What's the dream?

I was recently invited to a roundtable about the contribution of luxury in the UK. My role was to explain the importance of craft skills within the sector. 'Luxury' is often dismissed as elitist, but the sector employs an astonishing 500,000 people directly or indirectly across the British Isles and keeps a number of traditional skills alive.

I  talked enthusiastically about our team and our commitment to their development, particularly sharing our experiences of apprenticeships.

To illustrate how learning and teaching sit at the heart of our company, I told a story about an apprentice who I asked to describe 'the dream' in his monthly 1-2-1. Instead of saying "a Ferrari," as I expected of the young 18-year-old man who had recently passed his driving test, he said, "to pass on the skills I've been lucky enough to have been taught."

I certainly found a speck of dust in my eye during that 1-2-1 with Callum, and to my surprise, the hardened industry heavyweights and policymakers were equally moved to hear the apprentice's humble words.

So, whatever the papers might have you believe (!), we find that Gen Z are eager to learn and to teach, and we think that's something to celebrate.

Camilla McLean, managing director