Conde Nast-Lombard Odier "Imagine" Magazine

I M AG I N E

Ta i t t i n g e r

A family affair Taittinger is one of the great champagne houses of France, with a rich and long history. It was owned by the Taittinger family until 2005, when it was sold to an American investment fund. Then, in a spectacular coup, the family bought it back in 2006. Vitalie Taittinger, Director of Marketing and the founder’s great-granddaughter, tells the story to Katia Hadidian.

Photography by Ivan Terestchenko

Vitalie Taittinger at the Château de la Marquetterie

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the Champagne region, the company flourished, and when Claude took over after François’ death, Taittinger expanded to become a champagne of world-renown. By the 21st century, there were 38 family members working in Groupe Taittinger and its affiliate, Société du Louvre, which owned Europe’s second-largest budget hotel chain as well as 14 prestigious properties, including the Hôtel de Crillon in Paris, the Martinez in Cannes, and Hôtel de la Paix in Geneva; the perfume label Annick Goutal; and crystal manufacturer Baccarat.

In 2005, Taittinger Group was sold for $3.2 billion to the American fund Starwood Capital, which started to break up and sell parts of the company, including the champagne house.

The family sprung to action to buy back the brand. Family matriarch Anne-Claire Taittinger, who had originally sold the company as Groupe Taittinger’s former managing director, made one bid, and her brother, Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, made another – and won.

When I ask Vitalie Taittinger, Pierre-Emmanuel’s daughter and Taittinger’s Marketing Director, to recount this extraordinary story, which has all the suspense, plot twists and layered narrative of a best-selling novel, she says, “The sale and re-purchase of Taittinger is actually a very nice story, and a very moving one. Anne-Claire Taittinger really is a skilled businesswoman, but for one moment maybe she preferred to protect business interests rather than protect the family aspect, which one can understand. My father was always against selling the group. He had worked for Champagne Taittinger for 30 years, and for him family history was more important, because he was proud to represent the work of this family, which has had many great personalities.” Indeed, they fill many pages of the French Who’s Who. Vitalie explains, “My great-grandfather, Pierre-Charles Taittinger, was Mayor of Paris, and my father’s father, Jean Taittinger, was Secretary of State for Finance, Minister of Justice and Minister of State under Georges Pompidou. For my father, it was important not to break with everything they had done, but to continue.”

It’s a business cliché that family-run businesses are naturally risk-averse, but this is not true, says Luis Gomez-Mejia,

The dynamics and decision-making of family businesses are so multi-layered, complex and – to many outsiders – perplexing, that they have become a specialist subject at business schools, analysed by the world’s leading economic thinkers. According to research from the KSU Coles College of Business in Georgia, about 80% of the world’s businesses are family owned, accounting for nearly 35% of the largest companies in the United States and 40% of the 250 largest companies in France, so it’s certainly a subject worthy of serious investigation.

Interestingly, despite the fact they are better at long-term planning, internal organisation and deep commitment, only 13% of these companies are passed on to the third generation.

This was nearly the fate of the Taittinger Group, until that famously contrarian family-business gene resurfaced and surprised the international financial community once again.

Taittinger is now one of the last great champagne houses to be owned and run by the name on the label.

The family’s champagne connection dates back to 1912, when Pierre-Charles Taittinger, who came from a family of wine merchants, started a champagne distribution and export business. Then, as a cavalry officer in the First World War, he suffered a heart attack and was billeted at the 18th-century Château de la Marquetterie near Epernay in the ChampagneArdenne region. The vineyards of la Marquetterie have a long pedigree, and were once managed by the 17th-century Friar Oudart, one of the founding fathers of champagne. In 1734, the Fourneaux family – who advised the original Veuve Clicquot – established a family business there that would later become Taittinger. Legend has it that Pierre-Charles became so enamoured by the beautiful architecture and vineyards during his recuperation, that he vowed to return – which he did, buying the Château in 1932. He passed the business on to his three sons, François, Jean and Claude, who oversaw a period of remarkable growth. It was François who made the decision to establish Taittinger cellars in the 13th-century Abbey of Saint-Niçaise in Reims, which was built over 4th-century Gallo-Roman chalk pits, 20 metres below ground and miles long. Now having a foot in two of the most prestigious towns in

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with little touches,” Vitalie says. “You can recognise the palette of references of the cellarmaster who creates a bottle of Krug, Taittinger, or Bollinger. Different houses have different styles.”

