I was planning to post an article on mentorship today, but I have been receiving a bunch of messages from people congratulating me on having been at Niche for 18 years. Eighteen years! I can hardly believe it – I had to check. One of the joys of Linked in is that it announces your anniversaries to the wider world, whether you remember them or not. Obviously, it is only polite to respond thanking each and every one for their congratulations. But there are additional thanks to be shared with a wider group of amazing people I have had the opportunity to meet and work with over this time. Many of them have become close friends.

I want to thank those who gave a chance to a young start-up company that was over-provided in ambition and enthusiasm but under supplied with experience. We wouldn’t have made it off the launch pad without your belief in us. We worked our hearts out for you and hope you felt that your belief in us was repaid.

Thank you to those of you over the years who have allowed us to on with their ‘babies.’ With biotechs and start-ups, some of our most enthusiastic clients, we appreciate how important your products are to you and how exciting the science behind them is. Ranging from unique small molecules for the treatment of diabetes, asthma and various cancers to the latest in gene therapies. It has been a privilege to work, however briefly, in the enriched atmosphere of your energised project teams. It has been wonderful working with your cutting-edge science.

Thank you for being such great clients. We have made every effort to repay your trust with our hard work and dedication. And thank you for listening when we have shared learnings from our NOW extensive experience.

These 18 years have been marvellous and I would like to thank all members of the Niche team, past and present, for their dedication and hard work. I would also like to thank them for making Niche such a great place to work and such an easy company to manage – dare I say lead? They have mentored me every day and I have tried to learn from their collective wisdom. Eighteen years have passed in the blink of an eye and I can’t wait to find out what lies in store in the next 18 years. Rather then risk committing plagiarism I would direct you to the speech made by Anthony Hopkins in the movie 'Meet Joe Black' and wish happiness to one and all.

I have one last observation. When I told the boss at my first agency that I would like to start my own company he tried to dissuade me by telling me that it was ‘very cold out there’ and that I would find it ‘very lonely’. And to the boss at my second agency who told me it was my job to put the magic into the science. I have to say that it has been the science that has put the magic into me and not vice versa, and the brilliant people we have worked with have ensured that there has never been a minute or second of loneliness or cold.

Thank you.