I worked above the Las Vegas amusement arcade in London's glittering West End for a few years at the beginning of my so-called career, at esteemed design consultancy Lloyd Northover. I had some great times here and met some lifelong chums who much later in life became my business partners. It has been the only job that I left because I was having too much of a good time! Seriously, I felt that I was spending too much time messing around and having a chortle. John(Lloyd) and Jim(Northover) were great bosses and lovely fellows who didn't so much rule the studio with an iron fist as an angora mitten. So jolly japes and schoolboy pranks were the order of the day and I and my partner in crimes, Neil, took it upon ourselves to amuse our captive audience. Fire, lighter fuel, knives, scalpels , cow gum and other accoutrements of the modern design studio were all employed to humorous effect as we set out to tickle the collective funny-bones of our workmates. It helped no end that John and Jim's office was located a few doors further down Wardour Street than the studio, and a warning internal phone call by Liz, their PA, would warn us of their imminent arrival. And so we were never caught too red-handed . And so it was that I found myself beginning to feel a bit guilty and bad that I was spending too much of my time prankstering about. With a heavy heart and aching ribs, I handed my notice in and moved to what I thought were slightly more verdant pastures...
