The pub that changed me: I bonded with a new group of friends there and it led to my dream job'

"Early in my career, I was going through a difficult chapter in work and life. Having moved down to London from Glasgow, I felt socially untethered, unsure of where I belonged. I yearned to feel part of a gang like I'd done back home, but I had no clue about how to find one. A bruising experience of redundancy hadn't helped matters."

"This surreal hostelry was Ye Olde Swiss Cottage, a former coaching inn that dates back to the 1830s. Gin and tonics swiftly ordered, my new deskmates filled me in on the office politics the dos and don'ts, the scurrilous rumours. Evidently non-business chat was strongly discouraged by the glamorous but chilly editor. An anaesthetic was required to get us through long afternoons of pretending to work."

Early in a career the narrator moved from Glasgow to London and felt socially untethered after a bruising redundancy. A temporary job on a business magazine involved writing about textile-industry share prices despite limited financial knowledge. Three other young women on the news desk were equally disenchanted and quickly befriended the narrator. Colleagues led the narrator to Ye Olde Swiss Cottage, a former 1830s coaching inn, where gin and tonics loosened conversation and provided sanctuary from a chilly, glamorous editor who discouraged non-business chat. The pub was draughty, peculiar, cheap, and cheerful, offering respite from long, performative workdays.

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