A little knowledge is a dangerous thing... actually, you might be wrong on that
Hot nights, too much wine at lunch, watching a disastrous GP for poor George Russell, and some of the most exciting F1 driving I have seen in a decade; racing and ratings; Burnham, Lowe and Blair, Morticians to the country, all added to sleep that did not come quickly.
I started pondering whether one could buy a huge mansion, fund it as a Community Benefit Company, and live there by sub-letting it to a London Club - much in the manner of Soho House in the Cotswolds - but without the crass vulgarity and coke-ingrained cistern lids. Proper people, all one’s chums, comfy chairs, decent claret and well-made potted shrimps and grilled calves’ liver. Then, for some reason, I started pondering the wonderful Hall Porters at the Turf. Such an old-fashioned job title. Receptionist, Doorman, all these words for very ordinary jobs. But the number of times that hotels and blocks of flats and City Investment houses have made the mistake of getting rid of a Doorman in a cost-cutting exercise or a Receptionist is staggering. On so many occasions, they have lost large numbers of customers and suffered costly reputational damage because they greatly underestimated their front-line staff's knowledge of their customers. He’s only a doorman - “Hello, My Lord, how lovely to see you;” she’s only the Receptionist. “Hello, Mrs Rice-Bottom, I hope you don’t mind, but I have already booked your usual suite and put your favourite Roses in the room.”
You might have thought The Sandman would have called by then, but I was already down the rabbit hole of job titles, AI replacing knowledge and thus investment decision-making and the job loss caused by AI… my mind turned to current markets, and… bosh! I give you the:
