A book which was recently published has a title amongst the supporting cast.
But I think it's the subtitle, which is most interesting. It says, The Reminiscences and Reflections on Three Careers.
And that, indeed is what it's all about. The three careers were first relocating in the eponymous family firm.
Secondly, politics. Where I was a conservative MP and a minister in governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major.
And the third one. It's a sort of package of miscellaneous activities and interests which philanthropy in various forms forms a major part.
So. For focussing on those careers,
there is an introduction which includes a chapter on Oxford where I arrived was to college after having done national service in 1953.
Looking back. You realise how very different.
University life is. In normal circumstances, not under Coffield today.
In so many ways, I find when I'm talking to children and grandchildren who will be into university, been to Oxford.
On well-known ways, it's different. The proportion of us who go to university.
Fifty percent or more female participation. Nothing like that in my day.
But it's obvious differences which I highlight, which I think I think are interesting.
First, we had rationing seems is strange. Eight years after the war, you still had your own butter ration to take into whole.
The second nets less well known. That's obvious.
Is it because so few went to university? Their job prospects were remarkably good.
So there was less pressure to get a first class degree to get a first class job.
So I was never really under that pressure because I knew I was going into the family, if that indeed was my friend's career.
It was a very interesting time. I need 56 to 74.
Interesting, because it was a period when food retailing was becoming dominated by supermarkets.
And that was a challenge for Sainsbury's,
which started with 250 odd countersurveillance shops could day as a private company with limited access to capital, maintain their identity.
Keep up that belief in good quality. And survive.
What was really a remarkable challenge. And so I spent most of my time finding Seitz's hoop markets, planting them and getting them built.
I think during my time as a director with that responsibility,
we built 151 supermarkets and one of the half million square feet of of of warehouse space.
So plenty to do. The next career was politics, which does actually take up quite a lot of time.
This is not a detailed account of my what happened in politics during my career, but various activities of interest, I thought,
including coming first on the ballot for private members bills and carrying into law the Indecent Displays Control Act.
I spent a lot of time on trade policy, including signing the WTO treaty on behalf of the British government.
So I retired from politics and from ministerial office at times of my own choosing,
which is relatively unusual for employees, sometimes at all, political careers end in tears.
I don't think mine did. And I was lucky that I didn't have to spend a long time in jobs where you tied up dealing with details of a bill.
It went quite a lot of time travelling on behalf of the government, all of which was very interesting.
Now, my third career, which I left politics in time to have one, and I stopped that section of the book by saying everyone should have won.
It certainly keeps you interested in that.
And I was involved in five books with Grant Making Charitable Trusts, which was a privilege to be able to give the money.
And it did mean that I was actually chair of the fourth cross at various times.
So it was quite a lot of activity in the book. I also describe.
Several specific projects. The one with which the family name is best known, of course, is the same three link, the National Gallery.
There's a chapter on that one, which was probably most important for me.
Which one I took up after retiring from politics, was chairman of the first chairman,
the founder, chairman of the summit, that House trust where we took over a wonderful square.
The loud noise, two attractive squares in London, which was being occupied as a car park by Inland Revenue staff.
And we turned it into a public space, a centre for culture of the arts, which I recommend anybody to visit.
It has been very successful. I enjoyed the process of writing the book.
It took a long time and it required a lot of support from my wife and family.
I look back at it. It's something worthwhile doing and I hope anybody who reads the book will find it enjoyable.