Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. I'm Matt Miller and
Speaker 1: I'm Hannah Elliott, and this is hot pursuit.
Speaker 2: All right, So I guess Christmas has happened?
Speaker 3: Is that we're fainting here?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I'm literally furiously googling a calendar right now
Speaker 1: to see what has happened.
Speaker 2: You know, Christmas, it was wonderful.
Speaker 1: It is my by far, my favorite holiday. I have
Speaker 1: to really, oh, how could it? How could it not be?
Speaker 1: It's got magic, It is magic. I mean I've loved
Speaker 1: it since I was a child.
Speaker 2: I feel differently about it. I mean, it's just for me.
Speaker 2: The expectations are so.
Speaker 3: High, or they have been since I was a little kid, right,
Speaker 3: And is.
Speaker 1: This expectations you put on yourself or that other people
Speaker 1: put on you.
Speaker 2: I think maybe both. I don't know.
Speaker 3: For me, it's an emotionally challenging holiday and it always
Speaker 3: has been, like my whole life. I'm happy about it.
Speaker 3: Like when I was a kid, I was very happy
Speaker 3: to get presents, you know, of course, but it just
Speaker 3: seemed like maybe starting in my twenties, it was just
Speaker 3: very stressful.
Speaker 2: I'm always happy when it's over.
Speaker 1: There's so much to unpack there.
Speaker 2: I mean, I know, probably too much for a car.
Speaker 1: I mean, of course I can start asking, well, what
Speaker 1: happened in your twenties or something change.
Speaker 3: No, I just think I became an adult and realized, wow,
Speaker 3: got to give gifts and get gifts, and it's you know, money.
Speaker 2: It feels like too much money to me.
Speaker 4: Around this holiday.
Speaker 2: That's probably what it issgiving.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I think a lot. It can be, of
Speaker 1: course it you know, the thing that I find sometimes
Speaker 1: is that it exaggerates what already exists in any dynamic.
Speaker 1: You know, if there are things that are sort of
Speaker 1: in a family or relationship that are like bubbling under
Speaker 1: the surface. Oftentimes the holidays are the time that that
Speaker 1: really comes out, whether it's whatever like money problems like
Speaker 1: you say, or whatever that is really true. It can
Speaker 1: be really stress right relationships stuff, Oh completely like whatever
Speaker 1: sort of there, it's gonna really exaggerate. For sure. I
Speaker 1: have to say, I hope that you had a really
Speaker 1: nice Christmas. You know, in Spain, maybe that's a nice
Speaker 1: way to avoid some stress.
Speaker 3: Yeah it is, No, it really is. Also because I
Speaker 3: do it differently in Spain, so at home, yes, we would,
Speaker 3: you know, everyone wakes up very early because the youngest
Speaker 3: kids want, you know, to get going at six or whatever.
Speaker 1: Of course, and.
Speaker 3: Then we all start drinking mimosas like straight away. Yeah,
Speaker 3: so that by the afternoon when you have to go
Speaker 3: to Grandma's like in a coat and tie, it's a
Speaker 3: little bit less fun.
Speaker 1: Now, do you have a mimosa? No?
Speaker 3: Well, I don't drink anymore, but no. And I also
Speaker 3: don't spend Christmas at home anymore. So now okay, some
Speaker 3: of them, yeah, married, we we come to Spain for
Speaker 3: Christmas and they do Christmas in Spain on the evening
Speaker 3: on Christmas Eve on the twenty fourth.
Speaker 2: That's great, which to me always felt like not as good.
Speaker 3: But I guess it's great because you're not hung over
Speaker 3: by the afternoon.
Speaker 1: Really oh gosh, yeah, no headache.
Speaker 3: What was your did you have like a did you
Speaker 3: have a thing that you stick to? Do you still
Speaker 3: do the same thing?
Speaker 1: Growing up in my family, we would we would go
Speaker 1: to church on Christmas Eve and then you know, have
Speaker 1: some presence and then Christmas morning. Of course, I was
Speaker 1: the one getting up at like four point thirty in
Speaker 1: the morning because I was so excited about everything. And
Speaker 1: I still get up pretty early Christmas morning because I'm
Speaker 1: still excited, and you know, just kind of have a
Speaker 1: lazy day. There's of course a Christmas meal at some
Speaker 1: point and go to a movie or go out on
Speaker 1: a family walk. It was maybe freeing growing up where
Speaker 1: I did because we didn't actually live close to any relatives,
Speaker 1: so there was really no pressure to do the rounds
Speaker 1: or to visit relatives or family. We kind of were
Speaker 1: very insular and it was just our immediate family, our
Speaker 1: core family. So maybe that's why I escaped. The addition
Speaker 1: for stress and terror.
Speaker 2: I always had to go to at least two sets
Speaker 2: of grandparents.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, that's tricky.
Speaker 2: And it was like formal meals at everyone's house.
Speaker 1: And yeah, you know, in my adult life, I've had
Speaker 1: all kinds of Christmases. I've spent Christmas alone in New
Speaker 1: York City City, eating at a diner alone and couldn't
Speaker 1: have been happier. I've traveled, you know, I've been out
Speaker 1: of the country on Christmas. I've been with family. I've
Speaker 1: had lots of different different Christmases, and it's I think
Speaker 1: that is really freeing too. I'm perhaps impervious to guilt,
Speaker 1: so I didn't feel guilty just telling people I'm not
Speaker 1: going to be around and that that was really freeing too.
