FINTECH 2022

Stephen is an influential advocate of making the financial world more open, creative and inclusive through innovative digital and data initiatives, encouraging progressive ways of working and collaboration across diverse organisations.   

His career over four decades has earned a track record and reputation for leading customer focused, technology enabled initiatives and he is passionate about the role of financial innovation shaping the future economy and breaking down barriers and division across the UK, especially with new initiatives such as cluster development and innovation accelerators.  

Today, Stephen is Chairman of FinTech Scotland and a Non-Executive of the Centre for Finance Innovation and Technology (CFIT), the leadership bodies focused on financial innovation.  

He led the formation and growth of FinTech Scotland since 2018, initially as Chief Executive, to be recognised as a leading fintech cluster management organisations in the UK and Europe.  

In addition, Stephen is Deputy Convenor (Enterprise and Investment) on the Court of University of Strathclyde and Chair of the Strategic Industry Clusters Group  

He was awarded an OBE in the 2023 New Year Honours List for services to UK financial technology (fintech) innovation.   

Stephen is an influential advocate of making the financial world more open, creative and inclusive through innovative digital and data initiatives, encouraging progressive ways of working and collaboration across diverse organisations. 

His career over four decades has earned a track record and reputation for leading customer focused, technology enabled initiatives and he is passionate about the role of financial innovation shaping the future economy and breaking down barriers and division across the UK, especially with new initiatives such as cluster development and innovation accelerators. 

Today, Stephen is Chairman of FinTech Scotland and a Non-Executive of the Centre for Finance Innovation and Technology (CFIT), the leadership bodies focused on financial innovation. 

He led the formation and growth of FinTech Scotland since 2018, initially as Chief Executive, to be recognised as a leading fintech cluster management organisations in the UK and Europe. 

In addition, Stephen sits on the UK Government’s Business Innovation Board, is a Deputy Convenor, (Enterprise & Investment) on the University of Strathclyde Court and is a non-executive director of Smart Data Foundry. 

 He was awarded an OBE in the 2023 New Year Honours List for services to UK financial technology (fintech) innovation.  

Charlotte has been involved in capital markets, fintech and technology throughout her career – as CEO, Chair, Board Advisor and Non-Executive Director. Prior to CFIT, Charlotte was Chair and Trustee of Open Banking and was also CEO of the fintech industry body, Innovate Finance. In this role, she supported the work of Ron Kalifa in delivering the strategic fintech review (The Kalifa Review). She works closely with entrepreneurs, financial services firms, academia, government and regulators on fintech advocacy and strategy. Charlotte received an OBE for her contribution to financial services in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2021. She believes firmly in a diversity and innovation-first approach. 

Janine Hirt is the CEO of Innovate Finance (IF), the industry body representing the world-leading UK FinTech sector. Having joined the founding IF leadership team in 2015 first as Head of Membership then Ecosystem Director, she moved into the COO role in 2017 before stepping up to lead the organisation in 2021. Janine is passionate about driving transformation to create a more democratic, transparent and inclusive financial services sector for all. Her professional career has been marked by roles that sit at the intersection of policy, international relations, and industry, including senior positions at Chatham House, (the Royal Institution of International Affairs) and the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce. 

Janine received her BA Magna Cum Laude from Boston College, JYA at Oxford University, and her MSc from the London School of Economics. Janine is an American, British, Swiss and German national who calls London and NYC home. 

