During the two-year battle with cancer that took his father David's life last year Kevin Hart was given some advice by his dad, which he is happy to be putting into practice: ''Family's important, so don't forget it.''

A former City investment banker, Hart is only 34, but as finance director of Cairn Energy he has one of the top jobs in the world of oil and gas independents. His ability was recognised very publicly when he won the Scottish young finance director of the year award recently, but since becoming a father, burning the midnight oil at work has not been on the agenda.

''Once you've had a family you take a different view of life. If your kids are in bed by 8pm and you only see them for half-an-hour at breakfast it's quite a good motivator to make sure you're back at six.''

The attitude reflects the painful experience of watching his 57-year-old father's courageous fight against the asbestos-related illness he contracted unwittingly as a young engineer. However, the determination not to miss Arran, aged three, and 18-month-old Kaylin growing up is also the fruit of a process of maturation Hart dates from his arrival at the pioneer of south Asian exploration in 1998.

When Hart signed on at Cairn's Edinburgh HQ at the tender age of 29 he was not an accountant and had never run a finance department. However, he had done plenty of achieving.

As a schoolboy at Ellen Academy he won a cap for Scotland at squash and acquired a six handicap on the links many seasoned golfers would kill for. With a good brain to boot, despite partial dyslexia, he was marked out for the fast track by the time he enrolled at Edinburgh University to read physics.

With evident familial pride he insists his wife, Mairi, a first-rate scientist who worked for the Imperial Cancer Research Fund before full time motherhood, is the brains of the family. However, his ability to win a bet with a friend by talking himself into a job in investment banking when he graduated, despite knowing nothing about it, speaks volumes about his self-belief.

Eight years spent thereafter as an oil and gas deal-maker with the venerable Kleinwort Benson and Morgan Grenfell did nothing to diminish that confidence.

Despite the high-octane lifestyle, however, experiences like finding junkies trading outside his flat in the then ungentrified Kilburn area of north London had Hart eventually ready for greener grass.

Soon after joining Cairn he realised there were other aspects of the human character that were not obviously apparent in the wine bars of the City. ''At Cairn, I've probably become more tolerant. The world of investment banking is pretty cut-throat. People have an arrogance they need to be able to survive. But I have had to develop emotional intelligence and to realise people's drivers are very different. It takes a while to get used to it I've started to see some of that myself, growing up, having a family.''

While still adjusting to the shock of finding himself surrounded by ''grizzlies'' with much more experience of life and oil, he was faced with the task of telling half the staff they were being made redundant.

''Having to look someone in the eyes and tell them they haven't got a job is quite a hard thing to do and we did it 60 times,'' he reflects.

Hart feels he has learned enough since to be able to manage the best out of people. Delegating has become a major strength and one which he insists he practices without requiring others to work hours he would not. ''My axiom is to ask people if they are happy with what they've done. If they say 'yes' you know they've done their best.'' As well as his father's example, working with Bill Gammell - a rugby internationalist who combines the top job at Cairn with commitment to family - has been very influential in the growing process.

''Bill's been excellent, very good at mentoring and making sure some of the softer skills get developed as well as the harder (analytical) side,'' he says.

As a result of adapting successfully and winning the confidence of other directors as well as staff he has acquired a much broader management role than monitoring the pennies. He is now required on occasion to act as ballast to the mercurial Gammell, who masterminded Cairn's emergence as the only western player focused on exploration in places like India.

''It's not so much reining him in as sometimes doing a little bit of due diligence before we press the button. Not so much braking as helping steer the ship,'' he laughs.

One reason for the apparent happiness of a man who, however much his edges have been softened remains very ambitious, is the conviction Cairn is going places.

The company has expertise and contacts in Asia that it would take years for imitators to match.

It is producing around 30,000 barrels oil equivalent per day and has the right to explore vast areas that have hardly seen a drillbit.

Cairn, which is mulling a number of multi-million-dollar bids for its deep-water interests off eastern India, will have plenty of opportunity to achieve its stated aim of doubling its (pounds) 435m capitalisation within three years without acquisitions. That might make the company a target for bigger fish, but so long as it keeps creating value for investors a bid is unlikely.

Equally improbable is the idea Hart might himself mount a takeover bid for a senior role somewhere like Shell, he says with another laugh. ''Shell's doing fine.''

Instead of looking up the corporate ladder Hart has acquired stakes in two racehorses and tried his hand as a Business Angel by investing in Digital Bridges, the Dunfermline games firm. He recently became a non-executive at Glasgow Income Trust. And in a sign of his intent to go on making waves he says he looks forward to more of the same: ''Corporate Scotland could do with some new blood in non-exec positions.''

FACT FILE

CV:

Born in Middlesborough 1968. Educated at Ellen Academy, Aberdeenshire. Studied physics at Edinburgh University. Worked for Kleinwort Benson and Morgan Grenfell. Appointed finance director of Cairn Energy 1998.

What was your worst moment:

Sending documents prepared to help Aran, the oil and gas firm, in its defence against a takeover attempt by Arco to the bidder by mistake, while at Morgan Grenfell.

What is your ambition:

To live long and be happy.

What was your ideal job as a child:

To train racehorses as my uncle was a stable lad.

What drives you:

I'm not driven by the Warren Buffett idea of fear and greed. It's really self-driven. It's about self-esteem.

What car do you drive:

A TVR until I became a father. Now it's a Saab estate.