within the executive, so we

preparation that they made together

And this success in turn began to be

mentoring is that we want to be there

members. This meant we were already

Coco and Joseph remained in touch

Issues surrounding alcohol are close to

talks today of how the checklists and

were ecstatic at our success.”

helped him focus on his lecture content.

noticed: “After the end of the 2021-

Society came up by chance, Joseph

remembers: “The Sober Society isn’t a

recovery program and does not require

you to never drink alcohol but provides a safe space for non-drinkers to have

fun and an alternative for those taking a break from alcohol. I was enjoying

participating in the events the Society 102

as Edinburgh. In addition to this he also got a girlfriend.

first year Joseph got into an incident at

looking for more to fulfil other roles.

The opportunity to join the Sober

with trips scheduled to destinations such

new society formed only in that October members of the executive, so they were

confident, oriented in his new location,

at Manchester Metropolitan University,

But this is where the story shifts:

of 2021, there were only two full-time

Gradually, Joseph began to feel

collaboration with other sober societies

its annual hustings for the executive

positions in the society,” he recalls. “As a

Simon Blagden CBE

for his own future, even planning a

2022 academic year, our president was

contacted via our Instagram account by student blog Student Beans. They were interested in the values of our society

and studying Sober Societies across the country. This was representative of our success.”

Joseph began to create plans for

the future of the Sober Society and

unfortunately towards the end of his

the university, an altercation in which a door handle was accidentally snapped, when Joseph reacted to something

a fellow student had said about his

girlfriend. Joseph wasn’t at fault – indeed had shown admirable judgement – but the situation sadly rattled him and he decided to intercalcate.

It was at this point that Finito deepened its involvement still further, as Coco voiced concerns with the Finito

management about Joseph’s mental

health. Mental health has been a core

aspect of Finito World and we sought immediately to have him assessed by

Paul Flynn, the brilliant CEO of leading

mental health organisation AddCounsel.

Flynn explains: “When I spoke with

Joseph he was on antidepressants, and

my sense was that he had better support from Lancaster University than people usually get in these situations.”

Flynn then relayed his advice to us:

“One of the challenges Joseph has is

around resiliency: whether that links

back to the way he’s wired up or not,

it’s something that needs to be looked at. If it isn’t taken care of, then it will resurface. A very good CBT-based

therapist should be able to support but

so could a coach with expert knowledge of resilience skills.”

Before setting this up, we asked about

Joseph’s desire. “When you get a coach

you’ve got to be sure there’s that level of

desire, and a wish to sort out a situation.

I think that’s there or he wouldn’t have gone on the phone with me. But his

BURSARY

plan is to go back home, and there’s no real work plan. He needs structure.”

Enter Finito mentor Talan Skeels-

Piggins, who is ideally placed to help

students in this kind of situation. SkeelsPiggins’ story is unique and makes him an ideal fit for Joseph. Having been a

something; tangible, real, that you can

see, be proud of, helps others and makes a difference in the world. He admits

he is not interested in computers and

would not want to get a job related to

computers once out of Uni. When we

were talking about litter-picking, pond

PE teacher Skeels-Piggins suffered a

cleaning projects and other ecology-

his legs in a car accident. This, however,

he began to show interest and smiled

display of fortitude, and he has gone

Joseph therefore has a momentous

medalist in both motorcycling and

to university or whether to choose

terrible setback when he lost the use of

based activities he had done in the past

was the prelude to an astonishing

whilst reflecting about the events.”

on to be a Paralympian Olympic gold

decision ahead of him: whether to return

skiing. He recently published a book

The Little Person Inside which describes his extraordinary life.

Skeels-Piggins has been able to find meaning in a situation which would have defeated many others, and he

seemed an ideal mentor for someone like Joseph struggling with mental health issues.

another path altogether and look for

a future related to the environment or sustainability.

When such things are at stake, it’s our experience at Finito that people will

struggle to make a choice when they

don’t have enough information at their fingertips. At such crucial moments,

it can never be a bad thing – and will

This means that Joseph has now

almost always be a good thing – to look

relationship, following on from his

work best.

embarked on a second mentor-mentee continuing association with Coco.

Skeels-Piggins has begun to deepen his understanding of what Joseph actually

wants, and been able to uncover too that some of the origins of his difficulties came during the pandemic when he

spent less time in school than he would have liked.

In terms of the future Skeels-Piggins’

sense of Joseph’s outlook has crystallised during their sessions: “He needs to realise that he is enough by being

Joseph, and not having to prove himself to be loved. This leads him onto the

issue of not knowing what he needs to

do for his future as he is only doing the

current course because he felt pressure to go to Uni in order to please parents.”

After a later session, this began to

deepen: “Joseph is not interested in

the corporate world but wants to do

for more information about what might Joseph’s stated interest in the

environment and climate change

caused us to think about people in our

network who might be of use to Joseph and we approached the former Green Party leader Natalie Bennett to ask if she would be prepared to take a call

with Joseph to take him through the

options. She very generously assented

and though the call will take place after this magazine has gone to press it is a measure of how far Joseph has come that the boy who was worried about fresher’s week is soon to talk to the

former leader of a major political party.

Joseph should be proud of that.

Joseph’s story is evolving all the time, but the support so far provided him

would have been impossible without the commitment of two Bursary donors in particular, whose generosity has been

Dinesh Dhamija

matched to Joseph’s needs.

In the first place, we would like to thank, Simon Blagden, CBE, Chair of Building Digital UK and former Chair of

Fujitsu UK. Blagden says: “I served the

Government’s advisory panel reviewing the future of technical education.

During the two year process we met

with hundreds of young people all over the country. I am delighted to support the work of Finito. The valuable work which you do strongly resonates with both students and their parents.”

Secondly we would like thank Dinesh

Dhamija, who says: “I have been helping entrepreneurs through coaching and mentoring over the past 17 years.

Finito’s focus on young people is

admirable and I am proud to join their group in support. My own expertise is in the fast growing online Business to

Consumer sector, and the green energy solar and hydrogen fields.” We hope

to use this expertise in future when it comes to Joseph’s story.

Joseph has already come a long way. The way ahead isn’t clear, but is becoming clearer all the time. What’s certain is

that we stand shoulder to shoulder with him as a business, and as a bursary, and are committed to his success. www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

103

LAW

KHAWAR QURESHI KC

O

INTERVIEW BY FINITO WORLD

f all the things that can

happen to you career-wise,

to be born with the suspicion

that you’d like to be a lawyer is one of the more benign developments imaginable.

Salary expectations are good – and

if you’re interested in legal problem-

solving the work has the potential to be reliably interesting and intellectually rewarding.

There are other boons: for instance,

there are reliable entry routes thanks to a

highly regulated profession; later on there will be clear career progression – whether

Khawar Qureshi KC

it be through to KC if you select the

McNair International in Lincoln’s Inn

information. It has been an honour and

you opt to be a solicitor.

with a definite buzz about it, including a

career to undertake hundreds of case for

barrister route, or through to partner if But a legal career isn’t always plain-

sailing. Many students suspect the legal profession might be for them, but can’t initially decide whether they would

prefer the essentially theatrical life of a

barrister in court, or the weaving behind the scenes which tends to be the lot of

Fields. The launch of this was a fine event lecture by the revered Judge Abdulqawi Yusuf, a judge of the International

Court of Justice and its former President until 2021 on ‘Why International Law

Matters’. Finito World readers will not be surprised to know that in the era of the Russia-Ukraine conflict it still does.

privilege for me over the course of my

parties all over the world- including these types of matters.”

So what does Qureshi have to say to

young people on the perennial question

of whether to be a solicitor or a barrister?

“In essence, the barrister who wishes to

excel as an advocate must be highly self-

the solicitor. Then once you decide that,

So what does Qureshi most think is

reliant, be prepared to work exceptionally

to specialise in.

doesn’t miss a beat: “In all walks of life

prospect of unravelling complex factual

others, there must always be clarity and

clearly and persuasively,” explains

what does this mean when it comes

work effectively without an effective team

“As an advocate this means being able

who they work with. Solicitors work in

assessing how best to convey the same

receiving profits from the firm. Barristers

be the International Court of Justice,

And no one has a case load quit like

broadcast of a politically charged case, an

be given numerous asides about matters

there’s the further question of which areas Khawar Qureshi KC is, without doubt,

one of the world’s leading advocates, and

therefore well-placed to answer questions Finito World readers will have about this area. In person he has a powerful quality

– a sense of intellectual strength hits you rightaway – and there is also a sort of

physical robustness, a leonine nimbleness, suggestive of someone who has been on their feet for much of their career. In

this respect, barristers resemble orchestra conductors: physical and mental labour seem to go hand in hand.

The advocate has had a busy year, and recently opened the London office of 104

required to be a success in court? Qureshi

hard, enjoy and be stimulated by the

where we assume responsibility for

and legal issues, so as to convey a case

conviction to do the very best.” And

Qureshi. He adds: “No barrister can

to the reality of being an advocate?

and trust-based approach with solicitors

to assimilate information rapidly and

firms and receive salaries, equity partners

to the specific audience - whether it

work from case to case.”

millions of people watching a live

Qureshi’s case load: to talk with him is to

arbitral tribunal determining a multibillion dollar claim by a commercial entity against a State, or a domestic

court dealing with sensitive intelligence

which have just left his desk, or which are currently being dealt with. These matters all have in common, you sense, their

enviability if one were a barrister, and

LAW

intellect, talks about the way in which the flow of information has changed during

the course of his career. “Whereas when

I started, hard copy books were the norm, it is a rare treat (unfortunately) to visit a law library. There is now so much more

information available through high-speed internet. The challenge is to be able to filter what is credible and relevant.”

In which direction does he think the

law is currently headed? “Unfortunately, as legal practice has become more

"business-like" due to influences that

have seeped in, it is sadly increasingly rare to see "justice" and "the rule of

law" as the touchstones for legal work

(save, some might say, when lip service is being paid to them for "optics").

This is a very unfortunate trend which

universities, the legal profession, judges their bewildering complexity if you’re not.

To be in Qureshi’s company is to get a

glimpse into an expertise whose enormity you can’t fathom: it’s like being in the

company of a grandmaster chess player.

So what has he learned from dealing with governments worldwide? “I have acted

for the UK Government on hundreds of complex and sensitive matters as an "A"

Panel Treasury Counsel from 1999-2006

before taking Silk. I have also represented the USA, the Russian Federation, India as well as states such as Kazakhstan and Zambia, and been involved in

matters for or against around 70 states

in total. Advising and representing any

isn’t presently considering it. “I enjoy

advocacy in complex and challenging cases first and foremost. I enjoy the diversity of work that I am able to

undertake for states and clients from all over the world embracing international

law, arbitration, commercial litigation and fraud/regulatory matters. Just recently, I have undertaken a case before the

High Court of Kenya for the DPP of

Kenya against the Deputy Chief Justice of Kenya - the first time an English

Silk was instructed to appear before the Courts of Kenya since independence in

1963. I had previously acted for a foreign investor against Kenya.”

Government is a great honour but comes

So what in his opinion makes a good

as there is always a significant political

open-minded, fair and possessed of

with considerably more responsibility,

judge? Qureshi says: “A good judge is

element and the practical litigation

sound judgment, expertise, integrity and

insight available to sophisticated

commercial parties may not always be present.”

intellect as required to determine difficult issues - all to ensure that justice is done and the rule of law is always upheld.”

For someone as gifted as Qureshi one

So what is it ultimately which drives him

consider a judicial career, but in fact he

possessed of an unusually omnivorous

might have assumed that he would

in his career? Qureshi, who is plainly

and politicians have a responsibility to

address. Legal practice is not a business

in the conventional sense which it seems to be increasingly conforming to. Legal

practice should always serve to promote human existence and interaction in a

manner which protects the weak and

vulnerable, not rewarding or being blind to the transgressions of the strong and powerful. Society at large will be much the worse if this trend is not arrested.”

It’s impossible not to be inspired by

Qureshi’s new venture. So what’s the

story behind it? “I strongly believe that international commercial lawyers who

are like minded and share a passion for law and justice and enjoy undertaking

challenging as well as stimulating work

derive greater strength when they come

together. McNair International exists to

serve that purpose - for individuals from

all over the world. I am delighted to have been given the responsibility to continue to take McNair International forward.”

