Steven studied English Literature at the University of Sheffield, 1989-1992.
Why did you choose to study English Literature?
My comprehensive school encouraged a broad range of A-Levels rather than focussing on Arts or Sciences. I studied Physics, Maths, Further Maths and English. Looking back, I was probably a bit better at Maths than English as a teenager but decided to pursue the subject that I enjoyed most at University. A three-year degree felt like a long-term commitment at that age. I wanted to study something that was ‘broad’, in which I would have the freedom to explore different academic areas over the three years. When I got to Sheffield, I immediately signed up to Anglo-Saxon English and Philosophy modules alongside English Literature, which was never the plan, but I remember being so excited to learn something completely new.
What did you do after university?
I studied during a deep UK recession (1991-92), that looked never-ending at the time, so my goal was simply to achieve paid employment as a soon as I graduated. I applied to a variety of different sectors and threw in a few accountancy applications (only because one of my housemates had the names and addresses of the international firms already!). During my third year at Sheffield, I was offered a graduate role at a retail bank and at KPMG, the accountancy firm. I picked KPMG because of the post-graduate qualification (it takes three years combined work and study to become a chartered accountant) and the earning potential seemed higher. I ended up switching to Private Equity relatively quickly post-qualification, in my mid-twenties, and have worked in three different Private Equity/Venture Capital firms, in London and in Frankfurt, in the 30 odd years since.
I am currently a Partner and Chief Operating Officer at Equistone, the European Private Equity firm, based in its City office with regular travel to Munich, Luxembourg and Paris. Equistone span out of Barclays (we were formerly ‘Barclays Private Equity Limited’) after the Global Financial Crisis, and is now owned entirely by its Partners. Private Equity has provided me with a rewarding career to date: collaborating with exceptional people in different business contexts; being part of an industry that raises international capital to buy, develop and sell local companies; creating a lot of economic value along the way.
How has studying English benefited you in your career?
Initially my English degree helped me succeed in my accountancy exams, which I thankfully passed at the first attempt. The ability to absorb information quickly, analyse what matters and conclude succinctly was developed at Sheffield; this gave me an edge in those tough, time-pressured exams.
Studying English also helped me develop my ‘interpretative’ skills. At Sheffield I learned to see both sides of an argument, to understand multiple perspectives, and how to cope with ambiguity. These academic ‘must haves’ have proved to be useful skills as a manager too!
High literacy skills have underpinned my career. Early on, accountancy provided me with technical know-how. However, as my roles became more senior and my responsibilities grew, expressing my views clearly – in a variety of informal and formal contexts – became critical. The technical knowledge [of accountancy] became a given, not a differentiator.
Is there anything else that you’d like to tell us about the benefits of studying English?
It felt quite extreme switching from English Literature to Chartered Accountancy on graduation, but since then I’ve been surrounded by Arts and Humanities graduates, even though my entire career has been spent in the finance industry.
I’ve always been proud of my English degree. I’ve seen it as an advantage at all the major ‘pivot points’ in my career. Senior colleagues have acknowledged the skills needed to succeed in an English Literature degree, and recognised the breadth of my education.
The final benefit is the one that’s most difficult to measure though: for me, being well read makes it easier to find connections with people. Businesses can always be assessed in terms of profits and losses, but the ones that thrive do so because of relationships – and my English degree, which established a life-long love of literature, is invaluable in finding common ground with people and building long-lasting relationships.
In September 2023, thirty-one years after graduating from Sheffield, I began studying again, on a Masters course in Shakespeare Studies at King’s College London. The Shakespeare module in my English degree was probably my favourite module and since then I’ve continued to read about the history of the period, especially London history. I’ve also been a regular at the Globe theatre for many years. A few years ago I started to wonder if I could study again, possibly because my children were going through university. I enjoyed reading their essays and realised part of me missed researching and writing on academic topics. It’s been a challenge balancing academic demands with the day job, but the teaching has been very high quality, the texts well-chosen and always interesting, and I’ve met so many new people on the course. The class of 2023/24 is a mixture of younger graduates and mature students from around the world – I’ve learned much from them too.
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