Happy Birthday to the last great bank manager.

His name’s Don Williamson, 80 today and long retired from being branch manager at NatWest in Kensington. He’s my ex-girlfriend’s dad and a wonderful human being. Don came from an era when a bank manager was a well-known and respected figure, a pillar of the local community and genuinely concerned for his customers’ financial well-being. He had the autonomy and discretion to waive bank charges and grant generous overdrafts in a way that would be unthinkable today. We were all customers at the Bank of Don – me, my sisters, most of my mates and he helped us all. Without him, I couldn’t have bought my first flat or the records and turntables I then needed to pay the mortgage. This apt track would have been one of those records. I’ve always thought that if the banks want to repair their reputations, they just need to bring back the old-school bank manager and train a new generation of Dons.