And meeting him, you’re left no doubt that he will – and that more success is around the corner.

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

105

INTERNATIONAL

Letter From

CYPRUS

R

elocating can be a breath

economic growth. GDP is forecast to

CYPRUS INTRODUCED

figuratively. After decades

Property prices have risen faster than

"THE DIGITAL NOMAD

of fresh air, literally and

grow by around 3.3 per cent this year.

of battling through the commute into

GDP on average over the last five years

SCHEME", ENABLING

way through the crowds of financiers

are finding it hard to afford rent or

PEOPLE TO ENJOY

the City of London, elbowing my

and students and young executives

and brokers, I find myself savouring

affordable houses, particularly in the

OUR BEAUTIFUL

resilient people, but now is the time for

WEATHER AND

the relaxed mood that blows in with

the warm sea breeze here in Cyprus.

However, don’t mistake Cyprus for

a quiet business destination because nothing could be further from the

truth. We just do things differently

here. Or at least, we used to. As a coach this is something I love to pass on to

my clients - that you don’t have to be stressed and work 24/7 to produce

great results. As the economy here

booms, we all need to remember that.

It could be the key to ongoing success.

booming area of Limassol. We are

leadership to reduce the problems other boom countries within the EU have experienced before us.

WHILE WORKING

Despite a slowdown in property

FOR COMPANIES

investment since the abolition of

the so-called Golden Passport route to citizenship last year, in 2022 the

government introduced more favourable tax benefits for foreign companies to

set up their headquarters in Cyprus and also introduced, "The Digital Nomad

Scheme" enabling people to enjoy our

There is a joke you might know about

beautiful weather and quality of life,

complains about an Italian restaurant in

outside the country. The scheme aims

angry millionaire tells the owner, “The

by attracting talented individuals and

always open on time!” and the restaurant

but begs the question of Cyprus -

used to dominate the world, but then we

minimum wage - how do we make sure

mama, the world will come to you… and

boom? Most young Cypriots report

a big shot from Silicon Valley who

while working for companies operating

Rome for opening five minutes late. The

to transform our business ecosystem

USA dominates the world because we

entrepreneurs. This is hugely positive

owner replies “So what? We Romans

the last nation in the EU to set a

discovered if you make tomato sauce like

homegrown talent benefits from the

wait for you to open.” The moral of the

they can’t afford the rising rents or a

story is quality and high performance

don’t mean re-creating someone else’s

recipe for success. It’s about finding your own path. So, what is the right path for booming Cyprus?

night out with friends in downtown

Limassol. If we learn from EU countries that experienced similar recent booms

- in Central and Eastern Europe - two things become clear.

Finding the right path for Cyprus

Firstly, company leaders need to focus

Migration Department reports circa

already a shortage of young local talent

is more complex than it sounds. The

9,000 relocations from international companies. This is reflected in our 106

QUALITY OF LIFE,

on talent retention, because there is

in our cities, and that will only get worse as more companies arrive. Holding onto

OPERATING OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY.

INTERNATIONAL Limassol Marina (www.limassolmarina.com)

Limassol Promenade (chooseyourcyprus.com)

THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A MORE EXCITING TIME TO LIVE AND WORK IN CYPRUS

the best new local hires and managing

want to avoid a brain drain of young

recruiting from outside Cyprus. Training

EU, leaders need to offer coaching

local talent will offer cost benefits over and coaching reduces staff turnover

dramatically (studies show 30-50%), so coaching for emerging Cypriot

professionals should help to encourage

them to build careers here, not leave for destinations where rents are cheaper to make their wages go further.

talent moving to cheaper parts of the programmes that prioritise well-being,

resilience, and mental health at work, in

addition to talent retention programmes and rewarding loyalty with competitive salaries.

There has never been a more exciting time to live and work in Cyprus, but

Secondly, if we want our young people

leading effectively through rapid growth

need to invest in mental fitness and

previous EU regional booms to avoid

30 are perceived to be under almost

future. That’s how we do things in the

to benefit from these opportunities, we

- and change - means learning from

resilience. Young workers aged 18 to

storing up problems for ourselves in the

twice as much pressure as their more

more relaxed, older and wiser cultures of

from stress and worries about debt

Sophia Petrides is a Finito mentor who

senior peers, being more likely to suffer or struggling to pay their bills. If we

the Mediterranean, isn’t it? recently relocated to Cyprus

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

107

INTERNATIONAL

Letter From

THE ISLE OF MAN

A

fter many years loving life in

needed to boost and diversify the economy.

for seven years in glitzy, noisy

unemployment in handful figures, the

London followed by working

and brash Las Vegas, moving to this

small island in the Irish Sea was quite

an adjustment. That was back in 2009.

I may now have acquired “stop-over”

status rather than being seen as a mere “come-over.” There are thousands

of both categories - many linked to

financial services or eGaming. However, like the UK, the island needs more new arrivals to fill vacancies, especially in

the health service. Helping people like me to relocate was Mary Linehan of

BLocal, who you can find more about at b-localiom.com.

The population is ageing and with

need is for newcomers, especially families,

to start a new life in a safe, welcoming and environmentally aware community. While the island welcomes retirees, the main

need is for a larger and younger working population. Covid-19 brought a stream

of new residents, snapping up properties off-plan.

The island has a reputation as a respected and well-regulated financial centre and is especially strong in insurance with many corporate service providers. A bespoke fund, corporate and private wealth

provider such as Suntera Global https://

The Isle of Man is an independent nation

www.suntera.com/ has its substantial

the world’s longest continuous running

city Douglas. Such a business provides

and not part of the UK. In Tynwald, it has Parliament, dating back over 1000 years.

The Government issues Manx passports

but remains a Crown Dependency, having strong ties with the UK. However, when

referring to the UK, islanders will say “I’ve been across” or “I’ve been to England but

will never say: “I’ve been to the mainland.”

The M-word is a big no-no!

Our island is much larger than Malta,

international engine-room in our capital a wide array of international advice and support, perhaps involving e-Gaming,

Douglas Stewart

This delightful small town is dominated by its magnificent castle, parts dating back to Norman times.

Rural properties generally range from around £300,000 to multi-millions, the latter providing country estates for international HNWs who take

advantage of the highly attractive tax regime. The rental market is buoyant

property, trusts, jets and super-yachts. As

with demand being high from financial

centres, this sector has been a major boost

There are two hospitals – one on the

one of the world’s few blue-chip eGaming

institutions and the eGaming sector.

during the past 14 years. Global giants

outskirts of Douglas and the other

like Pokerstars and Microgaming are

headquartered here along with the likes of Celton Manx.

at the northern part of the island in

Ramsey. Just like the UK, the hospitals

currently struggle to attract consultants

Jersey or Guernsey and is dominated

There is some light engineering and

and nurses. Under a deal with the UK,

sea views. With a population of around

a world leader in kettle safety controls.

for heart operations, are flown at public

cannabis commenced in 2021. Crypto

40 minutes away.

by rolling hills, forests and wonderful 85,000, the island is similar in size to

Singapore which has approaching six

million people. Beautiful green space we have in abundance.

In June 2022, a report by KPMG,

manufacturing industry, such as Strix,

residents needing specialist care, such as

Regulated cultivation of medicinal

expense to Manchester or Liverpool, just

has also been embraced though, currently,

In a changing society, the demands on

what the future holds is less clear than once it was.

confirmed that we have a larger economy

In Ballasalla, an easy commute into

In 2021, the Government’s report “Our

www.dandara.com) is offering new-builds

by GDP than either Jersey or Guernsey.

Island, Our Future” targeted a population of 100,000 by 2037. New arrivals are 108

Douglas, Dandara (you can find more at of 3-4 bedrooms for just over £400,000.

Castletown, the ancient capital is close by.

and for teachers present all the problems similar to the UK. Children from here gravitate to the universities across the water and may be eligible for some

financial support. University College Isle of Man (UCM) has offerings for

14–16-year-olds through to Advanced

INTERNATIONAL

Education.

There are two ferries linking the island to Liverpool, Heysham, Dublin and

Belfast. A new vessel, the Manxman, is

being completed now in South Korea and will soon be improving travel facilities.

The airport caters for private jets as well as commercial airlines. There are flights

including to Heathrow, Gatwick, London City, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol,

Birmingham and Scotland. Direct charter flights offer travel into Europe at peak seasons. Cheap flights were plentiful before Covid-19. Now, with soaring

energy costs and staff shortages, prices

have risen whether by air or when taking a car by ferry to Liverpool.

I was told before my arrival that there

was no crime and although that is not

strictly accurate, most residents do not

feel threatened by real risks of burglary,

rapes or murder - such as cause increasing concern in the UK’s major conurbations and even smaller urban communities.

Even here, there will always be a criminal element but parents have far less cause to worry about their children’s welfare than

in the UK’s major cities. Sadly, the Isle of

Man is not drug-free. Pushers and dealers from the UK have seen to that but if caught, sentences can be severe.

Commuting is a doddle for anyone more used to long tailbacks around the big

cities or standstills on the M6 motorway.

For eating out, the number and quality of restaurants has also improved since

2009. Now with Greek, Chinese, Turkish, Japanese, Italian and French offerings, the choice is considerably wider.

There are two cinemas, a casino and two main entertainment centres where every

taste of live music or theatre is catered for.

Well-known sporting and entertainment celebrities are regulars appearing at the venues or charity events. Entering the

Villa Gaiety is like being back in London’s

Port Saint Mary, Isle Of Man (unsplash.com)

West End. The magnificent building was

Except for VAT, the Manx Government

Matcham, whose legacy lives on around

at 10 per cent and only rising to 20 per

designed by the celebrated architect Frank London’s theatreland.

The renowned TT motorbike races attract

over 35,000 visitors to watch these fearless competitors race through town and

country on our winding roads at mind-

boggling speeds. They cover the 37 miles in about 17 minutes – averaging over

135mph. It takes me over an hour longer.

There is an excellent sports centre and football, rugby, hockey and cricket all

thrive, along with the other indoor sports.

Cycling on our roads was also the starting point for Olympic Gold medallists the legendary Mark Cavendish and

Peter Kennaugh. There are several good golf courses including the challenging

Castletown Golf Links, now rated number 261 in the world. Walking paths abound.

fixes its own tax rates and policies. Starting cent, income tax is far less than the UK’s 45 per cent top rate. Even better, for the

world’s HNWs, the maximum tax payable

by a single person on global income is only £200,000 – a bargain that attracts many to live in grand homes, hidden away amidst

the hills and glens. The island operates in

lockstep with the UK on VAT, something that can be advantageous or sometimes a negative for international business.

For most companies, the rate of

corporation tax is 0 per cent, tax only

being taken via dividends on withdrawals.

There is no stamp duty land tax, no capital gains tax and no inheritance tax – benefits that attract many to take up residence.

The income in Manx Trusts can roll up tax-free.

While strolling round the bays, whether

Strand Street, the main shopping centre

whales and sharks and seabirds can

Bluewater or London’s Bond Street.

on beaches or clifftops, seals, dolphins,

in Douglas, is scarcely the Trafford Centre,

sometimes add to the pleasure.

However, most needs are catered for on-

It is typically never as cold nor as hot as

most of England. Sadly, there are too few

gloriously sunny days. When they do come, the blue sea and swaying palm trees mean

there are few better sights anywhere. If it is wet, cloudy and blustery, then perhaps its

time to sort out the annual Tax Return – a far less demanding task than in the UK.

island through stores such as Marks &

Spencer, Tesco, Next, Currys and B&Q.

Otherwise, many shoppers get their fix on away-days in Liverpool or Manchester,

sometimes combined with supporting the

great football teams in those cities. There’s plenty to love about life on this island.

Douglas Stewart is an author and lawyer. www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

109

CULTURE The lighter side of employability 119 | JOBS BOARD: What are the career options in chess?