Speaker 1: It helps me don't have kids.
Speaker 3: And now that I have kids and they're just little
Speaker 3: and young, I guess I'm even more excited for it
Speaker 3: than I ever have been, because they're.
Speaker 2: Still pumped, you know, of course. But it's also I
Speaker 2: don't love the winter and the weather. You know.
Speaker 1: Oh you don't do you snowmobile at all?
Speaker 2: Uh No, I never really got into it.
Speaker 1: Oh interesting, huh.
Speaker 2: But you do skies.
Speaker 1: You like skiing ski?
Speaker 2: I love the ski Now that's another story.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, but that's usually after Christmas. You know, the
Speaker 3: snow is not great at the end of December. All right, Well, listen,
Speaker 3: I wonder what it's like in Las Vegas, Hannah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Las Vegas for Christmas could be a thing. I'm
Speaker 1: sure it is for some people. But the last time
Speaker 1: I was in Las Vegas and we've we've spoken about
Speaker 1: Las Vegas is a lot of things to a lot
Speaker 1: of people. But I had a really nice time drive
Speaker 1: learning to drive and be a proper driver, and a
Speaker 1: Rolls Royce with Andy McCann, who is the official Rolls
Speaker 1: Royce driver and actually spent years driving torson Muller otvos
Speaker 1: around the top boss at Rolls Royce, and I had
Speaker 1: so much fun with him. I suggested to you that
Speaker 1: he should I'm on the podcast and talk to us
Speaker 1: about just his life. He's a speaking of skiing, former
Speaker 1: pro skier, ski coach, trains a lot of Formula one drivers,
Speaker 1: really interesting guy, so I thought he should come on
Speaker 1: and talk to us about his life and driving and
Speaker 1: all that sort awesome.
Speaker 3: Let's get into it. Here is Andy McCann Rolls Royce
Speaker 3: driving instructor.
Speaker 1: You know, Andy, I think i've I've known you sort
Speaker 1: of in passing for years, but we had a really
Speaker 1: great day recently in Las Vegas where you trained me
Speaker 1: how to be a proper Rolls Royce chauffeur and it
Speaker 1: was so fascinating and we wrote this amazing piece about it.
Speaker 1: But I wanted to have you on because your life
Speaker 1: is so interesting. You're a professional skier and coach, and
Speaker 1: I'm so excited to talk to you because I want
Speaker 1: you to share your wisdom and insight about proper driving
Speaker 1: and what it really takes to be a private driver,
Speaker 1: but also your view on it is really holistic and
Speaker 1: I think it touches on a lot of really interesting things.
Speaker 1: So Andy, it's really nice to have you with us,
Speaker 1: and I can't wait to dive in.
Speaker 5: Well.
Speaker 4: First of all, thank you very much for the invitation.
Speaker 4: Much appreciated, and I don't know who enjoyed the day most,
Speaker 4: whether it was you or me when we spend the
Speaker 4: day driving around the desert in outside of Las Vegas.
Speaker 4: Driving is something that is very close to everyone's heart.
Speaker 4: Everyone thinks they're a superstar, and those people that aren't
Speaker 4: superstars want to be superstars, but actually they very rarely
Speaker 4: think about the ingredients to be a superstar. You know
Speaker 4: what is a superstar driver? And I think as long
Speaker 4: as you enjoy your driving and you have a passion
Speaker 4: for driving, it makes the whole experience far far more effective.
Speaker 4: I think when you are how to drive, probably as
Speaker 4: a child or a teenager, it's only a glimpse. You
Speaker 4: only really start learning when you're out on the open road.
Speaker 4: But unfortunately you often learn by mistakes. You're not given
Speaker 4: the correct guidance, you're not given the correct apparatus. What
Speaker 4: I mean by that is the correct roads, and different
Speaker 4: countries around the world have different types of training structures.
Speaker 4: And you know, whether you're in parts of Asia and
Speaker 4: exposed to a thousand scooters surrounding you, and or maybe
Speaker 4: parts of Germany where you've got incredibly high speeds on
Speaker 4: the highways, no one's really coached on how to handle those.
Speaker 4: So we've actually found that if we take away the
Speaker 4: rolls Royce says, the world's best motorcaf for one moment,
Speaker 4: let's just look at driving on a public road. You've
Speaker 4: got safety is paramount, but safety doesn't happen by yourself.
Speaker 4: You have to create safety and you have to look
Speaker 4: at the components of safety. And I think you'll agree
Speaker 4: that part of the safetyness when you're driving, the weak
Speaker 4: link is the driver and if the.
Speaker 1: Driving repeatedly in Vegas, it's probably true.
Speaker 4: Well it is true. But luckily you weren't a weak link.
Speaker 4: You were an improving link in a very important chain.
Speaker 4: And once you once people discover a little bit about themselves,
Speaker 4: then it's easy to change. A lot of people aren't
Speaker 4: open to discovering this, and they're very binary in their
Speaker 4: way of thinking and their way of driving. And if
Speaker 4: you look at the professional side of driving and when
Speaker 4: we're training, whether it's a sports car driver on a track,
Speaker 4: or a chauffeur or somebody that's an enthusiast. Think of
Speaker 4: yourself like an athlete. You are performing, and certainly as
Speaker 4: a chauffeur and most definitely a rotary chauffeur. The captain,
Speaker 4: you're the pilot. You have a lot of responsibility, so
Speaker 4: you're not just driving around the streets. You're looking for
Speaker 4: every tiny little detail. You're anticipating so much. And if
Speaker 4: we all had a crystal ball, it would be easy.
