People and Business: All at sea

MARTIN MYERSCOUGH, finance director of KS Biomedix, a fully-quoted drug development company, spends most of his evenings under the railway arches at New Cross, south-east London. He's building a 67-foot, 12 ton ocean-going sailing boat entirely from cedar wood, which he designed himself. And he's doing it all on his own.

"Well, I started a couple of year's ago, but I'll probably get some help in soon. I hope to get the boat into the water by this summer," says Mr Myerscough. "Its caused considerable amusement for my colleagues. But it's not as daft as it sounds. I did a degree in ship design at Newcastle Upon Tyne. I only switched to accountancy later."

He still hasn't thought of a name for the vessel. "My primary concern is that it floats. My secondary concern is that it floats the right way up."

I'm sure his colleagues will be keen to provide a crew for his inaugural voyage...