The A-List: 2008

Born

4th January 1957

Job

Chairman

Company

Global Radio

Work Telephone

+44 (0)20 7465 627.

Address

The Chrysalis Building, 13 Bramlet Road, London, W10 6SP

Fantasy business partner

Gordon Brown.

How do you off-set your carbon footprint?

Planting trees.

Greatest influence

Sir Gerry Robsinson.

Clubs

None.

Favourite gadget

BlackBerry, iPod.

Desert island objects

An iPod, a case of Lynch Barges, and mustn't forget the suntan cream.

Most-admired politician

Nelson Mandela, for the transformation of South Africa.

Favourite media

Financial Times, Country Life, Parkinson, Heart, Galaxy, LBC, Google Earth.

Biggest risk taken

Being vice-chairman of the London Olympic bid. My friends said I must be mad.

Perfect day

A nice long walk with the dogs and an even longer Sunday lunch.

Who should play you in the film of your life?

Danny DeVito.

Career highlights

Winning the London Olympics; having fun in the world of radio.

Fictional hero

Tintin.

Hidden talent

After 15 years in the media, nothing remains hidden.

Best job outside advertising

Being chairman of the Manchester Commonwealth Games.

Lowdown

After a less-than-dazzling tenure at ITV in his latter years, Allen has helped fire off some rockets in radio as chairman of the new Global Radio, which bought out Chrysalis Radio this year. Staff, ad agency and sales contracts were jettisoned as Global made its presence felt. Whether Allen will remain a forward-facing driving force or a back-room advisor is too early to tell.

Most expensive purchase

An Ivor Hitchens painting.

Why are you good at what you do?

Because I am tenacious and don't often accept it really can't be done.