Hey big spender

Christine Akehurst, president of the National Association of Toastmasters and Fellow and Director of the British Institute of Innkeeping

1. What was your best subject at school?

English

2. What was your first job?

ASM at Liverpool Playhouse Theatre

3. What was your first job in catering?

Manageress, the Ascot Hotel, Paddington.

4. What do you normally have for breakfast?

Porridge or cereal

5. What do you do to relax?

Sleep and read

6. Which is your favourite restaurant?

The Paris House at Woburn (but I can't find anyone rich enough to take me)

7. What is your favourite drink?

Iced Finlandia vodka but I'm gaining a taste for champagne

8. What ingredient do you hate the most?

Chilli peppers

9. What do you always carry with you?

A briefcase and handbag containing sufficient items for any eventuality

10. How would you describe your desk?

Never big enough

11. Which people in catering have you most admired?

All those who work all hours for very little return and who only seem to get a mention when there is a complaint

12. Which people have given you the greatest inspiration?

Biggles and Jane Eyre

13. Cast away on a desert island, what luxuries would you take?

A Jacuzzi and masses of sun tan oil

14. Which daily newspapers do you read?

The Daily Express

15. If not yourself, who would you rather have been?

A cross between Tina Turner and Bette Midler

16. If you hadn't gone into catering, where do you think you would be now?

Resting between theatre or TV jobs

17. Describe your ultimate nightmare?

I'm wandering corridors looking for the function I'm toast mastering when I'm met by a toastmaster in full regalia who says "It's alright dear, go home I've done the job"

18. Where and when was your last holiday?

Three years ago, my husband took me on a cruise for our 25th anniversary

19. Tell us a secret…

Never, I've said too much already

20. What irritates you about hotels?

Not enough skirt hangers, bedrooms that smell of smoke and receptionists that insists on saying "you must be a toastmistress, I've never seen a female one before!"

21. When was the last time you had a hamburger?

I honestly can't remember