After giving a quick nod to London’s first skyscraper, Tower 42, the next stop was The Gherkin. The building is famously used as the office where Alan Sugar, in his inimitable style, hires and fires on The Apprentice. Sugar’s journey, from school dropout to the House of Lords, is an inspiring one. Working from a market stall, he made his first £100 – enough to buy a van. Through hard graft, he quickly established Alan Michael Sugar Trading. During the 1980s, Amstrad became one of the world’s leading manufacturers of a new piece of must-have tech: the personal computer. He later became the owner of Tottenham Hotspur and played a critical role in the foundation of the Premier League. Not bad going for a lad from Hackney.
Onwards from The Gherkin … to The Cheesegrater! Here, young people learned that its famous lopsided design is due to legislation banning the construction of tall buildings that obscure key views across the city. The Cheesegrater is now home to AON, experts in managing risk. Their job is to spot hazards that could bankrupt a business – be it climate change, cyber attacks, snags in the supply chain or war (very topical currently).
Just around the corner is Lloyd’s of London. Who knew the world’s leading marketplace for insurance started out as a coffee house? Back in 1688, when coffee was a luxurious novelty on these shores, Edward Lloyd’s café catered to ship captains. Those embarking on risky intercontinental trade routes would look to protect themselves from ruin by having others insure their voyages by ‘underwriting’ their name at the bottom of the contract. Since then, firms have bid against each other to underwrite almost anything you can think of, be it Muhammad Ali’s boxing gloves, David Beckham’s right foot or Adele’s vocal cords. (The insurance policy for her voice is worth a reported $35 million).
The tour’s final port of call was the Bank of England … or was it the Royal Exchange? As Joel pointed out, the neighbouring buildings are often confused for one another – thanks to Mary Poppins. The Royal Exchange, with its striking columns, doubled as the bank in the film and has been mistaken for it ever since by Londoners and tourists alike. Despite housing approximately 1/10 of the world’s gold, the Bank of England has never been robbed – the six-foot-deep curtain walls and vast array of CCTV cameras account for that. Two recent employees of the Bank who have since transferred their financial skills into even more demanding roles are its former governor, Mark Carney – now Prime Minister of Canada – and Rachel Reeves, the UK’s current Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Following a quick bite to eat at the offices of LSL Property Services, who had kindly made the day possible, it was time for the young people to hear from Adam Castleton (CEO of LSL) and Saad Hassanuddin (LSL’s Chief Risk Officer). Adam shared his experiences of a career spanning four decades in finance. He spoke about a sliding-doors moment (a new turn of phrase for the young people) when he missed the chance to visit the Manchester Stock Exchange as a schoolboy because he was late for the bus. Punctuality never goes out of fashion! When he was making his way in the finance world, he remembers phoning up the company he’d applied to and posing as a prospective customer to gain a competitive edge. What a great tip. Adam identifies enthusiasm, initiative and knowing your superpower as the top qualities he looks for when recruiting to the LSL team. Most importantly, he believes in the power of giving. ‘You’ll get the most pleasure in your career not from taking and consuming but by giving to someone else. That’s true of life generally. If you give to a partner, your family or the company you work for, you’ll find success.’
Saad shared how his entrepreneurial spirit kicked in at a very early age. ‘I used to get £2 per week pocket money, but I wanted more, so I got a paper round (remember those?!). I started to buy mobile phones and then sold them on for a profit. That led me to trade in luggage – I was doing pretty well and opened a shop, earning good money when I was only 18. But I didn’t really have the knowledge needed, and spent what I made. But I’ve always loved to learn, and went to university. I started a family when I was young and had to provide for them, so I worked a security job at night while I got my qualifications. That was my route into a graduate scheme with Deloitte. Reflecting on my experience, I’ve got five clear principles:
1. Anything that is built quickly tends to collapse just as fast. You’ve got to put in the time and hard work. Don’t be disappointed if you’re not where you want to be straight away. Too many people give up. Know that the knowledge you’re building will pay dividends down the line.
2. Invest in yourself. Read books, listen to podcasts. Never stop learning. I listen to all sorts of things. You can always have a podcast on when you’re at the gym or doing the washing up. Diary of a CEO is a good one.
3. Set yourself clear goals and dream big. Even if you don’t fulfil every single part of your ambition, you’ll still go further by aiming for the sky!
4. Good health is so important – physical and mental. Get into good habits now that will last for the rest of your life.
5. You’ve got to have fun. If you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, you’ll find that you’ll burn out.’
Rounding off a brilliant day, Saad left the young people in attendance with one final piece of wisdom: ‘Your starting point doesn’t define your finish line.’
We at Behind Every Kick couldn’t agree more.