Speaker 4: The physical side of driving would actually be how you
Speaker 4: connect with the car and how you move the steering wheel,
Speaker 4: how you move the pedals. And I think you went
Speaker 4: through some discoveries when we were together.
Speaker 1: I completely did. And I was going to say, you
Speaker 1: mentioned the building blocks of being a good driver and
Speaker 1: good driving. Can you just break it down for us
Speaker 1: from a very elemental level of the common mistakes that
Speaker 1: people make when they get into a car, and what
Speaker 1: are actually the building blocks to start being a good driver.
Speaker 4: Well, first and foremost people come in many shapes and sizes.
Speaker 4: I don't know any car that's on the market at
Speaker 4: the moment that doesn't have an adjustable seat, So most
Speaker 4: people compromise their driving thefore moments by having I won't
Speaker 4: say the wrong driving position, but I will say an
Speaker 4: ineffective driving position. So by aligning themselves behind the steering wheel,
Speaker 4: they're creating tension. So if you have little tension, then
Speaker 4: you will be able to rotate the steering wheel more effectively,
Speaker 4: You'll be able to have better vision looking ahead, You'll
Speaker 4: have the ability to move the pedals more effectively using
Speaker 4: different muscles. So that is that's stage one, sitting behind
Speaker 4: the steering wheel of the car.
Speaker 6: But wait, and is there a certain way we should
Speaker 6: Like should I have a kink in my elbow? Should
Speaker 6: I have my legs extended?
Speaker 1: I was just going to say, I know this isn't
Speaker 1: NASCAR start.
Speaker 2: Sitting up higher?
Speaker 6: Do I need to be sitting low?
Speaker 4: Like?
Speaker 6: Is there one specific position for everybody or does everybody
Speaker 6: have his or her own position that works best.
Speaker 4: If we work on a thousand different drivers, we have
Speaker 4: a thousand different driving positions, and those different drivers could
Speaker 4: be in slightly different cars. So it's a lot to
Speaker 4: do with how your feet are in relation to the
Speaker 4: pelvis and where your shoulders are in relation to the
Speaker 4: steering wheel. So some cars economics are very different some cars,
Speaker 4: let us say many sports cars, naming none in particular.
Speaker 4: You have a very feet forward position, so your foot
Speaker 4: height and your pelvis are very similar, so your legs
Speaker 4: are slightly in a different position. Your knee joint should
Speaker 4: be slightly more open. If you're in an suv, the
Speaker 4: seating position or people carry a family vehicle, the seating
Speaker 4: position is a little bit more chair like, and of
Speaker 4: course if you're sitting in a chair, the ability to
Speaker 4: operate the pedals more effectively is compromised because you're using
Speaker 4: different muscle groups. So I've been fortunate enough to work
Speaker 4: with some of the world's best drivers, and some of
Speaker 4: our let's say methodology has been carried through to making
Speaker 4: sure that your body is in a ready state, so
Speaker 4: in a start position rather than a crumpled or too
Speaker 4: far extended position.
Speaker 6: When I think of being a great driver, I think
Speaker 6: of somebody who knows how to, you know, hit the
Speaker 6: apex and get the right acceleration out of a turn,
Speaker 6: or someone who's able to be at sort of nine
Speaker 6: point nine tenths without crossing over. But that I can't
Speaker 6: imagine that applies to a chauffeur. So isn't there a
Speaker 6: massive difference between someone who's driving for spoorting pleasure and
Speaker 6: someone who's driving in order not to disturb, like the
Speaker 6: rich guy in the back.
Speaker 4: Well, actually fat quite the opposite. It's exactly the same.
Speaker 4: Because balancing a car on a circuit is the same
Speaker 4: as balancing a car on the road. Your line could
Speaker 4: be slightly different, but the way in which you turn
Speaker 4: in and exit a turn, it's physics, and you're balancing physics,
Speaker 4: and if you get it wrong, guess what Physics will
Speaker 4: always win. So the way in which you operate the
Speaker 4: machine as a driver, whether you're traveling at one hundred
Speaker 4: plus miles an hour or within the legal speed limits
Speaker 4: on the public roads, you're still rotating the wheel, you're
Speaker 4: still using the brakes, you're still using the accelerator. In fact,
Speaker 4: it's even more difficult on the public road because you've
Speaker 4: got a lot of more distractions. So it's quite fascinating
Speaker 4: the art of driving. It's not just stopping at red
Speaker 4: traffic lights and looking at for pedestrians. The skill. When
Speaker 4: we're training drivers, we often find that race drivers make
Speaker 4: incredibly good chauffeurs. We just spend a little bit more
Speaker 4: time tidying up their etiquette skills in their mannerisms and
Speaker 4: how to open a door, rather than taking a very
Speaker 4: good chauffeur that's been in the industry for a long
Speaker 4: time that knows how the tire double winds are not
Speaker 4: then wear a suit correctly and polish their shoes, but
Speaker 4: they don't have the skill in the art of car
Speaker 4: balance on an open roads is the best of both
Speaker 4: worlds if you can.
