I am not sure if I have left my job to do the Tour D’Afrique or am doing the Tour because I have left my  job. Either way, I have two days left.

April 15th 2002, we set up what was then North West Vision and I became the first CEO. It has been an exciting, varied and hard nearly nine years since then.

Vision and Media exists to grow the digital and creative industries in the Northwest of England. It helps companies and talented individuals through access to finance, access to skills and access to markets.

To some extent, the history of V+M mirrors the history of the companies we support.We grew the company from a purely film agency with a budget of £830k to a full creative and digital development agency with a budget of £10m. We were able to help a lot of companies and a lot of people.

Now with the government cuts it is all change again. We have won a wider role from government in supporting the creative and digital sector right across the North of England and guaranteed funding till 2015 – a triumph. BUT we are going to have to shrink and that means losing some of the fantastic team that work so hard for the sector.

Personally, it is definitely hard to leave something behind that took so much time and energy but I know the company will prosper again and it is time for some new adventures for me.

Working in the public sector has been fascinating. I have had the opportunity to see how government actually functions from local to national level. Anyone who thinks it is an easy option compared to the private sector is seriously deluding themselves.  Some great people – some truly tedious politics.

Anyway onwards and upwards. I have my first radio interview about the trip today – will be talking about saddle sores rather than economic development – fabulous!

All these years later, one continent down and three books on. If you enjoyed the blog, there are lots more stories in my latest book, My 1001 Nights, out now. Or you might fancy ALL the tales of biking across Africa or travelling to Timbuktu.