Mortgage Business Expo has unveiled the seminar programme for MBE London 2026, with sessions covering interest rates, specialist finance, buy-to-let, credit, technology and AI.

The event will take place at the Business Design Centre in London on 20 October and will bring together mortgage brokers, lenders and service providers for a day of seminars, meetings and networking.

This year’s programme includes a keynote address from Rob Elder, agent for Greater London at the Bank of England, as well as panel discussions focused on the outlook for the mortgage market and areas of growing importance for intermediaries.

MBE said the London event follows a 2025 Expo at which visitor numbers rose by more than 7% year on year. Attendees spent an average of five hours at the venue.

Exhibitors confirmed for 2026 include Atom bank, Fleet Mortgages, Pepper Money, Bank of Ireland, Gatehouse Bank, Keystone Property Finance, Nationwide for Intermediaries, Nomo Bank and Precise.

The Expo will also continue its partnership with the Financial Intermediary & Broker Association, with FIBA hosting two seminars focused on specialist property finance.

MAIN THEATRE

The main theatre programme will begin at 10.15am with opening remarks from Rob Barnard, intermediary relationship director at Pepper Money, before Elder delivers the Bank of England keynote at 10.30am.

At 11.15am, Barnard will chair a panel examining rates, pricing, competition and where lenders expect growth over the next 12 to 18 months. Speakers will include Richard Beardshaw, head of sales, mortgage intermediaries at HSBC; Lesley Sharkey, recruitment director at Stonebridge Group; Rhys Powell, head of distribution – interim homebuying and ownership at Bank of Ireland; and Matt Kingston, sales director at Nottingham Building Society.

The first FIBA session will take place at midday and will look at how brokers can begin working in specialist property finance without needing to position themselves as experts. Christine Newell, head of FIBA, will chair the session, with Miranda Khadr, chief executive and founder of Provide Finance, speaking.

A 12.45pm panel will focus on borrowers who fall outside mainstream lending criteria, including credit blips, failed credit scores and other credit issues. Speakers will include Louise Apollonio, sales & distribution director at The Mortgage Lender / Bluestone Mortgages; David Castling, head of intermediary distribution at Atom bank; Charles Morley, director of mortgage distribution, operations and servicing at Metro Bank; and Laura Sneddon, head of sales and distribution at Hinckley & Rugby Building Society.

Buy-to-let will be the subject of the 1.30pm session, covering landlord profitability, limited companies, overseas and expat borrowers, portfolio landlords, HMOs, affordability, refinancing and property choice. The panel will feature Steve Griffiths, commercial director at Keystone Property Finance; Layla Hamidian, head of property finance sales and servicing at Nomo Bank; Emily Hollands, group head of intermediary sales & distribution at OneSavings Bank; and Steve Cox, chief commercial officer at Fleet Mortgages.

The final main-theatre session, at 2.15pm, will examine the effect AI could have on mortgage advice. Adrian Richardson, founder of Mortgage Wallet; Dawid Kotur, chief executive of Curvestone AI; Robert Bowes, product lead – mortgages at Iress; and Daniel Hobbs, chief executive officer at New Leaf Distribution, will take part.

ADDITIONAL THEATRES

Theatre two will open at 11.30am with Oliver Crudgington, founder & director of Barton Hawk, discussing buyer-side negotiation services as a potential new revenue stream for mortgage brokers.

Richard Brook, chief marketing officer at TERN, will follow at 12.15pm with a session on the over-50 market, before Jeff Knight, managing director of Momenti Group, discusses the growing importance of broker websites at 1pm.

The second FIBA seminar will begin at 1.45pm and examine how specialists work together on property finance cases. Newell will chair a panel comprising Marc Callaghan, head of commercial mortgages at InterBay; Ian Harrison, head of operations at Affirmative Finance; and Adam Stiles, managing director at Helix Structured Finance.

A third theatre will be devoted to practical business development sessions delivered through Grow with Google. Beverley Clarke will run a practical AI session from 11.30am and a session on building a business online with Google from 1.30pm, while Kirstie Kavanagh will deliver a social media masterclass at 12.30pm.

MBE London 2026 will be free to attend, with visitors able to meet firms operating across residential mortgages, buy-to-let, specialist lending, commercial finance and wider property finance. CPD hours will be available through the seminar programme, while lunch will also be provided.

Mike Mikunda, event director for MBE, said: “Last year’s attendance was another indication of how much value brokers continue to place on getting people from across the market together in one place.

“Perhaps even more telling was the amount of time people spent at the Expo. An average visit of five hours suggests brokers are coming with a purpose – to have proper conversations, hear different views and spend time with lenders they may not otherwise get to see face-to-face.

“That is what we want to build on this year. The seminar programme covers some of the areas where brokers are having to make more complex decisions for clients, from credit and specialist finance through to buy-to-let and AI.

“If someone leaves MBE with a new contact, a better answer for a difficult case or an idea that helps their business, then the day has done its job.”

Martin Reynolds, chief executive officer of SimplyBiz Mortgages and FIBA chairman, added: “One of the biggest opportunities for brokers is being able to recognise when a case that falls outside their usual work can still be helped.

“You do not have to know every part of specialist property finance yourself, but you do need to know when to ask another question, who to speak to and how the different parts of a transaction fit together.

“That is very much the thinking behind the FIBA sessions this year. We want to make specialist finance accessible to brokers who may not deal with it every day, while also giving experienced firms a chance to hear how others are approaching cases and working together.”

Registration is open in advance of the event.