Speaker 1: I want to talk about etiquette, but I want to
Speaker 1: first have you describe what we went through related to
Speaker 1: breaking and specifically the whiskey, gin and tonic and champagne test. Kay,
Speaker 1: I mean it sounds so fun. It's harder than said
Speaker 1: than done. Can you explain to Matt and the listeners
Speaker 1: what that is?
Speaker 4: Absolutely well, when I was starting to train drivers, I
Speaker 4: realized that giving somebody a score from one to ten
Speaker 4: is almost irrelevant. You know, what does a number mean?
Speaker 4: You know, just because you've got a four or five,
Speaker 4: some people feel a little bit there, I say negative
Speaker 4: when you give them a score. And imagery. Through my
Speaker 4: ski coaching days and coaching instructors and races, imagery is
Speaker 4: very powerful. So we had the impression that if your
Speaker 4: passengers are sitting in the backseat of the car and
Speaker 4: they have a wonderful classic bowl of champagne. You have
Speaker 4: the image your passengers are sipping away champagne from the
Speaker 4: back of the car. Now you're stopping and you're accelerating.
Speaker 4: Should be calm enough that they don't spill any champagne
Speaker 4: from the coop. Now if they are unsuccessful, we were
Speaker 4: looking at a glass with gin and tonic inside, So
Speaker 4: the glass has a different shape and it's a little
Speaker 4: bit more stable. The liquid in the glass is a
Speaker 4: little bit more stable. So if they're breaking and they're accelerating,
Speaker 4: had kicked back, for instance, we were suggesting that they
Speaker 4: are quite not at a champagne level, and they're more
Speaker 4: gin and tonic. Those drivers that have compromised their driving
Speaker 4: and they've spent probably a long time driving in a
Speaker 4: city reacting to a lot of traffic, and they're hitting
Speaker 4: the brakes very hard and they have a lot of
Speaker 4: kickback from the car. This is where we introduce the
Speaker 4: whiskey stop. So you're imagining that the whiskey in the
Speaker 4: bottom of the whiskey glass. So to add little bit
Speaker 4: of fun and imaginary, we called it whiskey Gina tonic
Speaker 4: and champagne. Of course, some countries around the world that
Speaker 4: don't think alcohol. We just had to focus on the
Speaker 4: shape of the glass rather than the content of the glass.
Speaker 1: That's really funny.
Speaker 6: By the way, you were teaching women to drive in
Speaker 6: Saudi Arabia. Is that because they have women who are
Speaker 6: chauffeurs or is that just because like rich Shakes finally
Speaker 6: could teach their wives how to drive.
Speaker 4: It's a little bit of both. Really, It's not just
Speaker 4: sort of restricted to the Middle East. We have an
Speaker 4: increasing range of people and private families wanting female chauffeurs, especially,
Speaker 4: for instance, if you're a chauffeur working for an independent
Speaker 4: family and one of your duties could be doing the
Speaker 4: school run and you have teenage children, for instance, And
Speaker 4: people are starting to become a little bit more mindful
Speaker 4: of not just the classic chauffeur, but more about person
Speaker 4: is being a concierge. And there's more and more people
Speaker 4: wanting female chauffeurs because they feel, rightly or wrongly, a
Speaker 4: little bit safer of having their children in the hands
Speaker 4: of a female, regardless of whether she's the chauffeur or not.
Speaker 4: And I think on that regular side, a lot of
Speaker 4: people feel more comfortable with a female chauffeur in those
Speaker 4: parts of the world, and of course in Saudi Arabia
Speaker 4: women haven't had a driving license for very long, so
Speaker 4: it was interesting to spend time training a women's only
Speaker 4: chauffeur group most recently, and you know the challenges, and
Speaker 4: ninety times out of ten we find that they actually
Speaker 4: as students, they make better students because there is a
Speaker 4: working and they have less ego.
Speaker 1: So tell us a little bit more about that for
Speaker 1: all women. What what I didn't hear you? What city
Speaker 1: are you in and give us a little more color
Speaker 1: about what that was like. I'm so fascinated by that work.
Speaker 1: And that's part of your White Drug, oh your White
Speaker 1: Glove chauffeur in company that you own and operate well.
Speaker 4: The White Glove, the White Glove is specifically Rolls Royce
Speaker 4: and that was a that was a celebration, so some
Speaker 4: just to recap on that history. About fifteen years ago,
Speaker 4: our current chief executive wanted to celebrate the one hundred
Speaker 4: year anniversary of the chauffe Academy. We wanted to use
Speaker 4: or I was asking to use a slightly different label
Speaker 4: calling it a show for academy. Just seems a little
Speaker 4: bit old school and not very imaginative. I looked at
Speaker 4: people wearing white gloves in the service industry, in the military,
Speaker 4: and of course it's a signal of respect touching. Whether
Speaker 4: you're piece of collecting a piece of jury from a
Speaker 4: shop or something, you're often handed that item with the
Speaker 4: person who's wearing white gloves, and I thought the white
Speaker 4: glove program was a new fresh way of describing the academy.
