A FINANCIAL adviser has become so concerned that entrepreneurs don’t look after themselves that he is offering them free heart checks.

Gary Neild, managing director of Blue Sky Financial Planning in Poole, says he was prompted to take the action after hearing of the serious heart problems suffered by some business owner friends.

He fears entrepreneurs and business owners are so committed to running successful businesses that they don’t take care of themselves.

He has said anyone who signs up for comprehensive financial planning with his firm in February will have an electrocardiogram (ECG) test and a consultation with a heart specialist at his firm’s expense.

He said: “It may sound like an off-beat sales pitch, but it is much more a genuine call to arms for businessmen and women to pause for a moment to think and then take care of themselves.

“The statistics are truly frightening.”

Heart and circulatory disease accounts for 25 per cent of all deaths in the UK – 160,000 a year, or one every three minutes. Around 42,000 of those people are under 75.

The British Heart Foundation also estimates there are seven million people living with cardiovascular disease and that the total annual healthcare cost is £9billion.

Mr Neild, whose business is at Coy Pond Industrial Estate, added: “The problem is most business owners and directors are middle-aged.

“We look after the company, we build and manage a team, we control risks every day of our working life, yet rarely do we focus as much effort and gusto on ourselves.

“As a business owner or director, let me ask you how you are managing your risk of adverse health and the impact that this could have on your business.

“At Blue Sky we focus very much on enhancing well-being; enabling our clients to live the life they want.

“Without our health though, everything else becomes secondary, yet so many of us appear to be in denial. We get our car serviced regularly, but what about ourselves?”

Mr Neild, who founded Blue Sky Financial Planning in 2002, has undergone a consultation and check-up with a heart specialist himself.