NewSmith Capital - Pulling Out the Stops

7.47am, Monday 14^th January 2008 - As a fully-fledged gap year student I can honestly say that I hadn't been awake this early since my final exams about eight months previously.   As I stood - sober, cold and waiting for a crowded train, I thought about how I had got myself into a position that a lot of you experience everyday.  I'd say something like ‘well to cut a long story short' if the process had been at all stressful, but sorting the work experience out had been a pretty much pain-free operation.

Having made the decision not to go overseas and do voluntary work for my Gap Year, I looked into the possibility of doing an internship in London.  A good place to start seemed to be the WOBS network to, so I fired an e-mail off to Olivia Henley detailing what I wanted to do, and three weeks later received a call saying that Martin Green (C'76), would be prepared to accommodate me in early January on the condition that I went up for, as it transpired, a successful meeting in December.

So I found myself on the 4^th floor of Lansdowne House, Berkeley Square (‘Hedge Fund heaven') ready to start making coffee for the Private Equity section of NewSmith Capital Partners.

Having done a few placements before I'd come here expecting a quick tour of the office followed by a couple of weeks in either the mail room or the kitchen! Not that I'm complaining, because any placement is an opportunity to learn and improve your CV.

However, NewSmith Capital pulled out all the stops and I was allocated a desk, computer and even a phone. The next three weeks went by in a blur of meetings, spreadsheets and various other ‘grown-up' activities. In what turned out to be an extremely turbulent time in the City, the FTSE dropped 700 points in the 1^st week, I learned a great deal about an industry which is stereotype by ‘Dragons Den'.  I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who facilitated this opportunity - especially Martin and Olivia and I look forward to seeing a few of you in Whiteley Village for WOBS rugby on a Saturday afternoon!

Sam Swadling (B'07)