'It's fickle and there's no loyalty'

Justin Gibbs was made redundant amid the turmoil of a merger between two City investment banks.

He parted company with the French investment bank Banque Paribas when it merged with Banque Nationale de Paris two years ago.

Mr Gibbs, 33, used to be a share dealer. "It was a buzz. But it's not your own money you're using."

He admits missing the high income of a City job and other perks like health care and the bonuses. But he says: "The worst thing about the City is that it is fickle, shortterm and with no loyalty from company to employee or employee to company."

Mr Gibbs set up Liv-Ex, or London International Vintners Exchange, essentially a market in fine wine, with business partner James Miles, a former equities analyst, who was also made redundant by Paribas. The business now employs four people and is close to break-even. Vintage wine dealers use Liv-Ex to trade cases typically costing £400 or more.

"This is more exciting. It's a rollercoaster. It's a great pleasure waking up in the morning," he said.

With Liv-Ex there's the satisfaction of creating a real business: "In the City you're always leaving a vacuum behind you."

Their commute is shorter too: Mr Gibbs gets to their Battersea-based business office in 20 minutes on the bus, while Mr Miles is there in five minutes on foot. The City journey took anything up to an hour.