WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH A YEAR OFF?

Tim Holley, chief executive, Camelot Group: "I would learn Italian and then work as a chef in an Italian restaurant."

Skywalker, travel jockette for Kiss FM: "I'd buy a motorbike and travel through India, Australasia and Thailand. I'm saving up now so I can do just that when I'm 40."

Christine Beedle, winner of the 1995 Women in Business Award: "I would go into Peter Lilley's Social Security Department and turn it upside down. I niggle away at it with every chance I get and it needs an injection of jolly good common sense. I couldn't travel to the Bahamas - I need something to get my teeth into."

Mel Rankine, deputy director of Facilities, Guys & St Thomas' Hospital: "I'd sail around the world. It would be nice to be somewhere where your deadlines are determined by the wind, the tide and the weather."

Elizabeth Barnes, housewife and mother: "I'd study maths and tap-dancing, or travel the world to see geological events, like the volcanic eruption in Reykjavik."

Matthew Harding, managing director, Chelsea Football Club: "I couldn't imagine taking a year out, the thought horrifies me."

Alison Hogan, partner at Brunswick Corporate Communications: "It would give me the chance to do things I don't usually have the energy for. I'd like to work in Africa on an environmental project."

Nicholas Snowman, chief executive of the SBC (formerly the South Bank Centre): "I would travel to South America, India, Cambodia and Ireland and would take 'A La Recherche du Temps Perdu', as I have yet to read beyond vol 4."

Steve Moncor, architect: "I'd go straight into sculpture and model-making. I'd get myself a nice studio and work with everything from computers to insulation foam. I wouldn't just do it for fun, I'd also do it to make more money."