Taittinger’s speciality range has won plaudits, such as Nocturne, “created for the night, for women at a soirée… It has a higher dosage than the others, there is more sugar, so if you have eaten or drunk a lot, you will not suffer from acidity or anything else. It is gentler, and it works. That’s why nightclubs like to stock it.” Then there is Prélude, a cuvée made entirely from Grand Cru grapes chosen for their minerality. “It is very clear and clean with a beautiful energy; the perfect balance of the freshness of Chardonnay and the breadth of Pinot Noir.”

Les Folies de la Marquetterie, which pays homage to the Château, has a depth and warmth that Vitalie describes as “very comfortable, not too strong”. Most prestigious is Comtes de Champagne, which incorporates all the Grand Crus of the Côte des Blancs. “These were beautiful years for Chardonnay, and it is the most pure, most aromatic champagne, with just 5% coming from new oak barrels, which makes it quite complex.”

At the moment there is lively debate in the wine trade about the early Noughties. For Vitalie, “2002 was superb, with a lot of freshness, finesse, and balance – it was a time of beautiful, fruity aromas. There are few ‘diamond years’, but 2004 was one. It had exceptional minerality, while 2005 was richer, more generous.” She won’t admit to having a favourite, “although at this time the ’99 is very nice”, explaining that “Wine is changing all the time, so I can’t tell you about just one!”

Would she have pursued another career if she hadn’t been born into a champagne dynasty? “Ultimately, the job that you do is not that important,” she says. “What is important is that you work to follow your own path, to be free, to do things that interest you, and to really enjoy what life has to offer.” Certainly Taittinger’s motto, “Champagne for the independently minded”, is reflected in the personalities she admires. “I admire women who have ideas, and who live for these ideas, like the designer Vivienne Westwood; people who create things and contribute to the collective imagination, like the sailor Florence Arthaud; people who have a talent and push the boundaries.”

As to her own legacy at Taittinger, “I think that the business has a social role. We have to show that we work as a team, respecting the contribution of others. My dream is that when people drink a glass of Taittinger, they see that it inspires freedom and pleasure – in a balanced way, because it is a luxury – but that they really taste and appreciate its continuity.” 

Management Professor at the WP Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, and one of the world’s leading experts on family firms. Gomez-Mejia asserts that family firms are willing to take breathtaking risks – especially when the future of family control is at stake, and even if it puts the survival of the company on the line. The reason is romantic, and nothing to do with spreadsheets: “Family firms have a different set of motivations than others,” he says. “They’re not just concerned with financial things […] they’ll accept greater hazard to maintain control and their socio-emotional wealth.”

“Socio-emotional wealth” favours identity, history, influence, dynastic legacy and social ties over financial gain, and is a phrase that rings true with Vitalie. “In a family project there’s a human dimension that does not exist in companies where there’s speculation and people leave after three years. In family businesses there’s even a patriotic dimension, because it is an identity, a true team […] They are really about long-term reflection; they have to project on to the future and see how they will transmit not only their patrimony but also the ideas that reflect the family’s history.”

At the time of his bid to buy back Champagne Taittinger, her father commented to the press that “Companies with a heritage are very reassuring for investors”, but ultimately he was successful, Vitalie says, “Because he knew the subject so well – he knew the terroir, all the details of his profession, all the people involved, everything about champagne, about how to buy it and sell it.” The re-purchase was also a victory for the champagne industry, a huge and interlinked community of grape growers, cooperatives, distributors, and sellers.

“Everyone in the region admired my father’s work. It was a project full of risk, a bit mad, but people respected him enormously, and the formidable team that surrounded him, which continues to go forward with a daring spirit.” Today, Champagne Taittinger is led by her father, Pierre-Emmanuel, who oversees the day to day running of the company; her globe-trotting brother Clovis, responsible for exports and international markets; Vitalie herself, as Marketing Director; and legendary cellarmaster Loïc Dupont. Working so closely with her family is successful, she says, because, “We believe in each other; we talk a lot about what does or doesn’t work; and ultimately it’s trust that keeps you going.” She then laughs, “But I don’t know what having a private life means!”

Again defying the preconceptions about family-run businesses and expansion, Taittinger is venturing far afield.

