00:12 Anthony Steve, you've been doing this for forty years. The first time you sold a jet, what was that day like?

00:31 Steve First sale was 1984. A Citation. The buyer was a Chicago commodities trader and he came in wearing the exact same suit he'd worn the day before. I remember thinking — that's a man who's about to spend twelve million dollars and he doesn't care what he looks like.

02:08 Fintan Was that the moment you knew this was your business?

02:14 Steve No. The moment was a year later. A heads-of-state deal that took eleven months, and on the morning of the closing the buyer's wife rang me directly to ask if she could change the leather. That was when I understood what the job actually was.

05:42 Anthony Talk to us about the showroom on Hyde Park Corner. Why a showroom for jets?

05:55 Steve Because nobody had ever done it. Aircraft were sold in hangars, in private offices, on tarmac. I wanted somewhere a billionaire could walk in off Park Lane on a Tuesday afternoon, sit in the cabin of a Global, and decide.

13:00 Fintan Royalty, founders, heads of state — what's the common thread?

13:14 Steve Time. None of them buy a jet. They buy hours back. Three hours a week, fifty weeks a year, for the rest of their working life. You do the maths.

22:24 Anthony Tell us about a deal you walked away from.

22:36 Steve Three. The biggest was a sovereign wealth deal — eight aircraft, very large number. Something didn't sit right about the structure. I rang the chairman myself and said no. Lost the bonus, kept the firm.

32:14 Steve At this level, nobody's buying a jet. They're buying their time back.

34:00 Fintan What does fifty thousand feet teach you about people?

34:11 Steve That they tell you the truth up there. There's no PR, no advisor, no gatekeeper. It's just the cabin and a glass of water and the next four hours. Some of the most honest conversations of my career have happened above the Atlantic.