Jayne-Anne Gadhia: Three things you didn’t know about the chief executive of Virgin Money
Previously dubbed the “first lady of UK finance” and one of Morning Wire’s Power 100 Women, Virgin Money chief executive Jayne-Anne Gadhia has been at the group’s helm since 2007.
She led the charge last year when Virgin Money launched its £1.25bn flotation and tried her hand at guest editing Morning Wire for a day earlier this year.
But who is Gadhia when she’s out of the executive’s chair? Here are three things you didn’t know about Virgin Money’s boss.
1) Special talent
She is a music nut, who has the uncanny knack of remembering the words to most songs. Gadhia claims to be able to perform “all of Queen’s back catalogue” with the assistance of only an air guitar. Something her employees will duly note for Virgin Money’s Christmas party, we expect.
2) Go-to anecdote
This love for music also extends to The Beatles – one of whom has supplied her with her lifelong favourite anecdote for after-dinner conversation fodder.
When the chatter dies down, Gadhia will tell the story of when she bumped into Paul McCartney on a beach in the Caribbean. “We had a chat and both agreed that the price of a cup of tea there was a disgrace at $5,” she reminisced to The Capitalist.
3. Pet peeve
For those wishing to impress Gadhia, they should take note that her number one pet peeve is bad manners, particularly when people are late. “My husband and I have been married for 32 years and we both agree that we wouldn’t have lasted this long if we didn’t both detest lateness,” she told The Capitalist matter-of-factly.
As a result of not wanting to break her own rule, she almost always arrives early. “If anyone wants me to be late, don’t tell me the start time,” she warned. We’ll bear that in mind for the next karaoke session.