I well remember the first time I met Margaret Corneby. It was 1996; our company Synthetic Dimensions was beginning a period of growth that would eventually take us to a public listing. I was looking to raise the profile of our unique graphic expertise. As would anyone with any sense, I called Business Link.

I wasn't quite expecting an electric energy field followed by a beautiful 6ft woman with a mellifluous voice and raucous laugh. I had my business lines rehearsed but the script went out of the window when Margaret demanded to see everything we did; shouts of laughter following shrieks of amazement. We had a blast. When she left, I felt that all we had to do was keep on keeping on; I now had the energy, strength and self belief to do it. And so we did.

Now thankfully Margaret is running the show here. I've served on two Chamber Boards with her, and also on the Members Consultative Forum and City Marketing Partnership. She and husband Philip are dear friends of ours and we have never spent a dull five minutes with them.

We talked about our first schoolgirl earnings, often a good barometer for future success. I displayed my early flair for business acumen by spending my entire weekend earnings (scraped from working at the motorway service area) on the brilliant double album "The Free Story" (£3.40, limited edition, numbered, and I've still got it if you're interested), and I have an awful feeling Tony Blair did the same (the album, not the job). Margaret put her shiny 50p on the horses. I was delighted with this early fall from grace until she revealed it was for horse riding, not racing.

Kidderminster born Margaret waited until two weeks before leaving home to start teacher training in Liverpool to tell her parents that she had, er, changed her mind. She went on to train as a civil servant for the Employment Office.

"My sociology teacher, Mr Rattigan, found me work experience in a school after A levels, and it was then I realised that I didn't want to work with children at all! I owe him a lot. It's valuable to find out so early what you DON'T want to do."

Margaret married Philip in 1975, and in '77 they moved to the South. "I've lived in some magical places. My husband's work took us from Bewdley to Southampton, and we lived in Winchester for three years; a fantastic city. I was manager of the Unemployment Benefit Office there. From there to Kent; we lived in a pretty market town called Tenterden, and weekends were spent on the beach walking the dog. Then Phillip's job went to Reading so we moved to Wiltshire, then on to Birmingham, so we moved to South Staffordshire in 1989, and here we've stayed. After a life of leisure looking after our three girls I went back to work to support Philip as he was starting his own business in Wolverhampton. Working life in Wolverhampton for me began in 1991, when I returned to work for the Employment Service and then secondment to the TEC (Training and Enterprise Council) in 1995. I joined the Wolverhampton Chamber as Representation and Policy Manager in 1998. After the Chamber had merged with Business Link and TEC, I was asked to take over representation, in addition to my existing TEC duties."

Was it easy to slip back into work after having three children? "When I came back to work, I discovered computers had been invented while my back was turned, so I had to learn about them. I was eligible for free training so went on a government training course. I learned keyboard skills when I was 19, so they came in handy. It's so important to look at what you need to learn and get trained before you start looking for work. It wasn't easy to be a woman returner at the time, and I feel attitudes have changed since then, but I did have a couple of interviews that I walked out of…." That was pretty brave for a women returner. "My greatest gift is my children, and both interviewers asked if I was always going to put my children first, and asked what care provision I had made for them, as if I had never considered that. I found that very, very insulting. They would never have asked a man such a question. Of course I had made provision for my children and I would never have considered going back to work if I hadn't done that. I had also applied to return to the Civil Service. Some of the best management training I have had was with them. But the timing wasn't right."

How important is it for businesses to be members of the Chamber? "I would encourage every business to join the Chamber. It's an important opportunity for companies to funnel their ideas, to feed in information, views, complaints, particularly when faced with so much red tape. We can offer quick and easy solutions to local issues. Bring that problem to me and I will help sort it out. I will streamline, make phone calls, get to the right person. My daily task is to encourage people to use us, even just for a telephone number. If you feel you have a great business idea, call your Business Link. We have great partnership under one roof."

I asked Margaret what her prime motivation was. "What gets me out of bed in the morning? A cup of tea! No, I really enjoy my job. Every job that I've done has bought new challenges, new rewards. I get my buzz from helping people, finding their potential. We must get unemployed people back to work quickly - it's a terrible downward spiral. Get the money together, get them trained, point them in the right direction, send them on their way. I was instrumental in bringing the Employment Service and TEC together to achieve this, to streamline the process effectively."

That natural exuberance. Is she just happy? "Yes, I think I am." And her extremely positive manner….was she an ambitious teenager? "No, not really. I think I fell into work because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I started in sales, for a steel stockholder, as the only woman working in telesales. I was selling steel, a woman in a man's world. I needed to know 101% about my product, inside out. At the outset, my clients were looking to wrong-foot me, to catch me out, but once they realised I knew my stuff, I got along fine."

