The Hamlet hosted Dartford at Champion Hill on Saturday, August 9, 2025, and earned a fantastic result to get the new campaign off to a flying start.
After a summer of hard work and preparation, including new management of both teams, with Mark Dacey taking charge of the men’s team and Maria Tavares at the helm of the women’s team. Both having promising pre-season performances.

The opening-day triumph for the men’s team signals a strong tone for the season ahead. It’s the perfect reward for the players, staff, and loyal fans, and a game that sets the bar for what’s to come. With the women’s season due to kick off on Sunday the 17th August against Luton Town.

A Stylish Look for the New Season

Dulwich Hamlet have unveiled their 2025-26 kits, with the home kit drawing inspiration from the club’s rich history.

The design revives the earliest known pink-and-blue halved kit from the 1900/01 season – part of a deliberate move to “reclaim pink” and reconnect with deep-rooted heritage.

In a major boost for local youth development, the club has reinstated an Under-18 men’s team in time for the 2025–26 season, following more than a year of effort spearheaded by Liam Hickey. The return of FA Youth Cup competition promises exciting opportunities for up-and-coming talent within Dulwich Hamlet’s ranks.

On the infrastructure front, Dulwich Hamlet’s long-term dream of a new stadium moves closer to reality. Southwark Council has agreed to lease part of the Greendale site, marking a significant milestone in the club’s pursuit of a modern, purpose-built home.

At Virtus, we’re honoured to extend our multi-season onboarding as the official training-kit and management-kit sponsor for both the men’s and women’s teams. Our branding is prominently placed on the banners behind the Greendale End at Champion Hill – a partnership built on shared values of community, excellence, and resilience.

We also recently completed a refurbishment project making up a new hospitality and fan area at the club – revitalising the function room, boardroom hospitality suite, and stairwell to create modern, welcoming spaces for players and fans alike.

This area is now open on matchdays giving the faithful a more contemporary space to enjoy pre and post-match refreshments!

This space is also home to Hamlet Comedy, held on the first Thursday of each month with some very famous faces often performing.

Every project starts with a clear understanding of the client’s needs and expectations. We begin by conducting a thorough client meeting and understanding their brief and defining the scope, followed by detailed planning, scheduling, and procurement.
Communication is key throughout. On-site, we ensure quality control, safety, and timely delivery, while being prepared to adapt quickly if issues arise. Finally, we close out the project with a full handover, including documentation, client feedback, and a review of lessons learned to continually improve our process.

What sets Virtus Small Works apart is our consistent commitment to quality, regardless of scale. As a main contractor with decades of experience, we apply the same meticulous approach to Small Works that we do on flagship fit outs – ensuring every project is delivered on time, on budget, and to the highest standard.

Our department is supported by the full Virtus ecosystem – including our A1 D&B rating, ISO9001 and ISO14001 accreditations, robust insurance cover, and market-leading health and safety practices. This means clients can enjoy the flexibility and speed of a dedicated Small Works team, without compromising on process, compliance or finish.

Our Small Works Team has successfully delivered a wide variety of impactful projects, including:

Our vision is to become the go-to team for agile, high-quality project delivery within Virtus and across the industry. We aim to continue growing our capabilities, investing in our people, and refining our processes so that we can take on more complex and diverse projects. We see the Small Works department not just as a support arm but as a strategic partner for clients looking for fast, efficient, and expertly managed solutions. Ultimately, we want to set the standard for distinction in small works delivery.

At Virtus, we believe that every project deserves exceptional care. Our Small Works Team combines technical excellence with a flexible, collaborative approach, making it the ideal partner for businesses looking to refresh, reconfigure, or upgrade their space without the scale of a major fit out. If you’re considering a project under £200K, get in touch with us – and discover how small works can deliver big results.

