The BV magazine, November ‘22 DORSET ISLAND DISCS
by Laura Hitchcock
‘There’s no checkbox on Zoopla for a minstrel’s gallery’ – Dorset Island Discs Giles Keating, the owner of Athelhampton House, one of England’s finest Tudor manors, has overseen a major plan of maintenance on the much-loved building Following a spell as a research fellow at London Business School, Giles Keating was chief economist at a major international bank for 30 years. ‘The political events of this last month would have been my meat and drink, it would certainly have been a pretty busy few weeks!’ he says. He spent his time at the bank studying the economy and finance not just of the UK, but of the major and emerging economies across the globe. He first visited China before the Tiananmen Square massacre, and went back frequently, watching it grow from a primitive economy to a global power. He toured the world, visiting Asia, the Americas and the Middle East: ‘I spent my time examining, talking to people, telling them what I thought I knew, and discovering what they actually knew!’ When he retired from banking he cast around for new ventures: ‘when you retire, you can’t just lie down’. Giles became increasingly
interested in the modern finance revolution, bringing tech into the finance arena: first via a robo-advisor startup (a type of automated financial advisor that provides algorithm-driven wealth management services with littleto-no human intervention), and
Athelhampton House in 2022, with all major projects finally complete Image: Courtenay Hitchcock
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then in digital currency. But with more time on his hands, Giles needed a new project. A Tudor shopping list ‘I have always had a yen to get closer to the spirit and architecture of the Tudor era. I also have four children (and have just welcomed my first grandchild), and I wanted a house which could accommodate big family get-togethers. On top of which I wanted a new business – not one to just sit on, but one I could be involved in, making it live and work. Old houses need looking after – they need to be alive. ‘But it’s a niche property search; Tudor houses are in rather limited supply. The selection of those that may also be run as businesses is even tinier. And there seems to be no checkbox on Zoopla for “minstrel’s gallery”, which