Magnus Carlssen (Maria Emelianova / Chess.com)

110

Wiki

pe d ia. or g

126 ROLL OVER, BEETHOVEN Elvis and the music industry

136 HEART’S IN THE HIGHLANDS Bulletin from The Balmoral natio nal mu se

u

m s.o .u rg

k

144 NATIONAL TREASURE Gabriele Finaldi on his career in art

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 6 7

111

ART

THE APPLE OF HIS EYE: THE CASE OF PAUL CÉZANNE CÉZANNE IS THE PATRON SAINT OF THOSE WHO DON’T FIND THEIR CHOSEN PATH IN LIFE EASY, WRITES CHRISTOPHER JACKSON

I

f genius is to do with fluidity and effortlessness then Paul Cézanne wasn’t a genius at all.

This isn’t meant to be derogatory to Cézanne. Sometimes in great

achievement we can still see the graft that went into it – a sense that things were never straightforward, and that

nothing was ever arrived at in a flash.

That kind of achievement deserves a

respect distinct from the awe we feel at

genius when it has less hindrance attached

to it. We can see in Van Gogh and Picasso that mark-making came unusually easily

to them: mistakes were simply not in their nature and that there was an unusually

easy relationship between world, eye and hand which almost always added up to something worthwhile.

It wasn’t like that for Cézanne. A new

show at the Tate shows how long it took

for Cézanne to become Cézanne. If you’ve ever thought in your career that you have something to offer, but that it might be

a long time coming to fruition, then visit this exhibition and make the artist your patron saint.

The exhibition should be viewed in

tandem with reading Alex Danchev’s

marvellous Cézanne: A Life (2012), now experiencing a muted 10th anniversary.

Paul Cezanne - Portrait of the Artist with Pink Background 1875. Paris, Musée d'Orsay, donation de M. Philippe Meyer, 2000. Photo (C) RMN-Grand Palais

he suspects the substance of what he

has to do lies not in travel but in stasis.

To broaden the terms of reference of life would be to create an insoluble

complexity; but to stay still and really pay

This book gives vital biographical detail

attention might just lead you to a coup.

have time to cover.

But early on in Danchev’s biography

which the placards in the exhibition don’t

That was the Cézanne wager.

So who was Cézanne? Cézanne grew

you learn that Cézanne was defined by a

eventually die: he is one of those who

novelist Emile Zola. This relationship

up in Aix-en-Provence where he would

coincidence: he went to school with the

doesn’t need to travel much because

– which isn’t paramount in the Tate

112

ART

been a better writer than he was. Here is Danchev:

On Zola’s side there was a certain sense

of inferiority, perhaps early acknowledged and then long submerged. After leaving school he dreamed of writing a kind of

prequel to Jules Michet’s L’Amour (1858): “if I consider it worthy of publication, I’ll dedicate it to you,” he wrote to Cézanne, “who would perhaps do it better, if you were to write it, you whose heart is

younger and more affectionate than mine.”

This is a fascinating letter, especially

in light of the subsequent difficulties

which would later beset their friendship.

Danchev makes it clear that on Zola’s side, these feelings of insecurity were a sort of

time bomb which would detonate far later with the publication of Zola’s L’Oeuvre.

But it is also interesting in that it opens

up onto the possibility that Cézanne’s first gift wasn’t painterly at all – instead, in the

opinion of his friend, it lay elsewhere. Zola seems to suggest he was made of the sort of stuff that can turn itself to any task.

Was this true? There seems to be Paul Cezanne - Seated Man 1905-6. © Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza. Madrid

Modern’s exhibition – is nevertheless the chief biographical fact about him. Many people who are creative or successful are influenced to an extent they might not

wish to admit by chance. For the future

painter, given to a certain sluggishness, one gets the sense it was important to have the rocket fuel of a close friendship with Zola right at the beginning.

Cézanne had his influences among the dead too: Rubens, Leonardo, Puget,

Delacroix. But a great friendship can be an accelerator of development and it appears

to have been so in this case. It also reminds us that Cézanne’s talent wasn’t necessarily pictorial in the first instance. In fact,

Zola appears to have always harboured

a secret sense that Cézanne would have

something in Zola’s assessment. In

Danchev’s biography, we read a fascinating description of Cézanne’s attainments at

school. We glimpse a general talent which would find in the end a singular outlet,

and not a unique aptitude for the thing

for he would eventually become known.

Danchev writes:

He [Cézanne] was a prize-winning

pupil. At the ceremony at the end of the first year (when he was 14), he won first prize for arithmetic, and gained a first

honourable mention for Latin translation and a second honourable mention for

history and geography, and for calligraphy.

The years rolled by in like fashion. In the

fifth grade he won second prize for overall excellence (after Baille), first prize for

Latin translation, second prize for Greek translation, a first honorable mention for painting…

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

113

ART

could be argued that the greater the

artist’s eventual achievement, the more unlikely it seems at the beginning.

An image like The Murder, where

Caravaggio-esque lighting and the ghoulishness of El Greco’s figures

combines to make an image which teaches us in one fell swoop why

Cézanne would never make a drama painter. The murder in this picture

doesn’t matter to the painter as an apple or a mountain would later do. Ruction

and disaster didn’t appeal to Cézanne as subjects. This isn’t to call him heartless; Cezanne Still Life with Apples 1893–1894 J Paul Getty Museum

“I THINK ART CAME WITH DIFFICULTY TO CÉZANNE AND I HAVE THE IMPRESSION HE STRUGGLED A GREAT DEAL WITH PERFECTING HIS VISION.”

The 15 year old who has a first prize

in Latin can be a Latinist as much as a

painter later in life, and there’s always the sense in Cézanne’s life that there was

something arbitrary and quixotic about his decision to be a painter at all.

But this arbitrariness itself goes

into the mix and forms part of his

achievement. The sense is that only someone with a certain amount of

ground to make up would consider to focus with the kind of ardour which

Cézanne did on just a few subjects: his bowls of apples belie a determination to really look at the world which is

different somehow from Van Gogh’s

‘Sunflowers’, wrestled with by an artist of genius and then not subsequently returned to.

Paul Joyce, the brilliant photographer

and painter, agrees with this assessment, telling me: “I think art came with

difficulty to Cézanne and I have the impression he struggled a great deal

with perfecting his vision. My guess is that he destroyed more work than he actually exhibited or finished.”

This is certainly the impression one gets in the Tate exhibition. The first rooms see Cézanne groping for an identity as an artist, and while this is always

the case with anybody’s early work, it 114

probably quite the opposite. It might

be that he felt the calamity of murder too keenly to produce a valid picture

depicting it; certainly he couldn’t look at it in the same way as he would find he could look at a bather. But then, aside from a murderer, who can?

But if The Murder was a failure of

sorts, it was a promising one. Crucially,

it must have been sufficiently promising to Cézanne, since he kept going.

This fact alone is a reminder that

perseverance is rarely rational: without it, nothing would ever be achieved.

Persistence needs to be innate: if we weren’t wired to dream, few would rationally continue with their first

efforts, since in the ordinary scheme of things these tend to be extraordinarily unpromising.

Success, then, is often against the

grain. At the Tate Modern, a self-

portrait of Cézanne against a pink

background dating to 1875 seems to contain this knowledge. The colours

of the face are applied with a delicate

care which reminds you of the fragility of any human face, composed of little strokes which happen to be together, and which might just as easily rush apart. The eyes, tired as if with too

much looking, also seem vulnerable: ambivalent about the tasks ahead,

doubtful about the likelihood of self-

ART

fulfilment. It’s an arresting intimate

living crisis. Danchev cites some evidence

portrait might give us permission to

friend Zola, showered with plaudits

image, bringing a fragile ego near. This

that the painter came to feel that his

make inroads in our own lives, since we

in Paris, had come to live too grandly.

history didn’t always seem confident of

existence dedicated to work.

can see that one of the great names in his value.

John Updike once wrote a review of a

Jackson Pollock show which began very unpromisingly and then transformed itself in about Room Three, with the

advent of the famous drip paintings.

“Beauty, how strange to find it here!”

Updike exclaimed in that article. One

wants to exclaim the same in the Tate

exhibition as the exhibition ripens in its last rooms.

By this point, Cézanne has found his

subjects: bathers, Mont Saint-Victoire

and of course his famous apples. When I ask Paul Joyce what he has learned from these masterworks he replies:

“There are really too many lessons to learn from Cézanne to simply list, and as you return to him and his

work as your own career as a painter

progresses, you realise that what you may barely grasp from him is that

Cézanne never did that; his was a quiet Nevertheless, though Zola is less

admired today than Cézanne, this work ethic was an example which he had

had all along from Zola himself. The

novelist wrote to Cézanne when he was

21 that ‘in the artist, there are two men, the poet and the worker. One is born a poet, one becomes a worker.’

To some extent, Zola heeded his own

advice: his complete works comprise a formidable number of volumes, most

of them fat. He might be one of those

writers who makes shelves groan more than he makes readers dream. The

friendship between them reminds us

that work for its own sake can lead to an inferior achievement: sometimes it can really be volubility. It was once said in

relation to Proust that a bore is someone who tells you everything, and perhaps Zola was a bit like that.

“IT IS THE GENIUS AS EVERYMAN, WHICH MAKES US WONDER IF MIGHTN’T WE BE GREAT TOO.”

the closer you look, the more you see.

Colour, balance, fluidity of brush stroke, command of the subject, ability to build

“atmosphere” and movement into a still, flat canvas amongst many more things.”

That’s a good summary of what these last rooms offer. One might add that Cézanne, though he looked hard at the world, always looked with

a consciousness of the limitations imposed on looking. A humility

pervades his work, which is a possible

reason for his popularity today. It is the genius as everyman, which makes us wonder if mightn’t we be great too.

His popularity may be set to grow again. Cézanne lived without too

much pizzazz, and may therefore be

an attractive figure in our own cost of

Paul Cezanne - Bathers c.1894-1905. Presented by the National Gallery, purchased with a special grant and the aid of the Max Rayne Foundation, 1964

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

115

ART

Paul Cezanne - The François Zola Dam (Mountains in Provence) 1877-8. Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum of Wales

“THE GREAT LANDSCAPES FLAUNT THE STROKES BY WHICH THEY WERE COMPILED AND YET EACH INDIVIDUAL STROKE SEEMS SO APPARENTLY SIMPLE.”

In relation to Cézanne, one senses a

front of us. Maybe this is especially a

patient mindset about the task which

he really does have antecedents and a

greater focus – a more coherent and needs to be accomplished. This had

also, to an extent, been pre-empted by Zola who wrote to his friend in 1877

regarding his work: “Such strong and true canvases can make the bourgeois smile,

nonetheless they show the makings of a very great painter. Come the day when M. Paul Cézanne achieves complete

self-mastery, he will produce works of indisputable superiority.’ Though this

might have been to damn him with faint praise, something like this prediction did in fact come true.

What was that legacy? Cézanne realised his own way of looking. Too often we

tend to think of him as a staging-post in the history of art, but I don’t think this

is quite right. All artists worth their salt

do something unrepeatably unique. Too often, we compare them to those who

came before and after, meaning we don’t properly take the measure of what’s in 116

problem with Cézanne, not only because legacy, but because something about his pictures feels hard to rise to. There are

those whose opinion one respects, who

would say: “Oh God, not another Mont

Saint-Victoire”. We feel we cannot match his intensity and so we turn away.

What is his art ultimately about? The great landscapes flaunt the strokes by which they were compiled and yet

each individual stroke, which seems so

apparently simple, adds to the alchemy of the whole. This art then comprises more

than just a series of fragmented strategies: they’re shot through instead with honesty about our predicament as creatures

dwarfed by the scale and complexity of things. That means that his landscapes and his apples are really unusual kinds of self-portraits because they are as

much about the insecure position of

the painter – and his integrity to admit that insecurity – as they are about the

ART

mountain or fruit which he is ostensibly depicting.

Van Gogh’s condition as a genius likely suffering from bipolar disorder was always impinging on his work. Cézanne was saying something else: that we’re all standing on shifting ground. It’s the kind of thing which, once said, has to be admitted by everyone. This accounts for his influence, and this has carried into the present day. There is some anxiety attached to high achievers: we think we might not be able to outdo them, and feel our own efforts likely to be paltry when set next to theirs. One can easily guess what Cézanne himself would have made of such a defeatist attitude. He would have liked the mantra of Sir Kingsley Amis: KBO (Keep Buggering On).

