The A-List: 2008

Job

Editor, Red

Company

Hachette Filipacchi UK

Work Telephone

+44 (0)20 7150 7632.

Address

64 North Row, London, WIK 7LL

Fantasy business partner

Karren Brady.

How do you off-set your carbon footprint?

Not enough.

Greatest influence

Glenda Bailey was a huge inspiration to me as a wannabe-editor.

Clubs

Blacks, Facebook (if that counts as a club). Rarely use the former, waste far too much time on the latter.

Favourite gadget

Sky+. It has changed my life.

Desert island objects

Laptop (with limitless battery), collected works of Ian Rankin, Frizz Ease.

Most-admired politician

I'm finding it hard to admire any right now.

Favourite media

The Observer, The New Yorker, Brothers & Sisters, Radio 4, Amazon, Ocado.

Biggest risk taken

I figure it's better to regret doing something than to regret not doing it. So, if an opportunity presents itself, I give it consideration (hasn't always worked).

Perfect day

Home, partner, Sunday papers, a fridge full of food and wine, back-to-back DVDs (a combo of old movies and classic TV).

Who should play you in the film of your life?

Toni Collette.Short, 'ginger-ish', used to be heavier.

Career highlights

Editor, Red; editor, Cosmo (highest ABC for 24 years); editor, Company (highest-ever ABC); editor, J-17 (relaunched it from the weekly Just Seventeen to monthly J17 and increased sales by 200 per cent).

Fictional hero

Rebus.

Hidden talent

Calorie counting! You name it, I can tell you the damage.

Best job outside advertising

I didn't have a best job before entering magazines. The worst was packing royal wedding mugs into boxes on my birthday.

Lowdown

Cosmopolitan's former editor has enjoyed a good run at Hachette Filipacchi since leaving NatMags flagship title in September last year. The women's lifestyle sector endured significant casualties in the last set of ABCs, but Red was not one of them. It posted a 1.4 per cent rise year on year. Testament to her judgment of imposing her view of the world on the publication without, to quote Baker herself, "throwing the baby out with the bathwater".

Most expensive purchase

Endless laptops. Is it some kind of law that they all fall over after a year?

Why are you good at what you do?

Because the reader comes first. Keep them happy and everything else will follow.