“It’s in the natural order of things that markets move around the world,” Vitalie says. China is becoming increasingly important – an underexploited market that “appreciates the champagne it buys, which is also a symbol” – as are Brazil and Russia, although India’s super-taxes on luxury products and other bureaucratic hurdles make it a difficult market to explore.

Taittinger produces 5.2 million bottles a year, while larger houses owned by luxury conglomerates, such as Moët et Chandon, part of the LVMH group, produce 26 million or more. But small is beautiful, and Taittinger is one of the few labels to control production “from the grape to the glass”, which results in some truly exquisite champagnes. An impressive 50% of its grapes come from its own vineyards, and the rest are hand-picked from neighbours. “Blending a champagne is like an artist mixing colours. You discover the minerality of one grape, the ‘opulence’ of another, and work

TH RO U G H T H E G R A P E V I N E PAGE 30: Clockwise from top left, a presentation room at the Château de la Marquetterie; Taittinger Brut Réserve in all its bottle sizes; vine canes and cuttings burned in a traditional brouette during winter pruning; Champagne Taittinger’s founder, Pierre-Charles Taittinger, who was awarded the Légion d’Honneur after serving as a cavalry officer in the First World War. PAGE 31: Clockwise from top, the Château, built in 1734, is surrounded

by Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vineyards; a production room at the Château; a 1922 Renault ES40 that once belonged to Maréchal Joffre, the

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Commander in Chief of the French Army during the First World War. PAGE 32: Taittinger’s 4th-century Roman cellars in Saint Nicaise were dug through chalk and bear the original axe marks as well as centuries of graffiti carvings. PAGE 33: A wall of Taittinger Comtes de Champagne, the house’s prestige cuvée. OPPOSITE PAGE: Clockwise from top left, a statue of Joan of Arc inside the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Reims; the original 18th-century wine press in the Château’s cellar; the 13th-century faÇade of Notre-Dame de Reims; bottles of champagne rest in pupitres, where they are individually turned by hand to dislodge spent yeast cells.

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I M AG I N E

Far Horizons

Forget spas and suites: for a growing minority of us, the ultimate luxury in travel is the thrill of the unknown, whatever the discomfort. We speak to three travellers about their craving for adventure and stepping out of their comfort zone The Kaieteur Falls on the Potaro River in central Guyana are renowned for their height and water volume

always putting on shoes before leaving our tents at night and how to make ourselves comfortable in a daunting environment, the villagers taught us survival skills, like how to catch fish; find water in vines; which plants to eat and which to avoid; which bugs to eat and avoid; and how to make a bed in the jungle from branches and ferns.

“Then we journeyed to an isolated Vaquero ranch in southwest Guyana, where the Rupununi savannah borders Brazil. The Vaqueros are fantastic horsemen, and herd cattle the traditional way: they make their own bark and leather saddles and corral the cattle with lassos and bullwhips. We joined in their cattle ranching, galloping on horseback across the savannah, and were assigned duties. My task was to burn cowdung to heat up the branding irons! We slept in hammocks in a barracón (bunkhouse), just as they do. Then a light aircraft flew us above the jungle canopy to the Kaieteur Falls – a singledrop waterfall about three times higher than Niagara at 251 metres. The power of such a force of nature is indescribable – the water thunders so loudly you can’t hear your thoughts. It makes you feel so small and insignificant, especially as Kaietur is on the oldest earth surface, the Guyana Shield, which is two billion years old. This was a true once-in-a-lifetime, lifechanging experience.”

1. Rainforests and Ranches

Rob Murray-John journeyed to the Amazon and Rupununi savannah in Guyana, living with Vaqueros ranchers and Amerindian tribes “The trips I most enjoy are not just a physical challenge but a mental one: you have to overcome coping with the unknown, the discomfort, the isolation and the sheer difference in the way of life. The lasting legacy is that you learn to rely on one another, work as a team, and that saying no doesn’t work. And when the villagers you stay with are barefoot, you realise that it doesn’t matter where you’re from, what you do or how wealthy you are – this sort of travel is a great leveller.

“Our guides were ex-Special Forces and great leaders: unassuming, intelligent, and confident, you would follow them anywhere. They weren’t there for security, but to help us through the landscape – Guyana is 80% rainforest, much of it uncharted, and the rest is vast savannah. You can only travel on foot, by canoe, jeep and horseback. Last year it had just 1,500 visitors and most of those were seeing relatives! It’s like Jurassic Park – there are giant anteaters, giant otters, the giant harpy eagle, and giant anacondas that can squeeze you to death.

