I'm just posting a quick heads-up for anyone thinking of contacting me personally for help in any way, that I may be a bit slower than usual to deal with things.

My partner is currently in hospital being rehydrated on a drip from being rather severely sick, which is her second admission in as many weeks and this looks like being a recurring pattern for possibly a few months. (I'd prefer not to go into more detail publicly, but she should recover fully in time.) Even when home she's unable to do much at all so is needing quite a lot of support, on top of which I'm now having to do most of the caring for our two and a half year old child (not to mention my late-80s parents nearby, plus dealing with the rest of an already busy life for both of us!). I hope you'll understand that this has to be my first priority.

I will still be trying to get into the office as much as I can. But I just won't have as much time as I'd like to engage with daily issues for a while. It's at times like this that I'm very very glad of having such a brilliant team who can run things excellently in my absence. I will still be glad to help where I can, particularly if you have any problem you're finding any difficulty in resolving. But meanwhile you'll probably get a faster result if you go first to Stewart and the rest of the team. Thanks for understanding.