The company said it was working in association with Bristol-based Professional Apprenticeships to take on board young people seeking work opportunities.

The lender has already taken on two apprentices and is interviewing for a third this month.

Damien Druce (pictured), commercial director, said the programme had a number of goals including supporting the local economy. He also hoped to expand the scheme so that Black and White Bridging could establish its own academy.

He said: “With our roots in the Bath and Bristol area we want to support our local economy, give young people a route into the finance world and train them in all aspects of our business.”

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“Not only do we gain from having enthusiastic young starters, who are keen to learn but also they join us with no preconceptions and are therefore open to learning and adopting our culture of transparency in everything we do. In return, we provide a full training programme and support where their particular talents are assessed to find the right long term role for them within the organisation.”

Druce said he had been inspired by the example of football clubs, which, rather than buying in expensive talent, put their resources into their youth academies to grow the next generation of first team talent.