Speaker 4: We're not suggesting people drive with white gloves, however, in
Speaker 4: some countries they do, where the people and the company
Speaker 4: that they work for. So coming through to this, I
Speaker 4: recently was invited by another company to train some drivers
Speaker 4: and along the way it was my suggestion that you
Speaker 4: shouldn't ignore having a high percentage of female drivers. It
Speaker 4: was an immediate success. So they decided to train another
Speaker 4: group or another team, let's call them team, another group
Speaker 4: of women drivers, and we had an incredible I would say,
Speaker 4: fascination from the Saudi government. So they are now looking
Speaker 4: at a women's only chauffeur company, So that alone is
Speaker 4: a first and as a company they will be using
Speaker 4: women only in that particular part of the world. And
Speaker 4: I think when it comes to training. The actual driving
Speaker 4: itself is quite difficult on a public road. It's very
Speaker 4: difficult to train people on a public road, so we
Speaker 4: often have to find a quiet airfield or a disused
Speaker 4: car park or something. So you're going through the skills
Speaker 4: of training simple things like an emergency break, a break
Speaker 4: avoid So I often travel to various locations and I
Speaker 4: take along with me twenty traffic cones in set up
Speaker 4: an apparatus where people can drive around. I don't carry
Speaker 4: them in my luggage anymore. I used to, but we
Speaker 4: often find twenty traffic cones or even some other apparatus,
Speaker 4: and even some toys that you find in a toy
Speaker 4: shop that you would use in a playground, anything that
Speaker 4: you can drive around to enhance their skills. And it's
Speaker 4: been fascinating journey.
Speaker 1: So tell us a little bit about the etiquette side
Speaker 1: of this. When we work together. You said really interesting things,
Speaker 1: for instance, about the positioning of the rear view mirror,
Speaker 1: the proper way to open a door, how to handle luggage.
Speaker 1: Can you sort of walk through some of those things, of.
Speaker 4: Course, I think well, first and foremost, if you are
Speaker 4: parked at an airport and you're waiting for your guests
Speaker 4: for a right first and foremost, you need utmost information
Speaker 4: about your guests.
Speaker 5: You obviously need their.
Speaker 4: Name, and you need to know what contry they're hum.
Speaker 4: But also depending on who you're working for, so if
Speaker 4: it's a hotel, for instance, you might need a lot
Speaker 4: of information about the guests. That'shlight information, etc. A lot
Speaker 4: of our guests, a lot of rolls Voyce guests will
Speaker 4: have a greeta inside the airport, so the greeta isn't
Speaker 4: the chauffeur, and this is important. So the greeter will
Speaker 4: work a guest out to the car, and of course
Speaker 4: the car will be a prepared and we have most
Speaker 4: of our chokers have a little detailing kit which consists
Speaker 4: of three different microfibers and some pure deionized water because
Speaker 4: if the paint is hot, and obviously you can use
Speaker 4: de ionized water and it's easy to use. It's very
Speaker 4: easy to use on glass painted leather without any damage.
Speaker 4: If you're standing by the car either rear wheel, that
Speaker 4: means that you're greeting process.
Speaker 5: You are looking forward to group a guest.
Speaker 4: Depending on where that country sorry, depending on where the
Speaker 4: guest comes from the country.
Speaker 5: Is it customary to bout and not to shake their hand,
Speaker 5: and not shake their hand, et cetera.
Speaker 4: So you need a lot of information about that guest
Speaker 4: when it comes to loading the luggage.
Speaker 5: We can't assume all countries and all.
Speaker 4: Of our airports are safety these days. And I've been
Speaker 4: observing lots of people having the unfortunately their bag stolen
Speaker 4: or potential theft, and a lot of people and a
Speaker 4: lot of chauffeurs are very keen and very quick to
Speaker 4: open the door and get a guest inside the car first.
Speaker 4: There's a lot of problems with that. First of all,
Speaker 4: you would turn your back what is often a very
Speaker 4: expensive I don't know, a Romoa luggage or something like that,
Speaker 4: or Louis Vitoma's on the pavement on the sidewalk. You're
Speaker 4: turning your bag just allow the guest to get inside
Speaker 4: the car. And also then you're asking the guest is
Speaker 4: there anything inside the bag that they want inside the
Speaker 4: car on their journey to the hotel or their destination.
Speaker 4: It's too late because you could turn around and the
Speaker 4: bag could be gone. In an ever increasing crime area,
Speaker 4: you don't know who's going to be working along the
Speaker 4: pavement or the sidewalk to steal the bag.
Speaker 5: Ifs are easy to recognize these days.
Speaker 4: They don't have black masks on or anything like that,
Speaker 4: they're not obvious.
Speaker 5: So we generally, first of all, great.
Speaker 4: The guests lift the bag because lots of roads around
Speaker 4: the airport's are dirty. If you lift the bag and
Speaker 4: you place the bag in the back.
Speaker 5: Of the guitar. But there's one thing as well.
Speaker 4: We will tell and inform the customer the guest why
Speaker 4: you're lifting the bag, and that shows specific care, that
Speaker 4: shows high luxury or high touch, if you want to
Speaker 4: call it. You will say to them, I'm just lifting
Speaker 4: your bag to avoid any oil getting on your wheels
Speaker 4: or your bag getting dirty. So you're telling them because
Speaker 4: a lot of people traveling with the Rolls Voice or
Speaker 4: Rolls Royce service, they haven't had this level of detailed care.