Paul Joyce tells me: “Artists are always anxious whatever their reputation or state of maturity may be. Each generation is influenced by the previous one and the History of Art is simultaneously one of constant homage and theft. My answer would be “be anxious, be influenced, then set out on your own path, like Cezanne!”

Paul Cezanne - Still Life with Plaster Cupid. The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust). Photo © The Courtauld

It’s sound advice – and you don’t need to be a budding artist to heed it.

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

117

I’m a fan.

To find out why Alia Bhatt is a fan or to become a Fan of M.O. visit mandarinoriental.com ASIA-PACIFIC BANGKOK • BEIJING • GUANGZHOU • HONG KONG • JAKARTA • KUALA LUMPUR • MACAU • SANYA • SHANGHAI • SINGAPORE • TAIPEI • TOKYO THE AMERICAS BOSTON • CANOUAN • MIAMI • NEW YORK • SANTIAGO EUROPE BARCELONA • BODRUM • GENEVA • ISTANBUL • LAKE COMO • LONDON • LUCERNE • MADRID SHENZHEN 118 MILAN • MUNICH • PARIS • PRAGUE MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA ABU DHABI • DOHA • DUBAI • MARRAKECH • RIYADH

CHESS

AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE CHANGING CHESS INDUSTRY IN THIS SPECIAL REPORT, PATRICK CROWDER EXAMINES THE POSTPANDEMIC CHESS WORLD, FROM LOCAL CLUBS TO THE WORLD’S LARGEST CHESS WEBSITE.

unsplash.com

L

ike many, I started playing chess during the lockdowns to break the monotony of endless media

consumption and to give my brain

something to do other than worry and

slowly rot away. Here at Finito World, we believe that important lessons can

Lately of course, chess has gone out of

alone; Carlsen’s current net worth is

and even the front pages. First there was

money is still good lower down the chess

the chess pages into the entertainment the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit

(2020), starring Ana Taylor-Joy as a chess prodigy, which brought the sport – if

in fact it could be called a sport – onto

often come from unlikely sources.

people’s radar. Now in 2022, we have

something to learn from. Chess teaches

to the lawsuit between the current world

failure, to teach compassionately. It

Niemann, about which more later.

estimated at $50 million. But the prize

food chain. Chess.com awards $20,000 in prizes every weekend, $1M in the

global championship, and every Tuesday sees $5,000 in total prizes as part of

the Titled Tuesdays event. In-person

Chess isn’t only something to learn, it is

witnessed the cheating scandal, which led

us how to deal with and learn from

champion Magnus Carlsen and Hans

also trains concentration. These are all

So let’s say you become interested in

Nakamura makes a very good living not

grandmaster level, there is a lot of the

by streaming chess-related content on

possible reasons why it’s such a rapidly expanding industry brimming with

possibilities and career opportunities.

the game. Can chess be a career? At the money to be made from tournaments

events such as the Sinquefield Cup

also have prizes in the high six-digit

range. There are possibilities also in the media. The renowned player Hikaru

only by playing in tournaments but also Twitch. Chess is often seen as one of www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

119

CHESS

required to walk in cold to a chess club surely exercises the same parts of the

brain as a job interview, and the carefully considered strategy required to play

the game itself represents a meditative disconnection from the outside world

that is becoming ever harder to find in

our busy lives. Watson too has seen the benefits that chess can bring, both to himself and his family.

“There are lots of benefits to chess,”

he continues. ”Of course there is the

social aspect, but there are also claims

that chess is very good for educational

reasons. I’m not an education specialist,

Hikaru Nakamura (Maria Emelianova / Chess.com)

but I personally find it very helpful for

those routes in life which you find yourself

“We formed in 1885, and we've been

learning to focus and concentrate on

naturally from a young age. However,

time. We've survived two World Wars,

have a seven-year-old son who’s learning

cater to everyone from casual players

focus… hopefully on his schoolwork! A

to grandmasters. We’ve got members

than I’ll ever play in my life, but the thing

people are all from different backgrounds.

that you’ve lost, analyse it, look at your

in life, and others are high-flying city

them again. I think that’s a great lesson

It doesn’t matter what age you are, your

impress that upon my kids.”

in because the game came unusually

there are now more jobs out there than

you might think, and you don’t need to be a grandmaster to get in on the action.

BATTERSEA CHESS CLUB Other than a few games with friends I had never played over the board, so I was eager to see what attending an

actual chess club was all about. I am not a very good player (about 900 ELO for those familiar with the chess ranking

system). I feared that the environment

may be unwelcoming, but after a Tuesday evening at Battersea Chess Club, I

realised my anxieties had been misplaced.

Leon Watson is fully immersed in both the online and in person – or in chess

parlance over-the-board (OTB) – chess

worlds. He serves both as Secretary of the Battersea Chess Club and as Head of PR for world champion Magnus Carlsen’s online chess teaching venture Play Magnus Group.

“We are one of the biggest chess clubs in London, and one of the oldest

chess clubs in London,” he tells me.

120

a fixture in the community for all that

things, and that helps me in life. I also

and we continue going to this day. We

chess, and I feel like it is helping him

to very serious players, from beginners

grandmaster has lost more games of chess

ranging from age seven to 92, and these

about chess is that you can take a game

Some members are really struggling

mistakes and make sure you don’t make

bankers. That’s what’s great about chess;

for life, and as a dad I hope that I can

background or your gender, it’s a game

Helping people make the transition

where you can come in, sit down, have

a pint or an orange juice, and just have some fun or take it seriously. It’s up to you,” Watson says.

“THAT’S WHAT’S GREAT ABOUT CHESS; IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT AGE YOU ARE, YOUR BACKGROUND OR YOUR GENDER.” Both myself and my opponents that

evening took the “just have some fun” approach, and there was never a hint of pretension or ego. The confidence

from playing online to over-the-board is something that the kind folks at

Battersea Chess Club excel at. Though

new OTB players must learn how a chess clock works and remember not to touch a piece unless they plan to move it, the

game itself is of course unchanged. The experience, however, changes greatly.

You can play slow, contemplative chess online, but it is much easier to do so if

your opponent is in front of you and your environment is free from distraction.

Online games are excellent for practicing faster time controls, and online game analysis is an indispensable tool for

improvement, but the social and mental benefits of OTB chess are far more applicable to daily life.

CHESS

Daniel Rensch (Daniel Rensch's personal library)

THE ONLINE EFFECT Since the dawn of the internet, people

have wanted to play chess online. There

very quickly,” Rensch recalls. “Knowing what I know now about the levels of

chess, it's not necessarily fair to say I was

have been many interesting offerings

some sort of child prodigy, but I was

caissa.com, chess24, the fully free site

US at one point.” So what path did his

dating back to the 1970s. Now, Chess.

had some health problems and was kind

the world.

which turned out to be a really important,

which provide this service, including

definitely one of the best players in the

Lichess, and play-by-email options

career take? “At around the age of 19 I

com is the most popular chess website in

of forced to stop playing and travelling,

The website, which was launched in 2005, has been instrumental in the growth

of chess, and is now the largest chess

website with around 93 million users.

pivotal crossroads in my life. I jumped allin to running a chess teaching business in Arizona where I’m from, which was an after school scholastic enrichment

International Master Danny Rensch

programme. It was sort of the traditional

with experience both playing and

time.”

students think rather than focusing solely on accuracy and rote memorisation.

Rensch tells me what he has learned as

a teacher, and what he says can apply to many of us: “Honesty without tact can at times be cruel or disingenuous. But

at the same time, explanation without

understanding of whether someone can

digest the information is also not useful.

You have to have an appreciation for

what the next steps are for someone's learning process rather than just

saying the answer, because anyone can

understand the answer to an algebraic or

calculus equation in the back of the book,

helped found Chess.com. As someone

professional chess player’s gambit at the

teaching chess, he realised the potential

Teaching chess is an extremely common

someone to read before they understand

monetise their talents, and now online

vowels and put them together, right?”

Queen’s Gambit came millions of people

to succeed at chess? Rensch explains:

for a website which combined chess

training, casual play, and tournaments

which would attract the strongest players from around the world.

“I learned to play when I was 10 and I was quickly made aware that I had

a knack for the game, and I got good

but your ability to solve it is a muscle that you build along the way. You don't expect

way for professional chess players to

how to sound out letters and syllables and

teaching has become the norm. With the

So what skills do you ultimately need

new to the game who were eager to

“People always approach chess as a

improve. Rensch has found that the best teachers seek to understand how their

thing for people with brilliant IQs as if it’s an unsolvable problem – which www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

121

CHESS

it is, in many ways – but the core of

being a good chess player is pattern

recognition. You can't expect people

to see patterns that are complex before they see basic patterns. I think a good teacher appreciates the need to reach

someone at their level of understanding and cares more about them taking

the next step in their learning process than they do about whether they're ultimately right.”

This understanding of what it takes

to teach effectively can be translated to life outside of chess, of course.

Compassion and understanding are

hallmark traits of a good educator in any field, and Rensch realised in the

relatively early days of the internet that this teaching style could be delivered to a far wider audience online than

in person. Rensch’s vision led him to

look into online options, and through a chance encounter, to Chess.com.

He recalls: “I was running this chess teaching business and putting most of my energy into that rather than

travelling due to my health problems, but then the internet happened. The world was changing rapidly before

Hikaru Nakamura (Eric Rosen / Chess.com)

I came on board, within about a year

after launching, I was always pushing

things in this direction, and that’s why when Erik, Jay and I talk about it I’m considered an honorary co-founder.”

our eyes, and I think I quickly saw the

Now, Chess.com is a platform

for chess in a non-traditional sense. I

communicate, and entertain. Before

internet in terms of what it could be

was immediately looking to build an

online chess business, so having learned about SEO and keyword optimisation

I went to get the domain name ‘Chess.

com’. And there, like ships in the night, I found that my eventual business

partners and co-founders Erik and Jay

had just acquired the domain name out of bankruptcy in the Bay Area.”

And at what stage were Erik and Jay

at with Chess.com when Rensch came along? “Their vision for chess.com

was to be the MySpace of chess, and my vision was for it to be a place for

professionals to coach and to teach, as

well as a place for tournaments. When 122

which allows people to play, teach,

platforms like it existed, the only way

to enter the chess world was to attend a chess club or read chess publications to improve your game.

Chess, of course, used to have its strong geopolitical overtones. Without a large emphasis on chess in the US, Bobby

Fischer’s rise to fame and his eventual

crowning as World Champion seemed a perfect illustration of American

exceptionalism during the Cold War.

It also came at a time when chess was highly politicised. The 1972 World

Chess Championship wasn’t merely a

game between two men, Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky, it was a battle

“THE CORE OF BEING A GOOD CHESS PLAYER IS ABOUT PATTERN RECOGNITION.”

CHESS

Maria Emelianova / Chess.com

between the US and the Soviet Union.

was a state-sponsored sport throughout

robust anti-cheat methods and explains

mind of a prodigy, a rare chess genius

until Bobby Fischer you saw only

bring outweighs the risk of misconduct.