My family’s background is in haulage, demolition, and waste management, so since I was 5-6, I have been in my dad’s lorry and on construction sites. I love the people there and the diverse characters that you get. At the end of school, I had multiple career choices, including risk management and insurance broking. In the end, I chose health and safety. I liked that I had to win over people who didn’t want me there.

So, through Havio, I had the highest qualification you could have in the industry by the time I was 20. Then, three years later, I had the opportunity to buy 50% of the company. That was 2009, just after the financial crisis, so it was a tough time – construction was on its knees, but we got through it. From 2012, we caught the crest of a wave. There wasn’t any great strategy behind it, it was just that the market was increasing, and we really got back into construction. That’s what I always knew and loved.

I’ve always been very mindful that health and safety is not sexy and it hasn’t got a very good reputation. People don’t like you because of your job, and I didn’t like that. I then made it my mission to solve the question: how do we eradicate this wall? How do we let people interact with us and come away from it going: you know what, I didn’t expect that of that safety company or that health and safety person?

There’s a whole ecosystem around it. It’s about how you treat people, how you deliver stuff, how you empathise, and how you understand the challenges that they’re facing on a day-to-day basis. For health and safety to work, you need to take people on the journey with you. That’s always been the approach. We don’t police: we guide, we coach, we mentor.

Health and safety is never a company’s top priority, in my opinion. People fall into the trap of not thinking commercially, but if you aren’t a profitable, sustainable business, you’re not going to have to worry about keeping people safe. I think when you say those words to directors of businesses, they go, ‘Oh, someone who finally gets it.’ It doesn’t mean I don’t care for the people that are at the workface, but I believe that if I deal with it in this way, it’ll improve. You have to start at the leadership level, you have to speak their language.

Health and safety should also just be something that runs across as a value of the organisation. As a health and safety professional, you need to be able to wear many different hats, and you need to be able to talk to people at different levels. I’m not saying I get it right all the time, it’s taken 20 years to get to that level. The challenge for me is to be able to get my team to be able to shortcut my process and be able to have those conversations. Ultimately, it’s all about communication.

People are never the problem. In safety, you have two different kinds of approaches. Safety one is where you create a management system and discipline people according to it, disempowering them. I don’t believe that works. Then you have the other approach, which is what ours is based on, which is to empower people. You still have rules, but you engage with people instead. You say to them, ‘Look, health and safety
hasn’t been done for us. It’s been done for you so that you can go home safely to your wife, children, husband, etc.’

A lot of health and safety professionals either haven’t been taught the right way or they’ve got ingrained beliefs that that’s the way to do it. But I won’t allow that approach within this business. I can tolerate a lot of stuff, but if I see someone delivering health and safety in that way, that’s a big no.

Firstly, we are not an environmental consultancy. Not saying that we couldn’t do it, it’s just not our area of focus. But we are a B Corp company, so people, planet, and profit are all important to us. So, when Poppy came to us to highlight that our current inspection doesn’t quite cover what she needs, we had a conversation about what she requires. Then we came up with a solution and added it to our Altitude app. Now, every time we go to projects, 6/7 questions get asked that we review, instead of Poppy having to go on site all the time. It’s been successful.

In construction, sustainability is a bit of a buzzword. Some clients take more of an active interest, like Virtus, but a lot of contractors do it just because they have to. Interestingly, the demolition and waste industries have been clued in for a long time. If they can save and reuse materials, they earn money from it. It is this mindset that we need contractors to get behind with. Rather than forcing it upon them, they need to understand that it does have benefits, particularly monetary benefits.

You need to be careful with it. Essentially, you could have health and safety professionals who could tackle it, but they can’t be specialists at everything. They would have to look at excavations, scaffolding, fire safety, and then suddenly switch to mental health, which is very different. You can’t possibly do it all.

The world we’re living in is very tumultuous, and there are lots of shifts happening, so mental health awareness is great, but there’s a fine balance with it. Someone needs to nail why there are four times more people taking their lives in construction than in any other industry. It is all so complex. Coming back to the question, I would be very cautious about including it. We can talk about whether there are mental health initiatives or if processes are being followed, but it is tricky when you go into the specifics of individual people.

