My £300,000 triplets

When his triplets were born, Danny O'Neil had more hair than they did and was several rungs down the career ladder.

Nine years and several promotions later, he heads one of Britain's largest insurers - but feels he is losing more than just his hair.

A mere seven weeks into his prestigious £300,000 job at the Britannic Group, Mr O'Neil has decided that the biggest opportunity of his life is passing him by.

He has quit to spend more time with his wife Patricia and their children.

The 41-year- old executive said he realised how precious family life was when his eldest daughter, 18-year-old Siobhan, left home for university recently.

Her childhood seemed to have disappeared while he concentrated on his work. But with nine-year-old Patrick, Conor and Caitlin still very much at home, he has decided it is time to be home too.

His decision means sacrificing not only the salary but also benefits such as a pension, health care and a company car.

'I have been at the top for a while now and have proved I can do this job,' he said.

'But I have not had the right balance between my personal life and work.

'This new position made those demands even harder.

'My family have been supportive and Patricia has seen that I have been finding it too much. It was time to think about things

like this.

'The triplets are at an age where I want to spend more time with them and they want to do more things with me. The job demands so much time away travelling.'

His promotion called for constant trips from his Glasgow home to the company's head office in Birmingham and to meetings in London.

His wife of 19 years said: 'This is good news for the family.

'It will make him much happier after spending so much time away from home. It has been tough since 1991 and that is a long time.

'I am not complaining because

he was paid well but family life has become more important.' The O'Neil family have lived in their five-bedroom detached house in Newlands, Glasgow, for six years. The triplets attend a local primary school.

Mr O'Neil is not expected to receive a payoff. He will take up a consultancy role three days a week advising Britannic's Glasgow-based fund management business.

His revised ambitions include helping his children with their homework.

He will play football with his sons and take his little girl iceskating-He envisages a life in which he has time to read and even perfect his golf and tennis. 'The kids are getting to a stage when school is becoming very important,' he said. 'I want to be there for them.

'I also intend to do things for myself and spend time with my wider family.'

The O'Neils have a house in St Andrews and intend to visit their daughter Siobhan, who is attending university there, as often as possible.

Mr O'Neil started his insurance career after giving up his boyhood dreams of playing football for Celtic. He made his way into investment at a time when Scotland's fund management sector was growing rapidly. His 20-year career has been marked with single-mindedness, self belief and remarkable drive.

He did a maths degree at Glasgow University and joined FS Assurance as a trainee actuary in 1981, rising to investment director in 1987.

He became chief executive of Britannia Asset Management in 1991, a year after FS was bought by Britannia Building Society. BAM was bought by Britannic in 1999.

He accepted the top job at Britannic on December 1 last year.

Despite his brief reign at the very top, his departure appears to have been on amicable terms.

Harold Cottam, Britannic chairman, said he was 'tremendously sad' about the decision.

The company is Britain' s seventh largest insurer, worth £1.4billion. It has gone through a torrid time, sacking 2,000 staff as it shifts from door-to-door sales to selling through independent financial advisers.

Yesterday the Government urged businesses to offer shorter and more flexible working hours to make life easier for parents.

Employment relations minister Alan Johnson launched a £ 5million fund to help firms modernise working practices.

Earlier this week, Suma Chakrabarti, 42, became the first Whitehall mandarin to be offered family-friendly working hours.

His £120,000 contract stipulates that he need not leave for work until he has had breakfast with his six-year-old daughter.

He will also leave the office every night in time to see her before she goes to bed.

Another clause stipulates that he can work from home every other Friday so he can attend his daughter's school assembly in the morning.