On The Spot With Philippa Ashbee

What was your first job?

Shelf stacker at Waitrose, working evenings and weekends.

If you weren’t in your present post what would you be doing?

I would love a job with which I could travel.

What was your worst mistake?

Not using my time at university to its fullest. There was so much more I could have learnt.

What’s your ideal day away from the office?

Exploring somewhere, there is so much of Yorkshire I have yet to discover!

Name one person you would like to have dinner with and why.

Sir Alan Sugar. He has an amazing sense of humour and I bet you could learn so much from him even over one meal.

What was your best subject at school?

Technology.

What are your hobbies?

Running and travelling.

What would you do if you won the Lotto?

Travel to every country in the world and see all of the Seven Wonders. I have one crossed off already!

What’s your top time-saving tip?

To-do list.

What’s your favourite item of clothing?

My Christmas jumper. It makes me smile just to look at it.

What’s your favourite time of the day?

That depends – on a weekend it is 6pm when I can sit down and relax with a glass of Rioja and on a weekday it is 9pm, when the day is done and there is finally something good on TV.

What’s the best thing about Yorkshire?

The friendliness of the locals – I have lived in Yorkshire for 10 years now and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

What would you like to be your epitaph?

She lived long and saw much.