Scott Lee appeared to have his career in finance mapped out.

The Folkestone schoolboy had enjoyed a well-paying placement at investment bank Morgan Stanley while at the University of Surrey.

After graduating with a first-class degree in economics and finance, he quickly progressed to the City, taking a broking job at markets operator ICAP.

Yet within two years he had packed in his burgeoning financial career and opted to return home to Folkestone.

He spent four months feeding the homeless for two days a week out of the back of a car with a friend while he worked out "what the next step was going to be".

"I joined the City because I had good grades and felt I could do anything I put my mind to," he said.

"I felt I could earn good money and it was where I could realise my professional potential.

"Instantly I didn't fit. I felt like a small cog in this huge mechanism.

"I realised that is why people like working for a small company. Everyone cares."

Mr Lee set up his own digital marketing business Lee Local from the Kent Space shared offices in Ashford.

He picked up a range of clients and quickly realised "they were very bad at picking up the phone and responding to inquiries".

This gave him his eureka moment and within two years of leaving London, he had returned to the capital with his new business ResponseiQ.

The technology firm uses a callback widget on clients' websites which helps companies respond more quickly to sales leads. It secured £850,000 of investment last year and customers include the Co-op and Saga.

"I remember when I first made the decision to quit the City I said I would never go back unless I was running my own company," said Mr Lee.

"I had became disillusioned with the financial sector. I didn't feel like I added value in the roles I did.

"I don't feel like a fraud because I had a strong urge to create value.

"The problem is people spend so much money on marketing but they don't make the most of it.

"This is helping them get more return from their existing marketing spend."

Having secured backing from investors, ResponseiQ employs about 20 people in London, where Mr Lee now lives, still at the tender age of 27.

"I feel like a local boy done good," he said. "I still go back to drink with the same guys in the same pub in Folkestone where I used to play pool when I was 10. I'm a Kent guy through and through."

How did you get the idea for ResponseiQ?

“I remember being on the phone trying to get an insurance quote for my mum and sitting there for ages.

"I had my money in my hand and I couldn’t get through to anyone. I thought there has got to be a better way to do this.

"The longer you take to reply to a lead the colder it goes. You have really got to be replying within a few minutes.

"Massive businesses are able to do this but I built the tools for businesses of all sizes to do this. When I was running my marketing agency, it helped clients get more value from their marketing spend, which meant more profit for me because it helped them speak to more leads.”

How does the business work?

“Our technology allows customers to connect to their potential customers in under 27 seconds of them requesting a callback, increasing the conversion rate, of visitor-to-call, by up to 25%.

“It allows people to schedule calls for the future and collects analytics on what customers have viewed on your site.

“An agent normally doesn’t know what they are looking for but when they use ResponseiQ they know that online user’s journey and can make the conversation more personal.

“The benefit is you have more information on the call, which sales people love, and you receive more phone calls.”

CV

Born: 20/10/90 in Folkestone

School: Harvey Grammar

Lives: London

Family: One younger brother

First job: Labourer

First wage: £6.50 an hour

Salary now: Undisclosed

Favourite book: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Favourite film: Saving Private Ryan, below

Music: Grime

Car: Fiat 500 he borrows from his mum

Last holiday: Barbados

Charity: Shelter

Typical day

Scott Lee arrives at his ResponseiQ office in Rocketspace on Islington High Street at about 8am and does not leave until 9pm.

“I wish I was still paying those office prices,” he joked, remembering his time running Lee Local from the Kent Space in Ashford.

He takes calls with his teams in the Philippines and India in the morning, then tries to clear out his inbox.

He thinks about sales strategy and future product enhancements in the afternoon and spends time with new team members.

“Expectations have changed about customer service and I think how I can relate that to my clients,” he said.

He also does mentoring and coaching. In his downtime, he goes the gym and visits the pub with friends. He also reads personal development books and enjoys watching TV series.