Motherhood, Kate Moss and me...

You must remember Fran Cutler. Cast your mind back to the late 1990s, when Oasis were riding high in the charts, Noel Gallagher and Meg Mathews were holding court in their St John's Wood mansion, and Liam and Patsy were still together. Fran was the one on the edge of all those paparazzi pictures: the shiny helmet of black hair, the chocolatebutton eyes and the melon martini-fuelled grin.

Along with Meg Mathews, her best friend and business partner, she was the undisputed queen of the party scene, the woman who wielded a clipboard at the door of the capital's most exclusive soirees.

Half a decade on and times have changed. Both Meg and Fran have become mothers, for a start. Meg gave birth to a daughter, Anais, got divorced and decided to leave the business to concentrate on being a mum. Fran Cutler had a relationship with a man who left her while she was pregnant; she admits that she suffered from severe bouts of depression before giving birth.

She won't name the father, and will only say that he has no interest in playing a part in 20-month-old Mercy's life. "I have talked to him about having some contact, but he's not interested and he provides no financial support," she shrugs.

She admits that at times it's been a struggle raising a child as a single mum, especially when your job inevitably involves lots of late nights. But the parties must, and do, go on, orchestrated from an office the size of a cuff links box over a hairdresser in Soho. "The only difference now," says Fran, "is you just can't go out as often as you'd like. And you have to organise things a lot better."

The organisation includes moving Fran's parents into her Islington house to provide round-the-clock back-up just as the party season kicks in. They, and a full-time nanny, have been Mercy's primary carers.

But any evidence that motherhood has softened her is dispelled by her roaring down the phone about the inadequacies of a DJ.

In fact, on the surface, you wouldn't notice a lot of difference between the Fran of then and now. She still has that distinctive fringe, is still wearing an unsuitably tight shirt and high black boots ("Oh yeah, I'm still fashion obsessed; I'm even worse because for two years I couldn't wear it") and looking surprisingly fresh (estimates about her exact vintage vary; her press cuttings say she is 39).

Cool Britannia might be well and truly over but this year, apparently, has been "the biggest ever" for parties, most of which seem to have been organised by Fran's company, 2 Active. There was the bash for the launch of Another magazine, the opening of the Harvey Nichols store in Edinburgh, Harry Potter's children's screening and the launch of Supergrass's new album, to name a few.

Next week she is planning the opening of the new Sonia Rykiel store in Brook Street, and in the New Year is hosting the Alexander McQueen shop opening and the Manolo Blahnik exhibition. "It does get exhausting," she admits. "But I've learned to pace myself. And January is dead so I always go away to Thailand to recharge my battery."

Fran and Meg no longer work together, but they are still best friends. They first met in the late Eighties, when they were working as shop assistants earning £7,000 a year in Jones, a cool boutique on the King's Road. Eventually, they both got jobs in the music industry - Fran managed DJs, and Meg worked for Creation Records, where she met her future husband. All their friends had suddenly become famous, and so it seemed natural to use their impressive Rolodexes and go into the party business.

"It was at the height of it all and we knew a lot of people at the time, and it seemed like a natural thing just to say 'Do you lot wanna go there?', and it was like 'yeah!' and that's how it progressed." The elder of two daughters, Fran's father was an electrician and her mother a professional child carer. She grew up in north London, dreaming of the high life - her first ambition was to be a famous actress.

Instead, she settled on being the best friend of the famous. Because, despite her enviable organisational skills, Fran's real claim to the title of party people's party person is her reputation for bringing in "the right crowd".

How does she get them to turn up? "You choose the right event. Take the Manolo one next year - there isn't a girl I know who doesn't love Manolos and love him as a person. I don't put my mates under any pressure. I don't bribe them."

The London "in" crowd who seem to do her bidding doesn't seem to have changed much, either: there's Meg, the model Rosemary Ferguson, Sadie Frost and Jude Law, John Galliano and Alexander McQueen. Kate Moss and Jefferson Hack are still best friends and committed party animals, although Kate now also has a baby girl to get home early for.

Only last Sunday, Fran, Kate, Meg and their three daughters went to see The Nutcracker gala at the London Coliseum. "Purely social - just mums and daughters." But she and Kate haven't become old and boring - last week they had a girls' night out at the lap- dancing club, Spearmint Rhino.

She may be woken at 6am by a little girl who already has a passion for dressing up in glittery outfits, but the parties are much the same.

"What still counts is the venue, the music, the people and lots of alcohol," she says.

"That and plenty of gorgeous boys."