We used to complete our reports using pen and paper. No one could read my writing, so 15 years ago I decided to invest in a platform, Altitude, which at the time was relatively revolutionary and has since evolved, as the company has grown.

Instead of walking around with their head in a pad the whole time, I wanted our health and safety professionals to create something that allows them to engage, not to form fill. Alongside this, in the background, we have an algorithm that allows us to look at hotspots and trends, which we can then tailor to our clients. Now we’re looking at how we can put AI into that. I’ve got so many ideas, but I haven’t got deep enough pockets to put them into action.

The biggest shift is the Building Safety Act, which we have purposefully kept out of. You’ve got people vying for positions in the market, saying they’re experts when they’re not – everyone’s still trying to find their way. They’re looking at competency, skills, knowledge, experience, and behaviours, which is what has let the industry down, i.e. the Grenfell fire disaster.

Another shift in the whole construction ecosystem is the skills shortage and the fact that the industry is terribly marketed. You can earn good money in construction, and you can get there in 5/6 years, but the industry doesn’t publicise that enough. Let’s be honest, construction is not going to stop any time soon, but it’s going to be an interesting time moving forward. I think there are big opportunities for companies that can set themselves apart.

Simplify. We’ve recently completed a full strategic review of the business. It’s very clear that we’ve built a business with too many clients, where many weren’t aligned with us, either financially or culturally. We have a way of working; they just want to tick the box.
So, we had 400 clients and now we have 220. We’re trying to collate a smaller pool of clients, but the right ones.

In health and safety, life is about doing a better job for your clients. We will keep innovating to provide as best level of service we can to our clients, with things like Altitude, and hopefully, contractors will think of us high up the list when considering health and safety consultants.

It should be a given that people go to work and not be adversely affected, but there is a lot of work to do. Even though we have got the numbers right down in terms of deaths on site, there are still too many.

I aim to try to keep things simple for people and want to work with as many as I can on the senior level, so it gets filtered down to where it will make a real impact. We need to try and speak commercially to clients. I want them to be able to manage their business and earn the money they need, but at the same time not have to adversely their workforce. If your people are happier, they are more productive and then you earn more money off the bottom line.

How Does Matterport Work?

First, a Matterport camera is used to capture a series of 360-degree images throughout a space. Here at Virtus we use the Pro2! These images are automatically stitched together to create an interactive 3D model.

The model generated isn’t just a static image or a video; it’s an interactive, immersive experience where users can navigate the space simply by clicking or tapping their screen. This allows them to look up, down, and side to side, just as they would in real life. Additionally, the experience can be visualised using a VR headset, providing an even more immersive way to explore. This can be remotely accessed, shared, and explored from anywhere in the world on any device, 24/7.

How Virtus Has Utilised Matterport: Case Study Examples

These benefits made it an obvious choice for us to integrate Matterport into our workflow, particularly as we can add the scans into Procore – the construction industry’s most widely used management software. As a result, the entire team can collaborate on the project and share access to documents, planning systems and data in a single, centralised location.

The following case studies showcase the versatility and value of Matterport’s technology and how it has benefited our team and clients.

Databricks

In 2024, we completed an office fitout for Databricks, a global leader in data, analytics, and artificial intelligence, headquartered in San Francisco with offices around the world. In addition to delivering Matterport scans for their London office, we also successfully carried out scans for their Paris and Amsterdam locations.

Both buildings were occupied during the scanning, requiring careful coordination to minimise disruption while capturing the necessary data. The postproduction stage was crucial to meet the client’s privacy needs, involving the manual blurring of sensitive information such as screens and monitors. These immersive 3D walkthroughs have now been integrated into the Databricks site, allowing visitors and new employees to explore and familiarise themselves with the spaces remotely.

