don't read the menu options and go directly to the page content 
Welcome to my new website

Many of us over 60 are counted out when part-time jobs come up despite our collective wisdom and abilities.

To counter some of this prejudice I have dispensed with sending my CV and have instead created The Complete Picture, an animated ninety second overview of my life to date @ https://vimeo.com/223960456.

 

 

 

Blog

You are here: Home / Blog
25
FEB
Well though we all fell asleep watching Lincoln we did think Daniel Day-Lewis would win best actor and though we saw Argo late we were thrilled it won Best Film at the Oscars overnight.
25
FEB
I went with Jilly, Henry, Jack and Charlie to watch England struggle for 55 minutes to hold the more adventurous French XV until the coach subbed some of the players who'd run out of steam. It did the trick especially when Danny Care cam on at scrum half and James Haskell in the back row. England's nous and fitness did the trick and France were suddenly a spent force. England won 23-13. Three wins out of three with two games to go before we can chalk up a grand slam......
18
FEB
I went down to Eastleigh yesterday to help our cause in the forthcoming by election due on Thursday week. Four of us were asked to do Portsmouth Road where the Lib Dems had already been.  Given we had only 5000+ voters in 2010 our data is thin and so it is important we up our game here. I was joined by Roger Truelove, my old mucker from Sittingbourne, and Jo from Eastbourne and Anne from the next constituency. We also had a coach load down from London.   My sense
18
FEB
We returned from Eastleigh around 5pm and settled for a very late lunch at Thomas Cubitt, in Belgravia. Notwithstanding, the place was packed!
18
FEB
I went with Jilly to watch Richmond v Coventry. The first half was dominated by Richmond and they led 20-6. The second half Richmond disappeared and Coventry not only caught up but led 33-27 going into the last minute of the game. There were countless scrums on the Cov line and eventually the referee awarded a second penalty try to Richmond and so at the last we won 34-33 which was tough on our visitors.
18
FEB
I had another meeting with Crowdbnk on Friday afternoon where we discussed my further involvement.
18
FEB
With Jilly, I went to the Women Sports and Fitness group in Parliament on Wednesday evening and met old friends. I was interviewed by a woman (I didn't catch her name) writing a book for Bloomsbury on Women's Sport and she wanted to know what had led me to form the Women's Sports Foundation in 1984.
18
FEB
Social Networking 8 11-17 February 2013 A Quieter Week Monday Photography @  Lupus Street Tuesday James Garvey @ RAC Club Wednesday APP Women's Sports & Fitness Group@Parliament Bump Alex Russell Sue Tibballs Clova Fyffe Andrew Tyrie MP Douglas Carswell MP Paul Farrelly MP Thursday Lisa Perrin @Shine Richard Gorman @ Cork & Bottle Friday Ginny Tate@Trinity Restaurant Saturday Richmond v Coventry 34-33 Sunday Campaigning: Eastleigh...
13
FEB
Ladies, Gentlemen, M’dears:   Two Fridays ago, I took the phone call that told me Frank had died, while I was in the hideous centre of Stevenage New Town, a bizarre disjunction I am still trying to process. That has made me extra-conscious of the sense of place that surrounds Jane’s choice of settings for today’s events.               Here we are in the High Victorian, Catholic-Revival-Gothic of this...
9
FEB
I travelled up to Hereford on Thursday for the funeral of the great Frank Keating. Boarding at Paddington for our three and a half hour journey I bumped into Peter Bills who I hadn't seen for a decade or so and sitting opposite us was Alan Rusbridger, piano player and editor. Our journey was constantly held up at Evesham and beyond, and we made it to Belmont Abbey, the former Catholic school (now also RIP-ed), with minutes to spare. The Abbey was packed largely with former journalists...
9
FEB
On Wednesday, I was a guest of RIBA at their annual RGM and fellowships which went to Swiss Architect, Peter Zumthor. I had not been before and thought it was a very special occasion worthy of much greater coverage in the media. www.architecture.com
9
FEB
I met Dele Atanda on Wednesday morning to chat about his rather brilliant software platform which he has built. I agreed to help him find further funding.
9
FEB
The many and varied sports organisations which provide services to schools have come together to form Compass and they had their London launch at the House on Wednesday afternoon. I was guest of Planet Sport.
9
FEB
