Tanker broker Steve Ballard has been a fixture at Simpson Spence Young (SSY) for the past 48 years.

But from this week, Ballard says the best place to find him will be "on the golf course or at the racecourse".

Ballard is hanging up his broking boots after a record stint in job.

He made a rapid exit from school at the age of 16 and joined the accounts department in 1970 with, as he described it, no idea what shipping was about.