Stuart Rivers spent 20 years living in Sweden working for Ericsson where he was tasked with downsizing the telecoms giant and cutting 50,000 jobs.

Today, his LinkedIn profile describes him as chief executive of a 200-year-old “start-up” finding innovative solutions for social welfare and the relief of poverty through technology.

That “start-up” is the Southampton-based Sailors’ Society whose roots can be traced back to helping destitute seafarers in London as they returned at the end of the Napoleonic wars.