Marc Middleton is an NM Rothschild man through and through. The 39-year-old global head of Rothschild's IT and telecoms team has been with the firm for 16 years and has never worked anywhere else. 'I'm not that unusual here - a lot of people in the firm grew up in it.'

He points out that vice-chairman Tony Alt has been with Rothschild for 25 years Nicholas Wrigley, head of natural resources and energy utilities M&A, for 16 years, and his predecessor as IT and telecoms head, Nigel Higgins, now co-head of investment banking at the firm, also joined as a graduate.