Comment by J.Skidmore: Focus on Martha's looks misses the point

When Lastminute.com founder Martha Lane Fox announced she was leaving the firm, the following quote was attributed to chief financial officer David Howell: “She is young, blonde, pretty and photogenic.” Was he talking about someone who makes their money out of their looks, like Kate Moss, or a businesswoman? Can you imagine Martha’s business partner Brent Hoberman stepping down and being described as “young, dark, handsome and photogenic”? David Howell is a decent man and I’m sure he said lots of other nice things about Martha, but it did seem an odd testimony. Civil Aviation Authority head of licensing Helen Simpson, a woman of more mature years, also stepped down this week. I didn’t spot any comments about her physical appearance. As there’s such a dearth of women – let alone attractive ones – in top positions, the focus has always been on Martha’s looks. Often this has been to her advantage. She has made lastminute.com sexy and got a far higher profile for the company than any man could ever have done. Stories and, more importantly, pictures of successful young women sell papers. Martha didn’t think up the lastminute.com business plan – that was Brent’s brainchild – but the amount of column inches that journalists like myself have given her, you’d be forgiven for thinking she started and ran the whole business herself. Being in the spotlight isn’t all plain sailing though. One newspaper once made her cry by superimposing her head on the body of a woman wearing tarty clothes. Martha’s attractive, but so are many people down your local pub. The most interesting thing about her is what she’s achieved and her plans for the future. Her record speaks for itself, but why leave your own company to consider working for someone else? Martha talks about lastminute.com making it into the FTSE 100 and having its best years ahead of it, but if so why bail out now? Lastminute.com is a retailer who’s margins are being squeezed and there are plenty in the City who feel the share price has been inflated by the constant speculation about the company being bought out. I suspect Martha feels she may have achieved all she can at the company and that’s why it’s a good time to leave. But whatever happens to her, lastminute.com has made Martha a millionaire many times over, so maybe all those comments about her looks were worth it after all!