Dear Jo, Jake, Lucy,

My sincerest condolences to you all.

Hearing this sad news about Lee has really affected me as it’s the second time I’ve worked closely with an inspirational colleague who is now no longer with us due to tragic circumstances.

Lee and I started working together in the mid-2000s in a new role created to support different lending teams. We were on Kirsty Nery’s team.

I soon began to realise Lee wasn’t just any ordinary person, he was exceptional! He soon began to find his feet in his new position and became an ambassador to others. He would adopt the “how can I make this work better” attitude to problems and shared his thoughts with others to improve their own productivity and performance, including mine! We would interview new recruits and Lee would find positives in candidates that even I hadn’t seen.

Whilst our career paths separated, we still kept in touch and occasionally met up for a “pizza e birra” in a Franco Manca restaurant for a catch-up. He would always talk about his family and how proud he was about them. Indeed, we’d arranged to go and watch a pre-season friendly football match between his beloved Spurs and my adopted Fiorentina. My son Robbie also came along and, such was the impression Lee had left on Robbie, that he still talks about that experience to this day.

As life would have it, Lee again became an important part of my life in 2019/2020 in helping me cope with the aftermath of a serious accident involving Robbie. His kindness, positivity and thoughtfulness really encouraged me to put life into perspective and learn to accept Robbie as who he is rather than who he was.

I’d like to leave a closing message for dearest Lee – whilst we can no longer have that overdue catch-up, there will always be a special place in my heart for a “pizza e birra” with you.

May God rest his soul and give you the strength and courage to cope with your tragic loss.

Davide