Fischer’s success was attributed to the who was born in America.

all of these countries, which is why

Soviet world champions. After Bobby

But, of course, intelligence and prodigy

Fischer, we had Kasparov and Karpov,

the accessibility of the chess world is

then we’ve had Viswanathan Anand

would otherwise be unknown to reach

from Norway, and I would say that we

are spread across all nations. Now,

and they were great players, but since

beginning to allow these prodigies who

from India, we've had Magnus Carlsen

their full potential.

are on the verge of potentially having

Rensch explains: “Traditionally, before

online chess existed, if you didn't have a

very rich chess culture in your backyard, you had no chance of developing into a top player. Even Bobby Fischer was in

New York - Greenwich Village and the

Marshall Chess Club were a block away

a Chinese World Champion in Ding Liren. But regardless of the label of world champion, what we have are

prodigies rising from all over the world

because of their access to the best chess players. What’s happening online is actually changing the game”.

from where he lived - and so he grew

Chess coaching was, and still is, a major

at the time. There's a reason that all of

up around the best of chess in the US history has seen dominance by Soviet

chess players. And I say Soviet because

it's not just Russia, it's all former Soviet states. At the peak of the regime, chess

how the good that these tournaments

“Just to talk directly about the elephant in the room in terms of anti-cheating and the scandals that currently face the chess world, people don't know

that we've been dealing with scandals effectively and appropriately,” Rensch says. “It has allowed us to continue to invest and increase the money

that's in the game, and therefore the opportunities for professionals and

therefore the livelihood of coaches, and who knows what trickle effect

that's having downstream on the next generation.”

way for players to earn enough money

to compete, but now online tournaments

THE RISE OF CHESS ENTERTAINMENT

also offer that chance. As we will explore later, this has led to some significant

The sudden increase of interest in chess

challenges in terms of ensuring fairness.

following The Queen’s Gambit formed an unlikely link between the worlds of chess

Rensch is confident in Chess.com’s

and e-sports, and the pandemic ensured www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

123

CHESS

Maria Emelianova / Chess.com

“I THINK CHESS PLAYERS ARE APPROACHING THE GAME IN A MUCH MORE SOCIAL WAY, NOT JUST ONLINE.”

a captive audience. Now, chess streaming

so good for chess, because it's brought

is only growing. Grandmaster Hikaru

has merged communities that existed

is a multi-million-pound industry which

Nakamura, who is one of the best players

in the world, streams on Twitch, interacting with fans and providing funny, insightful commentary. International Master Levy Rozman, who goes by GothamChess

online, has provided countless free lessons

on YouTube and frequently streams games, and reviews the games of his followers. The Botez sisters, IM Eric Rosen, and many

more have become stars of the chess world, both for their skill on the chessboard and

through their engaging personalities. Not only is online streaming a way for people to interact with top chess players like

never before, it is also yet another way to

make money in a field where it was once

so difficult. Danny Rensch believes chess streaming’s influence goes beyond mere entertainment.

“I think chess players are approaching the game in a much more social way, not just online but because the community has

grown,” he explains. “I would say that's

another reason why technology has been 124

these communities together. Chess

locally in pockets all around the world.

You had the Detroit chess community and the Moscow chess community.

Well, guess what? Now you can actually see them online together at the same time, sometimes on camera with a

grandmaster from Michigan playing against a grandmaster from Russia.

And there's something really cool and

unique and challenging about that, and

it’s pushing people's stereotypes of chess players.”

At first glance, there is something slightly surreal about seeing the

Twitch stream format applied to chess.

Watching streamers yell into their

microphones, fully hyped up about what many consider to be a quiet, dignified

game has an element of the absurd to it, but on closer examination, it’s really not that strange. Twitch streaming is one of the main forms of next generation content taking hold today, and many young people are interested in chess,

CHESS

so the marriage of the two is simply a natural progression.

What is unique about streaming chess is that you don’t have to be a master at the

speculation online and prompted

Carlsen to author a cryptic tweet which implied he was in “big trouble” if he spoke out.

game. It certainly helps, but there are

The plot would soon thicken. Niemann

low rating – it's their personality and

while playing online, once when he

plenty of streamers who have a relatively ability to entertain which keeps people watching, not their skill. For the first

time ever, there is a way to make money and gain popularity from chess without teaching lessons or playing major

tournaments, and it is a new industry begging for further exploration.

THE PRODIGY’S GAMBIT If you’ve seen chess in the headlines

recently, that’s probably the doing of

Grandmaster Hans Niemann. In what

has become the biggest story to hit the chess world in many years, the major cheating scandal involving a $100m

lawsuit against top players and Chess.

com has taken many turns and is at the time of writing unresolved.

Hans Niemann is a 19-year-old chess

player who has shown remarkable skill and progression. He achieved the title of Grandmaster at only 17, and he

has since gone on to perform well in top-level competitions against other extremely highly rated players. The

scandal began when Niemann beat current World Champion Magnus

Carlsen in the prestigious Sinquefield Cup tournament, breaking Carlsen’s

53-game winning streak. Even more remarkably, Niemann beat Carlsen

while playing with the black pieces,

putting him at a disadvantage as the player with the white pieces makes the first move. During Niemann

and Carlsen’s matchup the next day, Carlsen made one move against

Niemann then resigned and withdrew from the tournament. This led to wild

admitted to cheating in his chess career was 12 and multiple times when he

was 16 to grow his online streaming

career, but he insists that he has never

cheated in an OTB game, and that he does not cheat now. This was already known at the time of the NiemannMagnus scandal, but it prompted a

further review by Chess.com, analysing Niemann’s games on the website

for signs of irregularity. Niemann’s

Chess.com account was closed, and he was banned from competing in the upcoming Chess.com Global

Championship before the release of a damning report which asserted that

he had cheated over 100 times on the website. The alleged online cheating occurred in games against other top

players, while Niemann was streaming his games, and in events with large

prizes attached to them. The report was

careful to point out that Chess.com had no concrete evidence of any cheating OTB at the Sinquefield Cup, and

stressed that Carlsen’s team had not

pressured them to take action against Niemann. On October 20th, 2022,

Niemann filed a $100m defamation

lawsuit against Chess.com and Magnus Carlsen. Describing “devastating

damages that Defendants have inflicted upon his reputation, career, and life by egregiously defaming him and

unlawfully colluding to blacklist him from the profession to which he has dedicated his life,” Niemann seeks damages and vindication for what he sees as a massive attack on his

livelihood. It is unclear what will be

proven should the case go to court, but top players have predicted that finding

evidence of cheating will be extremely difficult. However it’s another sign that as the chess industry grows, it will encompass more and more jobs: chess PRs, and chess litigators were unthinkable in the Fischer era, but now here we are.

Many media outlets have reported that cheating represents an existential threat to chess, but chess experts insist that cheating is not as prevalent as reported.

Large-scale cheating would threaten the sport, however online cheating is already fairly easy to detect, so it is far more likely that we will see higher security measures and new methods of cheat detection at OTB tournaments.

These could include a time-delay between live play and broadcast, which would make it difficult to run chess positions through an engine in real time, and it is also possible that players could compete in a Faraday cage which eliminates cellular and radio frequencies.

Despite the drama, it is clear that chess is here to stay. The game which has fascinated mankind for over 1500 years continues to do so today, and there is clearly a reason why people keep playing. The mental and social benefits of chess cannot be ignored, and as an industry it clearly has room for growth. The new horizons of online streaming, teaching, and playing allows the game to be accessible to anyone with an internet connection, and chess entertainment has proved to be an excellent way to monetise a love of chess and the talent of charismatic presentation.

The world of chess is very much worth diving into, and the breadth of opportunities available is surprising, so if you think chess could be for you or you think you might want to return to the game after many years away, there’s only one thing to say: your move. www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

125

FILM

ELVIS FILM REVIEW:

W

e sometimes talk as a society as though being successful were the be-

all and end-all – as if it were all that

mattered in and of itself. Around the middle of the 20th century, the cry

went up that fame was the thing. In the world of music, everybody sought that Holy Grail: the hit, the platinum disc.

The history of rock and roll makes it

clear in the boldest font imaginable that fame is often far from desirable. Success as a musician, for instance, though it

has always bestowed wealth, can lead to an early death. From Keith Moon and Jimi Hendrix all the way to Michael Hutchence and Amy Winehouse,

death seemed to be the quid pro quo of success.

But by the 2020s, the whole enterprise seems a little less dangerous. We

now have a spate of octogenarians,

including Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Paul McCartney, and Brian Wilson, all of whom somehow managed to survive

the ordeal of fame. If you can somehow manage not to die, then a hedonistic lifestyle can shade by gradations of

mellowing into a pampered one, until a kind of creased longevity is achieved.

But today’s pop stars also feel cleaner living: it is slightly harder to imagine

Harry Styles or Taylor Swift checking 126

Wikipedia.org

FILM

of affairs is to some extent exacerbated by the way in which the typical

Elvis mix on Spotify or iTunes is a

bewildering mix of his early stuff, which really was revolutionary, with the later Vegas work, which seems schmaltzy

today, and probably felt bombastic even then.

What lessons does the film have for a

music career? In the first place, we see in the early scenes that great achievement is very often to do with being open to Baz Luhrmann, Eva Rinaldi, Olivia Dejonge, Austin Butler,Tom Hanks (Wikipedia.org)

“ELVIS – WHO OF COURSE DID DIE YOUNG OR YOUNGISH – WAS A KIND OF GUINEA PIG. HE HAD TO SHOULDER A NEW KIND OF FAME.”

out early, and not unimaginable that we

shall one day be asked to celebrate their hundredth birthdays.

It’s these developments which makes

Baz Luhrmann’s biopic Elvis feel like

a genuine period piece. Elvis – who of

course did die young or youngish – was

a kind of guinea pig. He had to shoulder a new kind of fame, and unlike the

Beatles, who at least had each other, he

had to do so more or less alone. In fact, his death lacks the Chatterton-esque

Romanticism of some of his peers, since he declined physically to such an extent before his eventual demise. He didn’t flame out, but instead grew fat.

But the Elvis legend persists because

of the enormity of his impact, and Baz Luhrmann’s excellent film is especially

good at evoking the cauldron of forces by which he emerged, and then the sheer oddity of his eventual fate.

Listening to Elvis today can be a

influence and to new information. Elvis’ real legacy was to listen to the great

black music of the 1950s, and to open himself up to it – to make it his.

There is a tremendous scene where the

boy Elvis is peeping through a window of a hut. He sees a black rock and roll band, and experiences the thrill and

pulse of that music as a thing which

he must have in his life – and the only

way to do that will be to emulate it. It is often said that when Elvis first came on

the radio, people assumed he was a black singer.

In all our careers, there is knowledge which may have a forbidden quality; Elvis is a reminder of the potential

benefits of running roughshod over that kind of prohibition, and of claiming

influence wherever it can be found. Our teachers turn out to be all around us; and anyone who can teach us should be welcome regardless of any other considerations. There was a hunger

about Elvis, a need to forge forwards.

perplexing, even tame experience.

In the film, this idea that Elvis sounded

the world of Elvis, we don’t always

through Tom Hanks’ Colonel Tom

Though we still to some extent inhabit realise it: for one thing recording

technology has come a long way since that time, robbing his sound of its

original shock and immediacy. This state

black on the radio is conveyed to us Parker. The question of Tom Hanks

in this movie is worth a small essay in itself, since he turns out to be its only drawback. Some critics have pointed www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

127

FILM

to his disastrous accent as the principal

The greatest question for anyone with

indeed a strange mishmash, which never

from it. It’s quite rare that an ability

issue with Hanks’ performance and it is once feels believable or comfortable for anyone involved.

Austin Butler (Wikipedia.org)

“IN RETROSPECT, IT COULD NEVER HAVE BEEN A TIME FOR STRICTURE OR TRADITIONAL VIRTUE. IT WAS TIME TO LIVE AGAIN.”

with the arts comes hand in hand with a talent for administration; the two

But the problem with the performance

aptitudes occupy different parts of the

with an innate relationship with

the other is likely to be deficient.

suspect because he is himself a good man.

performative gift opened him up to

who can never keep optimism out of

of Parker, a master exploiter.

runs deeper than that. Hanks is someone

brain, and where the one is accentuated

goodness; he is excellent at depicting it, I

So it was with Elvis; an outsized

In this, he is similar to Paul McCartney,

exploitation, and he met, in the shape

his songs, just as Hanks can’t keep it

The film consistently shows Elvis

from his performances: Hanks’ inherent tendency is towards consolation. If you look at his performance in A Beautiful

Day in the Neighbourhood (2019) you

can see him exploring a terrain – in that

case, saintliness – which he feels a natural kinship with.

seeking his authentic self while

working closely alongside the man committed to falsifying that self –

and to commercialising the image he has created. A TV show, which looks like it will be an embarrassment of

Christmas cliché perpetrated by the

Here, in Elvis, he is fatally severed

Colonel, is pushed back at by Elvis.

evil, meaning that he is at an odd

sound in Las Vegas, while Parker does

from the subject matter of human

distance from the essential topic of the

performance. It is like a singer choosing to sing out of range, or a writer with no

ability for dialogue switching from novel to drama.

The resulting performance doesn’t quite

derail the movie, though it comes close.

