Chris Henry has left a career in banking to help owners of small firms get the best out of themselves and their businesses.

“It was truly a life-changing moment.”

Chris Henry and his family travelled to Madeira – all set to enjoy a relaxing holiday in the sun.

Instead, he spent two weeks in the intensive care unit at a hospital on the Mediterranean island being treated for a life-threatening blood clot – an embolism that had its origins in a seemingly innocuous footballing injury.

“I had been playing five-a-side just before we went on holiday and I got a cut on my shin,” says Chris. “I ended up with a blood infection. I thought I had flu, but I ended up with deep vein thrombosis – a blood clot – in my leg.

“We landed at the airport and got a taxi to the hotel and I was feeling increasingly unwell. It turned out I was very lucky to survive. The fact that I was fit and had never smoked were the things that saved me.”

That experience back in 2006 was a watershed for the Yorkshire-born marketing graduate and qualified accountant – and led to him leaving his successful career in banking to become a self-employed business coach.