Jack Wyllie – The Alumni of Belmont House School

3rd Oct 2025

As we approach our centenary year at Belmont House School, we wanted to look back, and reconnect with former pupils, near and far. Here we have seven thoughtful questions that we ask our alumni focusing on their lives, successes, and the school’s influence.

Name: Jack Wyllie 
Time period as a pupil at Belmont House: 8 years
Current Occupation: Financial Advisor

How did your time at Belmont House School shape your career path?
As anyone who’s been a pupil will know, being at a small school gives you the confidence to take on any career. Always feeling valued, and never under estimating your own ability is one of the key attributes you see from former Belmont Pupils. That and being able to wear shorts in a minus 10-degree winter.

Can you share a key moment or memory from your time at Belmont that had a lasting impact on you?
I always come back to a few, the classic ones I can remember vividly are Mr Doak telling (telling being a nice way of putting it!) to always do our top buttons. I can hear him now, telling me the difference between you and the other man or woman in the street is your top button. It always felt daft at the time, but the more you go through life you notice that the small things really matter. Doing your top button is a small thing, but it means being organised, reliable and ready to go. A great life lesson.

What skills or lessons learned at Belmont have been most valuable in your professional life?
Does being beaten at rugby count as a skill? In all seriousness, the school always taught me about doing the right thing. Another simple skill , but just always doing the right thing.

In what ways did Belmont House School’s community or culture contribute to your personal growth?
We were always taught to give back and it’s something we still do through the company today. Again, it was all the small things that mattered. Going to PE and holding the door open for a member of the public, thank you’s and respecting those ahead of you. I know they now don’t stand up for a teacher entering the room, but that always sticks with me as the respect point being taught to you at an early stage.

Can you describe how Belmont’s teachers or extracurricular activities helped shape your future ambitions?
Ironically, despite being rubbish almost every season we went undefeated for a whole year at rugby and I still remember the travels north to beat Robert Gordon’s or through to Edinburgh to beat Stewart’s Melville. Or even better, beating Hutchie at Hutchie with the last kick of the game. We must of had close to 40 people in our year, and none of them could beat us. It was brilliant.

What advice would you give to current Belmont students who want to follow a similar path to yours?
Come and have a chat and I can talk you through the routes to get in, we are desperate for the next generation of financial advisors.  jack.wyllie@sjpp.co.uk

Looking back, how do you feel Belmont House School prepared you for the challenges and opportunities you’ve faced in life?
Life will throw a fair amount of challenges your way, you can’t really do anything about that. Belmont teaches you how to deal with those challenges – that’s the big win.  Although it never taught me how to break 80 round Williamwood Golf Club, my only disappointment leaving the school.