Speaker 4: So you inform your guests you're lifting the bag to
Speaker 4: place it in the bag. Then you would ask the question,
Speaker 4: or is this the only bag that you have or
Speaker 4: do you have any luggage with you you would like
Speaker 4: to place them in the trunk. They often say, actually,
Speaker 4: I've got a phone cable, or I have my laptop,
Speaker 4: or i have something personal inside that bag.
Speaker 5: That's the opportunity to take it.
Speaker 4: Then you would close the trunk before you turn your
Speaker 4: back on their very very valuable luggage, everyone's log which
Speaker 4: is valued because it has many personal items.
Speaker 5: Many of them can't be replaced, so you close.
Speaker 4: The trunk because thieves are everywhere and some countries are
Speaker 4: worse than others. You would then open the door because
Speaker 4: at this stage the air conditioning. If it's a hot
Speaker 4: they would be running inside the car. You would elegantly
Speaker 4: open the door, of.
Speaker 5: Course on a roll, so you would.
Speaker 4: Make sure that the guest is sitting diagonally behind the driver.
Speaker 4: You would then close the door entering the back of
Speaker 4: the car.
Speaker 5: That's really important. You never walk in front of.
Speaker 4: The guest, and then you sit inside the driving seat,
Speaker 4: close your door. If it's a high risk area, you
Speaker 4: will immediately lock the doors. If it's not a high
Speaker 4: risk area, then it's hot, and then to the choice
Speaker 4: of the guest, you will then turn around to lightly
Speaker 4: mentioned the guests that the water is in the door pockets,
Speaker 4: not in the cup holders, because that gives a box
Speaker 4: fresh feeling, and.
Speaker 5: You will give them an approximate arrival time on their journey.
Speaker 5: Would they like to listen to any music, and.
Speaker 4: At that point when you turn around, you also make
Speaker 4: a point of turning the rear view mirror so you
Speaker 4: cannot see their eyes. I also mentioned this to the guests.
Speaker 4: I'm just tilting the rear view mirror so I cannot
Speaker 4: see your eyes or we cannot make eye contact, and
Speaker 4: that will give you some privacy and.
Speaker 5: It will also increase your safety.
Speaker 4: Most too, light drivers like to look at their passengers
Speaker 4: during conversation. There's nothing wrong with that, although you're compromising
Speaker 4: the safety of your passengers because you're not looking through
Speaker 4: the big piece of windscreen in front of you.
Speaker 5: You're looking behind you, not in front.
Speaker 4: So just by the nature of having this rear view
Speaker 4: mirror turned, it gives you added safety as well.
Speaker 6: I want to know how you learned all this stuff,
Speaker 6: Like how did you go from a professional skier to
Speaker 6: someone that knows everything about driving and being a chauffeur.
Speaker 6: How did you pick all that up? What was this metamorphosis?
Speaker 4: Well, I think, first of all, if you're coaching, if
Speaker 4: you're coaching anyone on the side of the mountain, the concern,
Speaker 4: the threats, the safety and often the panic in someone,
Speaker 4: So there's a coaching skill element is one area, but
Speaker 4: the components of chauffeuring come from many, many avenues.
Speaker 5: I guess.
Speaker 4: So I still have a race license, and I still
Speaker 4: have a race instructor's license to coach people on the track,
Speaker 4: and very much. I think I've been fortunate enough to
Speaker 4: be exposed to some of the world's best butlers that
Speaker 4: have worked in Buckingham Palace. And I think if you're
Speaker 4: fascinated about the industry, you open your ears, you ask questions.
Speaker 4: You see where the history comes from. Why is it
Speaker 4: that the lady or the female is normally sitting behind
Speaker 4: the driver.
Speaker 5: That comes from many many years where you would.
Speaker 4: Arrive at a location and the coachman, because there was
Speaker 4: no engines, there was a horse, would remove their cake
Speaker 4: and place it on the ground so madame would not
Speaker 4: get her bull gain dirty on the way to the ball.
Speaker 4: That's why they would sit behind the coach person or
Speaker 4: the person in charge of that stagecoach. So it's been
Speaker 4: a fascination of mine and since working with Rolls Royce,
Speaker 4: because you're always striving for perfection, I think looking at
Speaker 4: these tiny details and adding all of these tiny witchard
Speaker 4: isolation a relatively insignificant, but combined, all of these details
Speaker 4: made for an effortless experience.
Speaker 5: And that's what you're trying to do. You're trying to
Speaker 5: give the customer, give the guest, or it could be your.
Speaker 4: Boss, the best possible experience. And of course all of
Speaker 4: these things added up made for ultimate safety. The passengers
Speaker 4: should think for nothing. And I'm sure you've been sitting
Speaker 4: in a car at some time, whether it's an Uber
Speaker 4: or a taxi or a chow but thinking I could
Speaker 4: do better than this. And you shouldn't be You shouldn't
Speaker 4: be made to feel this at all. You shouldn't be
Speaker 4: made to feel that your safety is compromised by the
Speaker 4: quality of the driving. It's currently, at the fac time
Speaker 4: in charge.
Speaker 5: Of your safety and potentially your life.
Speaker 1: So basically every Uber driver in Los Angeles, you've just
Speaker 1: described the feeling of terror and compromise that I experience
Speaker 1: every time I get into an Uber.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a little bit of a Yeah, you do
Speaker 4: find I do find myself having to switch off from
Speaker 4: a professional side sometimes when I'm sitting in the back of.
