Simon Chilvers was formerly senior database marketing manager at National Australia Group. Expertise in building customer databases, Access database development, Management Information programs, designing and applying analytical programs, identifying profit sources, creating and evaluating marketing campaigns. Has delivered purchase propensity, attrition propensity and profitability projects for numerous retail financial services organisations. Also specialises in skills transfer to Management Information personnel.

Richard Clouter FCA has 20 years’ experience in Financial Services (Banking, Life & Pensions), through a combination of line management and external consulting, assurance & advisory roles.  He gained FS external audit experience with Price Waterhouse and consulting experience with KPMG Consulting. Richard has significant experience of M&As including the integration of Courage brewing with Scottish & Newcastle and NatWest with RBS.  A specialist in the application of OGC Global best practice in the control and delivery of change, Richard is qualified at Practitioner level in Programme Management (MSP), Project Management (PRINCE2), and Management of Risk (M_o_R).  Particular expertise in supporting leadership teams in strengthening corporate governance to ensure the rigorous application of Risk Management disciplines at Strategic, Programme, Project and Operational levels.

Ian Cook was formerly Assistant General Manager (IT) at Scottish Life Assurance Company and Royal London.  Now operates as a leading specialist consultant on IT, having conducted many different IT reviews and assessments for leading financial sector organisations.  Ian is a Chartered Company Secretary, Chartered Member of the British Computer Society as well as being a Member of the Chartered Management Institute and the Institute for the Management of Information Systems.  Formerly a senior management consultant with KPMG, Ian has a proven track record in implementing best practice management and achieving return on investment in corporate IT.  Also director of Greig Ross Associates.

Richard Deighton has many years' experience as a consultant and senior manager in the financial services sector.  He was formerly Strategic Planning Manager and Commercial Director for product development with Prudential in the UK.  His expertise lies in insightful strategic financial analysis and modeling, in evaluating product and distribution channel profitability, and in helping businesses to formulate and implement value-based strategies.

Alan Dring has 36 years’ experience in retail and intermediary financial services in a variety of senior sales and business development roles, and is now an industry commentator on issues connected to intermediary markets and distribution strategy.  Formally regional manager at Nationwide BS, National Intermediary manager at Britannia BS, and for six years Head of Sales at Standard Life Bank.  In the last three years Alan has specialised in the sales advantages of integrating IT solutions involving intermediary core business products, and often ignored peripheral opportunities designed to complement the bottom line in challenging markets.  He also specialises in the management and logistics of both retail and intermediary forces.

Dr Guy Fielding, Cpsychol, AFBPS is a Chartered Social Psychologist who, as an academic and practitioner, has shaped UK thinking in the fields of interpersonal and organisational communication over the past twenty five years with specific focus on contact centres and customer management.  Previously Head of R&D for CM Insight, a market leading customer management consultancy, his expert understanding of how humans interact brings firmly grounded theory and robust research to the practical issues involved in communicating with customers, serving their needs and motivating them to buy.  He has undertaken significant projects with a number of leading players in the financial services sectors, including  MBNA, Capital One, First Direct, Abbey, Barclaycard, Lloyds TSB and Virgin Money, as well as numerous other contact centre operators.  Guy is also a Director of horizon2 Ltd.

Alistair Hannan is a highly experienced insurance industry executive.  Formerly Business Director, Development and Strategy for Royal Sun Alliance’s personal insurance services; held strategic planning responsibility for the MORE THAN direct channel, and for all direct and 3^rd party business.  Expertise in corporate and broker business, panel management, product development across the GI range, pricing and strategic planning.  Was also Managing Director of The Mortgage Agency, with extensive knowledge of the third party mortgage administration market.

Justin Harrington is a Chartered Accountant with over 20 years’ experience in a range of senior financial and operational management roles and as a consultant in financial services (principally insurance, pensions and investments).  He has extensive experience of outsourcing, including offshoring, from both the service provider and customer perspectives, with particular focus on supplier evaluation and selection, due diligence and governance requirements.

Penny Harris is a strategic database marketing expert.  Formerly Head of Direct Marketing at HSBC, and Head of Database Marketing and Head of Marketing Communications at TSB Bank.  Expertise in development of multi-channel acquisition strategies, strategic database marketing particularly in Credit Cards marketing, and driving data orientated marketing by linking Marketing, Credit and IT.  Has in recent years delivered card activation and usage programmes for a number of card companies, and project managed the Nectar loyalty scheme for Sainsbury’s Bank Visa card.

Robert Johnson has extensive senior executive experience in financial services across the Middle East and North Africa.  With expertise in delivering integrated and effective marketing, brand development and communication expertise for Mass Retail and High Net Worth markets.  Expertise in branch design – from strategy, concept to implementation, product/service formulation, branding, deliver channels, sales culture and customer segmentation marketing.  He links together the disciplines of building profitability by acquiring, retaining and developing customers through strategy, brand development and customer experience.  He headed two corporate communications companies in New York, creating brand value through multiple media for Fortune 50 companies.  In Kuwait he was Head of Marketing for Gulf Bank and Akari Bank.  Most recent projects include United Gulf Bank Bahrain, Algeria Gulf Bank, Syrai Gulf Bank and Bank of Baghdad.

