Media Headliner: Driven Hazlitt aims to be Virgin Radio's dynamo.(Fru Hazlitt )

Fru Hazlitt's experience at Yahoo! and with Capital Radio should serve her well in her task at Virgin, Ian Darby reports.

Fru Hazlitt isn't feeling too hot. It is the first week back after the Christmas break and her three young daughters have been ill over the holidays, leaving her feeling more exhausted than during a normal working period.

But after a few minutes of conversation it is hard to tell Hazlitt is anything other than 100 per cent. Famed for her forceful personality and talent as a public speaker, she is a garrulous interviewee.

She arrived in her corner office at Virgin Radio's Golden Square headquarters four months ago and is about to oversee the most important change at the station in years - the launch of Christian O'Connell's breakfast show on 23 January.

Previously the UK managing director of Yahoo!, Hazlitt also likes a challenge.

She joined Yahoo! almost six years ago from Capital Radio at the time of the dotcom crash, then decided to leave once it became successful, to join Virgin Radio at a time when commercial radio is generally in the doldrums.

She says: 'Virgin is a station whose fame is disproportionate to its performance now. There were two important things for me. One is the brand, which is something that matters to people; two is working for people that I respect.'