There's a crisis of confidence in the offices of Canary Wharf.

Many got used to thinking of the glittering estate as a symbol of their success. Now, as cutbacks continue, some see it as the altar of their destruction.

But has it ever been any of those things?

He said: "A lot of people in the corporate world say to themselves, 'When I'm successful, I'll be happy'. A better way is to say, 'I'll be happy and successful'.

"I know a lot of miserable millionaires. Throw a stone around here and you'll find a lot of wealthy people that are very stressed and thinking about throwing themselves off one of these buildings.

"Is that success?"

Ali draws on hypnotherapy, neuro linguistic programming and sports therapy to help unravel stressed people around the globe. He assists in personal development seminars with figures such as Paul McKenna, and his weight loss programme The Slim Girl's Box of Secrets has aided people such as singer Mica Paris.

He claims the key is to avoid being controlled by external factors, and instead to focus on "being alright" while we are working towards our goals, not after we achieve them.
He said: "You need to stop putting yourself in a place where you're seeking self-worth or trying to avoid losing it.

"When you stop engaging in that dialogue in your head, you've got more energy to achieve those targets. For most people, that's a big shift."

Ali is fully aware of how self-worth can be dominated by outside forces. He was once an 800 metre runner in his country's squad for the Commonwealth Games, but had to give up competing aged 22 after a series of operations.

He said: "It was absolutely the source of my self-worth.

"I remember standing in the middle of a rock concert, thinking 'I'm the fastest person in this room'.

"It was only many years later that I realised what I was doing. I eventually realised that my self-worth had nothing to do with my personal best or my last lap time.

"If I'm not being pulled this and that way by my thoughts, my default setting is feeling alright. It's not the stuff on the outside doesn't exist. It about realising that if you disconnect it from your well-being you're much more able to cope with it."

Some Wharfers are now at a similar crossroads, facing problems with job security, cutbacks on luxuries and longer hours for less reward.

Ali said: "Nowadays, I'm seeing more of the avoidance of pain rather than the pursuit of pleasure. In good times it was all about 'Which Ferrari should I get?' whereas now it's 'Which Ferrari do I want to keep?'.

"The lack of control is a huge factor for a lot of people. You can now lose your job through absolutely no fault of your own because of a decision made by people thousands of miles away who you've never met.

"It's a huge challenge for people that have worked so hard and made so many sacrifices to get to this position."

His approach lies in not discouraging people from seeking material possessions, but in helping them understand the real reason they're doing it.

He said: "What I like to do is to help people find the really powerful hidden goal that the physical thing they want represents. Then it's a much more powerful driver.

"On a map, a hospital is represented by a big blue "H", but that doesn't mean that hospitals look like that.

"If you want a Ferrari, go for it. But why do you want it, and what does that mean?"

While some drive themselves mad piling up pounds, others go crazy trying to lose them. Ali set up the Slim Girl's Box of Secrets to help people achieve a better figure in a less damaging way, providing a support network of peers and experts online and providing CD and DVD tuition on techniques.

He said: "I have always said that your ideal weight is the weight at which you're happy and healthy and have the body to do the things you want to do. There is no number.

"The equation that says, 'When I'm a size zero then I'll be happy' is completely the wrong way round. People eat because of emotion, so it makes more sense to deal with the emotion rather than the food.

"If you create an internal conflict between willpower and cheesecake, cheesecake will always win because it's got emotion on its side.

"It's not about winning the battle. It's about realising there's no battle to be fought."

Ali is now "tuning up" clients from around the world, in locations such as the USA, the Middle East and the UK. He says he only selects clients that are "a good fit", but that he is willing to work with anyone who "wants to make a difference".

He said: "I help them to deal with things. I don't have a magic wand.

"I can't change the global economic climate but I can help them to be okay while they get through it."

Go to alicampbell.com

Marks & Spencer's top man took time out of the firing line to visit Canary Wharf where he urged firms to increase the number of employment opportunities for young people.

A day before the annual meeting of Sir Stuart Rose's company - where he received a hot reception from shareholders - he met with a host of education leaders at the East Wintergarden.

"So it's important, not just at M&S but at other companies, that we step up and continue to make sure we take people in because this recession will come to an end.

"There's evidence to say that this recession has flattened and it may flatten out for another couple of years but there will be an end so we must keep talent coming through."

Earlier this year M&S joined the wave of UK companies looking to reduce headcount, when it announced plans to cut 1,230 jobs.

But Sir Stuart said the company had to maintain access to those leaving education and this year decided not to cut its graduate training scheme.

The 60-year-old will be putting his beliefs into practice later this year in his role as chairman at Business In The Community, which involves a group of companies committed to corporate responsibility.

He will lead a conference involving 100 chief executives and 100 people involved in training and ask what the two groups need from each other.

Sir Stuart said: "It's really important we do that. I've been involved with employing people for 30 odd years and we've really got to worry about the skills coming through and whether they are matching our needs.

"We want to develop their leadership skills, their entrepreneurial skills and that will only happen if we can get together with trainers to produce the right abilities."

Sir Stuart was due to face pressure from M&S shareholders at the company's annual meeting yesterday over his dual role of chairman and chief executive, which is against corporate governance guidelines.

Although a popular leader when he returned in 2004 - he began his management career at M&S in 1972 before leaving to embark on a host of top retail jobs - shareholders have reacted badly to the company's drop in profits over the last year.

Results picked up in this first quarter, but as Sir Stuart insists, business can be a victim of its own success at a company like M&S because of its status as a British institution.

He said: "If I get into a cab outside head office, I can see the driver looking into his rear view mirror thinking 'Is it that bloke?' Before deciding it might be and then they are off.

"That is great for getting customer feedback, the problem is there are 30,000 taxi drivers in London each with a different opinion. That's the beauty, the strength and potentially the weakness of our business.

"We've 21million customers. It's hard to get right. It's like doing the football pools and getting eight score draws.

"We try to do our best but we won't always be successful."

Anti-expansion protesters will head to Newham Town Hall on Wednesday night for the latest meeting on City Airport's plans to increase flights.

The proposals, which will see the airport's flight cap increase from 80,000 to 120,000 a year, were approved by Newham councillors last October, but more objections will be heard at an "update meeting" in East Ham.

But the expected decision will not dissuade campaigners, many of who are likely to speak at the meeting.

Chair of Fight the Flights Anne-Marie Griffin said the group's lawyers were studying whether the council had made any unlawful decisions, with the possibility of legal action to follow.

She said: "Fight the Flights will be continuing to campaign, and step up the campaign, to stop any future expansion at London City Airport."

Since the council's decision last October, Friends of the Earth has put in three late consultation responses on issues such as whether the council has properly considered the Race Relations Act in the application.

The campaign group has also raised concerns about climate change caused by expansion, as well as the effect of a flight increase on air quality.

The council's report rejected all arguments.