John King is a highly experienced professional marketer with detailed knowledge of Life/Protection, General Insurance and Retail Financial Services.  Formerly Director of Marketing and Partnerships at Wesleyan Assurance Society and Head of Marketing & E-Commerce at Coventry Building Society.  Experienced in developing marketing propositions, brand and communications strategies, and in developing new marketing channels including e-commerce, call centres and outsourced operations.  In depth understanding of new product development and product management.  Recently undertook business review of new Life venture for UK bank.

Hugh Kingdon has been Director of Strategic Marketing and Investments at GMAC-RFC and an Assistant Director at Barclaycard.  He has a wide range of consumer lending experience including credit cards, personal loans, mortgages and second charge loans. Specialises in Strategic Business Development - helping companies develop their growth strategies and deliver their major initiatives, across new products, acquisitions and alliances or new geographies.  Extensive experience in building board level strategy presentations and business cases.  Recent strategy assignments have included work on bridging lending and second charge lending, and exploring opportunities for organic growth and Mergers and Acquisitions arising from the liquidity crisis.  

Paul Lindsell has been a consultant and provider of PR and Marketing Communications services to blue-chip companies for over fifteen years.  Whether the challenge is brand definition or practical PR implementation, Paul's track record remains firmly focused on real business outcomes.  His two main sector specialisms are financial services and the marketing services industry itself, and his expertise lies in aligning a research-based approach to news agenda setting, plus the connection between PR strategies and hard-nosed support for sales activity.

Caroline Marchant has extensive consultancy experience in financial services, tourism, arts and charitable sectors; formerly Corporate Communications Manager, N & P Building Society. Expertise in all external and internal communications, sponsorship, project/programme planning, management and analysis.

Jennifer Mathy was formerly Vice President of Advertising and Brand Management for Morgan Stanley, New York; Brand Manager at Discover Card, Chicago. Expertise in building profitable brand strategies from consumer insight; direct/database marketing; channel optimisation.

Gordon McQueen is an exceptionally experienced project manager with particular expertise in Financial Services and H.E.  Has recently managed the mainframe migrations for a major credit card company and a Building Society.  Expertise in managing large and complex business change projects from initiation through to implementation and maintenance.  First class people management, planning, analytical and problem solving skills. 

Christopher Moore has a PhD and MBA in Marketing, and is Chair in Marketing & Retailing and Director of the George Davies Centre for Retail Excellence at the Edinburgh Business School. Author of numerous publications on retailing and marketing strategy, brand management and consumer behaviour; has undertaken consultancy and research projects for leading retailers and consumer-facing organisations in the UK and other countries. Expertise in brand management, new product development, retail marketing, consumer research, operations management.

Bob Munzberg specialises in the development and implementation of business improvement and performance management initiatives that achieve rapid and sustainable changes in operational and business performance.  Key inspirations for this work has come from Bob’s extensive manufacturing consulting background and a specific understanding of the Toyota Production system and its many western variants.  Has recently led a major operations project for a UK bank, resulting in process efficiency and a dramatic reduction of costs.  Born in Australia, Bob is extensively qualified, holds numerous research affiliations, and is also Executive Director of RCP Europe Ltd.  Ran the specialist Operations Workshop for the Council of Mortgage Lenders, November 2004.

Mark Murphy has extensive experience in financial services marketing.  He was formerly Managing Director of Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance, and General Manager, Marketing at Coventry Building Society.  He has particular experience in secured and unsecured lending, banking and card marketing and point of sale retail finance.  Mark has a track record of successful new product development, and launching products and services to generate value in uncertain and difficult markets.

Stuart Oliver was formerly an IT Manager with Commerzbank (London).  He has significant experience in the content/document management and workflow industry and previously held the role of Operations Director for a consultancy specialising in this area.  His financial services experience ranges across all aspects of retail and corporate banking.  Additionally, Stuart has worked as a technology specialist with a focus on online marketing and ecommerce, and his most recent experience is of marketing to mobile devices.

Tim Parkes has twenty years’ experience in Financial Services, encompassing offshore and international banking, wealth management, retail banking and mortgages.  Most recently he was Managing Director of the International Personal and Premier and Barclays Private Clients International Limited businesses in Barclays Wealth.  Tim has a proven track record in Wealth Management, implementing effective sales leadership culture, strategy and techniques across large relationship management businesses, maximising incentive and motivation schemes, developing and delivering online services and client pricing techniques. Tim also has particular expertise in building significant offshore subsidiary businesses and in the development and implementation of imaging and workflow systems & operations.

Christine Petyt has over twenty years experience operating in the Travel industry and Financial Services.  Formerly Retail Banking Director at Barclays Bank, with responsibility for over 500 branches; Director of Operations at Smile.co.uk, the leading Internet Bank; and Director of sales, mortgages and retention at the Co-operative Bank.  Her background is steeped in sales and customer service, and she has built her reputation on transforming under-performing businesses, dramatically improving the performance and culture of high street banking and call centre operations.  Christine’s expertise is in the design and implementation of branch network and call centre operating plans and in performance measures that facilitate and sustain growth, increase colleague satisfaction, improve customer experience and retention, and deliver outstanding sales performance.