Professor Karen Elliott is Chair (Full Professor) of Practice in Finance and FinTech at Birmingham University Business School and Co-Director of the FinTech MSc Degree Programme. She has been named as ‘Standout #35 Women in FinTech Powerlist by Innovate Finance’ for Policy and Governance 2019, 2020 and listed for the new Hubs (governance) category in 2021. In addition, is an Advisory Board member to Incuto and We are Digital, championing access to fair and affordable finance. Karen co-leads FinTrust, Agency, and the UKFin Network+ projects (£1.2m/£3.5m/£2.5m EPSRC/UKRI) with Prof van Moorsel to optimise trustworthy and ethical AI, engineered to deliver citizen transparency, fairness, and inclusion. Likewise, co-led Finclusion (Gates Foundation/Turing Institute £100k), which explored verifiable credentials for vulnerable groups, focusing on dementia in the digital economy following her mother’s diagnosis. A member of the Prime Minister’s Champions Group for Dementia, Corporate Digital Responsibility, ForHumanity, Radix, the IEEE Global Initiative Planet Positive and an Ambassador for the Digital Poverty Alliance, Karen creates a fusion of academic and practical ethical considerations at the individual and societal level, seeking to find balance for an equitable digital society while protecting and sustaining the planet. 

Andrew Bowie is the Member of Parliament for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, elected in 2017 as the first Conservative MP for the seat since its creation in 1997. Andrew grew up in Aberdeenshire, and lives in the area with his wife and daughter.

Before being elected as a Member of Parliament, Andrew Bowie served as an officer in the Royal Navy for 3 years, a career that took him around the world to Brazil, Bahrain, Gibraltar and The Falklands. Returning home to the North East, Andrew studied at the University of Aberdeen before entering politics.

During his time in Parliament, Andrew has chaired the All Party Parliamentary Group for Sweden and worked as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, Theresa May, (2018-2019), as well as Vice-Chair of the Conservative party (2019-2021).

Since October 2022, Andrew has served as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for International Trade, as the Minister for Exports.

Sina Yamani founded Yoello as one of the first UK FinTechs to acquire a payments banking license. With the goal of providing UK SME’s with fairer transactions, Yoello’s payments enables SME’s to reduce their costs by up to 90%, saving UK businesses billions of pounds every year.

In addition to payments infrastructure, Yoello’s QR/NFC platform enables a suite of tools for merchants and charities to increase their revenues and operational efficiencies. Yoello whitelabels their platform to Acquiring Banks, POS and Payment companies around the world.

Emma has more than 18 years’ experience in Technology and Leadership roles, primarily in Financial Services and RegTech.

Prior to joining FinTrU, Emma was Global Head of Communications Surveillance R&D at Citi delivering a successful replacement of rules-based Communication Surveillance with an in-house Behavioural Analytics Platform which improved regulatory coverage, increased detection rates, reduced alert volume, handling time and analyst effort.

She has also previously held roles in BT Ireland managing ordering, fulfilment & billing systems; NYSE Euronext delivering Global Market Data & Market access solutions to Tier 1 Financial Institutions & Hedge Funds; and start-ups in cloud storage and video streaming.

At FinTrU, Emma is a member of the Executive Leadership team with responsibility for leading Technology & Product strategy across the company.

Emma has an MEng Electrical and Electronic Engineering Degree awarded by Queen’s University Belfast.

Darren is an Executive Director at JP Morgan Glasgow with whom he has 22 years’ experience. He joined as a Lead Java Developer and has performed numerous roles during his tenure.  He currently heads up Client Service Technology delivering solutions to the Asset Management business across Client servicing, Onboarding, AML, RFP, Contract Negotiation and Funds Product Management.  In addition to this, Darren is Head of Innovation for JP Morgan Glasgow. 

Christopher Jessup is Chairperson of FinTech NI, a not-for-profit industry association representing the workforce of over 7,000 individuals and 75 fintech companies in Northern Ireland.   As Chair, he is leading the Association in the implementation of its three-year Northern Ireland FinTech strategy and roadmap – aimed at the creation of 25 new fintech companies, the attraction of £25 million in additional Foreign Direct Investment and generation of thousands of new jobs in NI in the next three years. 

A Partner in leading corporate law firm A&L Goodbody (ALG),  Christopher specialises in Financial Services Regulatory matters and innovation in the sector. He advises a wide range of clients including banks, payment service providers, payment systems, investment firms, fund managers, and other financial institutions and fintech firms on UK and EU financial services regulation. 

