Judith McKenna

You might not get it right all the time, but you have to be genuine in your intent.

It's a very big world with some very big characters. And, boy, do you have to be able to stand up for yourself when you walk into a working men's club and negotiate a loan.

The experience of seeing your entire team made redundant is eye-opening.

I work as long as I need to work to do what I need to do.

My philosophy has always been to do the job I do to the very best of my ability and to be myself within it.

You will get cynicism, and the only way to break through is keep showing people and take actions.

We realized quickly that wages are only one part of it, that what also matters are the schedules we give people, the hours that they work, the training we give them, the opportunities you provide them. What you've got to do is not just fix one part, but get all of these things moving together.

You don't try to have the very lowest cost of an asset. You try to have the right asset. So rather than thinking about the lowest cost, the question is how do you get the best productivity.

We want to serve the customer as they want to be served.

Anything that puts money back in the pockets of the consumer, however you choose to do it, is a good idea.

You can't make good decisions without knowing the business.

It is amazing what colleagues tell you about the inefficiencies and about what works and what doesn't. It is a real-life check on our ideas.

I am very balanced. I care passionately about people and customers but also about the numbers, and hopefully that view brings something to the party.

I really love being finance director.