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Quest Means Business
Exploring Highclere Castle's Storied History; Viking To Open Contemporary Events Pavilion At Highclere; United Kingdom Businesses Face Low Growth, Prospect Of Higher Taxes; Descendant Of Charles Dickens' Performs One-Man Adaptations Of His Famous Works. Aired 4:30-5p ET
Aired December 19, 2025 - 16:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
M.J. LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And I think that's like just a really painful reminder, again, about what you said. About how, at the end
of the day, you know, we can talk about the politics, we can talk about what -- you know, big name, high-profile folks we might encounter in these
files.
But at the end of the day, we really do need to bring this back to the survivors and the victims who suffered so much abuse and have been waiting
so many years, in some cases, for any semblance of justice.
I will also note just on the issue of the redactions, you know, I'm sure you've seen this too. I think you actually showed it on the screen earlier.
You know, there is a notice that says the DOJ basically tried to make all efforts possible to make sure that personal information pertaining to
victims are held back from disclosure.
But it says, because of the volume of the information involved, the web site may nevertheless contain information that inadvertently includes non-
public, personally identifiable information.
So, if you are -- I mean, just think about that. If you are a survivor, a victim, perhaps you are making the difficult decision to start going
through some of these files, you are basically sort of being told we can't guarantee that there might not be something that could be extra triggering.
So, all in all, just an incredibly challenging day for the folks that I've been in touch with. And finally, the fact that the DOJ is not releasing
everything that it has, and the fact that it's guaranteed that it's not going to end today, but it's sort -- this is sort of just the beginning of
the release of the Epstein files. That is very, very challenging for the folks I'm talking to as well.
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, just so difficult to imagine. M.J. Lee, thanks very much for that.
All right. So, we here at CNN are continuing to go through these files, detail by detail, line by line, we are going to take a quick break. We'll
be back with much more of this breaking news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:34:48]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: It is a famous staircase indeed, a chance to walk down on our Special Edition tonight.
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS coming to you from Highclere Castle, also known of course, and well known as Downton Abbey, where the Christmas trees are lit,
the halls have been decked, Highclere is ready for Christmas, and this is a special festive edition of QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
Good evening to you tonight. We are obviously continuing to follow the news, but we are with a special edition of QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, as you can
see from outside and the distinctive outline of this building. It is Highclere Castle, where we ventured down into Hampshire in the English
countryside for a traditional British Christmas celebration.
We are at the home of the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, who have invited us in, and they have been here since the 18th century. Now this hall salon,
to give it its proper title, is better known and Highclere, but you probably know it from the silver screen.
Many movies, many shows, have been filmed here over the years and from "Eyes Wide Shut", "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves", and of course, "Downton
Abbey", my all-time favorite.
Some scenes were shot in this very room in the salon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where is everyone?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not sure. Cousin Violet's come home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What about you?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: The very room.
Its Lady Carnarvon has lived at Highclere throughout the filming of Downton. Her Ladyship is with me.
Now, we have spoken to you several times on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, and you said, come to Downton, come to Highclere.
FIONA CARNARVON, COUNTESS OF CARNARVON: Come at Christmas.
QUEST: Come at Christmas. So, we did, and it's there. And it really is spectacular. Thank you for inviting us in. A major, important time of the
year for you here.
CARNARVON: Well, it is. And to give you some numbers, there are 61 Christmas trees here.
QUEST: What?
CARNARVON: 750 foot of garland -- Christmas garland. And over 12,000 Christmas baubles. I thought you like numbers.
QUEST: I do like numbers. And when we look at those numbers, the last Downton film was out just a few -- a couple of months ago.
CARNARVON: Yes.
QUEST: Each time there is a Downton, I expect it gives you a boost of interest.
CARNARVON: Well, in terms of visitors, yes. But we can only fit so many visitors in through the door each day, and we can fit 60 visitors to watch
Gerald Dickens perform a Christmas carol before or after Downton. So, I've written books. We've done gin. We've got other ways of trying to sustain
this castle.
