No doubt like most of you reading this, I didn’t actually grow up dreaming of a career in financial services.

Like many people of my generation, I simply fell into it. When I left school in Hull in the late 1980s, I had no real direction. University wasn’t on the horizon and careers advice back then wasn’t exactly sophisticated. I ended up joining a youth training scheme at a home service insurance company called United Friendly.

My duties were hardly glamorous. I answered the phones. Took the post. Met customers coming in to pay their premiums or complain about their “Agent” (Advisor). And occasionally nipped across the road to the newsagent to buy my boss a packet of twenty Silk Cut cigarettes.

I had absolutely no concept of career progression. Financial services wasn’t an “industry” to me. It was simply somewhere I happened to work. To be honest, I wasn’t even particularly diligent.

Then one day our manager changed.

A new manager arrived called Nev. We’ll call him Nev (because that was his name). It was his first management role and, by that stage, I knew my way around the office systems reasonably well. I tried to be helpful where I could. As my training scheme neared its end and my eighteenth birthday approached, reality started looming.

My dad (no stranger to Worker’s Rights having being a Docker in Hull) kept asking me:

“Are these lot going to give you a proper job or what?”

My dad viewed work the way many of his generation did. A job was security. Stability. A wage packet. If something didn’t look permanent, it probably wasn’t worth much, whereas Nev took a slightly different approach with me. Instead of telling me what I should do, he asked me what I wanted to do.

The truth was, I had no idea. I didn’t have any role models in financial services. No roadmap. No ambition beyond trying to avoid getting things wrong.

So I shrugged and said something along the lines of:

“Well… wouldn’t mind doing one of these agent jobs.”

To this day, I still don’t fully understand why Nev gave me that opportunity. These jobs were highly sought after. I was eighteen years old, painfully shy, inexperienced and completely unqualified. The idea that I could confidently sell anything to anybody was frankly ridiculous.

But Nev somehow saw something in me.

Or perhaps more accurately, he saw something of himself in me. I suspect somebody had once taken a chance on him at the same age.

The truth is, I struggled badly in that role. I was too young. Too unsure of myself. The pressure got on top of me and eventually it became obvious to both of us that it wasn’t working.

I still remember going into Nev’s office to tell him I couldn’t do it anymore. I was in tears. And Nev was extraordinary.

There was no criticism. No anger. No humiliation. He simply looked after me. He even drove me home to make sure I was okay.

That moment has stayed with me my entire life, not because I succeeded , but because someone cared when I failed.

After that, I left financial services for a few years altogether. But eventually I came back. Partly because I felt I had unfinished business. I wanted to prove to myself that I could make something of the opportunity I’d once been given.

And second time around, I stayed.

Over time, we have built a business. We helped thousands of people onto the property ladder. But perhaps just as importantly, we tried to create opportunities for young people entering the industry — the same way somebody once did for me.

Some of our best current advisers started in admin teams or customer care roles. Young people with no real experience. No polished CV. Sometimes not even much confidence.

Of course, not every young person works out. Some people leave the industry altogether. Some move on to other firms. That’s life.

But many stay. Many flourish. And the loyalty created when somebody gives you your first real opportunity is incredibly powerful.

The challenge today is that giving those opportunities has become much harder. When I started out, I earned £27.50 a week, much to the annoyance of my dad as you can imagine “Bloody slave labour”.

Today, employers face a completely different reality. Minimum wage costs are significantly higher. Regulation is more complex. Training demands are greater. Productivity expectations are relentless. And now businesses are trying to navigate the opportunities and threats presented by AI at the same time.

For broker firms and lenders alike, taking a chance on an inexperienced young person can feel like a genuine commercial risk. I understand that completely.

But I do worry about what happens if we stop doing it altogether.

Because there are thousands of young people out there now exactly like I was: uncertain, inexperienced, lacking confidence and with no idea where their career might eventually lead. Most won’t look impressive on paper. Many won’t interview brilliantly. Some will fail the first time around.

But hidden among them are future advisers, future leaders, future business owners and future innovators. People who simply need somebody to believe in them before they know how to believe in themselves.

I never spoke to Nev again for around twenty-five years.

Then one day my phone rang. I vaguely recognised the voice immediately. “Malcolm,” he said, “it’s your manager here.” He needed some mortgage advice!

And I remember thinking: I cannot let this moment pass without saying what I’d wanted to say for decades.

I thanked him.

I told him that had he not given me that first opportunity all those years ago, we probably wouldn’t have built the company we did. We wouldn’t have helped the customers we’ve helped. And we wouldn’t have created opportunities for so many younger people ourselves.

There was a short pause.

“Don’t worry,” said Nev. “I’ve been watching you from afar.”

The mortgage industry needs more people like Nev. Because sometimes the opportunity they offer changes a life.

Mortgage Strategy’s Next Gen 30 Under 30 programme was set up in 2026 to encourage young talent in the industry. MS Next Gen is a 12-month development journey, combining mentorship and skills-based learning and is designed to help shape the next generation of market influencers, innovators and leaders. The programme (which will run every year) is open to individuals aged 30 or under working across all areas of the sector — from advisers, underwriters and compliance specialists to marketers, product designers and technologists.

James Lawson, web developer at UK Moneyman is one of the cohort of 30 for 2026.

Malcolm Davidson is managing director of UK Moneyman