Dido Harding

“I've stood in front of 500 extremely angry people in Waterford when we closed a call centre there. That's not fun, and the day you think it is fun is the day you shouldn't be doing it.”

“I've had 20 years, 25 years of running business. I've been well trained by a number of amazing organizations and I've got a lot of implicit, subconscious pattern recognition on how to make business decisions.”

“Learning what's happening in children's digital life is the best way to ensure that they're safe.”

“It is not often that one of the world's best entrepreneurs rings you up and says 'I've got this business we are about to float off as an independent company and we'd like you to be chief executive.'”

“When I was at Oxford, I was a Thatcher child; I was fascinated by politics and I spent three years being obnoxious in the Oxford Union.”

“Competition drives growth in the end as opposed to monopolies.”

“I enjoy being slightly scared.”

“I don't want to give a false impression of confidence where I don't have it.”

“My mental analogy for TalkTalk is an ageing Ford Cortina going flat out in the fast lane of the M4 in the pouring rain. We are always hammering along faster than anybody thinks is sensible, with things not quite working, but huge enthusiasm.”

“I had this extraordinary role-model of rags to riches success in my grandfather and yet I was a girl, and girls in a very military family were not meant to have professional careers. I think that created the spur and edge to drive me on.”

“If being open and honest with my customers is naive then it's fine with me. CEOs who hide behind that all-seeing, all-knowing veneer are playing a game anyway, it's not real. I am quite happy to be seen for who I am.”

“It's not a normal thing to receive a ransom demand in your inbox. I felt physically sick.”

“Digital safety is no different to physical safety. You can do your upmost to minimise it. You can arm yourself to protect yourself, but in the end there are criminals everywhere and that's the way of the world.”

“I'm still here, living proof that sometimes it's OK to admit to your fallibility.”

“TalkTalk was not a highly trusted brand before the cyber attack but customers now say that we looked after them in difficult circumstances.”

“Every single company knows that there is more that they can do to keep themselves safe from cyber-crime.”

“Internet safety is quite like the road safety issues when I was growing up as a child. You had clunk click advertising and the green cross man coming into schools to talk to children.”

“Unfortunately cybercrime is the crime of our generation.”

“I promise you I try very hard to stay out of party politics. I run away from it.”

“It is generally deemed acceptable to shuttle children and adults between London and Somerset every week, but the considered view is that it would be very cruel to do the same with a dog.”