I went into Cook’s feeling inadequate and insecure, yet somehow maintained some inner confidence. It was 1974, and the atmosphere still carried the rebellious, long-haired spirit of the late Sixties. By the time I left in 1979, punk had come and gone and we were clean-cut capitalists ready for Thatcher’s Britain. The house photographs tell that story better than any words.

At the time, I did not fully appreciate what Winchester was giving me. I certainly wasn’t a straight-A student. But five years of being around beautiful buildings, wonderful teachers, broad-ranging facilities and a diverse peer group works its magic. So does playing Winkies, singing Verdi in the coach on the way back from away matches, and sitting in coffee houses: smoking; discussing existentialism; and trying to be cool. The last, of course, was a process of rebelling in exactly the way the school would have approved.

Most importantly of all, Winchester taught me the vastness of what I did not know. It instilled a habit of questioning everything and a thirst to understand things. People, history, literature, businesses, art, music – you name it. We were encouraged to think hard about problems that made our brains ache; to resist simple heuristics; to wrestle with ideas that did not have neat answers. The education and opportunities afforded me during those five years were fundamental to the way I think, learn, and approach life to this day.

While I was always motivated to be financially successful, it never crossed my mind that I might one day be a Fellow. I joined Go Bo in March, and am Chair of the Development Committee. I still find it hard to comprehend that I have become one of what I thought of as those ‘stuffy old farts’: life has its own ironic humour. Through good fortune, some good decisions, being in the right place at the right time (and of course using that excellent education), I have built a successful career. That success gives me the opportunity to give something back.