Tribute to Mike, delivered at his funeral by Francis Smulders

Mike Bradbury Tribute
September 4th
St Michael’s Church, Highgate

The first time I met Mike was at a party at Insead in 1995. - We started talking about trivial things but very quickly our topic of discussion moved to Strategy. Not business strategy, but the strategy for finding a partner during our time at INSEAD. This, we thought, would be a welcome distraction from coursework. During our discussion it immediately became clear to me that Mike had a razorsharp mind and a great sense of humour. He made the following analysis of the situation;

• The INSEAD campus was not a particularly attractive market when looking for a partner,
• He also noted that I had a competitive disadvantage, not one but many
• Therefore, he recommended that I immediately should target the less popular segments. Speed was of the essence because the market was highly competitive and a number of fast followers were likely to follow quickly.
  
• Finally, he concluded, a more realistic strategy for me was to give up immediately.

This was typically Mike: He was a clear and structured thinker. He had a love of laughing. He was 'cheeky Bradders' with a mischievous, irreverent sense of fun. He loved to annoy us, say or do things he knew would wind us up, but also make us laugh because we knew he meant no harm.

After Insead many of us moved to London and Mike and I shared a flat on Tregunter road for over two years. We quickly became set in our ways. The set routine was to go to Brinkleys every evening for dinner – Mike’s choice was either the Steak Béarnaise or the Brinkley Burger. On weekends we would complement this diet with “proper” amounts of wine and cheese.

Mike had a love for what he would call a proper event: there were 'proper' dinner parties, with 'proper' food and 'proper' wine. We'd go away and stay in 'proper' houses, or have a sailing holiday in 'proper' yachts. We bought and ate 'proper' lobster, bigger than would fit in the pan.

Mike kept in close contact with a large group of friends. He was part of the 'glue' in the social fabric, and his passing leaves a gap. That gap is the bit that was 'Mike' and his role in the network of relationships that he formed. He was a great friend, you could rely on his advice, on having fun, and on him being there when you needed him.

He had genuine happiness when other people had found happiness. He had a particular joy in the giving of presents - every year he spent hours buying presents for his various God children and was really thoughtful on what he bought. In every way he was very generous; At times he would insist on treating everybody on an evening out for the simple reason that he enjoyed being with his friends.

Apart from being a friend in good times, you could always come to him if you had a problem or needed advice. Mike would always give an honest and straight answer on anything. He was very approachable and would always make time for you, even when he was very busy.

And busy he was most of the time: He got a set of almost straight 4’s at Insead and was awarded the Ford Prize. He was a mover and shaker at both McKinsey and Marakon. He became the managing director of Smallbone at the age of 30. Mike was one of those rare persons who had a vein of humility which was greatly at odds with his accomplishments

It was during our flat sharing days at Tregunter road that Mike met Wendy who worked with him at Smallbone. - I knew things had been going on between the two of them but had never managed to catch a glimpse of Wendy. Therefore, one day I forced myself into his room to introduce myself, - and although Wendy was trying to hide - she couldn’t escape this time. - From that day I had the pleasure of seeing Mike and Wendy growing closer and closer.

Although they started off slowly, Mike and Wendy quickly became inseparable, and very complementary in many ways. - Mike was organised, Wendy was wild. Mike went for logic, Wendy for intuition. Mike was corporate, Wendy bohemian. Mike owned one suitcase and his INSEAD binders, Wendy had a home.

It was clear to all that they had a very special and close relationship. As many of you know, Mike and Wendy married on the 22nd of June this year. I always knew Mike really loved Wendy, which he emphasized when Arthur and I were preparing Mike for the wedding. At that point he contemplated; – “I should have married Wendy a long time ago.”

Today I also want to pay a tribute to Wendy, who has done everything imaginable and more - to help, care for, support and love Mike during his fight with his disease. - You have done a wonderful job and we all have been amazed by your strength and devotion.

In Mike we lost a friend, a family member, a colleague, a stepfather and a husband. We will never know why he was the one who had to go at such a young age. Mike had already achieved much, but he had much more to do. We were all very privileged to have known Mike. He will be greatly missed.

Francis, with contributions from many of Mike's friends