QUEST: Is the castle on a sustainable footing. Because, you know, stately homes, I think the average cost of a stately home is something like
$300,000-$400,000 pounds a year to run in many cases. You are looking at museum to say, where did you get that number from?
No, but we did some statistics out there that do suggest it.
(CROSSTALK)
CARNARVON: Well, that would probably pay the insurance bill here.
QUEST: Really, if that's --
CARNARVON: It's that bad.
QUEST: It's that bad.
CARNARVON: Yes.
QUEST: And of course, you have a large staff. I don't -- you know -- you know --
(CROSSTALK)
CARNARVON: No. There is never enough people to help. I wish I had more maintenance, more people to help. So, we try different ways. And actually,
one of our last ventures at the moment is to create a new event space, with the help of Viking, to have a new corporate and visitor space. So, that's
really exciting.
We've actually be give -- been given permission by our planners, oh my goodness. Few.
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: To actually build something new here.
CARNARVON: Yes. It's the Viking Pavilion. I'm so excited. Really excited.
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: I know. And Viking, of course has been on -- the CEO of Viking has been on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, and we've talked about the growth of that
particular.
So, this idea of melding the past with the present to protect to the future is really --
(CROSSTALK)
CARNARVON: Yes.
QUEST: You must work really hard at it.
CARNARVON: Well, it's collaboration and partnership, making friends, building relationships. And actually, our partnership with Viking is really
important. And I did let Torstein Hagen know that I hope I was going to be on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, who runs Viking, and I hoped I'd be and longer
than he was. So, please help me out there. We've got a bet.
QUEST: Well, you are getting --
Well, we haven't done the program on Viking ship yet. So, it was not yet.
CARNARVON: Oh, can I ask you on one. Will you come with me? Come sailing.
QUEST: But that -- this sort of offers every day.
[16:40:01]
And what did -- what did Downton do for it?
CARNARVON: Oh, my goodness, it's been an extraordinary journey. It's not that they gave us a huge amount of cash each day, but they gave us this
marketing opportunity, and that Richard has been amazing.
So, we've tried to make the best of it. We've made the best of the opportunity ahead of us, and we have taken it both to welcome visitors and
hone our visitor business. And then, see how we can extend our brand. So, without that, we couldn't have done the brand.
QUEST: We are going to talk about brands later in the program. What would you say the brand is, because you love your gin?
CARNARVON: Yes. I think it's about excellence. I hope Nancy Mitford used to say, if something was very Highclere, it was very good. So, I've always
remembered that. She wrote to Evelyn Waugh, and that was the expression they used. So, I think you just need to be, try to be the best at what you
do, and you can only try to do your best. If it doesn't work out, you get up and have another go basically, but -- yes.
QUEST: When you look to the next 12 months and what you hope your projects will show, what would it be?
CARNARVON: An extension of protecting and developing our reputation, our brand? We've got quite a few exciting projects going forward. One of which
is the Viking Pavilion. Another one which I can't yet reveal, but I'd love to be the first to reveal it with you.
QUEST: Oh, you are teasing me.
CARNARVON: I am.
QUEST: Look, would you do me the honor of being the first?
CARNARVON: Oh, yes, please. OK.
QUEST: The first of the season.
CARNARVON: Happy Christmas!
QUEST: Happy Christmas!
CARNARVON: Whoa! Oh, I won.
QUEST: This is -- sets the tone for the rest of the day.
(CROSSTALK)
CARNARVON: You could see. Good to us.
QUEST: Thank you very much, Your Ladyship.
CARNARVON: Thank you so much.
QUEST: Thank you very much.
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, as we continue from Highclere. We are going to be joined by the CEO, Hey Dale, Simon Turek. We'll reflect on how the year has
actually progressed for U.K. small businesses. Was an interest rate yesterday. Are they going to benefit from that?
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, coming up?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:45:03]
QUEST: Absolutely spectacular. Just look at it. The very distinctive outline of Highclere Castle, made famous, of course, it's been around for
hundreds of years. Takes one T.V. series and a few films, and everybody knows it by something else. Downton Abbey, but we are here. I think it's
the salon. Is it saloon or salon?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Saloon.
