She also believes that people should begin their financial planning at a young age. CORPORATE BACKGROUND: Ms Thomas trained as a barrister. "I am quite messianic about getting women to take responsibility for their own finances," she says. A challenge for the industry is to demystify financial services, says Ms Thomas. CHALLENGE: For Johnson Fry, the challenge is to grow the fund management business profitably.

She also enjoys horse racing and collecting Art Deco furniture. To mitigate the effects of the latter she works out four times a week. An ardent Francophile, she spends weekends in her house in the south of France Enjoys good food and wine. PERSONAL DETAILS: Age 36 Lives in Docklands, east London Drives a Porsche Carrera Salary pounds 225,000.

At the end of the day, investors want results."Founded: in 1986 in an old carpet warehouse in Cowley, near Oxford, by Keith McCullagh and Sir Brian Richards, two former executives of the US drug company GD Searle.Turnover in 1998: pounds 450,000Pre-tax loss in 1998: pounds 42.7mEmployees: 290Major Product: Marimastat, an anti-cancer compound currently in the third and final phase of clinical trials Results expected over the next few months.. Dr Goldstein believes that an end to the legal wrangling is important - but not too important, and he claims the company should focus on only one thing: "Results. The two sides have traded writs and are due to appear in court in autumn.A long public trial revisiting the details of a case punctuated by personal rivalries, mistakes and sheer incompetence, will hardly help Biotech's case, and the company is trying to reach an out-of-court settlement. The two drugs could be followed by three other compounds.The other crucial element to regaining investor confidence is a resolution of the Millar affair. They say two other compounds at an earlier development stage could sustain the group even if Marimastat failed. Some industry experts believe that scrapping Marimastat could spell the end of British Biotech, but Dr Goldstein's scientists are more upbeat. Over the next 18 months, British Biotech expects to publish the outcome of further tests, which will determine the future of the drug, and perhaps of the company.