It is the end of June and Kevin Roberts is in the air again. Having just left London, he’s en route to Mexico City, then Phoenix, Arizona, on to Lancaster, England and then Paris in the space of just a few days.
As chief executive worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi, the advertising agency, Mr Roberts spends his entire year on the road in a touring schedule so rigorous it would get most rock bands reaching for the Red Bull. “My office is my briefcase,” he says.
Mr Roberts is part of a growing tribe of executives and entrepreneurs proving that in business today, you can work from anywhere. This work-anywhere group includes nomadic executives, remote-workers, city-hopping location-independent workers and entrepreneurs who are relocating to cities a long way from home. A smartphone, Skype account, broadband connection and wide public access to WiFi have liberated them from the shackles of the office to work wherever they feel most productive.