What successful men do at the weekend

It’s easy to wonder at the stockbroker, hypnotised by the blinking screens filled with numbers – or the adman, absorbed by the sheer profundity of his slogan that will ensure millions of pounds worth of sales. But what do these people do when they finally drag themselves away from the office, what do they do on their weekends?

MP, The MP might have tighter purse strings these days as the general public won’t stand for hobbies being put down as expenses. However they are constantly invited to a raft of opulent dinners, socials and talks as the prestige of having an MP attend your event is unquestionable. Either in the constituency – or in London, Westminster’s finest can always be assured of an exciting evening, without having to pay a penny.

STOCKBROKER, Tom Wolfe called them the ‘Masters of the Universe’ and no doubt many of them still wear that epithet proudly. The inherent machismo of the stockbroker means that they carry their competitiveness into the weekend – enjoying sport. It doesn’t matter if it’s golf on Saturday, Liverpool vs Man U or even his son’s rugby match – they’ve got a partisan streak and will always be fierce in playing, or indeed watching any sporting event.

ART DEALER, The art dealer never takes a day of. Why? Because he does for a living what many do during their free time; namely enjoy the beauty of art and culture. On Saturday he’ll be in the gallery – after all when else will many of his esteemed clients be free to discuss the purchase of a particularly unique Modigliani? The shop might be shut on Sunday, but make no mistake, he’ll be planning next week’s business and relax by reading The Art Newspaper.

ADMAN, Though the life of the adman is hardly as glamorous – or decadent – as that of Roger Sterling or Don Draper, the old maxim of ‘work hard, play hard’ still rings true for people in advertising. These days admen are uber-trendy, metropolitan types who will stay in the city to watch conceptual performance art followed by drinks at Frank’s Cafe in Peckham – that is, of course, assuming they’re not being worked to the bone the whole weekend.

PUBLISHER, Books absorb the publisher and he dreams of finding a manuscript that will reveal the genius of a new Dickens or Eliot. His publishing house is very much focussed on the next trend and so the poor soul spends his week editing the submissions of EL James wannabes. The weekends are his though – and he uses his free time vainly searching for a literary classic, poring over manuscripts in Soho establishments like Maison Bertaux or The French House.