Speaker 5: A cab or an Uber driver.
Speaker 4: And if you will know, some are better than others,
Speaker 4: and you generally find the better drivers and the more
Speaker 4: conscientious are the drivers that have some form of sport
Speaker 4: background and they.
Speaker 5: Have a little bit of thought about.
Speaker 4: The passengers rather than just getting in a car and
Speaker 4: going from A to B or a to Z. As
Speaker 4: a job, a lot of people consider it as a job.
Speaker 4: Some people call it a profession. And if you look
Speaker 4: at it as a profession and you're passionate about that profession,
Speaker 4: every tiny component that makes up that profession. And we
Speaker 4: looked at three indicators. We looked at being sharp, effortless,
Speaker 4: and professional. Those three elements create safety. So every single
Speaker 4: person should look at those elements the sharp and it's
Speaker 4: not just dressing in a nice pre only dinner jacket,
Speaker 4: soup or turning up to work with a crisp white shirt.
Speaker 4: It's how you stand, how you present yourself, how you
Speaker 4: open the door. It's accurate, so there's no compromise as
Speaker 4: best as possible.
Speaker 6: So you have been a professional skier, You've been an
Speaker 6: accomplished ski racer and also an accomplished track driver. And
Speaker 6: I was just wondering, are there any parallels between the
Speaker 6: skills necessary to ski you know, a downhill course well,
Speaker 6: and the skills necessary to race around the track in
Speaker 6: a car.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, And if you look at the art of skiing,
Speaker 4: for instance, and the art of driving, there's two sides.
Speaker 5: You've got the doing and the coaching side.
Speaker 4: So if we look at the results, if we look
Speaker 4: at the what I would call the output focus, like
Speaker 4: going round corners, the physics of ski racing are very.
Speaker 5: Very similar to car racing.
Speaker 4: In fact, there's a little bit of a disadvantage on
Speaker 4: skis where it's really difficult to apply the throttle because
Speaker 4: you don't have one. So when you release the angle
Speaker 4: of a steering wheel, for instance, it's on the exit
Speaker 4: of the turn, and we often talk about taking the
Speaker 4: angle off off the wheel, and that's during what's.
Speaker 5: Known in car racing as a transition from one corner
Speaker 5: to another is exactly the same on a pair of skis.
Speaker 4: You're exiting one corner and there's a inducive edge angle
Speaker 4: and you have a transition from one turn to another.
Speaker 4: So you're managing the forces and it's balancing the physics
Speaker 4: between one turn and another.
Speaker 5: So a slalom turn, a giant slalom tern, a super
Speaker 5: giant slalom turn, and then you have record downhill. The
Speaker 5: turn RADII are different and it's exactly the same in
Speaker 5: the car.
Speaker 4: The speed, the smaller the turn, the lower the speed,
Speaker 4: so the physics are different. The longer the term, the
Speaker 4: higher speed, so you've got greater forces.
Speaker 5: So the way in which you.
Speaker 4: Deal with forces, the faster you've drive, the slower you move,
Speaker 4: and also the slower you think.
Speaker 5: So it's not only just a physical game, it's a
Speaker 5: mental game as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I just find it fascinating and it
Speaker 1: does feel all related between managing your body in space
Speaker 1: in general, and the body can extend to the vehicle too,
Speaker 1: or the skis. It's just fascinating stuff.
Speaker 3: That was Andy McCann talking to us about driving, about skiing,
Speaker 3: and about.
Speaker 2: I think just basically being a good person.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's really a prince of a guy, kind of
Speaker 1: jack of all trades. I mean, he is the type
Speaker 1: of person who you just know. He's the same whether
Speaker 1: he is on the street or in you know, the
Speaker 1: halls with Royalty, and I think he has been in
Speaker 1: both places. And of course we love him because he's British,
Speaker 1: so he goes very well with the whole rolls Royce
Speaker 1: philosophy and mentality and just touch so great. Talking with him,
Speaker 1: I always learned something new.
Speaker 2: It was definitely a learning experience.
Speaker 3: And now I know different drink demand, different driving styles.
Speaker 1: This is right, this is right, but never drinking and driving,
Speaker 1: just you know, for training purposes only.
Speaker 2: Of course, drinking and driving is horrible.
Speaker 3: But back in the day, I was originally watching some
Speaker 3: old videos of people from the like fifties and sixties
Speaker 3: when when these laws first came into force, and they
Speaker 3: were like, hell, no, I'm going to continue to drive
Speaker 3: after drinking beer.
Speaker 1: Oh that was a controversial thing. They like it was
Speaker 1: the government interfering with their drinking and driving exactly. I thought,
Speaker 1: I was funny.
Speaker 3: Both of us are a little too young to remember
Speaker 3: that time, but I saw the historical footage and then
Speaker 3: I do remember when the seatbelt laws first came into
Speaker 3: fuld No.
Speaker 1: Way, you remember that, Yes, I do, and.
Speaker 3: I remember because very otherwise intelligent people. I remember saying like,
Speaker 3: this is an encroachment on.
Speaker 2: My personal.
Speaker 3: And at the time, I was like, yeah, how can
Speaker 3: they tell us to wear our seatbelts.
Speaker 2: We're only hurting ourselves.
