To be honest, I do network. I have access to plenty of business contacts in and outside of my family. (Thus the reason I asked my father to help. As his businesses are run through Lloyds.)

However, Cardnet is a separate entity to Lloyds technically and that's how they saw it.

I've recently come back to the UK from living abroad so I have been rebuilding contacts.

But you are correct; networking is incredibly important.