Alan McIntyre, 36, worked at Bank of Scotland, later HBOS, for 19 years before he was made redundant in September. He had been there since he left school at 17 and worked his way up to become an underwriter at the company’s Edinburgh branch.

Cost-cutting at the bank meant that his whole department was closed. “At the time I lost my job I was not too happy about it, but we knew there were going to be cuts.”

At first he hoped to get a job in a different section of the bank. When that was unsuccesful, he decided to take a career break and train as a snowboard instructor.

He is taking his redundancy package to the slopes in Whistler, Canada, in January, for a four-month course with Alltracks, which specialises in skiing career breaks. By April he will be qualified to teach beginner and intermediate snowboarders.

“It’s always something I’ve wanted to do, but I’ve never had the time or the money. Now, I have both,” he said.

“I’ve never done a gap year – and after 19 years, perhaps it is time I had a bit of a break. There are a lot of people in a similar position who are planning to do the same thing. I am there until mid-April – and after that, we’ll see. I want to have a total break, and see what’s around the corner.”

Although he is unsure if he will change career for good, he ponders a comparison of his old job with that planned for next year. “Skiing and banking,” he muses. “I don’t think the two of them compare.”

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