An atmosphere of openness and willingness to help others was very evident at the event, as the attendees’ Lancaster connection formed an excellent basis for the sharing of insights and advice between alumni with experience and fellow Lancaster graduates and current students looking to start work or change career direction in the financial sector.

Rachel Newbury, Lancaster University’s Head of Alumni and Friends Engagement, said: “It was great to see the power of the alumni network at this event. Alumni at all stages in their careers, along with current students, made extremely useful contacts and were able to share professional expertise. 

"Discussions about the latest developments in specific business areas and what the 'next big thing' might be were both valuable and enjoyable. It was a pleasure to be part of such a vibrant meeting of Lancaster alumni and students.”

As well as open networking, the event format assisted networking and conversation within four financial sector business streams: Investment Banking and Investment Management; Accounting and Finance; Consulting; FinTech, Vendors and other. Attendees were also able to receive advice via a 1-1 session with a LUMS Careers Adviser.

Alumni attending were from a range of graduation years, from the 1980s through to this year’s graduating students; along with a number of current students at various stages of their Lancaster degrees. Their careers had led them to work for a number of top employers – including HSBC, JP Morgan, Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, American Express, Barclays and KPMG – as well as for a variety of other organisations across the financial sector.

A range of career paths were discussed, including those of alumni with degrees from across Lancaster University’s subject range - including Engineering, Mathematics, History, Politics and Computer Science.

We’d particularly like to thank our alumni who attended the event willing to share insights and advice, this was much appreciated.

Edward Meadowcroft, a current BBA Management student who attended the event, remarked: “I had some really interesting discussions over the night and was able to both give and receive advice. Overall it was a fantastic event to attend and it was great to see that LUMS has such a strong alumni network and puts on these types of events!”

Lancaster University has an active alumni group in London, which organises regular events. Join the group on Facebook for further details, including their next event - on 24th July at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Holborn.

Photos from this event can be seen on our Flickr site.