What does it take to lead the finance function in a Financial Services firm when you don't have a background in the industry?

And how do you overcome accent and educational bias to build a career that could easily be denied to you?

Paul Foot is Head of Finance for the Investment Management arm of Universities Superannuation Scheme Ltd. He is also the lead for their newly created Social Mobility Network. In our conversation, Paul paints a vivid picture of what it means to come from a working class background and his experiences of:

* Cultural norms at school in which academic achievement wasn't perceived as 'cool'

* How being good at sport became his 'pass' for wanting to study hard

* An early brush with a career in the recording industry

* Experiencing overt classism alongside education and accent bias in interview situations

* People's surprise that he didn't have a degree

* The importance of advocating for people from less privileged backgrounds

This is a frank and often funny conversation that underlines the reality of the challenges that must be overcome to improve socioeconomic diversity.

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