Alison is responsible for the supervision and policy of consumer credit firms. She has worked at the FCA (and its predecessor the Financial Services Authority) for more than 25 years and contributed to strategic, policy and supervisory issues across general insurance, payments and retail and wholesale banking sectors and enforcement.

Kevin Wright is an Ombudsman Leader at the Financial Ombudsman Service, where he leads on Consumer Credit Lending. With extensive senior leadership and ombudsman decision-making experience, he leads large operational teams and helps shape how the organisation approaches some of the most challenging and high‑impact financial disputes.

Kevin has deep expertise in responsible lending, affordability, and complaint‑handling frameworks.

Matthew is the Managing Director of Technology Solutions at Square 4 Partners, where he leads the firm’s technology and innovation offering, helping clients harness emerging technologies to achieve strategic, operational, and regulatory objectives. Matthew specialises in regulatory risk, conduct regulation and the intersection of financial services and emerging technology.

He works with firms to navigate the rapidly evolving technology landscape by identifying, designing, and implementing innovative AI and digital solutions that enhance efficiency, strengthen governance, and deliver sustainable competitive advantage. Matthew collaborates closely with clients to develop tailored strategies that embed advanced technologies into their operating models, risk frameworks, and customer propositions in a practical, commercially effective, and compliant way.

As Co-Founder of Square 4, he has played a pivotal role in shaping the firm’s technology strategy and driving its innovation agenda. His expertise enables clients to embrace digital transformation with confidence while meeting regulatory expectations and delivering measurable business value.

Jono is a member of the CCTA council. He has worked in sub-prime financial services for almost 30 years. A Chartered Accountant, he held numerous roles at Provident Financial including Finance Director and CIO, before moving to NSF plc as CFO then Group CEO. He is currently CEO at Evlo. Jono is passionate about the sector and the people within it and is an advocate for financial inclusion.

Outside of work, Jono coaches junior football and cricket in the region he grew up in. He’s the club safeguarding officer for the local cricket and football clubs as well as the league safeguarding officer for the junior cricket league. Whilst he enjoys this immensely, it also means he gets to see first-hand the negative impacts of financial exclusion which helps inform decisions around the board table.

Russell is a Partner and Head of Consumer & Motor Finance at Walker Morris. With over two decades of experience in retail finance, he is a recognised expert in contentious and non-contentious financial services matters, with particular expertise in consumer credit, motor finance, mortgage lending and asset finance.

Russell advises a broad range of clients, including banks, building societies, motor and consumer finance providers, credit card companies, payment services providers, point-of-sale lenders, debt purchasers and fintechs. Known for simplifying complex legal issues, he is a trusted adviser to boards and senior management teams navigating regulatory and commercial challenges.

Russell has longstanding relationships with the Finance and Leasing Association and the Consumer Credit Trade Association, delivering training and presenting at seminars and conferences for both. He also plays an active role in industry lobbying and recently served on HM Treasury’s expert working group on consumer credit reform. He is the author of numerous industry-standard textbooks and looseleaf publications.

Paula is a legal industry expert specialising in contentious and non-contentious consumer financial services, with particular expertise in managing high-volume litigation claims. She develops effective strategies and procedures to handle complex cases efficiently and cost-effectively.

Paula also advises lenders on disputes relating to the sale and supply of goods and services, as well as asset recovery. Her deep understanding of consumer protection law enables her to guide clients through disputes while ensuring regulatory compliance.

Her clients include high street banks, building societies, asset finance providers, high-cost short-term lenders and subprime lenders, who value her industry knowledge, experience and commercially focused advice.

A skilled problem solver, Paula focuses on understanding her clients’ objectives and finding practical solutions that minimise cost and risk. She thrives under pressure, values collaboration and teamwork, and continually seeks to improve efficiency and share knowledge to strengthen the team.

Cath Wohlers has been Operations Manager at the England Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT) since 2008. She oversees the section of the team that work with people who have borrowed from Loan Sharks, works on prevention and reporting projects and researches why people borrow from Loan Sharks. The IMLT have a 98% success rate in prosecuting Loan Sharks and have supported over 32,000 people who were victims of this crime.

Andrea Cox is an industry expert specialising in affordability and financial vulnerability, with over 20 years of experience crafting data-driven solutions across diverse sectors. Her expertise includes conducting detailed income and expenditure assessments and identifying financial vulnerabilities early on.

Throughout her career, Andrea has made a significant impact in various industries including banking, finance, retail, telecom, utilities and debt management. Her comprehensive understanding of the affordability challenges in these sectors allows her to develop tailored strategies that effectively address financial distress.

As a thought leader, Andrea frequently shares her insights on affordability at industry conferences and workshops, where she is known for her forward-thinking approach and practical solutions. Her dedication to addressing financial vulnerability has not only influenced policy and practice but also helped organisations navigate their affordability challenges successfully.

As Chief Executive, Jason is responsible for shaping the Association’s strategic direction and representing members at the highest levels of government, regulatory bodies, and industry forums. Jason also works closely with his team to provide advice and guidance, ensuring the Association remains responsive to lenders’ needs.