QUEST: It's the saloon, which, of course, is where so much has happened and where the Christmas tree is. And you are very welcome for this special
edition of QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, a festive edition.
The U.K. government borrowed more last month than many economists had expected. But arguably, less than it had in previous months.
The budget deficit isn't only the British challenge for businesses. High interest rates, of course, now coming down, and they have also had to
contend with persistent low growth and higher taxes to mend the country's finances.
It's all on top of the increase that's been taking place this year to employers' national insurance, the tax on job social security, if you will.
Simon Turek is the chief executive of Haydale, an innovative home heating firm that is based in Wales that uses advanced materials, about three or
four hours away.
Thank you, sir, for coming in.
You are a classic small business in a sense that's been hit hard by the British economy. Looking forward to the lower interest rates. Balance on
balance, what's the situation like?
SIMON TUREK, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, HAYDALE GRAPHENE INDUSTRIES PLC: Thank you very much, Richard.
And you have identified a number of the challenges that face businesses of all sizes across the U.K. economy. But another of those is the energy. The
cost of energy consumption within businesses has increased to the point where it's now one of the top two costs for most businesses, right next to
people, energy, and water consumption.
QUEST: And that means, of course, companies like yourselves benefiting because, of course, innovative solutions. But at the end of the day, all
the companies need energy to operate.
TUREK: They need energy, but they also need to start operating in a more energy efficient ways. And that's where we are focused, using advanced
technologies to introduce products into businesses that enable them to continue to operate, to grow in ways that don't consume as much, and don't
put as much cost into their business.
QUEST: A lot of companies say -- small companies say they don't feel the British government fully understands the plight, whether it be Tory or
Labor now that's in power.
I mean, you've got covered with national insurance. The regulatory system is still very strict. Do you feel you are still getting a rough deal?
TUREK: So, if we look at what the budget announced.
QUEST: Right.
TUREK: It recognized those challenges. It recognizes them in the context of households of businesses. But what needs to happen is innovation, new
products to take into business, to enable costs to be cut, to enable growth to happen. It is about using technology to advance the economy. It's a
market-based solution.
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: But that requires -- but that requires things like tax credits. It requires incentives. But all of those things at a time when the U.K.
economy can't really afford them.
TUREK: And we are doing it without the incentive element.
QUEST: That's a problem.
TUREK: It's about taking that product into those businesses, not relying on incentives to do so.
And our outlook for the economy is strong. Just last week, we announced the major acquisition.
QUEST: Right.
TUREK: 17-million-pound investment, purchase of a business that enables us to put together, a vertically integrated platform to help businesses from
the start right the way through their energy and water efficient journey to enable growth off the back of innovative new energy efficiency products.
QUEST: Let's put some energy into this, if you will, sir, and then, maybe you'll invite us to bring the program to your places.
TUREK: Certainly, come to Wales.
QUEST: All right, I'm two for nil. Two for nil. But which two? No, that's boring.
Oh no, these are questions. They are not jokes. Oh, for goodness' sake. Good to see you, sir. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.
Anyway, one that classic Christmas tale, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, was published 182 years ago today.
On tonight's program, we have Charles Dickens' great, great grandson, who performed on his one-man rendition of the story here last night. He is
going to perform a scene for us. coming up next.
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, live from Highclere, on a gorgeous --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:52:16]
QUEST: Isn't that spectacular? A tree going all the way right to the roof and beyond.
FIONA, how many Christmas trees have you got?
CARNARVON: I think, 61.
QUEST: 61 Christmas trees. She put everyone up herself and put every bauble on every bit of the tree.
Many of the associations that we have come to enjoy about Christmas come from Charles Dickens, the ultra-famous author. Some call him the man who
invented Christmas, of course. Thanks to the classic tale, A Christmas Carol.
Now, some even say Dickens popularized the phrase, Merry Christmas, in the way in which the tale is told. His great, great grandson is Gerald Dickens,
and carries on the legacy, adapting several of the great man's stories into one-man shows.
