David Jeffries, 43, emigrated to New Zealand in 2007 and is the Asia-Pacific director and founder of the award-winning media specialist company Mere Mortals, which has offices in Newcastle, UK, and in Auckland, New Zealand. The company has worked on computer graphics for films including ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, ‘28 Weeks Later’ and ‘Sunshine’.

I moved to Auckland in August 2007 because I was desperate for a change of lifestyle. In Britain I worked a crazy 18 hours a day and I never had any time to just be. I was cramming as much as possible into the few hours I had – whether it was socialising, fast food or relationships. As my ex-girlfriend said to me: “Business is your first love, then there’s you and then there’s me.” By the time I hit 40 I was forced to learn that there is more to life than work. My doctor said: “Your cholesterol is high, your heart rate is ridiculous; you have to change how you live because it’s killing you.”

I first came to New Zealand 10 years ago as a tourist. I was so taken with the place that I wanted to move there and then. But my girlfriend didn’t want to emigrate so I dropped the whole idea.

I returned to New Zealand four years ago on a reconnaissance trip and it confirmed that this was where I wanted to be. As soon as I got back to the UK I took on a new managing director for the company and advised him that making me redundant was to be his first priority. Some people might see my move as a backward step: I hear the stereotypes about New Zealand loud and clear. It’s uncultured, it’s at the end of the world, it’s Hicksville ... ‘Good’, I say. I want people to believe that. I don’t want them here to spoil the place. As popular British comedian Peter Kay would say in Phoenix Nights, “I’m living the dream.” In fact, I’ve taken up with a bunch of northerners from the UK here and we often throw this line to each other when asked “How are you?” as a reminder of how good things really are at the bottom of the world.

What do I like about the place? I love the sun, the space, the green and I love the quality of life. It’s 30 years behind the rush and madness of the UK, so people still have time to say hello, even though they don’t know who you are. When I came back to Auckland from the UK last year, the immigration official said: “Welcome home”. I’ve never had that happen back in England.

The Kiwi people have a refreshing eight-to-five work mentality. They’re up early, finish their jobs early and then head out to what they call the “third room”, or the great outdoors. I’ve worked out a great work/life balance for myself and, unlike back in Britain, I don’t often work beyond 5.30pm. I spend my spare time beach walking most days, swimming, going out fishing on a friend’s boat, driving my convertible in the sun or having weekend trips away in the camper van. The UK could never offer me what I have here.

Nothing beats the New Zealand character. They’re straight-talkers, honest, positive, and they also have a gung-ho spirit that resonates with me. The other day I was walking along a steep cliff up at Hunua Ranges when I noticed a fine blue string along the edge to alert walkers of the dangers of the cliff face. I laughed. In the UK, you would’ve had a bold sign with: “Danger: Walk at Own Risk!” and “Don’t Blame Us” or, more importantly, “Don’t Sue Us”.

I miss nothing about the UK other than curry and a warm beer. In New Zealand beer is cold, tasteless and fizzy. The place doesn’t have a real pub culture, which I found really tough at first. In England I was used to going to the pub in Ovingham, a little village in Northumberland near where I lived, for a pint after work at least four nights a week. But now I’m not really bothered. Looking back, it made me insular, especially as it was the same old crowd that I was seeing night after night. And it made me fat.

I’ve been here just over a year and I know I’m here for keeps. I’ve travelled extensively – I’ve been everywhere except Russia and South America – and New Zealand is definitely the place for me. I should have been born here. In fact it feels so much like home that I applied for permanent residency as soon as I touched ground. I can’t wait for the prerequisite five years to fly by before I apply for citizenship and get my “little blue book”, as the New Zealand passport is affectionately known.

Initially, I was worried about how the move would effect my business. But I’ve worked it so being here has allowed me to grow the company. We’ve increased productivity because the complementary time zones permit us to work around the clock. As the Newcastle team prepares to knock off they hand over assignments using video-conferencing and real-time file-sharing software to the Auckland team. It helps that the workers are well-trained and hard-working. And because they come from similar cultures, we avoid the headaches of outsourcing to places such as China and India.

My aim now is to expand. I’m going to Asia and Australia. There’s a serious games market that I want to tap into. Interactive media such as the Nintendo Wii offer immense opportunities. I feel encouraged here. New Zealand is a can-do society and I can do.

I doubt I would have made the move without the encouragement of my mentor. I met UK businessman Alastair Waite at a business breakfast seven years ago and I was so taken by him that I invited him to be my mentor. I’d say this has proved to be one of the smartest things I’ve done in my adult life. It’s only when he said to me, “You only get one go at life, so why not follow your dream?” that I adapted my business to suit my needs and gave myself permission to come here.

So, at last, here I am in Auckland. It’s a huge sprawl of a city: the largest in New Zealand, with the tallest building in the southern hemisphere at its heart. I see the Sky Tower and it lifts my soul. It means I’m home, it means I made it, it means “I’m living the dream”.