Rather predictably neither happened, and at the beginning of 1998 I found myself continuing to spend 15-20 hours of my week and an ever growing proportion of my hard earned salary commuting to and from London. I found compensation in the knowledge that my lifestyle was not unique, that many of my friends and colleagues do the same, wasting time and money, missing out on their children and feeling too tired and having no time to pursue any interests outside work.

But for me, there was an acute irony in commuting. I am a Director of Tolson Messenger , a firm of insurance brokers who for a number of years have specialised in providing tailor-made insurance for people who worked from home. So there was I, battling into and across London everyday, often arriving to find faxes and messages from clients who had already started a productive day’s work no doubt after a leisurely breakfast and time with the family. (or so they told me!). I convinced myself that our clients could enjoy this way of life because they were independent and running their own business, free of the restrictions of company policy. For me, and many others in my position, working from home was impossible; how could you remain involved with the running of the company when you are sat at home - out of sight, out of mind and out of touch?. At the back of my mind though, I knew that many companies across the UK both large and small, were passionately embracing teleworking and the substantial business benefits it brought with it. Surely some of these could be realised by Tolson Messenger?.

But many of the old fears of Teleworking reared their heads. Surely the office wouldn’t cope without me for 2 or 3 days a week, that staff would run riot, clients would wonder who was in charge, colleagues would believe that I had “lost touch” and that in a very short space of time I would either find myself back in the office full-time or that there wouldn’t be an office to go back to. These were all great excuses for me not to take the plunge into some level of teleworking, and I suspected that this was the sort of thing that happens in many companies who are afraid or unwilling to change their culture.

Then, in November 1997 my youngest daughter was diagnosed as having a potentially fatal genetic condition known as Severe Combined Immune Deficiency (SCID) which affects only 40 babies in the UK each year. What was I suppose, a normal family life became one interrupted by a series of visits to hospital , all part of the “build-up” for what was the only cure for the condition - a Bone Marrow Transplant. Work suffered too - not only were there the regular visits to hospital, but looking after our seriously ill daughter and two other children was extremely demanding - the 6.25 am train into London and the late train back was no longer possible.

Thankfully, my fellow directors were very understanding and for the majority of June and July I was “commuting” to and from hospital and with the assistance of an ISDN line and a laptop, continued with some work (the financial year end was fast approaching!) and kept in touch with the office.

Now, with the transplant over and my daughter returning home there is a temptation to slip back into old ways and return to a life of commuting, to forget the benefits that teleworking brought in such a difficult situation. But I was beginning to realise and appreciate the benefits that teleworking brought both to myself and to the business; that it could work in normal as well as adverse circumstances. I was surprised at how easy it was to overcome the possible disadvantages of teleworking - distractions, lack of motivation, and feelings of isolation and how quickly I realised the personal advantages - the reduced commuting, increased leisure and family time. From a business point of view, I have found that my time is better managed with the split between home and office being an advantage rather than a hindrance. As a result I believe I have been more productive as an individual and I am pleased to say that working from home has not undermined me as an individual or indeed the effective management of the company. Quite simply, Teleworking has worked.

Many companies stress the importance of communicating with their customers, of understanding their needs and empathising with their individual circumstances. Nice in theory, but not always easily put into practice. Maybe now, I am in the fortunate position to claim that I DO understand my clients - for at least two days of the week I am one of them!.

Update: April 2000

I have been living in Cumbria for the last year, having taken the decision to move the family to what is a beautiful part of the country. I still work from home 2 or three days a week and commute weekly to London. By moving 300 miles from London I have resisted any temptation to go back to my old ways and commute 5 days a week! I am now a dyed in the wool CoHo worker.

My wife and I have also set up a fundraising organisation which we run from home. Kids for SCID is affiliated to Great Ormond Street Children’s Charity and aims to raise awareness of this rare condition among parents and raise funds for treatment.