He performed A Christmas Carol right here at Highclere last night. And he is with me now. Gerald Dickens, the actor, joining me. Good to see you,
sir.
GERALD DCKENS, ENGLISH ACTOR: Wonderful to meet you.
QUEST: And thank you for staying beautifully dressed.
DICKENS: Oh, and you, a very welcome.
QUEST: It's both a benefit and a burden to be the great, great grandson in a sense.
DICKENS: Benefit, benefit, never burden. It's a privilege, absolutely, privilege.
QUEST: But the way in which you've decided to go with it, I mean, you could have done your acting and directing in a completely different direction.
DICKENS: Yes, yes.
QUEST: Why did you decide to --
DICKENS: Well, originally, actually, I had gone in another direction. I distanced myself from Dickens completely. And it was somebody else came to
me with the idea of recreating one of the dramatic readings that Dickens used to do himself in the 1860s. And purely as an actor, I found the
material just so rich and exciting that I went with it.
QUEST: I don't want to over egg this pudding. But do you think being a relative gives you an advantage in the interpretation and the performance?
DICKENS: No. Not in the interpretation at all.
QUEST: Really.
DICKENS: Because there are so many productions of it. Be they one man, theater or movies or television adaptations or whatever, and everybody has
their own take on it. Mine isn't special. Mine isn't channeled from any --
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: Really. All right. That's not the answer I want to hear.
DICKENS: All right. Sorry, yes. Let's back track. Yes.
QUEST: Yes, yes, yes. But, do you have a favorite?
DICKENS: No, I'll take it the other way that there is not a single adaptation that I don't like. I take something from all of them. I love the
classics. I love the Alastair Sim. I love Georgie Scott I love the Muppets. I mean, what's not to like?
QUEST: Please, sir. A Christmas Carol for a minute or two.
DICKENS: At length, the hour of shutting up the office arrived.
You here. You will want all day tomorrow, I suppose.
[16:55:01]
Well, if it is -- if it is quite convenient, sir.
It is not convenient. It is not fair. you would think yourself ill-used. I'll be bound if I were to stop you half a crown for it. And yet, you do
not think me ill-used when I pay a day's wages for no work.
It is only once a year, Mr. Scrooge.
That is a poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every 25th of December. Dull, I suppose you must have it, but you be here all the earlier the next
morning. Do you hear me?
And the clerk promised that he would, and he pelted home to Camden Town to play at blind man's buff.
QUEST: Sir, thank you very much.
DICKENS: You are very welcome.
QUEST: We'll be back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight's "PROFITABLE MOMENT", which comes from Highclere Castle. Now, in a funny sort of way, ever since the pandemic, we have got this
sneaking little relationship with Highclere, ever since Her Ladyship and I spoke during the pandemic, and we learned about the problems being faced
during businesses at that particular time.
And since then, we have been privileged and honored by to come here and indeed now do our Christmas special from the Highclere Castle.
I keep wanting to say Downton, but you'll just have to forgive me. The reality is that at this time of the year, we now all hopefully, can find
some small way to move into relaxed mode, to actually switch off. Whether you're celebrating Hanukkah, Diwali, or indeed, Christmas, it doesn't
really matter.
This Friday night program was important for us on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, because first of all, we've been invited to this magnificent place, but
also it is the end, if you like, of our regular weekly programs. Next week, we go into Christmas mode.
Yes, I'll tell you what the markets are doing. I'll update you with this, that, and the other. But I do think it is incumbent on all of us, even
those of us like myself, who will be working on Christmas Day, a tradition at CNN that goes back 30, 25, years.
Now, the reality is, let's just try as best we can, whatever you're celebrating.
[17:00:00]
And even if you bar humbug, not just try to switch off and enjoy a little bit of peace, a little bit of quiet, a little bit of time. Because now
that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for this Friday night.
I am Richard Quest at Highclere Castle. Whatever you are up to this Christmas time, I hope it's profitable. I will see you on Monday.
END
