I

think there's two things.

I think there's aspects of starting a business that if I look back on it, the highs can be really high like you can have some you know really great moments and also you know real pinch me moments of like if you can achieve to do some you know if you do some good work and do it well and people are really happy with it like you know that's the best you can do and and those times when it really think wow this is actually this is really great and also you If you hire well, you can have some great people around you.

I think that's critical to success in this as well.

I think being a founder, it can be also really lonely.

And I think that's why then there's the opposite side of things, which is it can also sometimes be really tough.

If you ask me in 2019, were we going to go into a global pandemic? Was there then going to be Russia invading Ukraine, which is then going to create the crisis on an international level, which is going to push interest rates up crazy, which they're going to make so much unviable from a commercial sense in terms of the real estate world.

But this purified architect shortlisted is now typically the process.

And coming to you, Alex, first, what was your motivation to move from the self-employed Bar to the employed Bar? Were there any explicit push or pull factors that were central to your decision-making?

Thanks, Simon.

I'll start with a bit of background, um, in terms of my experience.

I'm from Oldham in Greater Manchester.

I went to a state school, uh, and I was the first in my family to become a lawyer.

I actually didn't think about law or the Bar until much later on in my career.

I did an English degree and then flirted with other jobs.

Alex?