Andy is a Principal Sales Engineer at BlackBerry. He works with businesses across a wide range of markets such as UK Defence, Pharmaceutical, Manufacturing and most of the major Banks. He spends his time understanding their Cyber Risk Strategies whilst advising them on how best to defend against the next generation of threats and reduce overall risk of a breach.

Ian joined the FCA in the summer of 2021 as Director of the Intelligence & Digital division.He is helping set up a cross-FCA centre of excellence to ensure the organisation utilises the range of intelligence it receives and to maximise the exploitation of digital opportunities.

Prior to his current role, Ian was most recently Director of Citizens’ Health Technology at NHS Digital, helping lead its response to COVID-19. Ian has also worked at the Home Office, overseeing the world’s largest migration to Amazon Web Services, as well as transforming immigration platforms at the height of Brexit.

Ian has spent over a decade in National Security with strong expertise in data exploitation, in addition to holding senior technology roles at Visa, Citibank and American Express.

Stephen leads Innovate UK’s programme in Professional and Financial Services having previously delivered the successful Next Generation Services programme as part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. He is supporting the transformation of our Accountancy, Insurance, Legal and Financial Services sectors by the responsible use of AI and data.  He previously led the AI and Data Economy Directorate at Innovate UK ad interim, headed the organisation’s Enabling – Digital team and the SBRI programme.

Stephen has a background in the semiconductor industry, having spent nearly 20 years working for Philips Semiconductors and NXP where he held various software engineering, project management and business management roles

Stephen holds an MBA (distinction) from Imperial College and a BSc in Electronic Engineering

Jonathan Beaverstock is Professor of International Management and an Economic and Social Research Council Knowledge Exchange Fellow (to FinTech West), based at the University of Bristol Business School, Bristol University, UK.

Professor Beaverstock’s research focuses on financial services and FinTech clustering, and the competitiveness of the City of London and UK regional financial centres.  He is a member of the Advisory Board of FinTech West providing thought leadership to the rapidly establishing Bristol and Bath FinTech cluster.

Professor Beaverstock is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

James is a pioneer of Open Banking in the UK and is actively involved in the industry as an advisor, founding member and board member of various groups, organisations and government bodies. Over the past 15 years, James has passionately pursued the opportunity to leverage financial services as a global trust network to help address global issues such as Identity, Credit & Risk and Financial Inclusion. 

James first started talking about leveraging the identity and data consumers have with their bank accounts to prove they are who they say they are and create convenience in financial services where there hasn’t been, 11 years ago.

Matt James heads innovation scouting for the UK and Europe within NatWest Group’s Innovation and Partnerships function. Matt and his team identify and position innovative new solutions and partnerships for the Bank; everything from start-ups to established technology companies. He was a member of the UK Treasury’s Fintech Delivery Panel where he lead the partnerships workstream which launched initiatives such as the UK Fintech Pledge.   Matt has worked in financial services for over 30 years across a variety of roles relating to technology, strategy and change and holds a Masters in Business Administration with distinction from Bristol Business School.   

Frank Gauld is the CEO of University of Edinburgh spin-out Smart Data Foundry, a mission-led company with a purpose to inspire innovation and improve people’s lives by unlocking the power of financial data.  Frank has worked globally holding a number of Executive positions in Financial Services and Technology most recently leading the development of NCR Corporation’s digital cloud banking platform from its base in Atlanta, USA and prior to that executive roles in Strategy, Payments, Enterprise Architecture and Software Engineering. Before moving to NCR in America in 2017, he held high-profile roles in UK Banking at Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank as CIO for Change and IT Development.  Frank is a Computer Science graduate from University of Edinburgh, a Chartered Information Systems Engineer, a Fellow of the British Computer Society and Fellow of the RSA. 

An experienced businesswoman Sarah spent 17 years at IBM, latterly as Government Affairs Director. Across Government relations, communication, stakeholder, and client management where Sarah led successful teams. These succeeded in lobbying for change as well as winning significant commercial deals and implementing significant innovation programs. Sarah was a member of the founding team at Starling Bank a challenger start-up which succeeded in obtaining a full UK banking license, gaining market traction with over 2 million account holders both retail and business. Since leaving Starling in June 2019 Sarah has held an 8-month interim CEO role at Hope for Children (Charity). She led the market, consumer insights and product design team at Fair 4 All Finance. Sarah is currently CEO at Fintech Wales a member collective focused on empowering Fintech & Financial services in Wales. 