24 Britannia Street

Following two decades at their Holborn headquarters, Thames & Hudson embarked on an ambitious relocation, selecting a 16,000 sq. ft. space in the former Gagosian Gallery at Kings Cross. We were tasked with transforming the space into a CAT A office renovation with polished concrete floors, timber-lined mezzanines, and exposed services. It being a big, open space, we thought that it was the perfect opportunity to test out our Matterport scanning for the first time. The Virtus design team were then approached to design a CAT B proposal, and upon completion, we conducted another scan.

Capturing both scans after the CAT A and B refurbishments provided us with a range of benefits beyond just trialling the technology. The before-and-after models serve as a valuable visual record of the transformation, allowing us to showcase the quality of our work to future clients and use the content for marketing and case studies. Internally, the scans offer opportunities for training, process review, and knowledge sharing, helping to refine our workflows for future projects. They also provide clear documentation for accountability, support future maintenance or office fitout renovations, and enhance transparency should clients request a detailed project overview.

Britannia Street CAT A Scan

Britannia Street CAT B Scan

The Future of Matterport

The future of Matterport is already looking promising. In the Fall 2024 Release, Matterport unveiled AI-powered tools like the “Defurnish” feature, which allows users to virtually remove furniture and clutter from digital twins as well as the “Merge” tool, which enables the seamless combination of multiple digital twins. Over the next decade, it is clear that Matterport will continue to evolve with the growing demands of the construction, real estate, and design industries and is expected to focus on several key areas and technologies that will further enhance its capabilities and usability:

1. Integration with Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)

As the immersive experience becomes increasingly important, Matterport will continue to evolve its integration with AR and VR. This will allow users to explore spaces virtually in real-time, offering even more detailed and interactive walkthroughs without physical visits.

2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning

Matterport will likely expand its use of AI and machine learning to automate tasks, so much so that AI-powered personal assistants in virtual tours could guide users, answering questions and providing tailored recommendations. Additionally, AI-driven insights can offer predictive analytics, such as detecting potential design flaws, predicting maintenance needs, or optimising space usage.

3. Autonomous Capture with Robotics & Drones

Drones and autonomous robots could be integrated to scan large commercial properties, construction sites, and industrial facilities faster and more accurately. Real-time progress tracking for construction projects using digital twins could become standard.

4. BIM Integration

As Building Information Modelling (BIM) becomes more widely adopted in construction and design projects, Matterport’s ability to integrate with BIM will continue to be a major focus. This integration will help architects, engineers, and construction professionals use Matterport’s digital twins alongside other BIM software, providing a seamless connection between the physical world and the digital model.

5. Higher-Resolution Scanning and Enhanced Detail

As scanning technology continues to improve, Matterport will likely focus on providing higher-resolution and more detailed scans. This will allow for more accurate and detailed digital twins, which can be especially beneficial in industries like architecture and construction, where precision is critical. The ability to capture fine details in textures, materials, and spatial relationships will improve the quality of the models, making them more useful for a wider range of applications.

6. 5G & Cloud-Based Solutions

With the rise of 5G and edge computing, Matterport is expected to evolve its cloud-based capabilities. For businesses, the ability to upload, access, and share 3D scans securely and instantly from anywhere in the world will be a significant advantage, making real-time collaboration and inspections smoother.

7. Environmental Impact and Sustainability

Given the growing focus on sustainability, Matterport could play a key role in helping organisations achieve their ESG goals and help create more sustainable workspace design solutions. By providing accurate as-built models, Matterport scans can lead to better energy modelling, help reduce waste, optimise material usage, and improve overall project efficiency. Furthermore, by significantly reducing the need for frequent site visits, companies can cut down on travel-related emissions and lower their overall carbon footprint.

