A final hurrah for 2017


And so the year draws to a close and here’s the final missive for 2017, delivered six months after returning to the IJ fold after a break of seven years – the first four at the infra title that doesn’t warrant mention and three highly-enjoyable ones in head hunting.

On the recruitment front, one cannot help but wonder at people and the things they do. Last year held more than its fair share of surprises on this front.

There is the chap at a bank in London who launched himself across the table and did his level best to throttle his boss after being fired; another who single-handedly destroyed his own career by going in to work at the weekend and being a bit more of a right-hand-man than was entirely necessary; and then the chap who ran up a huge phone bill calling up sexy chatlines… yes, it would appear they still exist.

On the Infrastructure Journal front, it’s been a roller-coaster from the first Friday editorial in June – As I Was Saying – sent out sans byline as the whole process proved too challenging for an old dog, through to launching IJInvestor, our infra funds database and news service.

Fortunately for the editorial with no author, there are enough people who remember the Friday alerts of old and recognised the hand… while everyone else was left wondering who the hell was spamming them with an over-familiar and indulgent pile of drivel.

It’s been splendid settling back into IJGlobal. Some have said it must be like pulling on a pair of old slippers, others less kindly drawing a parallel to signing up for a second tour in Vietnam.

Having edited IJ from 2004-10 and returning to the title as editorial director, it is an exciting time to return with new products going live.

These developments include:

  • IJInvestor - funds database with dedicated news service
  • Company Tracker – letting you track any company involved in infrastructure with one click
  • Company Data – intelligence data tool targeting 17,000 companies in global infra showing market share, outbound ratios and far more
  • IJ On Demand: an Excel API that is revolutionising the use of our data

Back in October, we invited a bunch of financial modellers around to our London headquarters to try and break the API, and – largely – it held up. It was well received and the functionality celebrated… which came as a huge relief after months of development costs.

Next year launches with awards judging sessions in London, New York, Singapore and Dubai prior to the actual awards nights in each of these locations.

We have exciting plans for the next 12 months and we plan to spend a lot of time out there meeting with you, showcasing our new services and improvements we are bringing online.

It’s going to be an exciting year ahead and we look forward to you joining us on the journey.