Andrew Hebden is Assistant Editor (Business) of The Journal »
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Formerly editor of a national business lifestyle magazine, Jez Davison is a business writer for the Evening Gazette in Teesside »
Ian Brown, Northumberland farmer and businessman writes about the agricultural industry »
Accessibilty Champion Steve Wilkinson on the importance of inclusion »
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PR man David Honeywell on raising your profile in the right places »
Marion Bernard is from NorthStar Equity Investors »
Caroline Theobald is the Managing Director of Bridge Club Ltd »
John Barton of Renew, on the region's low carbon and sustainable energy agenda »
Paul Williamson is Senior Partner at Deloitte »
Stephen Hall is Tax Partner at Deloitte »Well after 22 hours of travelling, 15 hours on planes and a five hour stopover in Dubai (where it was 35 degrees at midnight) I have finally made it to Johannesburg.
For the first time in two years and numerous trips to Africa my airport pickup actually picked me up. Would you believe it?!
Despite getting on the right plane (this time) and everything happening according to schedule, it wouldn't be me in Africa if everything went according to plan!
My bags hadn't been broken into when I arrived- apparently a bit of a miracle for Johannesburg airport. I was then shunted off to the 'something to declare' aisle (even though the only thing I wanted to declare was the need for some sleep and a hot shower!)
It seemed to the staff an unbelievable situation that I hadn't actually bought anything en route via Dubai.
Now, I can kind of see where they were coming from with this one. Dubai is a shopping paradise; however, throw into the equation a midnight arrival and 5am departure and you can see why I may not have been in the mood for retail therapy (and neither was my bank balance.) The grim reality was that I shoved two seats together and slept away the few hours' gap before my second eight-hour plane journey of the day!
There was no getting round it: I queued for an hour to have a guard rifle through my case. When they found nothing, the guy looked so disappointed. I shot him the 'I told you so look' but didn't have the guts to say it - he did have a gun after all.
After putting the whole experience down to perhaps having an untrustworthy face, I left the airport for my bed and breakfast. Finally, on arrival, I smiled for the first time today: it is so nice to be out in Africa again, in the sun and about to start a new journey, meet new people and set out the groundwork for a brand new project.
This smile lasted up until the point where I was shown to my room.
The Dutch owners thought it a good idea to theme each of the rooms based on the Big 5 animals of Africa!
Mine's the elephant room (which in some ways I was grateful for: elephants are less scary than lions!!). They looked for my reaction to this room, which was adorned in animal print and a life size elephant wall hanging over my bed. What can you say to that!
They seemed pleased with my answer that I'd never seen anything like it and left me to catch up on some much needed sleep.... For all of three hours before they were back again inviting me out to dinner. To ANYONE travelling alone, this is an offer not to be refused - food and company -so I got ready and hit the road.
What followed was a fascinating evening telling of the ups and downs of Johannesburg. A city where spiralling gun crime and raging poverty is part of daily life.
On one side are the wealthy whites, while the black community looks through their barbed wire security gates. They told me about life during and after the apartheid, the regulations of which were finally abandoned in 1990.
Since the 1994 elections the city has theoretically been free of discriminatory laws, yet even in this short visit I can feel, see and sense the huge divide that has yet to be broken down.
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