Musical Lehman trader overcomes bum note

The Syria-born West Londoner is now facing a different type of pressure as he battles for a record contract in the 2009 Live and Unsigned talent competition.

He said: "The fact that Lehman collapsed provided me with the opportunity to focus on music, which I wouldn't have had time to do if I'd still been there. Hopefully this story has a happy ending."

Bisher, 25, arrived in Britain from his home country seven years ago and attained a masters in engineering from Imperial College and a masters in finance from Cambridge.

He took on a job in sales for Credit Suisse in Canary Wharf in 2006, before becoming a Lehman trader a year later.

He said: "The people that work in that industry are the creme de la creme. It's a tough industry but it's a nice environment. It was a great learning experience for me."

Even as black clouds gathered over 25 Bank Street in September, Bisher and his colleagues were still hopeful that Lehman could be saved.

He said: "We were all thinking there would be some form of Government intervention. It was a real surprise when the bankruptcy was announced.

"I found out from the BBC on the Sunday night that no banks were interested in buying Lehman as a whole. And the next day the atmosphere was very strange across the whole floor."

While many of his colleagues attempted to find openings in other firms, Bisher decided to step out of the industry completely.

He said: "I know that if something happened, I would want to try other things. It's difficult to say what the outlook for the industry will be. I decided to look for a new adventure.

"I used to play guitar sometimes back in university as a solo performer, and for colleagues and friends at parties. I decided it was something I wanted to try, and I rediscovered my passion for music.

"I'd like to be a famous musician and perform in front of a lot of people, but only if the music is worthy."

He joined 10,000 other hopefuls nationwide in auditioning for the show in January, and impressed the judges enough to be invited back for the London heats on March 29.

Bisher will perform his own material - which is inspired by Coldplay, U2 and Matchbox 20 - in front of an audience in Hayes' Beck Theatre. The crowd will decide whether he'll progress to the area final on May 3.

He said: "I come from an environment where competition is good, so it makes me look forward to it even more.

"I've got about 50 friends coming to support me. Many of them wouldn't normally go to gigs, especially colleagues from the City. But they really want to see me live."

Bisher is just one of thousands who have lost their jobs in the last few months. But he believes that the blow of redundancy could also be a push in the right direction.

He said: "If there's something you really want to do, but never had the time, maybe now is the time to give it the focus it deserves."

Have you found a new direction because of redundancy? Tell us your story. Email newsdesk@wharf.co.uk