My time at the University of Bradford was a really important time in my life
I was stationed at the Manningham lane business centre with a very lively group of MBA students or MSC students
and it was really an induction in to the whole business world
I think you no in some respect's that my subsequence career was greatly advantaged
by that insight because I was working alongside of some very dynamic young business people
I also liked the location it was slightly pastoral, we was very close to the moors
I used to enjoy going into Bradford itself and having tea in Brown n Muff it was a big department store downtown so I’ve got quite warm memories
and indeed I did go into business for a very short period of time afterwards
but I think when I did become a financial journalist and economic journalist I think I felt that the accountant training I received
the management training I recieved, the case history training which is what Management school do they teach you by looking at business cases
it’s been extraordinary helpful providing a kind of analytic background which has been tremendously useful as a financial journalist
and I managed to get on to The Guardian graduate trainee scheme in my early twenties
and so I remained at The Guardian for twenty six years and in those roles at The Guardian I began as an Economics writer
as very fortunate or some people may say I’m fortunate because I got to be the main writer at the time of the 1976 sterling crisis
which really rocked Britain at that time and Britain as people may remember had to go to the international monetary fund
it's one of a few western democracies which has had to do that in recent modern times and I got to cover that particular event
It gave my career a real lift and from there I was able to leverage myself into the role of the junior person
in the Washington Bureau of The Guardian which was a great privilege because in my private reading in my general reading
American politics has always been one of the great fascination’s of my life and I was given the opportunity to cover it first-hand
I remained in Washingtonfor nearly 11 years covering presidential elections
so I covered the election with jimmy carters last election, I covered the election of president Ragan twice
and George bush senior his election
Then I came back to London after this long period in Washington in about 1989
and I was immediately put into the job of the Guardians firm editor
and again it’s not luck but events seem to lead my life in many ways because it was period when the Berlin wall came down
when eastern Europe was opening up finally from the heavy hand of yarn curtain it was a very exciting moment
exhilarating moment those moments of time to see democracy flood over eastern Europe and for me it was particularly poignant
because I come from a family which originated in Hungarian Czech border
and to see these countries come out from under the armed glove of soviet war was a very exciting moment for me.
Hi, I’m Alex Brummer I’m standing to president of the board and I want your vote.
Well I’m very involved in the Jewish community because I felt as somebody who came to this country
whose parents father came to this country as a new immigrant literally just before the war in 1939
I’m greatly privileged to live here and to be here and be safe providing a great home for me
and I felt I needed to give something back to the community also the Jewish community
which the angler Jewish community which has been a great friend to my family over the years
My own grandparents died in Auschwitz that’s my father’s parents his mother and father, two of his sisters and his niece
were also in Auschwitz remarkably they were shipped off from Auschwitz to Hungary in 1944 and remarkably they all survived the terror of that place
even though they were subjected to some rather nasty practises while they were there
So it’s a towel of survival and that’s obviously a very important part of my being.