The future of Matterport looks incredibly bright in construction and also wider industries, such as real estate, retail, tourism and manufacturing. As technology continues to advance, it will become a key tool in transforming how projects are designed, managed, and maintained. From improving efficiency and collaboration to enhancing precision and reducing waste, Matterport’s 3D scanning technology is setting the stage for a more streamlined, data-driven, and sustainable construction future.

Why Choose Virtus for Your Office Fitouts?

At Virtus, we believe that every office fit-out project deserves the highest level of precision and innovation. That’s why we offer Matterport scanning services exclusively to clients who choose us as their office remodelling contractors and similar projects. By integrating this cutting-edge technology into our services, we provide you with an advanced, reliable solution to enhance your project’s workflow and outcome.
Here’s why selecting Virtus for your office fit-out ensures you’ll benefit from the best in Matterport scanning:

• Expertise: Our team is highly skilled in utilising Matterport technology to capture your space with exceptional detail and accuracy, ensuring the perfect digital representation of your workspace design.

• Custom Solutions: Every project is unique, so we offer tailored Matterport scanning solutions designed to meet your specific needs—whether you’re an office manager, landlord, architect, or contractor.

• Seamless Integration: As part of your office fitout, we make it effortless to incorporate Matterport scans into your project at every stage, from initial design to post-construction.

• Remote Accessibility: No matter where you or your stakeholders are located, our Matterport scans provide easy access to a 3D model, making collaboration and decision-making more streamlined than ever.

Choose Virtus for your next office fitout and experience the precision and convenience of Matterport scanning as an integrated part of your project.

Have any questions? Contact us on the below

Mark: I come from a military forces background. I applied to join the RAF back in the 80’s and I was accepted, but there was a swathe of cuts, so I thought ‘I don’t know what to do now?’ so I went to my careers office at school and after answering a series of questions , the career that was identified as the most suitable was quantity surveying. I had a really mature moment in my life at 17, and I decided to pursue it.
I pursued becoming a quantity surveyor through college and university and became a Chartered Quantity Surveyor in 1991. No family were in the industry previously, so I was on my own.

Alex: When I came out of university, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do – seems like a common theme! A lot of people I knew were applying for grad schemes across several industries. I applied for a few and then decided I was going to go travelling, so put them all on hold. While I was away, I was contacted by one of the ones I applied to which was KPMG, an accountancy audit firm. After I got back, I ended up going for an interview and got offered a job to start in two weeks. So, I started there, and I got my accountancy qualification which took three years. After a while, I was sort of done with the accountancy Big Four life and was going to do some travelling again. Then, I got approached and asked if I wanted to join Virtus and look after their finances. So, I thought, why not? I’ll try something different.

It came from a discussion with a colleague at the time, Tom Martin who was also the Co-founder of the business back in 2000. We’d worked together for several years and hatched a plan, where we would like to do something ourselves, so that’s what we did!
It undoubtedly helped working for a forward-thinking firm at the time together. They gave us the tools that enabled us to think ‘Yes, we could do this.’ I’m a great believer in ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’, and I didn’t want the thought of retiring later in life and sitting in my ‘rocking chair’ and wondering if I could have made it in this industry.’
My short-term view at that time was ‘Okay, if it fails I will have put at risk , my reputation and lose some money, but the greater concerns was looking back in the future and having any regrets that I didn’t give it a go’.
I think you’ve always got to look forward, not back. What’s been, has been and you can only shape the future. Fate delivers accordingly, it’s just when it might deliver.

Mark: I don’t think the industry per say has changed a great deal. We’re all reliant on good communication, working together as a team and acquiring information for us to be able to deliver projects. The most significant change in my opinion has been the technological advancements. When I started in the industry, mobile phones weren’t common, and later I had one of the very first laptops which weighed 9 kilos! I don’t think it has changed what we do and how we do it, particularly, just the response times everyone expects of each other.

