When one is tired of London, StrategicRISK beckons

Nine years ago, in the midst of the global financial crisis, I arrived in London on a one-way ticket with just a suitcase of photographs and a touch of youthful optimism. The print media world was crumbling under the weight of the digital beast and I was told by one unhelpful recruiter that I had “more chance of becoming a NASA-trained astronaut than getting a job in journalism.”

With a lot of luck, persistence and a little Australian temerity, I landed my first job at Insurance Times; a sister publication of StrategicRISK. Nathan Skinner was then at the helm with Will Sanders as publishing director. Each month, I would grab a fresh copy of Strategic Risk out of the boxes delivered to our Cannon Street office, squirrel it home in my bag and­ read it cover-to-cover; secretly hoping that one day I might see my name in the distinctive masthead.

A few years later, whilst freelancing, I had my chance. I was lucky enough to be commissioned to write features ranging from brand reputational risk in the aftermath of Oscar Pistorius to supply chain risk with the horse meat scandal plaguing European supply chains. My innate journalistic sensibilities were awakened and I have been hooked on risk ever since.

Samuel Johnson once mused that: ’When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life’. I believe what he actually meant was: ’When one is tired of London, one is ready for a whole new hemisphere.’

As I write this, I am in the process of transferring my family from London to Sydney to take up the reins of Strategic Risk Asia Pacific editor and I could not be more excited. Whilst there is an unavoidable sense of an ending in closing the London chapter of my life, there is an even bigger sense of a beginning emerging.

I look forward to the weeks, months and years ahead, as I reconnect with many of you who may have spoken to me when I was wearing my freelancer hat, and forming new bonds with those in the risk community I am yet to meet.

Please do reach out to me. My door is always open and my email and phone are always on. I would love to hear everything from your smallest thoughts to your biggest ideas. Our world is riskier than it ever has been but there is also an undeniable sense of appreciation for what our risk community can do to challenge the status quo and make the world a safer place to live and work.