North and south can feel worlds apart

‘I can laugh at our “flat cap and whippet” image. But if I come back with cockney rhyming slang, southerners aren’t amused.’ Photograph: Getty

I was born in Barnsley, my father a coalminer. After Reading University, I moved to London and made a career in advertising for 40 years. My accent’s softened, perhaps, but I am and always will identify as a northerner (It’s not easy being an English northerner surrounded by southerners. Here’s how we survive, 6 January).

Working-class common sense and direct, plain speaking worked for me. Southerners often see this as being “blunt”, especially in the business world. There, it’s all about endless talking that means nothing and makes sure nothing gets done.