Alex: I would say the biggest change in terms of what we’re doing, is the way in which people view what they want from an office, which has changed due to COVID. It has meant that landlords have had to evolve in order to keep their spaces readily available and sellable. Pre COVID, it was much more of a seller’s market where the landlords had the power and, post COVID, I feel like it’s a much more of a buyer’s market. It’s the tenants, and one step further, the employees who are now dictating the space. I think that’s probably the biggest change we’ve seen in terms of what’s being asked for and who’s asking for it.

Mark: I’d say the biggest challenges were initially establishing a client base. Fortunately, we were able to bring some clients with us, but for the client’s you’ve never worked with before, you must prove that you are capable of doing the job. They need to have trust in you that you can deliver.

Subsequent challenges have been recessions. When the markets depressed  you’re all scratching around fishing from a much smaller pool of work – it’s much more aggressive environment.

Obviously, COVID was probably the biggest challenge so far, because no one had ever experienced it before. But again, that goes back to having a good client base and repeat business for us and was our saving grace. We have clients who want to use us and were confident that we would deliver their projects and they in turn  stood by our side during COVID and, without them, finding new business during the pandemic would have been incredibly difficult.

Alex: The biggest challenge we face as a business is the silly competitors who are only looking at short term vanity around revenue and have this obsession with driving prices down. They are not pricing things properly in order to win work and then almost trick their clients into it. It’s not the way we want to go, but it always does present a challenge to us. As a company we strive to be transparent and sensible and that’s why we have repeat business where clients know what they’re getting from us.

Mark: There’s a lot of businesses I’ve seen come and go in the past  25 years so it is a  remarkable achievement. I don’t think we’ve ever lost money in a single year of our 25 years of running the business, which I’m incredibly proud of. It’s not that it hasn’t had its ups and downs over the years but by keeping a firm hand on the  tiller has kept us on the straight and narrow!

I do think the most rewarding aspect has been the people you meet and employ along the way. Take Alex Dhoffer who recently retired after nearly 25 years service to the business.

We have been lucky along the way to have incredible  staff retention. We obviously provide something that people enjoy in an industry that typically has a move rate of every three to four years normally. Generally, it’s being able to enjoy what we do, and I think that’s the thing that I get from it: I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my 25 years. I’m not saying there haven’t been challenges and there’s been some sleepless nights, but hey, life’s like that. You’ve got to have those  occasions to realise how lucky you are in life sometimes.

Alex: The most thing that I’m most proud of is the number of staff that have settled in, stayed a long time and seem to enjoy coming in. We have built a really strong, happy foundation. We’ve seen people leave, realise that the grass isn’t greener and come back, which I think is always a good sign that you’re doing something right. From a financial perspective, the improvement we’ve seen in the success of the company over the last 5-6 years, we’ve really turned the corner. I’m proud of how we’ve sort of driven that business on to succeed.

Alex: One of our subcontractors, who have been going for 20 years have worked with us since they have started. We’ve built those long-term relationships where everyone is on the same page. We’re fair and reasonable and we must be because they keep coming back to work with us again.
At the end of the day, we are only as good as our subcontractors – they’re the ones who do the actual building and finishing touches, which is what the client is looking for. If that’s no good, then we wouldn’t have succeeded. They have helped us enormously to be where we are.

Mark: I agree entirely. I even think our clients have got used to who some of our subcontractors are and, again, it goes back to effective communication and knowing who they are and what makes them tick and obviously paying them on time to get their invaluable commitment.

Mark: Well, what I hope for the next 25 years of Virtus, is that it is still here for many years to come. That would be the legacy that I would like to leave. When I hang up my tape measure, I would like to be able to walk down the streets of London and still see that Virtus hoarding and  take comfort  that business is still thriving.

How will we need to innovate? I think you’re always adapting in this industry, but that’s what I think keeps you on your toes. There is so much variety, that no two days are ever the same and I think that’s what we need to just adapt to, to survive. I think the biggest change we’ll see is this continuation of the environmental impact we make in a resource heavy industry and the challenges we will face to make a difference . In order to make this a success for future generations we will need to see clients and the supply chain  buying into  it and investing in its success.

