The D&O Diary is on assignment in Europe this week, with the first stop in the great city of London. London is always one of my favorite places to visit, and it is particularly nice to visit this time of the year.
The primary purpose of my visit was to attend and participate as a panelist at the Professional Liability Insurance Society (PLUS) London Chapter Educational and Networking Event on Wednesday afternoon. It was a great event, and very well-attended. I would like to thank PLUS leadership and the PLUS London Chapter Committee for inviting me to be part of this event.
I was honored to be join these distinguished industry professionals as a panelist for the education session. From left to right in the picture: Ed Whitworth of Inigo, who moderated the session; Serena France-Hayhurst of Marsh; and Noona Barlow of McGill. The topic of the session was “Winds of Change: Geopolitics, Trump, and Impacts on Financial Lines and Cyber Insurance.” It was a lively, and, I think, an interesting session. One thing I particularly liked about this panel was how easily and smoothly the panelists interacted. I hope my fellow panelists and the audience enjoyed the session as much as I did.Here’s a view of the audience taken from the dais. The event was held in The City of London Club, which was a perfect venue. The picture is a sort of optical illusion as it does not seem to reflect that there were well over 100 people in attendance.After the educational session, with Emma Fourgeaud and Barry John Searles, both of Marsh. Always great to meet enthusiastic readers of the D&O Diary.With Millie Baars and Oshana Benotmane of InigoWith a couple of seasoned industry veterans (and good friends) Christopher Kramer of AXA XL and Patricia Ramos of LocktonWith Emma Bailey of BHSI. Emma and I had a good conversation and living through (and riding out) the ups and downs of the insurance cycle.While I was in London I had several very enjoyable business meals, including an excellen lunch with Max Carter, George Brooke, and Flora Toyne Sewell, all of New Dawn Risk Group. We had lunch at one of the Ottolenghi restaurants, run by the famous chef and cookbook author Yotam Ottolenghi. The food was truly superb, as was the company.On Tuesday evening, I had a very lovely dinner with my good friend, Yera Patel of Inigo. Yera took me to Amaya, an Indian restaurant in Knightsbridge. Amaya has a Michelin star, and the food offerings really were extraordinary. I think this might have been the best Indian food I have ever had in London (which is saying something, there is a lot of good Indian food in London). The company was excellent as well. A wonderful meal.
My visit to London was brief. In fact, it turned out to be shorter than I had planned. My originally scheduled flight to London was delayed multiple times due to mechanical issues, until the flight was finally cancelled at 1:15 am. I wound up sleeping on a couch in the C Concourse at O’Hare. I did finally make it to London on the overnight flight the next day, arriving 24 hours later than originally planned. As consolation to myself for the lost day, I decided to spend my one free day in the city just doing the London things that I love doing most.
By the time I finally made it to my hotel, I knew that I needed to get some exercise (in addition to a shower and a shave). I took the Piccadilly line train two stops west, from Earl’s Court to Hammersmith, and took a long vigorous walk along the Thames. That’s Hammersmith along the far shore, viewed at low tide.From Hammersmith, I took a District Line train to Westminster, where I first walked across the the South side of the river to get a picture of the Houses of Parliament (as reflected at the top of the post). I then walked down Whitehall, through the Horse Guards, and into St. James’s Park. This picture shows Buckingham Palace as seen from St. James’s Park. The picture also shows that I was fortunate to enjoy splendid early fall weather, as well.A grey heron, in St. James’s ParkAn unexpected bonus: the Changing of the Guard!One thing I always try to do while I am in London is to have at least one meal al fresco in Green Park. I enjoyed this long-standing tradition again on this visit. I picked up a sandwich at the Pret A Manger on Piccadilly and just experiened being in Green Park again.No visit to London would be complete for me without a stop at Fortnum & Mason, the Royal grocers, located on Piccadilly. Here’s a picture in the tea section at the store. I had to replenish my critical tea supplies.I also had to make my customary visit to Hatchard’s, the bookstore located next door to Fortnum & Mason. The picture show the history book section at the store, where I spent a happy hour or so browsing the collection.On this trip, I also made a first-time ever visit to Foyles, an enormous bookstore located on Charing Cross Road in Soho. The two bookstores are different. Hatchard’s is like a collection carefully curated by a good friend who really knows what you want to read. Foyles is a like a generous offering from a good friend that wants to make sure you have the opportunity to select anything you could possibly want. Bottom line: I came home with an armful of books to read.This is the Cambridge Theater in the Seven Dials area in Soho. In November 2011, my son and I went to see the musical, Matilda, there. The musical had just opened. It has been playing there continuously ever since, and it continues to this day. Really kind of amazing, isn’t it?I finished the afternoon by stopping at a pint at my favorite London pub, the Angelsea Arms in South Kensington. The thing I like about the pub is that it has an outdoor terrace facing a quiet neighborhood street.
More Pictures of London
The Royal ExchangeThe Monument to the Great Fire of LondonThe Leadenhall Market, which is adjacent to the Lloyd’s buildingOrdinarily at this point in my post, I would include a hotel recommendation. In this case, I would fact be happy to recommend my favorite hotel in London, the Resident Kensington, located near the Earl’s Court underground station. However, it turns out that the hotel is closing. The day I left was the last day that the hotel was accepting guests. Apparently the owners sold the building. I suppose I can hope that the new owners will also run it as a hotel. But it still something quite unexpected for this hotel to close. It has been part of my overall London experience since I first stayed in the hotel more than 15 years ago. (It has changed names several times during that period, but it has stayed the same hotel.) I have to say, I will miss the hotel, honestly it has been one of the things I have always enjoyed about visiting London.
