Postscript: Penny speed meets Steve Lathrope, managing director, SSP insurer division

What was your first ever job - and were you any good at it?
Working at Rover Cars as a sponsored student during my mechanical engineering degree. I was okay, but decided it wasn't the right career direction for me

If an MP3 player really could only hold three tunes, what would you select for the ultimate soundtrack to your life?
Cruisers Creek - The Fall; Waltzing Along - James; The Scientist - Coldplay

Who was your top teenage pin-up?
I stripped and rebuilt a 1967 MGB Roadster in my late teens - a poster of the car before and after had pride of place on my wall

My colleagues won't know this about me but...
I had a pet chinchilla that lived for 21 years

Favourite book of all time?
Complicity by Iain Banks. And anything else he has written

What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?
Make the most of every day

What would be your chosen superpower?
I'd like to be a clairvoyant. Helpful for work and play

If you could be Prime Minister for the day, what change would you instigate and why?
I'd find a way of providing useful employment for those out of work. Must be soul destroying for people who want to find work and can't

How would a typical school report about you read?
Capable but sometimes a bit distracted

What's the most annoying thing people do in your office?
I don't spend much time in our offices, so don't have time to get annoyed by anything in particular

My last supper would comprise...
Anything from Chamberlain's in Leadenhall Market

Who has been the most influential person in your life to date?
My father. He was personnel director at the broker Stewart Wrightson, which gave me my first exposure to the insurance industry. He went on to run his own consultancy business, which influenced my decision to join Andersen Consulting in the early 1990s

When I'm not working I like to...
Spend time with my wife and three kids

Last film you saw?
The Hangover. Not very highbrow I'm afraid, but very funny

If I wasn't working in insurance I would probably be...
A management consultant, as I was for 19 years but perhaps focused on another sector within financial services

Name your five ideal dinner party guests (dead or alive) very briefly noting what they bring to the party.
The Jackson Five. I wasn't a huge fan, but my wife was so she'd be chuffed. Can I invite her too?

Marmite: foods of the gods or work of the devil?
The gods. I'm a fan

Career high point to date?
My first few months at SSP. It is great to have an MD role in a business serving the insurance industry

What do you say when strangers at a social gathering ask what you do for a living?
Run a software business

If you could travel back in time, where would you go?
I'd relive my student days and early career. Lots more fun and less responsibility

Finish this sentence: Insurance is a great industry to work in because...
It's hugely diverse with lots of opportunity to make a difference with technology, and some great people to work with

Would you like to be probed by Penny on one of her speed meets? Get in touch via lynn.rouse@incisivemedia.com