Jason has over twenty years of experience in risk, comms and public policy. He began his career as an assistant in the European Parliament and has held senior roles in in-house and consultancy organisations. His background spans the public sector, housing, infrastructure planning, and financial services. Some of this time was focused on working with the government on national risk and crisis management, including planning work on utility failure, pandemics and terrorism.

Apart from day-to-day leadership, Jason mentors professionals in PR and public affairs. He is an enthusiast for technology.

Mark is Chief Executive of Gain Credit, a consumer lending business focused on the UK and Chair of the Consumer Credit Trade Association. In 2024 Mark also joined the FCA’s Smaller Business Practitioner panel, which represents smaller regulated firms.

Having spent over a decade at Unilever, Mark held senior leadership roles with both RBS / NatWest and Bupa. He also served as Executive Director of the Money Advice Service, now the Money and Pension Service, driving strategy, policy and proposition development.

Mark has a passion for behaviour change. He has spoken at the United Nations, G20 and European Central Bank on building the financial resilience of consumers and co-founded a not-for-profit, focused on helping long-term unemployed people remain positive and reskill.

He has a degree in Mathematics, Statistics and Management Science and a Post Grad Dip in Business Management.

Shiona joined Moneyline, a not for profit lender, in 2013 becoming CEO in May 2022. She has over 20 years’ experience in accounting roles in Financial Services, including 10 years at RBS in roles across mortgages, invoice finance and projects. Before joining Moneyline, Shiona spent a year in Cambodia as a volunteer consultant, supporting local NGOs and international organisations.

Mike has over 27 years of motor finance industry experience from account management through to operations and now in senior leadership having held the role of Managing Director since 2016.

With a passion for delivering exceptional customer service and driving improvement across the sector Mike leverages his strong leadership and coaching skills on developing colleagues in delivering against a strong set of values and embedding a culture that puts the customer at the centre of the decision-making process.

Borderway Finance has been a CCTA member since 2018 and Mike is now a CCTA Council Member representing motor finance lenders in shaping and delivering the association’s strategy and championing the voice of smaller lenders.

Fireside chat guest bio pending.

Rowan Millett-Ling specialises in card payment performance for recurring and subscription businesses. Rowan leads the company’s authorisation optimisation work across Retry Advice, Account Updater and Network Tokens, with a current focus on turning decline data and scheme mandates into measurable uplift for merchants.

Rowan comes to Acquired from the merchant side, having been CPO at B2C gifting platform Collection Pot, with earlier experience across the gift card and card issuing sectors. With over eight years in fintech spanning issuing, merchant and acquiring, Rowan is passionate about the mechanics behind a failed payment: how smarter retry logic, richer decline messaging and up-to-date credentials can recover revenue merchants had written off, reduce involuntary churn, and give businesses and consumers a clearer view of why their money moves the way it does.

Dr Alan Cathcart is Chief Compliance Officer and MLRO at Abound, the credit technology company that uses Open Banking data and AI to look beyond credit scores to understand each applicant’s full financial picture. Abound was recognised as the UK’s fastest-growing technology company in this year’s Sunday Times 100 Tech.

Alan brings nearly four decades of experience in credit risk, prudential regulation and quantitative analysis, having held senior roles at HSBC, the Financial Services Authority and the Bank of England. This included leading work on economic risk management and enterprise-wide stress testing and shaping regulatory approaches to credit risk and capital.

Alan holds a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. He grew up near Leeds and is a keen Leeds United supporter, so is delighted to be returning to his roots for this conference.

Paul Godsmark is a Partner at Brabners specialising in financial services regulation, with a particular focus on the FCA regulatory regime. He advises clients across the regulated financial services sector, including consumer credit lenders and brokers, mortgage firms, retailers, fintechs and other consumer finance businesses.

Drawing on experience gained both in private practice and in-house within large financial services organisations, Paul provides pragmatic advice on regulatory strategy, governance, compliance and risk management. His work spans board-level and senior management advisory matters, product and customer journey design, operational processes, regulatory change projects and FCA engagement.

Paul works with businesses ranging from start-ups seeking authorisation through to established firms navigating supervision, as well as advising on transformational change and enforcement issues. As a qualified risk management professional and Innovation Leader in Financial Services, he combines legal, risk and compliance expertise to help firms comply with regulation while achieving their commercial objectives.

Based primarily in Brabners’ Leeds office, Paul joined the firm in 2026.

Panellist bio pending.

Lindsay is Head of Risk at Novuna Consumer Finance, part of Mitsubishi HC Capital UK plc. She has extensive risk experience in both consumer credit and retail banking, working for a wide range of organisations including HSBC, National Australia Group and Non-Standard Finance.

In her current role with Novuna, Lindsay leads a team of circa. 100 risk professionals responsible for Risk Analytics, Financial Modelling, Collections, Financial Crime, Risk Operations, Corporate Risk and Enterprise Risk. Outside of work Lindsay is a member of Credit Strategy’s Credit500 club, Special Advisor for The National Emergencies Trust and Non-Exec Director of Leeds Credit Union.