If ever a picture summed up a publisher's role...

It’s a good question, perhaps because there isn’t an easy one-line answer I can give that sums it all up. There are too many facets to the job.

I guess the simple response is to say this: that my main duty is to ensure CAT is well run and makes money.

Publishing CAT magazine means I have responsibilities across just about every area of the business, including:

• Planning the brand’s long-term business strategy
• Building relationships with key clients
• Writing budgets and monitoring the monthly accounts
• Putting together bespoke campaigns for bigger clients – Denso and ECP, for example
• Organising our Awards
• Selling bespoke sponsorships for the Awards
• Managing the business side of the website

From time to time, editor Emma even lets me do the occasional bit of editorial, both in the mag and online: I actually wrote half of our 30th anniversary special supplement back in June, which was fantastic as it taught me so much about the history of our industry.

Often, there can be so many little projects on the go at once, that I get into the office and don’t really know which one I should be concentrating on.

When I first arrived at Haymarket, one of my colleagues on What Car? magazine said that publishing was very much like trying to keep a dozen spinning plates in the air at the same time, and not allowing them to fall down and smash on the floor.

It was a decent analogy. That’s exactly what publishing a magazine can be like at times, even one as relatively small as CAT.

But I love it. So there!