Making the decision to leave was simple to make in that Afrigator is a passion of mine and I’ve now been given the opportunity to work on my passion full time but on the flip-side it was also extremely difficult. Over the last 14 months I’ve built up very special relationships with Colin, Gregor, Ian and Robin and we’ve grown very close as a team and as a friends.

Together I believe we have provided immense value to the company and I know that I am leaving the iLab in very capable and safe hands. I will now have the opportunity to sit back and watch what the guys produce over the coming months and I look forward to seeing them assist in helping the company reach its goals and objectives.

All I can say is that they will all be sorely missed.

Moving to Cape Town is something I and my family welcome and are looking forward to and while we’ll all miss our family and friends this move will be a life-changing experience for us all. As a parent I couldn’t ask for more than to bring my kids up in a city that has so much to offer and our quality of life is going to improve dramatically as a result.

Packing is now well on its way and on Sunday morning we move into our new home in Claremont. I don’t think we can yet quantify what this all means but I’ll post my experiences on the blog in the coming days and weeks.

Wish us all luck.

Finally I can now officially announce that I’ve left The Times and have taken up a new position as the Digital Innovation Manager at Avusa‘s new commercial applications unit known as the iLab.

The iLab was formed to create online, offline and mobile innovation within the Avusa group and I’ll be heading up a small team from this point onwards. I will still report directly to Colin, who is now the Publisher of Times Online, but he will also work very closely with us on the strategy and implementation of new products and services.

We’ve also been busy with recruiting new staff and I’m very excited that Gregor has joined the iLab, in a highly strategic role, as our New Media Specialist. We’re really going to diversify Gregor’s skills and it is without doubt that he’ll be an invaluable addition to the team.

From the 1st of April Ian Barnes will join the iLab team as our Lead PHP Developer and I’m really excited to have his skill-set on board. Ian was responsible for the development of the Vault9 network as well as the blog traffic exchange site Blog Mad, so he has a proven track record in delivering high-quality websites.

There is little doubt that we’re building up a formidable team in the iLab and we’re not done just yet. We’re still on the lookout for a killer Web/Multimedia Graphic Designer so if you want to work with an innovative, dynamic and super-cool bunch of guys then pop me an email.

Exciting times at Avusa and I’m looking forward to reporting on some of our developments in the coming weeks and months.