Before Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949, there was the same sort of talk of young men sacrificing their lives so that a country might grow - that somehow it had been a great nation-building success for Newfoundland.

You can't go wrong with major life and death stories when it comes to a competition, so I thought I'd have a go at writing one.

If you are having trouble with a story, it may not be an issue with the quality of the writing - there may just be too much of it.

Beaumont-Hamel sits within a thousand acres of French agriculture. The trenches are under this blanket of grass. In the 1920s, a park was established here and trees from Newfoundland imported to encircle the battlefield so you get the feeling of being within a copse of woods.

It was on a trip to Africa with my family - I was eight - and an angry baboon jumped through the window of our parked car. As my siblings escaped, my foot got stuck in the seat. I froze and watched it steal the whole contents of our car around me.

Parenting is meant to be just a natural part of life. You just think you know how to do it but, of course, it's much more complicated than that.

My family values are really, really important.

We have very strong succession plans across all group companies. But we do not comment on it. The retirement age is 60 years, but it does not apply to family professionals who work in the business.