What elements do you think are necessary for a good day at work?

No work, lots of money? In all seriousness, I’d say: a good environment to go into and a workload to get on with, but at the appropriate level. With enough time to get to know your colleagues as people, but having clearly set-out goals.

Describe your ideal Sunday afternoon.

Now, unfortunately, that will vary with what my mood is through to what the weather’s like. So, you know, there have been times when all I want is a hot bath and a gin and tonic, to “I need to be more active!” So a big game of golf, or going for a swim. So there’s really no one thing that would work for me at all times. It would depend on the circumstances.

What’s your most memorable travel experience?

That, for me, would have to be Japan. The difference in the culture, the friendliness of the people – everything about it was just a really, really fantastic journey. I was captivated by the temples. It’s the only place off the top of my head that I’d want to go back to, and my wife’s the same.

What is a recent piece of media that stuck with you and why?

At the moment I’m more audio. I’ve been listening to – on YouTube, there’s just these, kind of, quite bad stories, to be honest, but I’ve been just listening to those. This helps me sleep, because I’m focusing on something else other than the fact I can’t sleep or any worries I have. I go to bed and that knocks me out in five minutes. Oh, and I just discovered “The Boys”, which is kind of an anti-superhero tv show that’s got me captivated at the moment. Generally anything science fiction-y, fantasy, will probably get me engaged.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I never had a firm plan! I ranged from the usual astronaut, fireman, RAF pilot for a long time. When I finally did settle on something, the one job that I absolutely loved and part of me still misses – and I can’t go back to it, it’s just too late now – was when I was a land and hydrographic surveyor. Absolutely loved that job, just didn’t pay well. I did some very interesting things. I’ve stood at the end of Birmingham runway, running on and off the runway in between flights to take measurements for the potential expansion of that airport. We did volumetric surveys of coal tips – I literally had to walk up and down coal heaps holding a prism while somebody took measurements so we could work out how much coal was on the Coal Board books, which at that time was being privatised. So it was some very fascinating work. And we did the river cross sections of the Severn in mid Wales in January. That was cold, but again, very interesting work.

What menu would you choose for your last meal?

Oooh, curry. My mum’s homemade curry, Punjabi style. There’s a particular dish, bitter gourd, which you have to soak, peel, and soak overnight with some salt water. My absolute favourite – all of my family know that if I’m coming, if that make it, I’ll be their best friend for life. And that with homemade chapatis, a little bit of plain yoghurt, and a little bit of Indian pickle, just to dip it with. I’d drink just water with the meal itself, just because obviously I wouldn’t want to dilute the taste of it. But maybe a nice ale beforehand. For pudding, it would be an Indian dish which is called ras malai, basically a kind of milk pudding. It’s one of my favourites.

Marmite?

No, no, no, no, no, no.

Agile or waterfall?

Waterfall.

Summer or winter?

Winter.

All-inclusive or self-catering?

Self-catering.