Hosted by:

Sam Booth

Chief Executive, pro-manchester

At pro-manchester, Sam has been an integral part of its growth from a small, effective membership network to a sophisticated business development organisation. A firm part of the Manchester business community, Sam is a familiar face to most, constantly and efficiently working to bring businesses together in the city region. 

As chief executive, Sam is responsible for the organisation’s corporate engagement as well managing all existing key partnerships and member relationships. Whilst providing support to her team, Sam manages the day-to-day running and strategic direction of the business. 

Sam also sits on the board of trustees for Forever Manchester, a charity that supports community activity across Greater Manchester. As well as sitting on the City of Trees Executive Advisory Group and the Greater Manchester Organisational Representatives Group. 

Ilona Alcock

Sector Group Manager, pro-manchester

Ilona runs the sector group programme at pro-manchester to support the 12 key growth industries in the city. She is an enthusiastic networker, both online and offline, with a passion for personal development.

Having competed internationally in public speaking and debating, Ilona has hosted numerous high-profile events, including the North West Charity Awards and the Ten Outstanding Young Persons honouree ceremonies. Keen to give back to her community, she runs public speaking and networking training courses for young people across the UK and Ireland. 

Previous roles include: Employer Liaison Consultant at the University of Salford; Operations Director at Diced Limited; and Commercial Litigation Solicitor at DLA Piper. Alongside her day jobs, Ilona is a JCI senator and was 2014 President of JCI Sheffield. 

Speakers:

Garry Prior

Director of Product, The Hut Group

Garry Prior has been in and around the technology industry for more than 20 years, largely in product management and leadership roles.  Highlights include 9 years at O2, where he was product manager for a number of services during the early growth of smartphones, apps and mobile data, and also launching Rackspace’s cloud hosting products in UK and EMEA.  After a couple of years in fintech at Barclays, Garry is now Director of Product for the THG Ingenuity platform at The Hut Group.  Garry is a firm believer that great products only come about through the intersection of technology, business processes, customer support and user experience.  Or as he is frequently heard to say – “It only works if it all works”.

Caroline Canty

Communications Manager, Apadmi

Caroline is obsessed with digital communication. She joined Apadmi from the Co-op, and she’s responsible for all digital content, customer and media relations. She’s most recently led a collaboration between Apadmi & The Drum, combining Amazon Alexa with traditional print media. She’s a champion of voice technology and how this emerging platform can help brands grow.

Pat Cavanagh

Senior Software Engineer, Apadmi

Pat’s passion for mobile development has seen him craft award-winning and life-saving native apps for Argos and the NHS. He’s extended that passion to voice and now leads Apadmi’s technical voice projects, helping guide and advise customers on how best to implement this new technology throughout their business, as well as working alongside Amazon to share his knowledge with the North-West developer community.

Live Hacking Demonstration

Secarma

Secarma will be highlighting the dangers technology can have if we give too much of our information away. They will be doing this with a live hacking demonstration on stage - not to be missed.

Secarma is a first-generation penetration testing company, providing advanced threat analysis, compromise simulation and tailored red team operations.

Since starting in 2001 they have continuously invested in research, technology, training their people, and the depth of security services they offer. 

Simon Carter

IT Director, Together

Simon is currently IT Director for Together Financial Services, leading a transformation over the last five years of the IT applications and infrastructure, digitising processes, integrating partners and enabling the deployment of advanced analytics. Prior to this Simon has led IT and Business change at RAC and Lex Vehicle Leasing, and spent some years in independent CIO advisory services. 

With a passion for using innovative digital technologies to drive a transformation in business performance, Simon is proud to have played his part in enabling Together to more than double the size of its business in the five years that he has been a part of the leadership team.

Simon holds an MA in Physics from Oxford University and is an alumnus of London Business School. 

James Touzel

Head of Digital and Innovation, Partner, TLT LLP

As head of TLT's Digital sector, James leads the development of the firm's services to organisations in the technology, media and telecoms sectors. James leads the firm's transformation agenda driving change more rapidly in the way the firm delivers legal services and products to clients. This includes the Future Law initiative and TLT LegalSifter, which are new solutions to client challenges in areas across LegalTech, near-legal consulting and contracts.  He is also known for his work with digital businesses and other organisations in the creative sector, handling research and development collaborations, social media and content licensing arrangements. James is a trustee of Watershed Media Centre and a director of iShed CIC - a community interest company set up to promote collaborations across the media & technology sectors. James is independently recognised as an expert in the field of Information Technology by Chambers UK, a guide to the legal profession.

David Gardner

Fintech, Partner, TLT LLP

David is an authority on IT, outsourcing and technology-driven procurement, with a particular focus on clients in financial services and the technology sector. David regularly acts as lead advisor for customer and suppliers to deliver complex and strategic technology projects, collaborations and commercial contracts of all shapes and sizes. He is ranked as a leading individual in both Chambers & Partners and Legal 500, the independent guides to the legal profession. David is a published author and speaker who is regularly sought out for his industry insights, including recent articles and speaking slots for Lawyer Monthly, Information Age, Banking Technology and the Building Societies Association. In November 2018 David has co-authored a ground-breaking research report on Open Banking, which is shaping the future of financial services.  

Anthony Morrow

Founder/Chief Executive, Open Money

Anthony is chief executive and co-founder of OpenMoney, passionate about making financial advice accessible and affordable to everyone.

He has considerable experience of the financial services industry, most recently as founding partner of discretionary fund manager Tatton Asset Management. Previously, he was a consultant at both Arthur Anderson and KPMG, specialising in regulatory, performance and strategic issues for the life and pensions sector. 

Sam Barton

Head of Customer Experience, Open Money

Sam has worked in the digital space for over 20 years and is currently leading the customer-centric developments at fast paced, ambitious fin-tech company OpenMoney, who are using technology to change the financial advice landscape.

Prior to this he was at Shop Direct, where he was responsible for various aspects of the digital experience, playing a central role in company’s transformation from a catalogue business into a digital retailer.

Mark Robinson

Insurance Broker, Finch Insurance

Mark Robinson is an Insurance Broker specialising in the Technology, Financial Risk and Online Gambling sectors. He works closely with companies to understand their risk profile and ensure exposure to loss is mitigated via a range of specialist insurance products.
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Mark has worked with major Blue Chip organisations across Europe to design and develop specialist insurance policies tailored to their individual needs. These have included Cyber/Data Insurance programs, specialised Fraud cover for payment institutions and Cryptocurrency insurance products.

Zee Somji

People Programme Manager - Tech, The Hut Group

Zee is passionate about hiring the world's best talent & nurturing a passionate high performance culture that creates lasting competitive advantage. But most importantly, he is passionate about hunting for talent, engaging with talent, developing talent and partnering with talent.

Built on a foundation of industry-leading technology, a world-class team and a scientific approach to building global brands, The Hut Group are fast becoming the world’s most important online retail organisation.

They are in the early stages of a once in a lifetime journey that will see the Group become the biggest Internet company to ever emerge from Britain, reaching global scale.