I saw my old firm in the paper the other day and my mind drifted back to when they only had£20bn under management, or mismanagement as the case was.
I was asked if I would go down to take charge of the office and the 200 staff in the administration and custody centre.
I jumped at the chance as it had always made me wonder why it didn't work better.
Within two months it was obvious why.
The staff were badly treated wages, career development and the equipment. The staff cost roughly £2 million while the PCs they used were worth about £50.
They never sat exams to further their caterer and no career path had been shown.
New PCs cost £80,000 and an incentive scheme for passing industry exams saw over 100 acquire the diploma.
Finding a fraud put the tin lid on it and suddenly everything was rosy!
Word came back about how the office had been transformed but I really felt sorry for the people who hadn't spotted the glaringly obvious.
Most work is about the basics and not the grandiose. It's like walking the camino, it really is one step after another. It's not about getting to here by 9am and there by 11:45 and our lodgings by 3:25pm. Those things will in all likelihood come to pass, but it is simply about moving forward.
I look back with fond memories of my time in Newcastle, probably the easiest of all the jobs I had.