Elvis himself seems to have been born

with something opposite to what Hanks

displays here: an innate capacity to know what could and couldn’t be done with a

song on stage. Luhrmann’s movie shows that this ability was something that he

first had to learn to wield: nervousness

is something everybody must overcome at some point, and it is interesting to

see Austin Butler convey Elvis’ tentative

Later, we see him inaugurating his big a deal in the audience.

The trouble with the movie is that Hanks continually fails to radiate

anything like the villainy which Parker is meant to be exhibiting so that at the moral level the story keeps giving off mixed signals.

Even so, Butler’s performance is faultless and this does more than rescue the

movie: it makes it memorable. Elvis

appears as a great artist – a man with an unfailing sense of what audiences want, but able to visualise some farther point which will not just accommodate their desires, but take them further, into the unknown where new experience is.

first steps so believably. It is inspiring to

In one sense, Elvis is still with us. We

none of us is without anxiety, especially

one name – Beyoncé, Drake, Kanye,

consider Elvis’ early trepidation, since

still have our popstars identifiable by

when we begin to work at something we

Jay-Z, and so on. They are his inheritors,

really care about.

128

a creative bent is how to make money

at least to the extent that they live

FILM

the gilded cocooned lives which are so

art, and how if that performance can be

In another sense, the world has moved

What Luhrmann ultimately does is

damaging to sanity, and eventually to art. past Elvis, or begun to wise up to the danger of self-indulgence. Some of

the 1960s susceptibility to alcohol and

drugs was probably an inheritance of the

Second World War: when the joys of life

had been rationed for so long, who could resist the bright party when it was on

again? In retrospect, it could never have been a time for stricture or traditional virtue. It was time to live again.

This is a film which does more than listening to Elvis’ records can to

describe his greatness. It shows how the compulsion of the performer can rise to

captured in sound, a memory lingers on. regenerate Elvis. Elvis’ contribution was

to drag the past with him into the future, and though he died along the way, he is as much an aspect of our lives today as

the atomic bomb, or Winston Churchill, or Martin Luther King, or any of the

other seismic facts of the 21st century.

The film ends with archive footage of

a magnificent performance by Presley

himself of the song ‘Unchained Melody’.

Desperately overweight, and sweating under lights, he nevertheless finds the notes as only the great entertainers

do – the more so when the chips are

down, and the world is difficult. They

find the right notes because they have to, because it’s what they do – and because of decades of practice at doing so. This is a film which makes you realise that

though the music industry isn’t perfect today, it is better in many respects to what we had before.

Elvis Presley (Wikipedia.org)

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

129

BOOK REVIEWS

BOOK REVIEWS

UPLIFTING BOOKS FOR CHALLENGING TIMES

IN THE SHADOWS: THE EXTRAORDINARY MEN AND WOMEN OF THE INTELLIGENCE CORPS

up for in impact and influence.

MICHAEL ASHCROFT,

‘textbook answer’ is it analyses large

BITEBACK PUBLISHING, £25

L

ord Ashcroft’s latest book rightly focuses on “the extraordinary men and women

Unlike other parts of the military

which are known for their aggression (Parachute Regiment), equipment

(Royal Tank Regiment / Army Air

Corps) or drill on parade (Guards) - the Intelligence Corps does not

fit into any particular category. The

amounts of data, to produce accurate and timely intelligence that has an

impact on the theatre of operations.

Lord Ashcroft’s book goes further

of the Intelligence Corps' whose

and gives us a fascinating insight into

commanders where the enemy is,

the establishment of the Intelligence

skills and knowledge help inform

the history of intelligence leading to

what they are doing, and what they

Corps and, most importantly, brings

are capable of. Now, at this point, I’d like to declare an interest - I served

in the Intelligence Corps throughout the 2000s (deploying on operations to Afghanistan twice). As with any member of the Corps, I’m fiercely

proud of my Corps and its history.

The Intelligence Corps is one of the youngest units in the British Army;

it was formally constituted with the

consent of King George V on 15 July

1940, with the formation being notified on 19 July 1940 in Army Order 112.

The Intelligence Corps played a vital

the exploits of individual Intelligence Corps soldiers to life.

“THE CORPS ITSELF BRINGS TOGETHER A WIDE RANGE OF PEOPLE; SOME UNCONVENTIONAL BUT ALL HIGHLY SKILLED INTELLIGENCE OPERATIVES WHO WERE ABLE TO USE THEIR ENERGIES IN VARIOUS TRADES AND

Executive (SOE), the founding of

BE BROUGHT TO BEAR

working for the Special Operations

SPECIALISMS THAT CAN

the Special Air Service (SAS), and

ON THE ENEMY.”

code. Today, the Corps is one of the

foreign intelligence services - and the ability to be flexible and resilient to

unpredictable situations was a key trait

role in World War II with its members

contributing to deciphering the enigma

Headquarters (GCHQ), as well as

amongst Corps soldiers and officers.

Some of the stories shared by Lord Ashcroft are not ones I had heard before… not because of my own ignorance of Corps history but

because we take its role seriously ‘to protect the Military and its secrets’

- after all, loose lips sink ships! The

only times I've heard of some of these stories of ‘daring do’ are over hushed

tones in the quietness of night over a pint in the mess.

That is not to say that we are not

deeply proud of our heroic soldiers who have helped tackle matters of

security, terrorism and war, in every

smallest Corps in the British Army

During my time in the Corps, I worked

conflict since the Second World War

officers and soldiers. However, what the

Secret Intelligence Service (MI6)

to service and secrecy. Sadly (or not),

with approximately 1850 serving

Corps lacks in size, it more than makes 130

alongside the Security Service (MI5),

but we take seriously our dedication

and Government Communications

it will always be the case that many of

BOOK REVIEWS

The Corps is very good at shaping itself to the current threat. The Cold

brightest. It is not only for those with

Ireland placed huge demands on the

linguistic and intelligence skills but

Intelligence Corps; and as I joined

also for rogues, rascals and raconteurs

it was starting to pivot towards

- those with the ability to think

Afghanistan. Although NI was a

outside the box. During my intake, we

thousand miles away, the lessons we

had such a broad range of people who

to draw on the experience of senior soldiers who were used to asymmetric warfare.

the most valiant and brave members of the Intelligence Corps will never have their stories told due to the clandestine nature of their work. That said, this book is packed full of heroic deeds which fill me with pride, and wanting more.

For instance, there’s the story of Paddy Leigh Fermor who was a natural recruit to our ranks. This was one of particular excitement that was also made into a movie starring Dirk Boregare. Paddy was a rebellious, free-spirited sort and found himself gathering intelligence in Nazi-occupied Crete, disguised

My one critique is not the author's fault, but more a consequence

fighters. As if that wasn't dangerous enough, Paddy engineered an ambitious plan: to kidnap a German general and dispatch him to British Army headquarters in Cairo. For his 'courage and audacity’ in planning and executing the high-stakes mission,

and whatever you think an Operator of Military Intelligence is – well, it isn’t, because there is no type.

“BUT IN MY VIEW THERE ARE SIMILAR

organisation - because it is inevitable

EMPLOYABILITY TRAITS

that some extraordinary men and

SUCH AS ATTENTION

women are missing from this account.

Lord Ashcroft could have included them but not without being locked up in the Tower of London for sharing state secrets. For example, The ‘Special Reconnaissance Unit’, also known as the "The Det" was a part of the Corps.

It involved plainclothes operations

TO DETAIL, A PASSION FOR PROBLEM SOLVING, EXCELLENT COMMUNICATION SKILLS AND ADAPTABILITY TO CONSTANTLY EVOLVING SITUATIONS.”

in Northern Ireland from the 1970s onwards where numerous members of the Corps lost their lives. I know several stories about individuals, who, in my opinion, would deserve to be included in this book.

“OVERALL, THIS BOOK WILL GIVE YOU AN EXPLANATION OF HOW THE INTELLIGENCE CORPS RECRUITS THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST.”

But in my view there are similar

employability traits such as attention to detail, a passion for problem

solving, excellent communication

skills and adaptability to constantly

evolving situations. In a world where

transferable skills provide you with the best opportunities for success, I am

thankful to the Intelligence Corps jobs have shaped my skill set.

Short of joining yourself, if you want to get an idea of what the

extraordinary men and women of the Intelligence Corps really do, this is

an enjoyable read that will leave you wanting more.

he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.

brought different skills to the Corps -

of writing about such a secretive

as a shepherd, as well as training and organising the local resistance

Corps recruits the best and the

War and The Troubles in Northern

learnt during The Troubles enabled us

Michael Ashcroft (Wikipedia.org)

explanation of how the Intelligence

Overall, this book will give you an

Stephen James www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

131

BOOK REVIEWS

in 2016. But his output in books shows

spooked, it’s a constant concern. The

in microcosm his essential strangeness.

landlord’s at your door and he’s ringing

First comes an incomprehensible novel Tarantula, released during the height of

there’s nobody home."

2003, a magnificent memoir Chronicles

Dylan recently sold his back catalogue

a second. Now we have something altogether different to what we were expecting – except if we had recalibrated our expectations to anticipate the improbable.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF MODERN SONG

BY BOB DYLAN

Strangeness will not always amount to

SIMON AND SCHUSTER, £35

Schopenhauer’s remark that talent hits

C

Wonderland but might easily have

been describing the career of Bob Dylan. In Dylan’s world nothing

is ever what we might expect, and

it’s this quality of oddity which has

created the obsessiveness of so-called Dylanologists. And now, just as his

recording career has settled down into

the possible endpoint of 2020’s Rough and Rowdy Ways, and his art career

seems also established in a comfortable retrospective – called Retrospectrum – at the Frost Art Museum, we get

something altogether different again.

genius, but it is impossible when reading this latest offering The Philosophy of Modern Song not to remember a target no other can hit, and genius a target none can see.

“THERE’S NEVER BEEN A BOOK LIKE THIS. THE BOOK CONSISTS OF 65 ESSAYS ON SONGS WHICH HAVE INFLUENCED DYLAN.” There’s never been a book like this. The book consists of 65 essays on songs which have influenced Dylan, mainly by men – as numerous reviewers have

Indefatigability is an underrated

pointed out – and predominantly

stubborn and remorseless, able to find

Most of them have essays in the second

character of high achievers: Dylan is an audience while remaining tied to deliberate mystery.

His literary career is brief, and occasional – a fact which alone makes

emanating out of the 1950s of his youth. person. Many feel oddly pertinent.

This riff, for instance, on Elvis Presley’s ‘Money Honey’ feels relevant to the inflationary status quo:

it peculiar to consider that he was

"This money thing is driving you up

awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature

the wall, it’s got you dragged out and

132

and you’re hoping he’ll go away, like

1960s mayhem. Dylan then releases in Vol., only to eschew publication of

urioser and curioser,’ said Alice.” The lines come from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in

the bell. Lots of space between the rings,

to Universal for around $300 million, but there is somehow an authentic note to this – a wisdom which has come his way through songs. It was Eddie Izzard who joked that fame tended to injure comedy as you can’t begin a joke with ‘My butler went to the supermarket.’

Dylan doesn’t always get it right; after this book was published, it emerged that copies of this book masquerading as possessing his unique signature had in fact been signed electronically. It was unacceptable, but in this book, the writer gives the impression of being able to get to the core of things, even when looking at the world through the tinted glass of a limousine.

Sometimes, as in the extended riff on ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ – Dylan writes about the Carl Perkins and not the Presley version – the predominant note is comic: "You get on with most people, and you put up with a lot, and you hardly get caught off guard, but your shoes are something else. Minor things may annoy you but you rise above them. Having your teeth kicked in, being pounded senseless, being dumped on and discredited, but you don’t put any weight on that, none of it’s as real to you as your shoes. They’re priceless and beyond monetary worth."

The chapter only grows more absurd until Dylan writes of these shoes: “They neither move nor speak, yet they vibrate with life, and contain the infinite power

BOOK REVIEWS

Courtesy of Bob Dylan

Courtesy of Bob Dylan

Courtesy of Bob Dylan

of the sun.” It’s writing which is a joy in

browsing in a record store; ‘London

itself but also transforms your listening.

