Straight-talking Andy Shuter of Frontline Solutions says we all need to ditch the prejudices we hold about those who work in finance.

I first came into the motor trade in 1993 after (yes, this is the truth) being banned from driving for 14 months. After losing my job as a sales rep, I applied at the local car dealership which was happy to "give me a go" as it appeared I could sell a bit.

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I was infected. ‘Oil in the blood’ as many of you reading this will also have. Now, the motor industry has provided me with not only a fantastic lifestyle, but some lifelong friends. However, what became apparent very soon was the stigma that working in this industry attracted.

Well-to-do folks would ask me what I did and, after replying proudly, their faces would frown as I saw them mentally repainting me wearing a trilby hat, sheepskin coat and saying things like "Awwwwight darling" in a strong, Cockney accent.

As my career path in the industry found its way into the world of F&I, I started to rub shoulders with people from the big banking institutions who were perceived (and still are in my eyes) as high in integrity, values and trust.

My old boss Paul Dixon used to say: "Treat your lenders with the utmost respect, without them we can’t sell cars, lad."

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How things have changed.

A few weeks ago at the FLA dinner I was having a chat with an old colleague of mine I hadn’t seen for a while. She has worked for the big institutions pretty much all her life and has climbed through the ranks to hold now a national position.

A few weeks prior to our meeting, she and her husband (also from the banking world) were invited for dinner with one of their friends who had recently been divorced and wanted to show off her new bloke.

All seemed to be going well until they were asked what they do for a living by Romeo and they, of course, proudly told him. Things went very sour.

It turns out that his business had recently had its overdraft facility pulled (by the same institute my colleague worked for) and were subjected to a tirade of tabloid-related abuse. The night obviously came to an abrupt end.

I feel sorry for the people I connect with in banking. The press have murdered them in the last few years, quite unjustly in my opinion. 99.9% of people in that sector don’t get million-pound bonuses or fat cat-salaries; they are just like everyone else, trying to make an honest living for themselves and their families.

It’s time the tabloid readers realised this.

Andy Shuter is managing director of Frontline Solutions