So Margaret would believe in the statement that a woman is deemed to be incompetent until she proves herself otherwise, and a man is deemed competent until…. "Yes. I proved that in my work with steel stockholders. I have made sure no-one has ever held me back and have never allowed myself to be put into a position where anyone could. Along the way people have given me managers that I knew I was never going to get along with and I have always made it clear that there were certain managers that I wouldn't work with….… The most important thing about the Chamber is that it should be accessible to its members. Perhaps it was a bold decision to employ me in that position but business is no longer male dominated, and our women members need to be represented just as much as men. Birmingham, Shropshire and Coventry and Warwickshire Chambers all have women CEO's and they are doing very well. And of course we have Isabella Moore CBE, the President of the British Chambers of Commerce. She's wonderful."

The Chamber as a whole used to have a fairly dull reputation as an Old Boys Club. "My first impression was definitely just that. When I was offered the job in '98 I know it came as a shock for many members of the Chamber. I remember so well my first meeting with the Members Consultative Forum. I was met by a sea of grey suits. It's changed now, there's more women in there! But it was never a hostile environment. Chamber members from the old days still talk nostalgically about the heavy lunches with port and cigars, but how business focussed were those meetings? How many business people drink at lunchtimes now? Economically, the Chamber could not carry on that way. The Chamber must be designed for the world it operates in. Even in the evening, if I attend a Dinner I am operating in my professional capacity, so I don't drink. I have to be bright eyed and bushy all evening.- and also the next morning".

I asked Margaret if she had designs on being Chief Executive of the Chamber, as it is so obviously a natural next step. "Yes, definitely. I believe I have the managerial skills, experience and interpersonal skills to bring this together and I would relish the challenge of being in charge of a large organisation. Everything is in place so that is the next step for me. I want to work in a bigger pool, to have the opportunity to bring a bigger team together. It's not a power trip. A lot of people see management as control and power, but to be a great manager is like being a parent - and good parenting is all about getting the best out of people. My greatest skill is my interpersonal skills, and many people don't know what they're good at. Get it out of them and develop and use their skills. And WORK TOGETHER, so you don't have to spend time watching your back. Management is by encouragement, not by the stick. I feel passionate about this. I want to build a team, take that organisation forward, make it a huge success, then pass the mantle on to the next person."

This woman has obviously known her own mind from childhood. Who has been her greatest influence? "My mother and maternal grandmother. My mother always told me, "This is your life, your destiny, and you are in control. Don't let anyone else do it for you". My Godmother was a marvellous lady, and a great influence on me. These people made me what I am. I have always been surrounded by people committed to others; I have never been surrounded by selfish people."

In my mental picture, Margaret is always laughing. When I say this she looks quizzical. "It's easier to smile than frown… to worry is an awful lot of wasted energy. It's an alien concept to me. If you have a problem, sit down and sort it out. I don't have the worry gene, and I do appreciate not having it." Is it the absurdity of life that carries her forward? "I haven't had a privileged life. When Phil started his own business, we came down to owning just the kitchen taps, and at the time it's certainly not funny. But all through this we held it together and brought the children up - and it didn't do them any harm either."

With such a positive attitude to life, is there room, or need, for a fantasy? I tell her my readers will be nauseated if they think she is just perfect…..After some consideration and a lot of laughing, "I have this dream of being totally selfish, just me and Philip, no responsibilities, travelling around here and there, but I'd probably be fed up after 12 months! And would I be happy having no responsibilities….? You adore your husband …..She becomes quite misty. "Yes, I do". Mind you, so do I, but don't tell her.

Interests? "I love cooking. Friday night relaxation is about cooking a meal and enjoying a bottle of wine together. Yes, I belong to a gym, and I occasionally even go…usually in the autumn. We love walking in Derbyshire and the Peaks, (she displays a lovely bruised elbow from falling into a river) and I love mountains - I hate to go up them, but I have to do it. We also walk in the French Alps, and Cannock Chase is on our doorstep. I'm an avid reader, and I love live music and theatre. Beth Nielsen Chapman is playing Wulfrun on 18th October and I can't wait. My regret was that I wasn't a singer. I have always loved to sing and my eldest daughter has carried that on. Our lives have always been surrounded by music. I can tinkle on the piano and I would love to sing on stage. I would love to have had my voice trained. It's never too late to go back into it - my diaphragm is down there somewhere. I must dig it out sometime!"

The Chamber has played a great part in the ongoing regeneration of Wolverhampton. How does the Local Director feel about the way the City is developing? "I've lived in wonderful places, but having come back to the Midlands I don't see myself moving away. I have really, really fallen in love with Wolverhampton, it truly has taken me into its heart. I have worked with Wolverhampton people since 1991, and they have always been very welcoming and warm. Originally, the development and regeneration of the City was moving at a very slow pace, but what is so exciting is that now we are on the springboard. What with the Retail Core Expansion and the success of St John's Urban Village, and hopefully the German Christmas Market, the City is definitely on its way and there will be no looking back. I'm looking forward to the future very much."

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