Hilary is the Executive Lead for the UK’s only professional services tech supercluster. A former chartered surveyor and qualified tax technician, Hilary has a wide-ranging career spanning professional and financial services sector including 10 years un practice as a national director in Fortune 500 company AECOM. Since her time in practice, Hilary worked as Executive Director for regional membership body for professional services for 5 years  and established herself as a key influencer in BPFS policy in the West Midlands working for Greater Birmingham & Solihull LEP. She also leads industry engagement on behalf of a range of organisations including nationally funded research projects with University of Sheffield Management School, Oxford Brookes University, City-REDI at University of Birmingham, Dept of BEIS and Innovate UK. Innovation and disruptive technology is a core strand to the policy areas Hilary engages in and SuperTech combines these interests with passion for championing Birmingham and wider West Midlands.

Julian is a Director of Whitecap Consulting, a regional strategy consultancy headquartered in Leeds with offices throughout the UK. Whitecap work with executives, boards and investors of predominantly mid-sized organisations, typically with a turnover of c£10m-£300m, helping them analyse, develop and implement growth strategies. 

Julian has been a Director of Fintech North since April 2016 which is collaboration between Whitecap Consulting and a FinTech firm, White Label Crowdfunding, and is a predominantly event-based FinTech entity within the Northern Powerhouse. FinTech North hosts conferences across the Northern Powerhouse and run regular seminars and conferences. 

Hugh de Lusignan has had 35 years’ experience in financial services (equity capital markets and fund
management) including senior investment banking management roles at NatWest Markets and
SocGen. He joined DIT three years ago working with APAC based SWFs, pension and insurance
companies and corporates to deliver significant capital investment into the UK particularly into
infrastructure, clean energy transition (including smart cities) and house building acceleration. Hugh
joined the FPS directorate as Head of Financial Services in January 2021.

Euan is a Senior Consultant and Senior Climate Adviser at Pinsent Masons.  He was an energy partner in the firm until 2013 and re-joined the firm in October 2021.  In the intervening period Euan has acted as the General Counsel and Chair of the Investment Committee of the Green Investment Bank before joining Macquarie on its acquisition of the bank and subsequently acting as General Counsel at Ofgem.   Outside of Pinsent Masons Euan is a non-executive director at Crown Estate Scotland where he chairs the Investment Committee.  At Pinsent Masons Euan advises both the firm and clients on a range of ESG matters with a focus on climate and sustainability matters.  He has a particular interest in the governance of climate and sustainability related matters and the interface with risk management. 

Luke is the Head of Fintech Propositions and a Legal Director for Pinsent Masons. He advises large banks, cloud service providers and various types of fintech and payments businesses on a range of legal and regulatory issues that impact on their approach to innovation and technology. Recognised by Legal 500, he regularly speaks at conferences on the impact of regulation on the use of technology in financial services and the evolution of fintech.

Jules is CEO and co-founder of CienDos – a climate-tech business, focussed on corporate emissions. CienDos provides a low-friction way for companies and governments to gather emissions data from their value chain and easily share it across industries and geographies.  Companies sharing their validated emissions data and reduction performance are rewarded with cash incentives or improved terms from the larger enterprises accessing their data – driving climate data-sharing at scale. The ground-breaking API-powered dataset provides customers with real-time access to emissions data, climate impact analysis and climate risk insights for companies of all sizes.   

Jules previously co-founded Cerico, a world-leading SaaS Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) business.  Cerico was acquired by NewsCorp’s Dow Jones in 2018 where Jules lead TPRM globally, overseeing 10x revenue growth and complex engagements with many of the world’s largest brands. She is a seasoned keynote speaker and published thought-leader on ClimateTech & TPRM.