Martha Lane Fox: "The level of abuse was quite unbelievable"

Lastminute.com co-founder, Martha Lane Fox, has admitted she received thousands of hate emails in the wake of her firm's inflated stock market debut and dramatic dip in share price.

"After the IPO I was staggered by the level of hatred," she told the Independent. "I was getting 2,000 to 3,000 emails a week. But nobody forced anyone to invest. The level of abuse was quite unbelievable."

Although lastminute.com is unlikely to hit the highs of 380p per share post flotation, 2002 has seen a significant recovery. The share price currently stands at 96p - evidence that lastminute.com is here for the long-term insists Lane Fox.

"All we have ever tried to do is build a business for five, 10, 15 years hence. We have a big vision. We want to be a big, global business."

"The only time we felt frustrated was when people judged us at a particular point in time. People used to say the business was the same size as a country pub. Well, yes, but we are growing and we plan to build a company with £1bn of revenues."