Last night, finance professionals came together in London for the first Old Bloxhamist Networking Event of the academic year. It was a delight to welcome alumni spanning six decades, as well as current Sixth Form students and current parents to the event.
Following a drinks reception, attendees heard Edward Allsopp’s (Eg 03-05) fascinating journey from Bloxham to a career in corporate finance, via adventures in Canada and graduate programme at PwC. He spoke about his role advising companies listed on AIM and the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, including FTSE250. Sebastian Mrotzek (Ry 95-97), Head of Change Management (PRA) at the Bank of England, then took to the centre stage. With a career in finance spanning over 17 years, with COO positions at many large institutions including HSBC, Barclays and Lloyds Bank, Sebastian expressed his energy for driving businesses forwards and his passion for providing solutions. His talk ended with a number of wise words including: “Never stop learning and growing. Keep trying new things and always be prepared for change.”
The evening’s stellar line-up of experts also included Anthony Yates (Ry 81-86) who spoke about his passion for economics, referencing his twenty one year career at the Bank of England and role as Professor of Economics at Birmingham University. All three Old Bloxhamists spoke fondly about their schooldays and how Bloxham instilled independence, self-belief and taught them to strive to always do their best.
After an informative Q&A session, there was excellent networking with guests sharing ideas and expertise, as well as reminiscing of times at school.
The networking events were originally established as OBs approached us from both ends of the careers spectrum; the recent leaver looking for advice about entering or progressing in a particular sector, as well as the established practitioner keen to connect/reconnect with other alumni in a professional capacity. Many also expressed the wish to ‘give back’ and to help current sixth form pupils. We are always looking for speakers and venues, so please get in touch if you feel you would like to contribute in the future:’[email protected]
See more photos from the networking event on our Flickr page here.