Five minutes before the agreed time of 1pm, I arrive at the place Sharon White has chosen for our lunch — the Authentique Epicerie & Bar in Tufnell Park, north London. It looks like a shop and it is, as well as a popular (and excellent) bar and restaurant dedicated to “francophone gastronomy”.

There, at a table near the door, sits White, a good friend since she married a former FT colleague, Robert Chote, in 1997. Robert is now Sir Robert, chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility in the 2010s, and his wife is Dame Sharon. As we greet each other, I ask why the restaurant is empty and she informs me that we are the only diners. The restaurant is normally not open for lunch but she has arranged a special opening for our Lunch with the FT.

Born in 1967, White joined the civil service aged 22, rising to be second permanent secretary at the Treasury. She was the first Black person and the second woman to hold this rank. After leaving the Treasury in 2015, she became chief executive of Ofcom and then chair of John Lewis in 2020, where her tenure has been embattled and controversial.