I had a quick lunch with Peter Varney in Blackheath on Wednesday and we chewed the fat about the future prospects of Charlton Athletic.
9
FEB
Social Networking 7 4th-10th February 2013 Monday Nick Emery @ Trafalgar Hotel Bump Ann Sutton David Taylor & Joe Downey @ Loosebox Sir Rick Trainor @ Home House for a supper discussion about the Internet Bump Ann LaFrance Nick Lansman Nick Pickles Stewart Binnie Garret Cowley Charles Sherwood Tuesday Works of Art @ Parliament Bump Frank Doran MP, Chairman Emma Gormley, Assistant Curator Melanie Unwin, Deputy Curator Malcolm Hay, Curator Lord...
6
FEB
Back in September, 2011 I started the Labour Party's: Next Generation, Entrepreneurs' Network. Yesterday evening, we had two speakers at the cutting edge of new business and start-up thinking: Scott Fletcher, Chairman and Founder of ANS Group (Manchester), who talked about his fast growing company and the changing role of technology and how this would shape future business opportunities A note on Scott - Chairman and Founder of ANS Group: One of the country's leading...
5
FEB
I was a guest of Sir Rick Trainor (CEO of King's) at Home House last night where we debated "The Internet is the end of civilisation as we know it"!! Other guests included Nick Lansman, Andrea Hargrave, Nick Pickles, Stewart Binnie & Justin Gayner. It was a fun evening.
5
FEB
I saw Argo on Sunday evening which justifiably has had rave reviews. Set in Iran in 1979 it is the story of six American diplomats holed up in the Canadian Embassy. The problem was that if they weren't rescued they would be strung up on a nearby lamp post........this is their story.....absolutely gripping.... 
5
FEB
I had a quiet breakfast with Nick Emery (Mindshare) yesterday at the Trafalgar Hotel.
5
FEB
David Taylor and Joe Downey, friends from Bath, joined me for afternoon tea at the LooseBox yesterday. We discussed the future of the status of the Recreation Ground at Bath.
5
FEB
Danny A. Davis: M&A Integration - How to do it Published by WILEY   How many times have you been involved in buying another company where the drive for you personally was in doing the deal because it pushed up your share price? How many of you found the whole "It's it on? Is it off?" routine unbelievably thrilling and yet at the same time exhausting? It is a pretty privleged club. And yet. And yet buying a competitor might well be high octane stuff but the real job...
3
FEB
I went with Jilly to Twickenham yesterday to watch the Calcutta Cup (38 years ago I was on the bench for the first time and 37 years ago I was capped at Murrayfield). England had pace, verve, ideas and flare and yet in the end they will be disappointed not to have put 50 points on a poor Scottish side.
3
FEB
Jilly and I were guests as the RIBA Patron's Launch Party at HQ on Thursday evening which was great fun and very interresting.
3
FEB
On Thursday I was back at the Cork & Bottle for a working lunch with Simon Halliday and HH Jeff Blackett dropped in too; the subject was mainly rugby - Oxford, England and England, Oxford! 
3
FEB
I was at The Shard to meet Ben Rogers, who directs the new-ish Centre for London Think Tank. It was also the first day of the opening of the building to the public and there was quite a crush...and so I little later I dropped into the packed Shard tourist bookshop.... Ben and I traded information and I hope I will become more involved in his team's work. 
3
FEB
On a busy Friday, I attended the annual London luncheon of Bedford rugby club's former players at Gray's Inn hosted by HH Phil Boulding. Far too many years ago I used to pick him up at Cambridge where he was a student and drag him to training and often to a game in the 1st XV.
3
FEB
It has been a rugby week of sorts - two suppers, two lunches and an international - and on Friday evening it was our annual Parliamentary Rugby Club's dinner (I am President). Our guest speaker was Phil Vickery who amused us all.  
3
FEB
Social Networking 6 28th Jan - 3rd Feb 2013 Monday Colin Smith @ Oxford Christianne Wolff @ Chesham Digital Photography @ Pimlico Centre Tuesday Annual Medical Check Up @ Victoria Medical Centre A Suit That Doesn't Fit @ Glasshouse Street Jonathan Shaw @ Pimlico Wednesday John Hopkins & Anna Yallop @ Cork & Bottle Thursday Simon Halliday & Jeff Blackett @ Cork & Bottle RIBA Patron's Party @ RIBA Bump Gill Webber Friday Ben Rogers @ Shard...
3
FEB
With Ian Pearson, I met Ayan Mitra, the founder of CrowdBnk - www.crowdbnk.com which is the first crowd sourcing site to be regulated by the FSA.
website by Hudson Berkley Reinhart Ltd