Alan Thomson, financial director of Smiths, is getting increasingly animated. During the first hour of our meeting, the engineering group's share price, displayed live-time on a large screen in his office, has risen 5p and now, 15 minutes later, it is up another 3p. 'If you stay any longer, we'll start paying you,' says Thomson with a broad grin.

Much as I would like to be associated with Smiths' rising share price (and responsible for a happy finance director), this is more down to the fact that investors are finally seeing the logic behind the company's merger with TI Group 18 months ago than any supernatural powers on my part.