Experienced traders in prop terms would be either from a different prop house/bank prior or independents who've traded a decent size direct access for a number of years and have a track record basically. Spreadbetting applies to more beginner/intermediate traders as far as prop houses think. He should be going down the trainee trader route in my opinion. The thing is they don't like people with too much experience as they will have acquired bad habits, discipline issues etc, and are more difficult to mould. He's neither a beginner or experienced, therein lies the problem.