The only thing I wanted when I left school was independence. I had been at boarding school for many years. When you're boarding, nothing is your own and your whole day is scheduled. You're told when to sleep, what to eat and when. You have zero independence.

The most beautiful women in the world, I find, are those who have inner confidence.

I look at people like Helen Mirren, Emma Thompson, Goldie Hawn, they're the people I want to be.

It really annoys me when magazines put up these 'superwomen' with the perfect blow-dry, the perfect life - but nothing's perfect. People have a whole bunch of problems and it's how many solutions you can find to those problems as to how happy you are.

It is critical to create opportunities to identify talented women in business, then support them to develop their confidence to aim for the boardroom.

Let's face it, when is it actually ever funny to joke about hitting someone? Never, right? The threat to give someone a slap, no matter how you look at it, is aggressive.

To any man currently thinking it's not safe to say anything to women these days, allow me to offer you a rule of thumb. If you're in any doubt about something you're going to say to a woman, just ask yourself if you'd say the same thing to a man.

I didn't really know what I was going to do with my life. I've taken every opportunity, pushed myself in ways I'm not sure I knew were even possible, I've made the best of my life and career. So yes, I do feel proud of myself.

I did indeed put on weight after I got married.

I want people to think about what I have achieved and not what I look like.

I have met people in the street who say, 'You look like Karren Brady, but she is fat.' But I don't care. I am happy with the way I look; it's not something that drives me mad.

I rarely indulge in sweet things but when I do I do not like to share.

I'm very rational. I tend to let my head rule my heart.

There's only two things that I really care about - apart from family - one is business and the other is women in business.

I believe that hardworking people should retain as much of the money as they can in terms of the taxes that they pay. But I think everybody should pay their taxes.

I think young people respond much better to openness and frankness and practical stuff than speeches.

I love business and that's why I go on other people's board because it is my hobby. Some people join a tennis club to do things in their spare time. I join boards because that's what I love.

It's depressing that ambition and feminism have become almost dirty words for working women. But, there is no reason that they should be and, increasingly, I am struck by how the next generation is challenging conceptions of what it means to be successful at work.

People who see successful young women think that there must be an angle there. It's too good to be true that woman from a good upbringing can walk into a good job and be director.

I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit. When I was seven, I remember sticking a sign on my bedroom window that read, 'Manicures and massage, come on in.' My mother rushed in, saying, 'All these weirdos are knocking on the door.'

I'm an extremely busy woman but I still make time for myself and my family. You can do both, and do both well, if you really want to.

Deep in my soul, I'm secretly a redhead.

I couldn't think of anything worse than drinking a load of gunky-green stuff and sweating in a gym. I would rather sit in front of the TV and have a glass of wine.

You take responsibility for your children but you're not always the taxi driver and that doesn't make you a bad parent.