David Pickering has wide ranging client side experience, establishing marketing operations from scratch in Green Flag and Leeds & Holbeck Building Society.  “End to end” experience from research and product development through to campaign design and marketing communications, proven track record in acquisition and retention, project management; particular expertise in Direct Marketing. Operated recently as interim Head of Communications for a UK Bank and for a major University.

Ray Porter MBA BSc is a senior strategy consultant with 15 years’ consultancy experience in delivering innovative and effective solutions to organisations facing change – focused on the energy; financial services; food; and retail sectors.  A deregulation/competition expert, Ray advises UK and international corporations/governments on a range of commercial and public policy issues – from concept to implementation.  Ray was previously Managing Director of the economics consultancy Lacuna Consulting and a Managing Consultant with both Logica Consulting and PA Consulting.

Gordon Rankin has sixteen years’ experience at senior executive level in Financial Services, encompassing retail banking, international banking and wealth management.  At LloydsTSB he was Current Accounts Director, and at Barclays Bank he was a director of the Personal Banking, Offshore Banking and Private Clients divisions.  He has also served as a director of Woolwich Guernsey Ltd and of Visa UK.  Was also a director of the European Financial Marketing and Management Association.

Ewan Robertson is a chartered accountant with 10 years experience in senior marketing and strategy roles with the Royal Bank of Scotland.  As Head of Strategy and Planning for an autonomous RBoS division managing a portfolio financial services brands, including Lombard Direct and Direct Line Financial Services, he was responsible for leading the review and development of the business’ strategy within the consumer and introducer market place, most recently building strategies for the non-standard lending market, leading organisational change and internal consulting across all functions of the business.  Ewan has been responsible for design, delivery and launch of significant change within retail financial services, designing the first current account mortgage in the UK, introducing straight through internet account opening for loans and deposits and designing the Royal Bank’s approach to Private Banking.

Karen Robertson is an experienced financial services marketing manager with a wide range of skills from strategic planning, special project activity and multi-disciplinary project management to marketing communications and leadership.  Formerly Head of Retail Marketing for Royal Bank of Scotland International, and Senior Product Manager, Mortgages for Royal Bank of Scotland.  Also has product development experience in Life Assurance.

Antony Stevenson is a computing science graduate from the University of Manchester.  A technical expert in IT solutions, Antony leads the development of IT systems for sales management and customer relationship management. With practical experience in system analysis, design, development and training, Antony has a broad knowledge base to support the entire system lifecycle, from concept to realisation and beyond.

Jeff Sutherland-Kay is a customer-centric senior manager with 30 years’ experience in consumer and intermediary financial services and an in-depth knowledge of the mortgage market.  Jeff focuses on creating customer engagement through a strategic approach to brand, marketing and sales management.  Following senior roles in marketing and sales at Alliance & Leicester, Jeff has developed and delivered strategic planning, marketing and sales projects throughout the mortgage distribution chain, covering prime and non-conforming lenders, distributor/packagers, networks and brokers.  He likes to make things happen.

Julian Wells has held a variety of senior marketing roles at Nationwide Building Society, Boston Consulting Group, and Mortgages plc.  He has worked across a number of disciplines including strategy, branding, PR, online marketing, product development, and project management. Julian is now heavily involved in digital marketing and works with a team of experts to help organisations develop their marketing strategy to incorporate online and offline activity.  He is an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, and in 2006 was the only representative from the mortgage market to be selected for Marketing Week's 'rising Stars' feature.

Gary Whyton was previously Head of Network Strategy & Development for Alliance & Leicester PLC and has recently consulted to another major UK Bank as part of their Retail Transformation Programme.  He has extensive experience across Distribution Strategy & Retail Design, Sales & Customer Service Management across various channels, Operational Performance Transformation, and Change & Project Management.  Particular specialism in the development and implementation of performance improvement programmes within the operational retail banking environment, and the development of retail design propositions for the FS industry.

Peter Williams is an expert on mortgage and housing markets and housing policy.  Dr Williams was formerly Deputy Director General of the Council of Mortgage Lenders and now has a long term assignment as Executive Director with the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association.  He is a Board member of a number of public and private organisations including the Government’s National Housing and Planning Advice Unit, and a visiting professor at the University of Bristol and the Centre for Housing Policy, University of York.

James Wood is a specialist in ICT change management.  Formerly Head of ICT Change Management & Strategy at CSOB Bank (Czech Republic), with responsibility for insourcing ICT across the European-wide KBC Group.  Expertise in managing organisation-wide operational change, and in the correct alignment of HR, ICT and operational strategies.  James is based in Prague and London.

Eve Wood is a specialist in HR.  Formerly with IBM, Compaq/HP and Dell, Eve has years of management experience in the IT sector.  Expertise in the alignment of HR and operational strategies, including structural definition and the clear positioning of roles.  Extensive research has led to Eve developing a distinctive approach extended from the 'learning organisation' concept.  Also undertakes coaching and training for middle management and functional heads.