“We flew into the Amazon to Surama, a remote village in Amerindian territory where just 280 of the Makushi tribe live.

Because it’s so remote, it’s untouched by the 20th century, let alone the 21st. No one wears loincloths or carries a spear, but they do hunt with bows and arrows and there’s no running water or electricity. Besides learning basic camp rules such as

11. Alone in the Desert

Edward Drax travelled to Damaraland in northwest Namibia between Etosha National Park and the Skeleton Coast “I can honestly say that this was the best trip of my life. I met my guide in Palmwag Lodge on the Uniab River in Damaraland, and we spent nine days over Christmas walking more than 200km through the concession to the Hoanib River camp between the Skeleton Coast and Kaokoland. It’s a wilderness that has remained unchanged for millennia – a red-rock lunar landscape with almost no water, barely any plants, no cars or planes, and just one person for every two kilometres. The greater detail that one sees on foot compared to being in a car is almost infinite, even if you have nothing but a satellite phone to defend you. Our backpacks weighed 20-25kg and temperatures were a scorching 40-45°C during the day. It was just the two of us, a flat space of baked earth, a fire to cook our food, our tents, the stars, the sound of lions roaring in the distance, and, one night, walking outside our tents. Then our Christmas dinner was disturbed by six desert elephants that crept up so quietly in

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Epic Adventures

the dark that they were only seven metres away before we heard them – there’s a lot of competition for food and water out there, and it certainly makes you feel alive.

“I wanted to do something unique, challenging and adventurous, the antithesis of our safe, comfortable, city living.

Modern life is as far removed from tribal life as you can get.

The dilemma facing modern man is the ‘Primate Predicament’ – I recommend reading Frank Forencich’s Exuberant Animal on this subject – which is the misfit between our 30-millionyear-old bodies and the alien environment of the 150-year-old post-industrial era.

“As clichéd as it sounds, you start to feel the beauty and challenges of our past in the wilderness. Survival is suddenly a day-to-day concern, whether it be protecting yourself from sun stroke or avoiding hungry wildlife. You really start to feel, hear and see your surroundings; to pay attention in a way you never have before. My greatest surprise was how much I loved the trip. It felt like re-connecting to something lost and forgotten, to basic instincts that we simply don’t need and hence don’t use in our normal lives. But nature is hard-wired in our DNA from our distant past, so being submersed in it again felt like returning to somewhere one has a vague memory of. The culture shock came afterwards, returning to the city with its people, noise and concrete.

“There is something reviving about living so basically; the illusion of one’s importance in everyday life is replaced by the humbling realisation of how utterly insignificant we are, and from that comes a renewed appreciation for modern life and all of its accomplishments and amenities.”

Rob Murray-John travelled to Guyana with Epic Tomato (020 7426 9899; epictomato.com); Edward Drax travelled to Namibia with Original Travel (020 7978 7333; originaltravel.co.uk); and Amelia Stewart explored Iran with Simoon Travel (020 7978 0508; simoontravel.com).

111. Behind the Black Curtain

Amelia Stewart went exploring and hiking in the mountains around Yazd, Iran

The ancient desert city of Yazd in central Iran is home to Zoroastrianism

AME LIA S TEWART I S TH E H E AD OF SIM O ON T RAV EL. E DWAR D DRAX I S A CON SULTANT AT PAPE RL ES S RE C E I PT S LT D .

ROB M URRAY -J OH N IS HE AD OF OPE RAT IO NS AT EP IC TOM AT O . IN T ER VI E WS BY K AT IA HADI DI AN

The Skeleton Coast, the northern part of Namibia’s western border on the Atlantic Ocean

of the Iranian plateau, and the mountains are half a day’s drive away. Iran has an established trekking culture and people are very outdoorsy – you can explore untouched landscapes with great freedom all over the country, from tough challenges with crampons and ropes to more gentle walks. Just don’t go hiking on borders! No Iranian ever would.

“Ours was quite a tough climb – about four hours to go up, then we spent the night, did another two hours the next day and six coming down. It was a bit like Machu Picchu or the Scottish Peaks in terms of a challenge, and we became hypoxic.

