Mick Temple, managing director of airports operator BAA, said that preparations for A380 were going well and were right on schedule.

BBC: Heathrow prepares for superjumbo

But according to Andrew Wolstenholme, director of capital projects for the airport's operator BAA, and formerly director of construction for Terminal 5, the building being officially opened only represents a fraction of the total work completed.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Mammoth Heathrow project fuels pride

"Today what you see in the implementation is mainly one bank, one operator, " says Gerhard Romen, director of financial services at Nokia.

CNN: Cell-phone banking offers financial help to Third World

Instead, Biggs went into the travel industry where she worked for 25 years for the upmarket operator Kuoni, rising to become managing director.

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She is an external board director at Bridgestone Tire, foodmaker Ajinomoto and department store operator J.

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Charlotte Wright, HIE's director of business and sector development, said the centre presented a great opportunity for the right operator.

BBC: Cairngorms funicular

Lexi Alexander, the director of "Execution Style, " who said she forfeited part of her fee to hire a specialty camera operator, joined the project to keep pace with an industry changing fast.

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