During the early 1990s I was the archetypal journalist. Long liquid lunches, late nights, but never a deadline missed nor a conversation forgotten. Often an exclusive financial story resulted, accompanied by a desperate hangover.
Strangely, industry representatives queued up to wine and dine me. Good time Prestridge.
My reputation for being a bon viveur triggered a phone call from the editor of Investment Adviser: "Would you like to write a regular fun column on your lunches with members of the financial services industry?" And lo, ‘Jeff’s Lunchbox’ was born.
What fun. People confiding in me over bubbles (Maria Darby, ex-Lansons, telling me she was a Take That fanatic). Lunches where I thought I smelt like camembert from my drinking excesses the night before (Ian Chimes, ex-Credit Suisse). Dinners followed by a £50 taxi journey from Hemel Hempstead after falling asleep on the train (John Allison, ex-Scottish Life International).
Jeff’s Lunchbox was turned into a book. Not a best-seller, but it made people laugh. Until recently, it was available on Amazon for less than £1, even though one lone reviewer – not me – gave it five stars.
I would have died if Jeff’s Lunchbox continued. But it has a worthy successor in my more cerebral column in Financial Adviser.
To this day, people still come up to me and say they have a copy of their appearance in the Jeff’s Lunchbox column hanging in their downstairs toilet. Fame.
Jeff Prestridge is a financial journalist and columnist for Financial Adviser
