Gavin Rochussen can vividly remember one of the final lunch meetings he had in 2020 just before the Covid pandemic brought the UK to a standstill.

It was early March and the CEO of listed asset management boutique Polar Capital had called the boss of Dalton Strategic Partnership to discuss an important proposal. Finance professionals had just begun decamping from the Square Mile to their home offices ahead of official government guidance, but Rochussen and Dalton’s then CEO, Wenceslas Von Liechtenstein, met for a rooftop lunch at The Ned to discuss the merits of a deal.