Goodwood. Nobody can copy a weekend.
Everyone can build a car. Nobody else can build a Goodwood, and Britain's best institutions all started as small ideas that got out of hand.
THE GIST ON GOODWOOD: "Nobody Can Copy a Weekend"
What is the Goodwood Festival of Speed?
It happens this weekend on a Duke's driveway in West Sussex. 200,000 people and every major car manufacturer in the world, all showing up on a private drive that no one else can build.
Goodwood was founded in 1993 by the then Lord March, now the Duke of Richmond. He wasn't allowed to run a race, so he threw a party instead. 25,000 people showed up, and today it's one of the biggest motoring events on Earth.
Is this a very British pattern?
It is. Wimbledon started as a fundraiser for a croquet club. Glastonbury started on a dairy farm. The Proms started because a conductor needed a summer job.
Every world famous British institution is a small idea that got massively out of hand.
Why does Goodwood work?
The world is being standardised: same coffee, same apps, same cars, same festivals. Everything scales, but everything copies.
What doesn't copy is a 300 year old estate, a planning refusal, a hillside at just the right gradient and 30 years of the same weekend in July. BYD, Ferrari, Singer and the rest pay millions to be there, because there is only one.
What are we good at?
We're crap at the big top-down launch: HS2, the Millennium Dome, Silicon Roundabout, the COVID app. Billions spent with very little to show.
But we are brilliant at the slow build. Wimbledon, Glastonbury, Goodwood. Each added a bit of scale, a bit of prestige and a bit of story every year. They didn't launch, they compounded.
In a world obsessed with scale, the last competitive advantage is patience. What else will we accidentally get right?
Which British institution would you rather visit?
Your take. One tap, then see how everyone else voted.
Quick answers
Who founded the Goodwood Festival of Speed?
The then Lord March, now the Duke of Richmond, in 1993. He wasn't allowed to run a race, so he threw a party.
Why can't Goodwood be copied?
It rests on a 300 year old estate, a planning refusal, the right hillside gradient and 30 years of the same weekend in July.
What is Britain good at, according to Huw?
The slow build. Wimbledon, Glastonbury and Goodwood each compounded, while big top-down launches like HS2 and the Millennium Dome did not.
See you on the next one.
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