Worcestershire batsman Alex Gidman has launched his own recruitment company with the aim of helping fellow sports people make the transition from being a professional athlete into a new career path.
Gidman has just finished his first season at New Road and will be fully focused on trying to enjoy a successful 2016 campaign following his move from Gloucestershire 12 months ago.
But the 34-year-old has formed Gidman and Co as he contemplates what path his own life will take professionally when he eventually hangs up his spikes.
He said: "It is more of a consultancy as opposed to an agency. It is something I've been thinking of for a little while, recognising that cricket won't last forever and you've got to do some things after cricket.
"It is just something I'm quite passionate about, that transitional period that some sports people go through. We are not all lucky enough to earn enough money to sit back for the rest of our lives or have readymade jobs.
"Something I'd like to do is assist in that transitional period and help athletes go through what can be what can be a daunting and worrying time in their lives.
"It is my business, called Gidman and Co and there is a website, www.gidmanco.com which has got a lot more details on it.
"But in a nutshell it is assisting sportsmen and sportswomen in their careers after their sport."
Gidman added: "It is really exciting, it is nice to have something to focus on outside of cricket, I'll give it a whirl and see where it takes me and see if there is something there to continue with when my cricket finishes.
"I do have a small team of people from the business and corporate world behind it who are helping me and building it with me.
"We will see what the future holds with that aspect of my life.
"But first and foremost, for the time being at least, it is about trying to have a successful season next year and see what the future holds in cricket.
"I probably am starting to get to that age where you take each season as it comes because you never quite know what is around the corner.
"But I've got the year here, I'll chuck myself into it and see what happens and then review things whatever happens throughout that year."
Gidman has spoken with senior business leaders in the City of London and various parts of the United Kingdom whilst establishing his recruitment company.
He said: "At one point, I was actually offered a job in the City. The hiring director told me my standing in the professional sports world and life experiences were huge assets in the commercial world.
"I used that experience to speak with various business leaders and people across the UK and in the City and found a couple had recruited ex professional sports people who proved very valuable in terms of the skills and different characteristics they had brought to their businesses."
