±±¾©Èü³µpk10

Monday

Start the week with an 8am conference call on Skype with our Asia office, which is led by Michael Denmark and Rob Chamberlain and opened nine months ago. They are close to signing three new clients, which reassures me we weren't entirely mad to pick a market with no existing barter for our first overseas expansion. Next it's the media team's weekly meeting, which reveals our billings for the year to 30 June are pleasingly well above target, before I dash to the Ivy Club for lunch with MediaCom's Claudine Collins. We discuss industry news and review the events - and the hangovers - from the previous Wednesday, when I chaired a charity dinner that raised more than £200k for injured former rugby player Matt Hampson.

Tuesday

In the office for 7.45am, then off to the gym at 9am for a session with the sadist known as my personal trainer. On my return, I wince at the cost of recabling our office and then get down to some proper work, including a meeting with our marketing director Nathan Beck about our new Friends & Family Club. The club is a discreet way of offering some great deals on our leisure inventory and it will launch in the next couple of weeks, following testing with three agencies and three media owners. After work, I attend a preview of the new Dom Perignon 2000 vintage rose at the Moet Hennessy offices on Grosvenor Crescent. I drink my way through about £500-worth of champagne before coming back down to earth with a bang when I arrive at a deserted Reedham station at 10pm and freeze to death waiting for a taxi.

Wednesday

Barter can be a bit dry, so we try out our new chart at a presentation at John Ayling & Associates. There is plenty of interaction and they are less confused than normal - result! I then have lunch at The Ivy with Astus' bank manager, who is pleased we have taken steps to pay dividends before the new tax regime kicks in next month. Back in the office, I review the presentation for Thursday's pitch to a major grocer that is reviewing its media roster and wants to do some barter activity. I also make a number of calls to clients and media agencies and review the schedule for next week's visit to Hong Kong for our quarterly board meeting.

Thursday

Start the day with an 8am call to our investor Mark Wilson, the City boy who retired at 35 to invest in a number of businesses, including Astus. I then head to Euston station with a couple of first-class, Astus-branded barter tickets to travel to Manchester for the pitch. Delighted with our Virgin Trains barter deal but not so keen on the tilting train, which makes me feel sick. However, the pitch is very enjoyable and we also see Brilliant Media, so it is a good trip.

Friday

Drive to Bisley in Surrey for my twice-yearly clay pigeon shooting morning with a group of media luminaries including Evelyn Webster, chief executive of IPC, Charlie Varley of MediaVest and Simon Young from Bauer. In the afternoon, I drive down to our house in Somerset for the weekend. I make so many calls to my team, media agencies and clients on the way down - hands free, of course - that my mobile is almost out of batteries by the time I arrive.

Weekend

I let my 14-year-old son Jack cram his feet into a pair of boots Jonny Wilkinson gave me at the rugby fundraising dinner and take a photo of him, as they will be donated to the Matt Hampson Trust. I also do a bit of work, panic about an Entrepreneurs Club presentation I have to do on Wednesday and then watch the Six Nations matches and read the papers. However, my quiet Sunday is ruined when my son fractures and dislocates his finger playing football and I am stuck in casualty in Yeovil hospital until 3am. In future, he can stick to rugby.