Sublime to Ridiculous

What's really interesting is the leverage effect that seems to be associated with Bloomfield House and Bath in general. I just ran into a friend of mine in the local corner shop. He lives on the same road - Bloomfield Road - as us. Another friend, also a Bathonian, had asked me last week if I might be able to help his company - a very well-known multinational - with some of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues. He was particularly keen to take a look at links with the United Nations. My neighbour just happens to be an advisor to Kofi Annan on the Global Compact, his (Kofi's) favourite UN corporate initiative. Funny old world - everything's on your doorstep. We've got environmental strategists, human rights specialists and globalisation gurus coming out of our ears around here, and most of them are to be found at our local deli, chewing the fat. Sometimes, when we're running CSR seminars at the hotel, you might find a group of international business movers and shakers in the drawing room, with a couple of my kids sat with them, holding forth on the meaning of life. We can serve up the world's tastiest bacon on a Sunday morning, provided by BBC broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby's Bath organic farm (almost visible from our dining room), then hear him on the radio, locking horns with the Prime Minister over the Common Agricultural Policy.