Even though it was May, there was snow, and it was hot in the day and bitterly cold at night, so we had to shelter in a tin hut – although no one slept because of the excitement.

“We had quite heated political debates with fellow hikers as people relax a bit so high up in the mountains, although all the women wore headscarves. They wanted to find out what we thought about Iran and kindly invited us into their group, built a huge fire and shared their kebabs with us. One woman started singing a capella and had such a poignant voice that cut through the chill air – it was like going back in time.

“Westerners think that everyone’s ultra-conservative, but as soon as you’re indoors the black cloaks come off and everyone is very friendly. You do encounter the security police in big cities like Tehran, Shiraz, and Isfahan, and in the countryside it’s very conservative, but as a tourist you’re not pestered. The only time I felt awkward was in Qom, the holiest city, where we visited the Tomb of Fatima. The ladies in the group had to wear closed shoes and a burka so that only our eyes showed.

The mullahs were unhappy with Westerners being in such a holy site, so we were asked to leave. I never felt threatened, though. What you do worry about is crossing roads – now that really is frightening.” 

“I have Iranian friends and always wanted to go there. The history, the phenomenal architecture, the exquisite calligraphy and poetry, not to mention the food! It’s utterly beautiful. My mother studies Zoroastrianism and recommended I visit Yazd.

It’s one of the oldest cities in the world and famous for its fantastic Towers of Silence, once used to expose the dead to scavenging birds, and for the Fire Temple, which has kept a flame continuously alight since 470AD. “We flew direct to Tehran, travelled south by plane and then by mini van. Yazd lies in the Dasht-e Kavir desert in the middle

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Life class

The competition to get the grades to get the school to get the college to get the career is more intense than ever before and starts at an ever-earlier age. Need it be this way? Four experts from different facets of the educational spectrum share their point of view Jenny Stephen

some co-ed schools, whereby a girls’ phsyical appearance is all-important and the key element in peer-group approval.

“I became Head of an all-girls’ school from a very successful co-ed school. My first impression of my new school was the extraordinarily feisty nature of its old girls. Their education has given many of them the self-confidence to break the mould and to challenge the world. The all-girls’ school can take a long, hard look at what it means to be a woman in the 21st century, free from some of the white noise generated by co-education.

Interestingly, I have been told endlessly that co-education is ‘natural’, I suspect by people who have never seen a class of 14-year-olds separate instantly and instinctively into boys on one side, girls on the other. What I have never seen is any real proof that co-education actively benefits girls.”

Headmistress, South Hampstead High School for Girls, London, on educating girls “Starting in the 1970s there was a rush to co-education in the UK, spearheaded by leading independent schools such as Marlborough and Westminster. Now Marlborough has hit the headlines for the positions achieved by three of its old girls: the Duchess of Cambridge, Samantha Cameron and Sally Bercow. The triumph of co-education? Hardly. These three women have come to prominence in a very traditional role: the wife (of the future King, the Prime Minister and Speaker of the House of Commons).

“Co-education has reinforced the type-casting of men and women. In British independent girls’ schools, 7.3% of girls study Physics. In co-ed independent schools, it goes down to 4.9%. The equivalent figures in State schools are 4.3% and 1.8% respectively. There has always been pressure from religious and ethnic groups for all-girl education. To this can be added a real academic and social justification. Those of us who have worked in boys’ and co-ed schools know that the superficially more immature boys are masters at combining as a group and imposing a male culture on the girls. Girls’ schools can teach the group dynamics that co-ed schools deny them. Girls work and learn by collaboration and not through class competition and hierarchy. They can create their own culture in which it is okay to study science, aspire to be engineers or play cricket.

“All-girl education recognises that boys and girls develop at very different times in very different ways, and manage the girls developmentally rather than treating them as boys with skirts. Girls’ schools can cope with the perpetual problem in co-ed schools, whereby boys dominate lessons by their willingness to ask and answer questions in class. Girls’ schools can put a block on the early sexualisation of girls endemic in

South Hampstead High School is a top day school for girls in London (020 7435 2899; www.shhs.gdst.net).