Calling’ by the Clash is illustrated by a

Spotify already has several playlists

picture of bobbies breaking up a riot;

featuring the songs in this book: it

‘Cheaper to Keep Her’ by Johnnie Taylor,

is a transformative listen as well as a

includes an ad for a divorce law firm.

transformative read.

That chapter also contains an intriguing

Another aspect to this book is the

invective against the divorce law

curation of its splendid photographs

profession which, having been through

which makes the book a luxury object

several marriages, is a topic close to

and also ups the price to £35 at the

Dylan’s heart. It’s not the only passage

same time. The collection is prefaced by

which feels autobiographical. Dylan’s

a fascinating portrait of a young Elvis

love of London is brought out when

discussing The Clash: "London calling – send food, clothing, airplanes, whatever you could do. But then, calling is immediate, especially to Americans. It wouldn’t be the same as Rome calling or Paris calling or Copenhagen calling or Buenos Aires, or Sydney, or even Moscow. You can pass off all these calls with somebody saying, “Take a message, we’ll call you back.”

But not with London calling."

Likewise a dissertation on the little www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

133

BOOK REVIEWS

known singer Johnny Paycheck delivers this thought from the man who began life as Robert Zimmerman: “And then there are those who change their own names, either on the run from some unseen demon of heading toward something else.”

It all amounts to a new kind of colloquialised, aestheticised and poeticised music criticism. It’s a homage to all that Dylan has known and loved, and perhaps in that sense has a valedictory feel: but then once you’re 81 everything feels like a goodbye. Yet you’re also reminded that the book is at the same time a hello, and a gift. It reminds you of Dylan’s explanation of his songwriting: “Every song I’ve ever written is saying: ‘Good luck, I hope you make it’.”

DYLAN’S LONG CAREER APPEARS TO HAVE TAUGHT HIM TO WAIT ON THE VITAL INSPIRATION. Despite a bit of padding here and there, taken in the round the book has the feeling of necessity: Dylan’s long career appears to have taught him to wait on the vital inspiration. His latest records, now spread further and further apart to the extent that one wonders whether to expect another, have the same quality this book has of things which had to be done, since they could only be done by Dylan – and only done by him at the moment when they were carried out. All great artists are opportunists in that then they end up claiming all the prizes going.

Greed is an aspect of Dylan’s life – or 134

perhaps hunger. Because alongside this selectiveness of projects is also the other side to him: profusion, growth, energy, and restlessness. These qualities are all encapsulated by the Neverending Tour which has just swung through the UK during the publication of this book.

There are limits to this book: you can

THE ICICLE AND THE MATCH

sense that by the last 10 songs or so, the exercise has been largely spent and that some of the tropes have become repetitive. But this sense is more than offset by the enormous impact which the first half has: it feels regenerative, and makes you want to listen again not just to these songs, but to all music.

A great career has its basis ultimately in enthusiasm. What we glimpse here is the power of that early passion for music which the young Dylan had: it was this which propelled him forwards, changing popular culture along the way, and eventually entering the annals of the true greats. The value of this book is that it needn’t necessarily apply to budding musicians: its lessons are transferable across sectors.

We also sense that it is just a tiny corner of a voluminous mind. Artists who Dylan knew well – most notably Leonard Cohen and The Beatles – don’t feature at all. So this books suggests other books which will likely remain unwritten – at least unwritten by Dylan.

I cannot do what you can do said the icicle to the match; I cannot grow bigger with heat; watch - in cold is my renewal; yes said the little stick, but fuel like mine depends on others to be truly great - I am an agent more than actor, critic not painter; you gain your point by slow degrees of thaw and freeze to come to a deadly conclusion, a dagger point of glinting sun; in which I end, as if in your thrall: yes he flared, but we coalesce first at a dancing ball then lie together on silver film, in a pool.

This is a book which doesn’t mind who you are or where you are. It only wants to grip you and never let you go until you succeed. In another sense it doesn’t mind what you do, provided you listen to the music.

Christopher Jackson

Todd Swift

BOOK REVIEWS

HOW TEACHING HAPPENS: SEMINAL WORKS IN TEACHING AND TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS AND WHAT THEY MEAN IN PRACTICE PAUL KIRSCHNER, CARL HENDRICK, AND JIM HEAL

THE PATH OF PEACE: REPUTATION IN WALKING THE BUSINESS: LESSONS WESTERN FRONT FOR LEADERS STUART THOMSON WAY ANTHONY SELDON

T

his is the story of Seldon’s 35-day pilgrimage along what is now known as the Western Front Way,

a 1,000 kilometre journey from the FrenchSwiss border to the English Channel.

Seldon became inspired to make the trek after discovering letters from Alexander

Douglas Gillespie, who was killed during

the First World War. In his letters, Gillespie expressed his desire to create a “Via Sacra”, a route which First World War veterans could walk to remember their fallen

comrades. Seldon mapped that route,

which took him through such locations as Argonne, Arras, the Somme, and Ypres.

He then set off on the harrowing journey,

I

n the age of social media, reputation is everything. Thomson has extensive experience in public affairs, having

served as the Head of Public Affairs at

BDB Pitmans from 2005 to 2022. He is

also a prolific author whose previous works include New Activism and the Corporate Response, Public Affairs in Practice, The Dictionary of Labour Quotations, and

Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon

Brown, David Cameron, and Theresa May, which he has now written.

Patrick Crowder

research to light in the field of teaching.

Drawing from education psychology research and studies about effective teaching, How Teaching Happens presents 30 pieces of research in a clear, effective way, describing how the research fits in the context of the classroom. The book, which has been called required reading for educators, covers teaching techniques, curriculum development,

management for the company as a whole,

seen techniques like “teaching to the

growth. It also challenges commonly

down to the employees, and employs

test” and encourages educators to avoid

lessons from experts who know the

importance of reputation and its impact on corporate value.

NGOs broadening the scope of the

so books, including biographies of Margaret

joined the team to bring significant

this new book, he combines reputation

long been a friend of Finito, sitting on our achievements and can be added to the 45 or

Kirschner and Hendrick, Heal

teacher effectiveness, development, and

The book also uniquely examines the

advisory board. This is one of his finest

How Learning Happens by

Public Affairs: A Global Perspective. In

tracing history and wrestling with grief, loss, and a sense of purpose. Seldon has

F

ollowing their bestselling book

public sector, government, charities, and work beyond the private business world.

Through case studies, hypotheticals, and cautionary tales, Thomson effectively

examines what must be done to address

asking questions of their students which do not require understanding to answer. Beyond the research, the book also asserts that teaching is something which must be learned, and outlines the ways teacher education can be improved.

All three authors hold Doctorates in the education field, and Kirschner has experience at the Open University of

reputational issues before they become

the Netherlands where he served as

much bigger problems.

Professor of Educational Psychology.

Patrick Crowder

Patrick Crowder www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

135

TRAVEL

THE OTHER BALMORAL THERE’S A CLEAR REFERENDUM RESULT IN SCOTLAND AS IRIS SPARK GIVES THE ROCCO FORTE CHAIN A RESOUNDING THUMBS-UP Courtesy The Balmoral, A Rocco Forte Hotel

T

he Balmoral hotel in Edinburgh is unique among the properties in the Rocco

Forte Group in that it is itself a

landmark of that beautiful city. RF fans

and luxury awaiting you at the end of

could have been able to buy, she left a

of Edinburgh’s many museums, or the

preserved under glass casing in the hotel.

your rendezvous with the castle, one shops of Princes Street.

will know the lounge at Brown’s, or

The Balmoral building itself, originally

Russie, or even the ornate exterior of

Hamilton Beattie, is a marvellous

none of these can be said to dominate

hotel was originally known as The North

emerge from Waverley station to be

it has hosted Laurel and Hardy, and

note attesting to this fact, which is now A suite is now named after her, and

its fame in the history of YA fiction as secure as it gets.

the sweeping gardens of The Hotel de

constructed in 1895 by William

the Hotel Astoria in St Petersburg. But

example of neo-Gothic sandstone. The

the skyline as the Balmoral does as you

British Railway Hotel. Over the years

FINISHED WRITING

footage still exists – dating to 1932 – of

AND THE DEATHLY

granted one of the most beautiful views in the world.

In fact, it is a reliable marker wherever

you happen to be in Edinburgh: a sort of

the pair of them mobbed by crowds in an Edinburgh not all that different to what it looks like today.

“IT WAS ALSO HERE THAT JK ROWLING HARRY POTTER HALLOWS.” We went to the hotel in winter, and

navigation point. And if you happen to

It was also here that JK Rowling

the place has a log-fire cosiness which

seeing in the sometimes adverse weather

Deathly Hallows. In a move which no

the end of a day’s sight-seeing. Like all

be staying at The Balmoral, and sightconditions, it is a promise of warmth 136

finished writing Harry Potter and The

made it a delightful place to return to at

amount of expenditure on PR teams

good hotels, its entrance is pure theatre,

TRAVEL

Courtesy The Balmoral, A Rocco Forte Hotel

spreading as a series of possibilities you

want to explore – and perhaps like every

particularly because of his benevolent

approach to business. Forte topped up

Rocco Forte Hotel Savoy Duomo, Presidential Suite

good hotel, you don’t quite have time to experience it all and so leave with the wish to come back.

In fact, I would add that all good hotels

create in their clientele departure anxiety upon arrival. You feel immediately at

home to such an extent that you enter a period of denial that this isn’t your

home. Meanwhile, a brutal juxtaposition is taking place: your actual home, the

place to which you must eventually be

the wages of all his staff after furlough, and there remains the impression that staff are valued by the company.

“ITS ENTRANCE IS PURE THEATRE, SPREADING AS A SERIES OF POSSIBILITIES YOU WANT TO EXPLORE.”

its city and Edinburgh has its claim to

be one of the most beautiful in Europe.

Presided over by the beautiful castle and with its sky prodded at by the

Scott monument, it has managed to

retain architectural unity in ways which London, large enough to accommodate every kind of ugliness and still retain

grandeur, has been unable and unwilling to do.

It was the 1700s which catapulted

Edinburgh into the vanguard of Western civilisation, as the poetry and tragic

legend of Burns took hold, and then

consigned, has become a demonstrably Forte has also made sure that all the

as the great names came along: David

The Rocco Forte Group is best

this includes his daughter Irene Forte’s

Louis Stevenson, with his brilliant

The properties today house the legacy

Polizzi’s wise eye for interior design. In

himself whose cycle of novels ventured

much as they showcase the approach to

leads into the breakfast rooms, you find

identity in a way analogous to Pushkin

inferior place which definitely doesn’t

talents of his progeny are fully utilised:

Hume, questioning miracles; Robert

understood as a chain of family hotels.

spa expertise, and his sister Olga

grasp of narrative; and Sir Walter Scott

of the late Lord Charles Forte, as

the anteroom behind the lobby, which

back in time to give birth to Scottish

hospitality of his son, the outspoken and

pictures of the late Lord Forte: another

in Russia, or Dante in Italy.

have marble bathrooms.

charitable Sir Rocco Forte. Whenever I speak to staff, Sir Rocco retains

popularity at his hotels on account of his obvious competence and dynamism, but

reminder that however grand and

sumptuous these interiors might be they relate back always to a family story.

But perhaps a hotel is only as good as

Today, it’s the very glory of that history which keeps causing problems. Despite

the Supreme Court’s verdict in late 2022 that a referendum unilaterally held by www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

137

TRAVEL

Courtesy The Balmoral, A Rocco Forte Hotel

the devolved administration would be

that it has developed such a persistently

a second independence referendum,

thought that there was a strong

in position as First Minister.

with Sturgeon dominating the political

illegal, talk will likely continue about

certainly so long as Nicola Sturgeon is The economic impact of the break-up

of the union remains unclear. From the

left-wing character. One would have

Conservative case for independence, but landscape for nearly a decade now, this isn’t likely to resurface any time soon.

perspective of Edinburgh the status quo

But a visit to the Castle, and especially

in the UK after London and also a fine

that to be a pity. The Castle, though

works: it is the second highest paid city

to Holyrood Palace, makes you feel

place to start a business, with typical

expensive, is worth the visit to feel the

start-up spaces twice the size of their

counterparts in London. It combines a

rich history of manufacturing everything from whiskey and shortbread to textiles and microelectronics. In addition,

Scotland – and especially Edinburgh –

has a thriving investment and financial services sector: it’s possible here to live

surrounded by beauty and history, and to live in style.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of

the Scottish independence movement is 138

layers of history which have accrued

over time to create the complexity of a

great city. But time goes into the air, and it might be that the centuries often have only a few structures to commemorate them. At the lip of the hill under the

wing of the castle, there’s a chapel, one of the oldest in Scotland, which seems an oddly private and windswept place

for powerful people to worship in. But power often feels much unlike itself; it’s the chimera which keeps people wanting to be prime minister, even

“IT’S A PLACE WHICH MAKES YOU AMBITIOUS, BECAUSE YOU WILL HAVE FORGED THE DESIRE TO RETURN.”

