Rule One began on a school canoe team, long before it was a company. Everyone on the team had printed on their T-shirts the phrase: "Rule Two: if something happens, refer to Rule One" — and naturally, everyone asked what Rule One actually was. Rule One said: keep cool. The team, as it turned out, carried those two rules straight into their professional life: get the facts straight, keep a clear head once a decision actually has to be made, and say plainly which option holds up.

Today we act as business consultants — helping entrepreneurs and small companies work out strategy, size up markets, and put the operational side of the business in order. We keep close relationships across Luxembourg and Western Europe, and can bring in the right specialist for a question at any level of complexity — lawyers and tax advisers among them, depending on what it calls for.