EXTRAORDINARY ITEMS - Oil's well that ends well.

“Hi, honey. Tough day at the office?” “Yeah. We’re doing this big merger deal and the FD on the other side is a tough old cookie …” This is just the kind of conversation that almost certainly didn’t take place in the home of Monument Oil & Gas FD Liz Airey, profiled in our October issue. For while she was involved in negotiating the merger terms for the Lasmo-Monument get-together, the FD on the other side was, as the Evening Standard put it, her partner in love, Paul Murray. Chinese walls prevented them getting marmalade on the merger documents at breakfast, and now, while Airey takes her redundancy cheque on holiday, Murray is busy integrating the businesses. If he needs a hand he can leave a Post-It on the fridge: “Darling, Where are the bank statements?”