Final word

ANDREW SHIRLEY, EDITOR

This is the thirteenth edition of The Wealth Report I’ve edited. It seems appropriate, therefore, that the experience has been, if not unlucky, somewhat unusual.

Due to Covid-19 lockdowns and movement restrictions in the UK, office visits have been rare. For the first time I’ve not been able to interview anybody face to face and I haven’t had in-person meetings with any of the amazing editorial and design team that pull the report together.

Have I felt disconnected from my colleagues during the process? Of course, I’ve missed seeing them, but thanks to the joys of Microsoft Teams we’ve probably spoken more than ever before and in some senses worked even more closely together. Arguably, it’s made us more efficient.

Has the report itself suffered? Personally, I don’t think so – I hope you agree. I am very proud of it, and of the team. You could say it’s the perfect advert for the great workingfrom-home experiment many of us have been involved in for the past 12 months.

As a result of similar successes, some have argued that both the office and business travel are dead. I disagree. While technology can replicate process, it can’t replace everything. It can’t, for example, generate those chance interactions with people that can inspire you and lead to new ideas and ways of thinking.

If I hadn’t attended the Kampala launch of The Wealth Report last year, for example, I wouldn’t have sat next to Vusi Thembekwayo and seen how the audience hung off his every word when he was invited to give an impromptu speech. And I certainly wouldn’t have got in touch and asked to interview him for this year’s report – via Teams, of course.

In the overall scheme of life it’s a small thing, but my interview could be another person’s unexpected investment opportunity or unforeseen career-changing event. As he recounts, the photographer David Yarrow, who I also talked to for this edition, has had a few of those.

I hope as the pandemic is beaten and normality begins to return we don’t lose the urge to travel, and that for the next edition of The Wealth Report we can once more safely all meet up in person.

Scan for regular updates from The Wealth Report throughout the year

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