Alex: I hope I still have my hair in 25 years!
I think the introduction of Poppy and the innovation that we’ve put in over the last 6 – 12 months and that we’re continuing to develop now around ESG is great for the business. We can be at the forefront of that for companies in our tier and that should help us grow and innovate.

I also think what we’re looking at with Max and Liberty, our design team, around our design and build model and architect collaboration is also going to be important. We are seeing this extra emphasis from clients who want one person to look after everything and deal with it.
In all, over the next 25 years, I see us continuing to grow – built on a strong foundation of our staff and essentially growing those staff over time. More of the same, more of the same over the next 25 years!

Alex: I’d say the short-term challenges are all around the new regulations and legislations, which is a challenge across the whole industry. We are already seeing the implications of the longer PCSA agreements and design time. I also think the climate, carbon, the use of materials, the reuse of materials, will be a medium to long term challenge not just for us, but for the world.

Mark: I think it’s just being able to adapt. It’s an ever-changing market and you can’t just stand still. You have to keep moving forward and not expect it just to stay the same, it’s an evolving workplace and you’ll become a dinosaur very quickly.

I would say we are open so everyone’s approachable, and that includes me. The hierarchy has always been a relatively flat structure with everyone’s respectful of each other’s role within the business making it a good place to work. I think that comes through people feeling that they have been listened to, and that they get the rewards for their hard efforts.

Mark: We are going  to  put on our swimming trunks and go to Portugal for a long weekend! Something we have never done before, but feel is a well deserved way  of celebrating such a landmark achievement.

Alex: We’ve got some ideas for events to celebrate with our clients and with our staff, but more to be revealed…

Alex: I would say if you’re going to commit, you’ve got to commit 100% to doing it and you’ve got to accept that that’s going to entail hard work and sacrifice. It’s about not trying to run before you can walk. You have to identify what it is you’re good at and where you currently sit and then building rather than trying to believe you can do everything straight off the bat.

Mark: I agree totally. Hard work doesn’t hurt anyone and if you put the effort in and invest the right amount of time and effort, the rewards will come. There will be good times and hard times, and you have to understand that you are in it for the long game. You also have to believe in yourself as an individual, because sometimes that’s the only person that does believe in you.
I think for the business, it’s important you stick to your core business. Do what you know, don’t diversify too much otherwise you will dilute the message the company wants to deliver and stretch yourself personally without seeing the rewards.. Lastly, I would say: listen. I think far too many people in our industry are too quick to jump in and have their say. Whereas you need to listen to what the client wants, what their needs are and deliver accordingly . If you can do that, I think you can go a long way.

Mark: Maybe to have started when I was younger. I started the business when I was 36, but knowing what I know now, I wish I had started that little bit earlier, but maybe I wasn’t ready at that time to do it. Like I said earlier, I believe in fate and perhaps 36 was meant to be the year.

So, what else would I say? Perhaps not to work as hard as I have. I have worked incredibly hard over the years, and I think other things have suffered as a consequence. It’s just getting that work-life balance correct sometimes which I could not have achieved without the love and support of my family and colleagues.

Alex: I’ll probably give myself some advice on some lottery numbers!
But I think out of university I was very stressed about knowing exactly what it was I wanted to do. I think it’s not about knowing where you want to be with 18 or 25 or 30 or 35 probably, but it’s about doing what’s right at that time and then developing that. School and university taught us that there may be certain careers we had to do in order to be successful, but that’s not the case. No matter what it is you choose to do, you can be very successful.

Mark: For Virtus to continue to be successful and to be a place that people continue to enjoy working here. I think if you enjoy what you do, the rewards come naturally and that’s how I have always feel about it. Very seldomly do I ever get up in the morning and don’t want to go to work and I think that’s a really good measure of happiness and success!