Day: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

I'm still sick. Drag myself out of bed and into the mixed berries and granola.

Take the antibiotic or not? I ask myself a few times. It has been three days… But if I take them am I going to be responsible for further weakening the immune system of all mankind?

I take the damn pill and read emails in bed. By the way, it’s 5.45am. For me this is very early, and only happens when I am ill.

I make it to the office. Four flights of stairs in my Everest jacket, literally one foot after the other, just like Edmund Hillary.

I have to walk through my office to get to my own office, if that makes any sense. Sometimes I dread the walk. I just don’t always have it in me to engage, to be a boss. Before I get to my room I have answered questions on film production, public relations, marketing issues and flights.

The team, I note, are looking pretty bleary-eyed after the Elle Style Awards...

First up is a meeting about our Paris office and plans for a ball we may host in the summer. Then a meeting with my chairman, Sir Jonathan Rivett-Carnac, and the creative and business team, about our digital publishing business and Enterprise Investment Scheme funding. We are building titles in travel, entertainment and luxury. Nick Foulkes and I already produce Finch’s Quarterly Review, a mad newspaper that celebrates life in its most eccentric forms. Kevin Spacey and John Malkovich write for it from time to time.

Next I have a conference call with Finch & Partners in Turkey. I recently addressed a big marketing conference in Istanbul and we have a couple of new clients interested in this vibrant country. I decided on my last trip that I like Turkish coffee; there is a fantastic coffee shop at the foot of the Grand Bazaar called Mahdumlari.

I have a sandwich at my desk. Not a success. I think I just ate a horse I once knew.

I am then briefed on Livia Firth’s charity incentive Green Carpet Challenge and its plans for Cannes. This very dynamic lady and a powerful environmental lobby are now being supported by many celebrities and brands including Chopard.

In the afternoon I have a meeting with Barney Broomfield about a documentary he wants to make in Zimbabwe. He is the son of Nick Broomfield, who I have worked with for 20 years, executive producing some of his great films – Battle for Haditha being the latest, which also won the Grierson award for Best Drama Documentary. Barney is super-talented and just crossed the Sudan in a microlight aircraft.

California starts calling. The day spirals. I pop another antibiotic. Never should have started them. I am feeling better.