William Eichner

Director of Admissions, The American School In Switzerland (TASIS), Ticino, on a broad education “Our application and interview process is designed to reveal the fullest possible picture of a child. Similarly, we try to bring out the fullest possible humanity of every child, not only through a strong academic programme, but our sports, arts, service-learning, residential life, and travel programmes. I don’t know how others define themselves, but we measure our progress through our students’ progress as they grow into their best selves. Some of that happens while they are here, but some happens later in their lives when they recognise the deep value of the relationships they built here.

“During my 30-year career at TASIS I have kept up with thousands of former students. It is always gratifying to see how TASIS provided a solid foundation for their successful lives.

Education everywhere has always sought to cultivate intellectual and moral virtue. We take both very seriously, using every opportunity, 24/7, on and off campus, to change the trajectory of students’ lives, leading them from the naturally narcissistic state of adolescence to courage, compassion, and capacity to change the world for the better.

“To be a student today means that school can sometimes be stressful, but happiness – not just accidental happiness but real joy (at knowing yourself, being at peace with yourself, loving

" The superficially more immature boys are masters at combining as a group and imposing a male culture on the girls " 62

An enjoyable education

" Some of the laziest and most complacent schools are those at or near the top of league tables, and are full of overworked children "

what you do, and feeling as if you are becoming your best self) – is a big part of the TASIS experience. Our founder, Mary Crist Fleming, had the most potent joie de vivre imaginable, and her spirit lives on. Given the ease of quantifying progress in other areas (IB scores, university admissions, and so on), it’s tempting to imagine that these are the real ends of education.

Of course they are not. We aim higher.”

TASIS is one of Switzerland’s leading boarding schools (+ 41 91 960 5151; switzerland.tasis.com).

and a lot of life lessons emerge. Children come into conflict with what parents want, and there are a lot of nuances. I see myself as a storyteller who likes to help kids tell their story.”

Deborah Landon

AS TOL D T O KAT IA H AD IDI AN

Global Admission Advisor, Landon Education, on recognising and respecting a student’s individuality

Landon Education is an international advisory service based in the US (+1 612 922 5888; landoneducation.com).

“I work on undergraduate and graduate planning, and believe that each student has potential. My motto is from Albert Einstein: ‘Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.’ My role is to highlight excellent schools that families may not be aware of and to find one that’s best for the subject they’re interested in, so my focus is not just the Ivy League.

“Ten years ago there wasn’t such wealth spread around the world and therefore such academically strong children everywhere. They are not competing against other kids from their boarding school – they are competing with children from around the world. Throwing money around doesn’t get you where it used to! In the US, admissions are mostly based on merit. Applicants can be denied from top schools even with the support of an alumnus, significant donor, or trustee who has the ear of the admissions office or President. People with influence can help, but families need to have established relations through siblings or parents and then work with the development office. If the whole campus benefits from a new library, sports ground or lab, there’s something to be said for that even if the student may be undeserving compared to another applicant. But it does not serve the student to admit them to a school where it is unlikely they will succeed. It’s quite difficult to gain admission to another university if you have not succeeded the first time.

“Being a student today is absolutely more pressurised and competitive than ever before. It can be like the recent documentary, The Race to Nowhere, about children literally working themselves to death. What I like about my European clients is that they take their leisure seriously – they ski in spring, take one month’s vacation in August, neglect to prioritise their SATs because they’re going out to dinner… It can be frustrating, but it’s so healthy! They have to get the grades, however – and in the US colleges look at all your school marks and can see when you’ve fallen off the track.

“I tell parents, ‘Let going to college be your child’s dream.

Travel there and get them excited about going.’ Life is limiting, so while they’re at an age when they can still explore, let them follow their passion, focus on that area and excel. It will bring them joy and perhaps become a career. But get internships and experiential things to put on a résumé.

“I want students to be wherever’s best for them. Everybody has the same insecurity about their future, no matter where they are from or how wealthy they are. You are being judged and evaluated; you’ve spent your entire life to reach this point

Dr Anthony Seldon

Headmaster, Wellington College, Berkshire, England, on league tables “League tables and guides focus entirely unwarranted attention on the top day and boarding schools. The inevitable and highlyregrettably result is that people think that schools at the top of league tables are ‘the best’, and are desperate for their children to have the best. This is very sad. In my experience, some of the laziest and most complacent schools are those at or near the top of league tables. The fact they do so well on the tables is less because of great teaching than because of the very highlyselective nature of the admissions process. Many of the best and most worthwhile independent schools can be found in the middle or near the bottom of league tables. The ‘top’ schools can also become dangerously lopsided; full of overstressed and overworked children who need their wider abilities developed.

