Many happy returns

摘要

Mark Whitby has realised that early retirement isn't for him - a revelation that will come as little surprise to anyone who knows him. When the 60-year-old left structural engineer Ramboll Whitbybird a year ago, his colleagues, clients and contemporaries all predicted that the industry hadn't seen the last of him. "It's too early," said one client. "Mark has so much more to give and he is so easily bored. He is too young to retire." "This won't last long," said another. "He'll be back. He is way too creative to be retired."rnThey were right. Whitby is back with a new company, +Whitby because, as predicted, he did get bored. But Whitby himself seemed to be the last to realise this. "Do you know what? There's only so much gardening one can do," he says. He is referring to his year of "gardening leave", which will culminate in him opening his garden up to the public next June. "That's not bad going is it?" he says. "But I realised something. I am not going to spend the rest of my life being a gardener."