A PROFESSIONAL rugby player has swapped the field for finance and used lockdown to forge a second career with a Northamptonshire firm of financial advisers.
Toby Trinder, a loosehead prop for Championship side Coventry Rugby Club, has been working as a trainee financial adviser for Kettering-based Telford Mann Pensions and Investments over the summer after sport was shut down by the pandemic.
A chance meeting with Jon Telford and Jilly Mann, joint managing directors at Telford Mann, at a Christmas dinner and a conversation about on the job training led to an offer of work experience and then a trainee position.
Toby said: “I met Jon and Jilly at a Christmas dinner and we had an interesting conversation discussing the advantages and disadvantages of going to university as opposed to on the job training and apprenticeships.
“This conversation stuck with me afterwards, and so I got in touch with Telford Mann by Instagram and they offered me the chance for some work experience with them which led to a trainee financial planner role.”
Toby, who made the squad for the 2018 Six Nations and World Rugby under-20 Championship, recognises the importance of sports professionals establishing future careers. This is especially true for rugby given the high impact tackles and risks involved.
He continued: “Establishing a career outside of rugby is banged into you from a young age. You are told to be prepared for life after rugby, and Northampton Saints were especially good at doing this.
“Telford Mann have given me the opportunity to be prepared and I am excited for what the future has to hold.”
His arrangement with Telford Mann includes flexible working hours meaning he can juggle his careers both on and off the pitch by increasing his hours with firm during the off-season and decreasing them during particularly hard training blocks and game periods.
Toby is not the only rugby professional to experience life as financial planner at Telford Mann during the pandemic.
Emmanuel (Manny) Iyogun, loosehead prop for Premiership side Northampton Saints, has also undertaken work experience at the firm, which moved into new custom-built offices in 2019, during the pandemic.
Jilly Mann said: “Here at Telford Mann we are always actively recruiting hungry, bright individuals and we are delighted to have forged a successful work experience program with the Northampton Saints Rugby Club through player sponsorship, which has already led to two players joining the ranks of the firm. Toby is a great addition to our team.”
Telford Mann has been actively recruiting over the summer and has appealed for local graduates and school leavers looking for a new career to get in touch.
The company invests and average of £10,000 on every trainee that progresses to Chartered Financial Planner status.
Telford Mann can be contacted on 01536 462700 or email enquiry@telfordmann.co.uk.
