It’s 1am at Effingham Junction station in Surrey and a lone figure is hunched over the bonnet of a Land Rover in the station car park, working furiously.

But this is no late night breakdown or incident of grand theft auto. This is Robert Ashcroft, then a few months into his tenure as CEO of PRS For Music, working against the clock to draft the PRO’s all-important response to the European Commission’s framework directive on collective rights management.

“Michel Barnier, ...