While working as a banker at Nomura, Rob Owen had his eyes opened when a professor on his MBA course suggested a role with a charity.

The conversation started a chain reaction that led Owen to leave his City job to become the chief executive of ex-offenders charity St Giles Trust. Owen recalls: "I didn't want 'grumpy banker' to be the words carved on my tombstone. I felt I really wanted to make a difference to people's lives."