My biography

In 1979, I became almost famous. I had written a pamphlet about my earlier life as a hippie who became a Benedictine monk, and how I left the cloister for the wider world. Back then, I became a minor media figure, often introduced to audiences as “Brother Hugh”. It’s stuck, at least in some quarters.

I am now 63, living in the Balearics (and much less often in London), and have been a business, organisational and spiritual consultant for over thirty years, working entirely behind the scenes with selected clients.

My consultancy work has helped me understand and diagnose the worst of several modern social and personal malaises. Westerners have lost faith in the core beliefs and institutions of their society. I have set myself to restoring some lost confidence but also to suggesting some reforms which would help restore trust.

Increasingly, I have been asked to help very senior people think through how to make their own business and politicial lives, and the lives of their colleagues, more emotionally rich. This work continues.

Along the way, I have met extraordinary people and been involved in some rather dramatic events, about which I am not as free to speak as I’d like.