Speaker 1: Right, What were you like five?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 4: I was.
Speaker 3: I was very young, and that was for I understood
Speaker 3: insurance in this country, and I'm surprised that they those
Speaker 3: people didn't. But I think each incremental safety law has
Speaker 3: been controversial at the time, and now, you know, we
Speaker 3: look back and think, how insane would it be to
Speaker 3: say I can have a couple of Gin and Tonics
Speaker 3: and then legally like drive my kids to school.
Speaker 1: You know, that reminds me of the helmet laws, because
Speaker 1: speaking of Colorado, Colorado doesn't have a helmet law for
Speaker 1: motorcycle riders, and the minute you cross state lines you
Speaker 1: start seeing guys just with their hair out in the wind.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, like that seems insane to me, like absolutely,
Speaker 1: but I know they think, hey, it's my personal freedom, so.
Speaker 3: I think, you know, I'm not sure about the statistics.
Speaker 2: I'd have to look into it.
Speaker 3: But with the seat belts, you know, if you're not
Speaker 3: wearing your seat belt, your chances of a more serious
Speaker 3: injury obviously are hot, and then it's going to cost
Speaker 3: more in hospital bills, and then we all have to
Speaker 3: pay more. If you're not wearing your helmet, you're probably
Speaker 3: just gonna die, right, So probably that's much cheaper.
Speaker 1: Is this your argument in favor of not wearing a helmet?
Speaker 3: Well, I don't ride a motorcycle without a helmet, but
Speaker 3: I grew up in Ohio, where I don't think there's
Speaker 3: helmet laws there. I'm I'm used to seeing people ride free,
Speaker 3: and I feel like if you get into a I
Speaker 3: got into a bad motorcycle accident and survived by the
Speaker 3: skin of my teeth.
Speaker 2: If I hadn't been wearing my helmet, I.
Speaker 3: Would be no longer with of because I put my
Speaker 3: helmet through the windshield of the truck that hit me.
Speaker 1: So when was this, I didn't know about it.
Speaker 3: This was maybe now twelve years ago. But yeah, the
Speaker 3: helmet definitely, and my leathers saved my life. So I'm
Speaker 3: an all the gear, all the time kind of person.
Speaker 3: But if you're I, I think it's stupid without a
Speaker 3: helmet or in a T shirt and shorts, But you, definitely,
Speaker 3: I guess, have the right to be stupid.
Speaker 1: All I know is when I first started posting photos,
Speaker 1: you know, riding motorcycle, standing next to motorcycles whatever in
Speaker 1: New York many years ago, I would get so many
Speaker 1: comments about how I needed to be wearing gloves. And
Speaker 1: this is even if I'm just like standing on the motorcycle,
Speaker 1: not actually in motion, and I would get yes, so
Speaker 1: many you know guys, you know, really coming down hard
Speaker 1: on you, you should be wearing gloves and you should
Speaker 1: be in full armor, like like seriously, And it's so ironic,
Speaker 1: it's so it's so unfair. But it's so funny because
Speaker 1: you know, you step outside in LA and to your point,
Speaker 1: you yes, they're wearing helmets, but they're wearing flip flops
Speaker 1: and T shirts and yeah, that's about it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, funny it is.
Speaker 3: And I guess I've been guilty in the past of saying, like,
Speaker 3: you need to put on some gear.
Speaker 2: But it's none of my business.
Speaker 3: Yeah, gloves obviously are one of the most important.
Speaker 1: For sure, for sure, and when I'm riding, I often
Speaker 1: do wear gloves. Not all the time, I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 1: Sometimes they get hot and annoying.
Speaker 2: But I will.
Speaker 3: I think I really want to ride a motorcycle with you,
Speaker 3: And I'm feeling like maybe I'm going to make this
Speaker 3: my New Year's resolution. Oh it is to come to
Speaker 3: LA and ride with you at some point in twenty twenty.
Speaker 2: Style, way, what are you doing for New Year's Eve?
Speaker 1: I was out with a couple of girlfriends at a
Speaker 1: members club in LA that does not allow photos, and
Speaker 1: we were talking about what to do for New Year's Eve,
Speaker 1: and the conversation was it ended around having a house
Speaker 1: party at their house with a bunch of people. That
Speaker 1: sounds what are you doing for New Year's Eve?
Speaker 3: I'm definitely going to a party in Brooklyn and Dumbo.
Speaker 3: But uh, I mean, I'm but normally I.
Speaker 2: Go to Fish.
Speaker 3: So at some point I'm gonna sneak away and go
Speaker 3: to Madison Square Garden to see Fish like a devotee. No, no,
Speaker 3: I go see Fish the band, and I'm not like
Speaker 3: a total fish head, So I'm not following that like
Speaker 3: my brothers follow the band year round and see like
Speaker 3: dozens or more than dozens of shows every year. I'm
Speaker 3: I just go to one every year. I go to
Speaker 3: the New Year's Eve show. It's super fun. I love
Speaker 3: the garden.
Speaker 1: Awesome, and uh it's a good escape.
Speaker 3: All right, Let's let's meet back here, same time, same place,
Speaker 3: next week and kick off the year with a very
Speaker 3: special guest who has a very special jag.
Speaker 2: Me either.
Speaker 1: I'm Matt Miller, I'm Hanna Elliott, and this is Bloomberg