Quite a pretentious opening subject for my first post, but it sure is looking that way!

I’ve been in the web industry since 2000, worked for web companies, set up my own Mancehster based website company, DigitalVibe, which is going extremely well. We’ve just finished a job for AND Digital, a Manchester-based marketing company (they like to call themselves an “Ideas Company”, because they aim to offer far more than just your traditional uninspired run-of-the-mill marketing). The jobs we’ve just finished are for Contour Housing, Go-Style (a project for Golden Square shopping centre in Warrington), and a promotional campaign for Night at the Museum 2 (for 20th Century Fox and Village Hotels).

So back around this time last year I made a vow to myself that I would withdraw from mainstream development in April 2009. Well two months later than planned I’ve actually gone and done it! I’m still maintaining the company to the same high standards as always, however will be entrusting all production work to my lovely team of designers and developers. This allows me to adopt a purely managerial role. Of course I’ll be keeping my hand in the mix to some degree, but certainly not to the extent of recent months (it’s really been hectic lately as anyone in my circle will agree).

This frees up my time to explore other business opportunities and ventures that excite me. I’m sure you’ll be hearing much more about all of them in due course! For now, a little summary of my newest ventures:

The First Hour

I’m working with two other people (one of which is Manchester Metropolitan University’s Business Development Manager) to build a web service dedicated to helping business people/entrepreneurs find professionals that they can trust.

African Work

I was out in Malawi in 2007 helping out at the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre, and have the opportunity to go back out this year. I’ll be helping with construction work, getting the education centre ready and then when it’s finished, kitting it out with computers. I’m also trying to get over to a scouple of schools and orphanages to go through some mental and physical activities forming part of the next venture…

Sports Coaching

I’m training to attain my FA Coaching Level 1 and Level 2 badges which will qualify me as a football coach. This is to give me a firm understanding and groundwork for an exciting new business venture with Jimmy Petruzzi and David Go-Shay. We can’t reveal too much at this stage, but I’ll keep you posted on developments!