Angie Gurdon landed her job as PA to Professor Jeremy Stone despite not being able to fly a helicopter.

Is she serious? Absolutely. “I first went to work on a fixed contract for one of his companies to cover three months of maternity leave — and he was looking for a PA then,” Angie recalls. “But he wanted someone who could fly a helicopter. He is based in Cardiff but has business interests that take him away a lot, and it helps if he can go by air rather than by road.

“But I can’t fly a helicopter, so I left. Fortunately, he saw the error of his ways and I started as his PA a few months later, in October 2006.

“I absolutely love the job — it’s so varied. There are always big deals going on. Jeremy is an investor in businesses and an entrepreneur from a medical background, with a huge number of interests ranging from bioscience and healthcare to fund management and carbon cutting, and I support him in a personal and family capacity as well as professionally.

“I also run his helicopter charter firm, which involves issuing quotes and liaising with the air authorities, and I am organising a pro-am golfing endurance challenge which should set a new world record and raise £1 million for the NSPCC.

“In this job, I have learnt to go with the flow. There are no rigid rules: if Jeremy is away in Los Angeles, for example, I time my working day around his hours, so that I start later and finish later.

“I had no idea that Jeremy had secretly entered me for PA of the Year until I had a phone call telling me that I was on the shortlist.

“I am actually a trained chef and had never planned to be a PA, but I much prefer it, although one of the things that catering instils in you is time management — essential in my current role.”

Jeremy is a former hospital physician who now has about 40 companies, including his latest venture, Excalibur, an international investment house specialising in medical sciences. He is also a visiting professor at the University of Glamorgan. He is certainly an appreciative boss. “Angie is much more than a PA. My work schedule is frenetic, across multiple cities, often with complex, demanding colleagues and diaries.

“She runs the back — and, in some cases, front — offices of several firms. She understands their markets and can switch between them in seconds. I depend on her more than she realises. She has transformed my efficiency and my enjoyment of work. She deserves recognition for her exceptional skills, professionalism and willingness to do more than expected.”

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