Each week Bristol Business News gives a prominent member of the city’s business community the last word on its weekly e-bulletin. This week Geoff Roberts, founder of boutique tech sector consultancy The Data House, answers our 10 questions.
What was the LAST: 
Film you watched? The Banshees of Inisherin at the Everyman. An Oscar-nominated film set on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland, the film stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two lifelong friends who find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their relationship, with alarming consequences for both of them (slight understatement there). Beautiful cinematography, very funny and quite dark.
Book you read? I am currently reading two books. The first is Politics Among Nations, written by Hans Morgenthau in 1938 about how geopolitics plays out and the reasons for it. And, to remind myself there is an upside to things, I’m re-reading Out Of The Crisis by the extraordinary W Edwards Deming, the father of the quality movement who was hugely influential in post-WWII Japan. Think Toyota manufacturing process, Six Sigma etc…wonderful at describing how to get to the truth in any sort of process design.
Music you bought/downloaded: Rumble of Thunder by The Hu. I have some history with music, and having had the world’s biggest record collection at my fingertips since 2002 I try to listen to things that might surprise me. This certainly keeps me guessing as to what might come next.
Concert or play you went to? Abba Voyage. Reminded me of how incredible and unique Abba are. The show includes members of the audience because the special effects are in and around the audience as well as on stage. Great to see they have a live band as well who were fantastic.
Sporting event you attended? Cricket at the County Ground in Taunton. A beautiful evening shared with a very old friend. Somerset lost.
Holiday you went on? France with extended family. We all met at my sister’s place in the South of France with as many family members as we could muster after my father and stepmother passed away. It was a proper international clan gathering and reminded me of the importance of family.
Restaurant you ate in? I have to mention La Busca in Italy, near Belluno in the Dolomites. Wonderful cooking in the most stunning setting and a fairly precipitous climb to get there. What surprised me, apart from the food and scenery, was the amount of senior citizens cycling up monstrous hills as if it was something they did every day. They probably do. A hardy bunch.
Thing that annoyed you? Most of the things that irk me are to do with when politicians treat us like idiots. It has to change. The good thing about data – especially the increase in open data – is that we can see when they are trying to pull the wool over our eyes. Fact checking is becoming the norm, which has to be a good thing.
Thing that made you laugh out loud? My kids. Always…
Piece of good advice you were given? Read the stoics. One flourishes by living an ethical life, which is a happy life.
Geoff Roberts has had technical and senior leadership roles in start-ups such as OD2, major corporates like Nokia, and also worked with public sector bodies, including the Science & Technology Facilities Council. He is a complex problem solver who works with companies to look at the big picture and exploit data to modernise and transform their systems and operations. One of the three founders of new Bristol data company The Data House, his focus is on product strategy and defining new ways to use data.