“There are also some shocking parents around, and their common characteristic is that they blame the school for their own deficiencies. It would be great to have a list of such parents whom schools could then avoid. Knowledge of such a list could deter some parents from treating schools appallingly. The best parents trust the school – they take a close interest but recognise that the teachers are the professionals and are appreciative.

“I’d love to be a child today, above all knowing what I know now. I’ve just supervised Geography lessons at Wellington, observing parallel classes teaching 13-year-olds about the Black Death. They look at computer programmes on their laptops that show the spread of the disease month on month, and they analyse whether it could have been stopped at any point, manipulating the data on screen. The level of intellectual engagement and excitement is far beyond anything I ever knew. Some children are stressed today, but we also know much more than we did a generation ago about how to bring up children. All schools should teach positive psychology or happiness . The best schools are those that help young children become the young people they uniquely are. The worst schools are those that overly pressurise them for their own advantage, or let parents intrude into their children’s lives so that the children become ‘Mini Mes’ of the parents.”  Wellington College is a British co-educational boarding school (01344 444000; wellingtoncollege.org.uk).

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Imagination

FROM THE ALPS TO OLYMPUS: Swiss Paralympian handbike champion, Ursula Schwaller

Schwaller in an aerodynamic test at the RUAG wind tunnel in Emmen, Switzerland

IMAGINE: How do you combine a demanding profession with athletics?

URSULA SCHWALLER: When you feel time is precious, very intense and inspiring moments can arise. There is a synergy between my two passions: they thrive on inspiration, and elite sport, like lowenergy architecture, is about the most efficient use of resources. So, the answer lies in efficiently planning each day.

IMAGINE: What does an average day involve for you?

URSULA SCHWALLER: I spend 4-5 hours on training and my paraplegia takes another 2½ hours (bathing, dressing and so on). However, as these routines come automatically, I use the time to develop new ideas. I cycle about 12,000 km each year, and supplement my training with

cross-country skiing; rowing; monoskiing, kayaking, and wheelchair hiking.

IMAGINE: Is a social life possible for you?

URSULA SCHWALLER: Often there is not enough time to keep up with friends and family, especially during racing season, but I’m lucky that Marcel is heavily involved in my sport. To socialise, I try to link up training with seeing friends. We go out together on bikes or even enter races together, like the Gigathlon.

IMAGINE: Athletes often talk about “mental preparation”, but what does it actually mean?

URSULA SCHWALLER: At this high level of sport, every athlete is well prepared and can win the race, but you can’t win if you don’t believe in yourself or hesitate. Road races demand a quick and ready mind, and you need great mental strength against the clock – it’s important not to get worked up. My sports psychologist, Robert Buchli, helps me in these areas.

Success in sport and in life is about defining your goals and developing a strategy to achieve them through hard work and self-belief.

IMAGINE: What comes after winning the ultimate prize in sport?

URSULA SCHWALLER: The Paralympic medal brings great satisfaction, but the

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UCI World Champion title means even more. I have the same gold medals and wear the same Rainbow Jersey as Fabian Cancellara [the Swiss cyclist and fourtime World Time Trial Champion]. For me, “success” is achieving my goals and continuing to progress, so if I can inspire my clients to build zero-energy houses or convince the International Rowing Association to promote adaptive rowing, that would make me quite proud.  Award-winning low-energy architect Ursula Schwaller, 37, became paraplegic following a snowshoe accident in December 2002. However, she immediately started an intense exercise regime and entered her first handbike race that year. She competed in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics and won two bronze medals at the 2012 London Paralympics (for the Women’s Individual H12 Time Trial and the H14 Mixed Team Relay). ursulaschwaller.ch; gigathlon.ch

MARCE L KAD ERLI

IMAGINE: Did you overcome a physical challenge by setting yourself an even greater one?

URSULA SCHWALLER: I admit it, I like challenges! When I had the accident, I was aware of the numerous limitations it imposed, but I realised very quickly that it’s a gift, too. Also, my partner Marcel Kaderli supports me in everything I do.

He accompanies me to the races, looks after my equipment, supervises my training and lifts my spirits after my defeats, so I feel very fortunate.