TRAVEL

Courtesy The Balmoral, A Rocco Forte Hotel

though objectively it’s an almost entirely unenviable life.

Where you do actually feel powerful is at The Balmoral – and probably more powerful there than if you happen to be living at the other Balmoral

we see on The Crown. Certainly you

feel freer, as you wake to comfortable beds surrounded by examples of the Forte luxury: the fine library which

accompanies the suites; the neoclassical

statutory; and the towelled bathrobes. A real sense of authority may well in the

end be tied to privacy, and not the public life some end up chasing after.

More often than not real luxury also

has something to do with a view. And

that’s how you remember The Balmoral: the spires and the stone, the sky and the vague sense of nature and sea beyond.

It’s a place which makes you ambitious, because you will have forged the desire to return.

Courtesy The Balmoral, A Rocco Forte Hotel

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

139

Travel

Life c/o Loveday Our Carers are the kind of people you trust to know some of the secrets that make you tick.

Especially when it comes to what tickles your taste buds – your preferred brand of ice cream or blend of whisky for example, served right where, and when, you want it.

Loveday is where healthcare meets hospitality, blending tailored, compassionate care with a world-class experience and environment. And because of our industry leading Member to staff ratios we build stronger relationships with you and your loved ones, all of which helps us provide care beyond compare.

To discover the Loveday difference, visit one of our residences at Abbey Road, Kensington and Chelsea.

lovedayandco.com info@lovedayandco.com | 0204 5304 650 140

FOOD

COSTEAU ON DRINK AND OUR LEADERS

D

uring the short-lived

regime: ‘Stiff whisky or G&T before

drank to excess; that would have been

Truss administration,

dinner, couple of glasses of wine or

unAmerican.

Costeau found himself

even half a bottle with it. So not

scouting the terrain for revealing

excessively excessive. I had a limit. But

nicknames of the then new PM,

I was aware that it had become a prop.’

before landing on the intriguing nickname: ‘Fizzy Lizzie’. This moniker was relatively unimaginative and more than a little patronising.

But in the event of it, Truss survived for such a brief time that the media had no opportunity to think of a better one.

But the ‘Fizzy Lizzie’ nickname had the merit of referring back to an actual event at 5 Hertford Street when Truss, then trade secretary, hosted ‘Fizz with Liz’ drinks when hosting US trade representatives. On that occasion, according to The Sunday Times, Truss apparently resisted claims by senior civil servants that somewhere less expensive – and with fewer ties to Conservative donors – be chosen.

Alcohol is usually a symbolic aspect of a new administration. Boris Johnson, of course, will forever be associated with the red wine he appeared to be drinking on lockdown in the Rose Garden – the same drink he allegedly spilt on his sofa in Camberwell to Carrie’s annoyance shortly before he assumed office.

Of course, we’re used to it in Britain.

Our greatest prime minister, Winston Churchill, is impossible to imagine without his cigars, his Pol Roger and his whisky.

His delight in alcohol was really an aspect of his living life to the full on every possible front. When this country was fighting for its survival and undergoing deprivations we

Our attitude to alcohol is another thing which divides the UK and America – besides the absence of that trade deal which Truss spent £3,000 in 5 Hertford Street seeking to secure.

It used to be that work in Mayfair and the City was almost entirely lubricated. Nowadays that’s less the case. As an emblem of this shift, look at the new prime minister Rishi Sunak. Sunak isn’t a drinker – except of Coca-Cola, which he apparently

can hardly imagine today, perhaps it

gets from Mexico. In footage dating

helped to know the man at the helm

from 2019, he described himself to a

had a passion for the finer things.

pair of pupils at a Richmond school

Before him, Herbert Asquith’s

as a ‘total Coke addict’ before making

drinking was a source of concern even

it clear at some length that he wasn’t

to Churchill, which suggests quite

referring to a drug habit. So the cost

considerable intake.

of living prime minister drinks the

Over in America – once the country of

same everyman drink the rest of us do,

Prohibition, let’s not forget – it can be a different story. What do Joe Biden, Donald J. Trump, George W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Theodore Roosevelt and Benjamin Harrison all have in common? Answer: all teetotallers.

Even those who technically drank never did so to excess. Costeau remembers being surprised to hear from someone who used to work at

but as a multimillionaire he likes to source it from an unexpected place.

The world has sobered up, and not just because of the pandemic. It has become more serious, and as over a decade of free money comes to an end, people will be inspecting the cost of their wine as much as the cost of everything else. The name Fizzy Lizzie suggested Truss was out of touch.

But we shouldn’t be judgmental.

Kensington Palace that President

Drinking in Downing Street helps

Barack Obama enjoyed his cocktails

with the stress: Tony Blair admits in

while he was visiting the then Duke

Mexico is too. After all, who will drink

his memoir A Journey to the following

and Duchess of Cambridge. He never

to that?

Perhaps getting your Coca-Cola from

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

141

PREVIEW OF COMING ATTRACTIONS

NEXT ISSUE 1 LEADERS

(wikipedia.org)

(wikipedia.org)

p15 Siobhan Baillie MP

p121 Armando Iannucci

4 FOUNDER'S LETTER 7D IARY Baroness Amos 8L ETTERS Talan Skeels-Piggins answers your questions

COLUMNS

FEATURES

12 THE CEO Sir Martin Sorrell on advertising revenues

30 HIS MAJESTY THE KING

13 THE HEADTEACHER Katharine Birbalsingh on teaching

40 THE BOOK OF THE LAW

14 THE ECONOMIST Roger Bootle surveys the AI terrain 15 THE PARLIAMENTARIAN Siobhan Baillie MP on her new APPG 17 T HE ARCHBISHOP Stephen Cottrell on what the pandemic taught 19 A QUESTION OF DEGREE Dame Helena Morrissey on her philosophy degree 20 RELATIVELY SPEAKING Lawrence Dallaglio on the inspiration of his sister

Which firms are used by the monarch?

The friction between literature and the legal profession

51 RECHARGING BATTERIES

Bulletin from the Lithium Industry

57 PHOTO ESSAY

Gemma Levine on her remarkable career

64 SMELL THE COFFEE

Tales from the coffee industry

72 GOLD RUSH

What careers can gold give you?

75 ROCKEFELLER TODAY

Lessons from the great philanthropist

85 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT Which companies are really going green?

94 LONDON LIVING What it’s like to live and work in Canary Wharf ?

98 THE UPPER ECHELONS Diagnostics UHNW-style 102 H EALTH KICK The remarkable tale of Sofos 104 LUXURY SPECIAL Our survey of the brands that matter 110 LETTER FROM KENYA Our travel editor Fred Finn 111 LETTER FROM AMSTERDAM Christopher Jackson reports

21 10,000 HOURS Elizabeth Gage on perfectionism 23 TOMORROW’S LEADERS ARE BUSY TONIGHT Rebekah Caudwell-Dupart on interior design and Lyme

HOSE ARE MY PRINCIPLES 25 T Sally Phillips on comedy ATERFLY 26 W Our gossipy view of the changing waters of education 142

p19 Dame Helena Morrissey (wikipedia.org)

p20 Lawrence Dallaglio (wikipedia.org, zoonabar)

PREVIEW OF COMING ATTRACTIONS

Copyright House of Lords 2022 / Photography by Annabel Moeller

p30

The Majesty of Work: What His Majesty King Charles III teaches us about careers excellence ART, CULTURE & BOOKS 114 BACK TO THE BRUSH Antony Ladsbrook on his return to art 118 MARTIN’S WAY Martin Kemp on interior design 121 IANNUCCI’S IMPACT What does Armando tell us about work?

126 GAME OF TIGER Patrick Crowder on golf 128 BOOK REVIEWS

141 COSTEAU What about a career in whiskey?

144 CLASS DISMISSED Damon Albarn

Round-up of the latest education tomes

Coronation Issue

132 MENTORING ABROAD Head for the sun to fix your career

Issue 8

HIS MAJESTY KING CHARLES III p126 Tiger Woods (wikipedia.org)

p144 Damon Albarn

(wikipedia.org, Henry W. Laurisch)

A UNITED KINGDOM £5.99

5

ISSN

060778

2732-5180

770005

www.finito.org.uk

ISSUE 7

143

CLASS DISMISSED

GABRIELE FINALDI THE NATIONAL GALLERY DIRECTOR TALKS TO ROBERT GOLDING ABOUT A CAREER ON ART, NFTS AND WINSLOW HOMER WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PICTURE IN THE NATIONAL GALLERY? I think my favourite picture changes all the time, and when you mentioned favourite pictures, suddenly, what came to my mind was that very beautiful Zurbarán still life of the cup of water on a plate with a rose, which was a picture that was acquired when I was a curator here in the mid 90s. It's a picture that you feel you're growing with. It's a picture that artists have always been very, very interested in actually since it came into the public domain having come into the gallery, and it's so interesting to see many artists responding to the quietness and the intensity of that painting.

HOW DID YOU FIND YOUR PASSION FOR ART? I took on a fourth A-level when I went to school, which was art history, and I didn’t know anything about it. I was very fortunate to go to school in Dulwich, where you have the Dulwich Picture Gallery. Our first art history class took place in the gallery in front of the Rembrandt gallery window, and I thought, “this is wonderful!”

AT THAT POINT, HOW MUCH DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITIES IN THE ART WORLD? I had no idea that there were jobs in museums or that there were jobs in teaching, or even what art history really was, but that first art history class really opened up a whole new horizon. And then I was able to go to university and study art history. I was very committed and very focused, and I've been very fortunate to be able to carry on working in the museum profession ever since.

144

www.nationalmuseums.org.uk

DO YOU NEED AN MA AS WELL AS A BA, OR TO EARN A PHD TO FIND A PLACE AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY? Not necessarily. I mean, more people are doing art history at a higher level, so there are many more PhDs in art history than there were when I was a 20-year-old.

But I think there are still lots of other areas within museums, whether it's press or design, or even people who have an interest in art but have a specialisation in human resources, for example. There’s always work to be done in museums and in the cultural sector.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT NFTS? I’m not so sure about the NFT phenomenon, and I don't really think there’s one that's for us. I do think the National Gallery has become more and more interested in the intersection between historic art and the kind of vision that contemporary artists have, and I certainly wanted to extend and enrich that relationship.

WHAT ROLE DOES THE NATIONAL GALLERY PLAY IN INSPIRING NEW ARTISTS? There are a lot of contemporary artists coming to the National Gallery talking about pictures and actually responding to works in the National Gallery in their own work, and I think it's very exciting that this is a living collection. It's one that's throwing up questions about art, about life, about society. In a sense, the whole of life is in the National Gallery, and it's only natural that contemporary artists should be taking an interest in what's shown here.

WHO DO YOU SEE AS THE GREAT ARTIST OF WORK? I take occasion of the fact that we're here in the Winslow Homer exhibition, he's an artist who highlighted work, particularly in the pictures of the fisherfolk women who stay at home while the fishermen go out in their boats to face danger and the risk of not returning. It just gives you a sense of the impressive human qualities of people in the past. There’s this dignity of labour, the dignity of work, and I think that comes across very strongly.

Traditional Brand, Contemporary Thinking

‘The Wildflower Meadow Collection’ created by Halcyon Days, exclusively with Highgrove.

100% authentically made in England.

www.halcyondays.co.uk

SCAN TO DISCOVER MORE