Something has been troubling me for a long, long time. I have a certain regret about the industries to which I have devoted my attention. I love fields like hospitality and the media, where I have spent much of my career. I understand how the economics work: restaurants and broadcasting can offer high margins and excellent cash flow, and providing diners and viewers with pleasure is hard to beat.

But a part of me would have loved to have been a genuine manufacturer. There is something authentic, something noble about making physical objects. It appears to me the essence of capitalism. Service and support sectors are all very well, but their output feels so much less tangible than a production business. Moreover, economies need balance: that way they are better equipped to ride out downturns.