The Boardroom

Directors, specialists, CEOs, MBEs, PhD holders, and other higher-ups… they’re all people you might meet in the boardroom. It’s a professional space where best behaviour is upheld. But these successful types are people too! They have lives and we want to know what goes on in them. We squeeze answers out of them on subjects you wouldn’t normally discuss in the boardroom

PROFILE: Greg Prangnell Head Chef at Freemason’s Hall Age: 47 Born in the Isle of Wight Lives in Market Harborough Noteworthy: Has been a chef for 22 years working in many venues including Stapleford Park, Kilworth House, and Farndon Fields Farm Shop where he and his team won the FARMA 2016 Best Farmhouse Restaurant title.

FRIENDSHIPS: How would you describe yourself as a friend? Hopefully loyal, fun, and dependable. I think that’s what I would look for in other people. ADVENTURES: What’s the craziest thing you’ve done? I can’t tell you! I’ve done some very stupid things… Can we come back to that one? ENVIRONMENT: Where would your nearest and dearest look for you? Definitely the garage, surrounded by my woodworking tools, among all sorts of other tools. HEALTH AND FITNESS: What’s your unhealthiest habit? Chocolate. Sugar in general. I have way too much sugar, it’s no good but it is just so addictive. I don’t really like sugary drinks or the like, but puddings and cakes? I can’t LOVE RELATIONSHIPS: What’s your best relationship advice? Treat people how you want to be treated yourself. You can’t go wrong. If you act like an ass, well then you can only really expect that back. SKILLS: Weirdly good at anything? I’m not into blowing my own trumpet, but I am a chef so it would be cooking, I know that’s really boring! I am getting better at woodworking! Cutting through wood is like cutting through a loaf of bread, except it’s a lot tougher. SPIRITUAL LIFE: Which of life’s mysteries keep you up at night? I have tied my thoughts to one flag – it’s called absurdism. It’s the idea that nothing in life has any real meaning behind it besides the meaning that humans project onto it. stop myself. INTELLECTUAL LIFE: What do you geek out on? My woodworking tools! Anything that is practical or sciencebased, especially on YouTube, which has loads of great videos on all sorts. CAREER: What’s the worst part about your job? Everyone likes food and has an opinion. Tastes are subjective, so when one person loves a dish and someone else hates it, it can be difficult to find a solution. CREATIVE LIFE: Outside of work, what did you last ‘create’? I made a shelf for the back of my Mini so I can use it as a very small van. FAMILY LIFE: What’s your most fond memory from childhood? Eating my mum’s food on my birthday. She’d let me have whatever I wanted for dinner.

COMMUNITY LIFE: Which political topic are you most interested in right now? Ever since reading George Orwell’s ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’, I notice the way the media presents news and people just don’t question it. I feel that if we can’t properly scrutinise it as a society then I can’t really let it stress me out the way it should.