The Finance Professional Show has confirmed its largest conference programme to date for the event on 7 November at Olympia London.
The programme opens with keynote speaker and co-founder of Zopa, James Alexander, talking about what it takes for established organisations to improve their innovation strategy and be better prepared for the future.
This is followed by two property finance panels. The first will consider the state of the residential lending market, including term loans, consumer buy-to-let, specialist mortgages and more.
The second property panel will cover the UK’s growing specialist property finance market in depth, covering bridging, development finance, P2P and more with a panel that includes Adam Tyler, executive chairman of the Financial Intermediary & Broker Association (FIBA).
There will also be a panel discussion – led by HM Treasury – addressing gender diversity in financial services.
In the afternoon, there will be a debate on SME lending and a discussion on future-proofing business featuring Alastair Lukies CBE, ambassador for fintech to the prime minister, as well as representatives from RateSetter, Cloudscraper and Knowledge Bank.
The programme will conclude with a speed networking session exposing delegates to providers of more niche product offerings. This will be an intense period of revolving round tables during which attendees can learn something new, have the chance to get their questions answered in a focused environment and get to meet the faces behind the providers.
Alexander says: “Financial services is quite rightly having to go through a period of significant change. It is important for finance professionals and their organisations to understand why this change is happening and how they might need to adapt to avoid becoming the new Kodak. I’m really looking forward to speaking at the Finance Professional Show to explain this and to share some thoughts on how to approach innovation.”
Lukies added: “Money itself has evolved and we now live in a world in which technology businesses rule. The financial sector is witnessing a swarm of piranhas rather than one giant shark coming for their market, but it’s not all bad news as the UK is at the forefront of fintech. I’m looking forward to chairing what is sure to be a very lively discussion at the Finance Professional Show.”
Clare Jupp, people development director at Brightstar Financial, who will take part in the panel discussion on gender diversity, added: “I am really excited to be involved in the conference programme at the FP Show 2018, particularly so because the focus will be around the issue of diversity, including the whole Women in Finance piece.
“I would strongly urge all present at the event to attend the panel debate to learn, contribute and show support for this crucial issue. I am determined that this industry will become a more inclusive one, and one that will provide equal opportunity to all who are part of it.”
