The Playlist

Some years ago, a dear friend visited with her husband and her children, who were 11 and 9 then. The parents were debating something: one parent was insisting that children should have only the best things, whereas the other was saying that if they do not occasionally eat bad food or experience rubbish quality, they will never learn to discern good from bad.

The children were immensely fond of hot chocolate. So every day I made them some hot chocolate. I serve hot chocolate in small espresso cups which contain enough, and encourage slow savouring of the drink. They were served three hot chocolate drinks over three days — a mass market brand hot chocolate, a mid range but moreish Florentine hot chocolate, and then hot chocolate made straight from couverture.

After that blind test, I asked them to rank their preferences. The children conferred and unanimously pronounced the one made with the couverture the best, followed by the Florentine hot chocolate. They were unimpressed with the mass market one – heavy on sugar and lecithin, low on cocoa.

Considering their ages, this assessment and their discernment was doubly impressive.

I thought about that visit and that exercise in developing discernment as I set out to write my book this year.

𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘜𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧? 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭, 𝘪𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩?

My book 𝗨𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮. 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺., which will be in your hands in April 2026, has indeed been born of taking that untrodden path.

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 there were several such experiences this year alone.

I was asked to become SID to the incoming chair Charles Cade on Temple Bar Investment Trust; I am now the last remaining director with a clear memory of the fund manager change that the board undertook in the first lockdown in 2020. This professional development capped 2025.

Being on the board of a listed company in a novel asset class, and being in the thick of things as the company experienced a bidding war over it was another professional Uncharted Space experience for me. The transaction concluded in mid-2025. With a bang, not a whimper, TS Eliot may take note. The book includes the story of Harmony Energy Income Trust — from its beginnings, its IPO, all the way to its acquisition and subsequent delisting.

The year had begun with an appointment as an external director of Ampa Group, the world’s largest professional services B-Corp. “Bigger, better, braver” encapsulates how the firm operates, under the leadership of Sarah Walker-Smith, recognised amongst the top-20 CEOs in the UK. New sector, new ownership structure, new sector challenges of growth, financing, and AI.

In the Directors’ Book Club that I have run for 4 years, I included two completely different 𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 picks: Service by John Tottenham and Trust by Hernan Diaz. Not the usual fare for professional book clubs.

𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 — I rediscovered music. I come from a family with immense musical talent, grew up listening to music, and despite having more talented singers around, had a habit of singing aloud while doing chores. But I am a BBC Radio 4 type of person, and a poetry and lyrics fiend which means I am quite aware of words I am singing or listening to.

Resuming listening to music this year I consciously moved away from focusing on lyrics, to the visceral quality of tune and beat.

As a result the list of the top few has some surprising music artists. Here it is!

As we step into a new year, I would love to hear what Uncharted Spaces 𝘺𝘰𝘶 intend to explore in 2026. And what music will be accompanying you there.