I was taken aback by how sad I was to read the news that the Body Shop has called in administrators. Without wishing to generalise too much, I suspect many women of a similar age…

Officially beginning with the Chinese Lunar New Year on 10th February, 2024 is the year of the dragon. Unlike in the West, where stories typically feature terrifying monsters who eat children, terrorise villages and have…

This isn’t the year for you if you are an election-phobe. More than half of the world’s population, some four billion people, are participating in elections in 40 countries this year with the US, Russia,…

During Twixmas, my home underwent a transformation into a battleground of board games and toys as my two small children happily explored their new presents. In the midst of all the festive chaos, I found…

On 5 December our office Christmas tree arrived: green and healthy with an infectious lease of festive life. Our tree’s entrance brought excitement that Christmas was just around the corner. Albeit a little compact and…

The only guidance I ever received on affairs of sex, was a copy of Manwatching by Desmond Morris left on my bedside table, and the insistence from my three elder brothers that I should ask…

The World Health Organisation has set the theme this year as ‘Mental health is a universal human right‘. What does this mean to you? As we reflect on our lifetime if we are honest there…

My go-to literature for the aeroplane and sun-lounger tends to be true crime and thrillers.  In the evenings and when commuting I lean towards anything from the Victorian era or self-development.  I have a keen…

It was the question I was dreading. I was halfway through a video call with the wonderful Emma Brian, the Haggie Partners HR manager, and somehow I thought I had managed to avoid making a…

Nestled on a leafy green in an area that is constantly struggling to decide if it is Hackney or Islington is the UK’s oldest terraced house. A nice if inconsequential fact. The kind you’re not…

For many years, my dad has had the pleasure of working at Haggie Partners and I always knew he really enjoyed it, but I have never fully understood what he actually does for five days…

It’s 37 years since I turned up in EC3 for my first day as a fresh-faced insurance broker. Barring short working stints broking in New York and Singapore in the 90s, I’ve been here ever…