I’m in an abandoned tower block, in an abandoned city. Admittedly the lofty position does give spectacular views over the urban wasteland, sparkling in the early morning sun – it’s 8am.

It also gives me something to do while he thinks of the next question to ask me……….. top tip for budding interviewers, a quick glance at the applicant’s CV before the off is always a wise move. If you can’t be bothered, a quick “so, talk me through your CV” is always a good fallback position.

He finally gets into his stride and asks me about my current role. You can almost see the thought bubbles over his head at the responses “you do what!? You treat customers how!?! You sleep at night?!?!?!”

Groping for anything to fill the dead air, I ask him about the role. He’s gives me some spiel about the challenges of restructuring the business. Resisting the desire to enquire what he’d like me to do after lunch, I make the appropriate noises.

The company’s a train wreck. I’d been under the impression they’d closed this division three years ago, but no, they’d actually been trying to make a go of it, but nobody had noticed.

But these Mission Impossible gigs always attract my attention. It’s the whole ‘the only way is up’ thing. It’s also the whole ‘simple, off-the-peg solutions delivering maximum credit for minimum effort’ thing.