A middle-aged father has resonated with thousands of others by admitting how hard it is for men to make friends, in a viral video confessing where he confesses to being lonely.

Mark Gaisford from Kent, a 52-year-old CEO marketing recruitment agency RedSprout, took to LinkedIn with a brave video confession which revealed how alone he feels.

The married father-of-two, whose grown up children Jack, 23, and Jemma, 20, have moved out and whose wife works away at weekends, admitted that his lack of social life has left a gaping hole, and that his only real social contact is 'acquaintances' at work.

Putting his loneliness down to being middle-aged, he added: 'I’m perhaps the most outgoing on the team, and I like to see myself as the joker of the bunch. But when the clock hits 5pm on a Friday and the twentysomethings disappear off to the pub, I – their boss – slink off home alone.'

While opportunities to make friends at work are lacking, Mark doesn't have a social circle outside either, because he never went to university, and moved from his native Surrey to Kent to be near his wife's family.

And he said that after their children were born, the demands of balancing work with fatherhood meant he was too busy to notice the gaping hole in his life.

The clip resonated with users across the platform, and quickly racked up 15,000 views and hundreds of comments with followers confessing they felt the same way.

Mark Gaisford, a CEO, from Kent, took to LinkedIn with a brave video confession which revealed how alone he really felt

'I have no friends,' Mark admits, joking that he is a 'lonely git' and adding: 'It's a scary thing to admit that.'

'I know a lot of people, but it's mostly through networking and work', he says.

'I don't take them out for dinner and I don't go on long country walks with them. It's not just me who's got no friends.

'Come Sunday night, I am miserable as sin and sick to death of the sound of my own thoughts. What I would give to call up a mate to ask if he fancied a pie and a pint. But, apparently, it’s not that easy for us middle-aged men.

Previously, Mark told the Mail On Sunday: ‘I’ve been the butt of my children’s jokes for as long as I can remember. ‘Dad’s got no friends,’ they’d jibe over the dinner table, falling about in fits of laughter. I shrugged it off but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hurt.

‘I’ve often wondered if there was something wrong with me – why can’t I do something that seems to come so easily to my wife?

‘I know it’s partly due to a lack of opportunity. I never went to university and then moved far from my home in Surrey to be near my wife’s family in Kent. After the children were born, I’d make excuses: I didn’t need friends, I was too busy with work, or picking up the children from school.’

He then highlights a statistic which found 18 percent of men do not have a close friend, and as many as 32 percent of men have no one they consider to be a best friend.

Flashing up a statstic which reveals that 'male bonding is more likely to lower a man's stress levels than a night out with his partner, or time spent with the family', he decides to go to a social meet up.

'I have no friends,' Mark admits, joking that he is a 'lonely git' and adding: 'It's a scary thing to admit that.'

The event is taking place at his local pub, and sees men coming together to socialise.

On his way to the event he admits he is nervous as he doesn't know anyone at the event.

But filming straight after the meet-up, he is beaming as he leaves the pub and is thrilled he mustered up the courage.

Talking of the people he met, he says: 'You've got the quiet ones, you've got the confident ones, but really good fun. I'm so glad I got off my backside and got a bit of guts and went and did something like that.

'I wouldn't call them necessarily friends yet. But I hope they will be in future'.

Praising the brave confession, one user wrote: 'Interesting. You're not alone my friend. I think when we are getting old we naturally become more judicious which reduce the chances to make new friends.

Praising the brave confession, one user wrote: 'Interesting. You're not alone my friend. I think when we are getting old we naturally become more judicious which reduce the chances to make new friends.'

'Depending on the work, marriage, kids,... life could have a different paths for each of us which can push friends away.'

Another said: 'Brilliant video. I moved to Australia 8 years ago left my friends behind got here and started running a business. Agreed that you make lots of people through work, but are they friends?

'But it started talking about this year and it's amazing how many people are in the same position. The more people talk about it the more the message gets out there. Really brave.'

Elsewhere one wrote: 'You brave man. I love the way you put it across, there's nothing "lonely git" about it. All my good friends are scattered around the world, so I'm a bit lonely too. ps. you're clever and cute.'