Monday
The week starts as always just before 5am with a quick cup of coffee and a three-mile run with our little dog Harry. He is even less keen than me and has taken to hiding under the curtains to avoid going out in the dark and cold. Sometimes I wish I could do the same.
Into the office just after 8am for some quiet time to prepare for the week ahead before the phone starts to ring.
After our weekly management meeting, I send an email to our media owner partners inviting them to this year's Moving Minds event, hosted here at Kinetic.
Moving Minds is a chance for our clients, agency and media owner partners to hear from leading thinkers in a variety of areas, from wearables and haptic technology to smart cities, the internet of things and sustainable business practice. We also have a tech room where guests can play with the latest gadgets and devices. It's definitely one of the highlights of our event calendar.
Part of my role includes a responsibility for sustainability and CSR across Kinetic and later in the morning, myself and my colleague Charlotte Lago have a meeting with our Harrogate office to ensure that our reporting systems are working efficiently. We are constantly looking for ways to improve our delivery in this hugely important area – it's something we take very seriously.
I've a few internal meetings and then it's time to help my colleague Christy with mailing out our new magazine, This Concerns You. The magazine looks at out-of-home media from all angles, including the impact of wearable technology, the part we have to play in the smart cities of the future, the advances in digital and the power of established, classic out of home as a powerful broadcast medium.
Tuesday
We start the day with this week's kick-start meeting where the whole company comes together in our cafe area to focus on the business needs of the coming week, month, quarter and year.
These are vital sessions where senior management can communicate face to face with the wider team, and staff from across the business to share great work, case studies and news. It's deliberately informal and designed to be inclusive, informative and fast paced so we can all crack on with the job in hand.
Next, I have a session with Jennie Sallows, our head of research and insight. The work of our two teams is often inextricably linked and we work closely on numerous projects, papers and events to demonstrate the power and efficacy of out of home media.
Later on, I'm out with our senior team at the very impressive Ham Yard hotel in Soho for a presentation and dinner with Outdoor Plus. It’s a great opportunity for both companies to talk about our plans for the coming year.
Wednesday
Another run with the dog early doors, but this time it feels like I'm dragging a lead weight along with me thanks to the truckload of food I ate last night.
My first meeting of the day is just down the road at MediaCom with its head of investment, Phil Hall. I worked with Phil for around eight years when I was at MediaCom and as well as being a friendly face, he is a shrewd operator – a useful and informative meeting.
At the end of the day we have one of our regular leadership team meetings, which is made up of a small group of CEO Stuart Taylor's direct reports. These meetings are crucial to the continued success of the business and are invariably lively and productive sessions.
However, among the rigours of managing the business, our chief commercial officer John Davidson shares his plans for a new spreadsheet he's been developing, which will undoubtedly streamline our reporting process further still. He's clearly very excited. Enjoying a heady mix of Excel-induced endorphins, the day comes to a close with the promise of more from John and his spreadsheets tomorrow – we can't wait!
My wife is an English teacher and has taken our two daughters to see the senior school play this evening. Knowing how much I love musical theatre, she avoided getting me a ticket and has instead left me to fend for myself in front of the Discovery channel – a win-win for all.
Thursday
Harry the Cocker Spaniel is not impressed with me disturbing him this morning and is pretending not to see or hear me. It's pitch black and cold outside, but he is the only thing I still have any control over in our house, so I eventually persuade him to come with me.
The working day begins with our weekly group account and business director meeting where we feed in priorities from the leadership meeting yesterday. There's a lot to cover and the pace and focus is driven well by client services director Nicole Lonsdale.
After picking up Charlotte Lago, I go straight from that meeting to the WPP head office in Mayfair to meet with Vanessa Edwards, group head of sustainability.
Vanessa is hugely inspiring and full of energy and passion for her subject. We leave with our heads full of ideas and an invitation to join her and some of our top clients in a fortnight to start making some of the ideas a reality.
I have a catch-up with our head of Kinetic Active, Rosh Singh. We're working on what could potentially be a very big and very exciting project and it's great to trade ideas and sense discuss some of the more creative areas in OOH.
At the end of the day, we have a meeting with MediaCom's head of TV Simon Broderick and his colleague Helen Yerbury. TV and OOH are clearly complementary media and progressive clients and planners are now talking about all screen based media rather than siloed media channel buying. This works well for digital OOH and the next steps will be great for advertisers and good for the sector.
Friday
I give Harry a break this morning and don't subject either of us to a run in the rain. He looks relieved and I'm sure we've done enough already this week.
After a busy week both in and out of the office, today is a chance to take stock. I catch up on doing things rather than simply talking about them. With half-term looming, my day of taking stock suddenly becomes slightly more hectic than planned, but I manage to tie most things up before looking forward to a well-earned break with the family. I'm not sure who will appreciate not having the 5am wake-up call more, me or Harry.
Lowdown
Age: 41
Favourite media: Books, followed by OOH, TV and Classic Bike magazine
My biggest inspiration: Ernest Shackleton
Dream job: Custom motorbike builder
Not a lot of people know this about me... I once swam the River Dart 10K with Rhys McLachlan from Videology
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