THE former Chairman of Lloyds of London shared his passion for business telling Worthing College students he feels optimistic about their future career opportunities.

John Nelson has had an illustrious career in business which started back in 1970 when he qualified as a chartered accountant and culminated in his role as Chairman of Lloyds of London in 2017.

He is, however, still involved in roles that he has always had a passion for.

The first is as Trustee and Deputy Chairman of the National Gallery and the second as Trustee and Chairman of the Chichester Harbour Trust.

He took time as a volunteer for Speakers 4 Schools to visit the college to talk to students studying Business, Finance and Economics.

He started by outlining his career which included getting fired in his first job as an accountant!

This, he said “gave me a wakeup call”.

He realised that he was much more interested in the wider business world and developed an interest in mergers and acquisitions - a decision which led him to work across a variety of business sectors and provided him with the opportunity to work in New York for a period of time.

He encouraged students to take any opportunity to work overseas as he said “it broadens your horizons and will give you an edge over others in the world of business.”

He shared his views on what business leaders want from their people and his advice was to stay curious, be energetic and look enthusiastic.

He said he was optimistic about the future for the UK economy, despite Brexit and said that businesses will adapt to a new way of working with the EU.