Last year, his annual business trip left him exhausted.

“You’re overweight,” said his wife, and the little ones nodded.

“No pain, no gain,” he resolved.

This Christmas Eve, after a strict twelve month diet, a slimmer, faster Santa will whiz round the world to deliver his gifts in record time.

John B Sinclair is a much-travelled Scot who has now returned to Scotland, where he enjoys freelance writing on a variety of subjects.