By Invitation Only
FINTECH Circle
Board & CEO Summit
London's boardroom meets its unicorns.
A half-day summit convening the Founders, Chairs and Board Members shaping the UK's fastest-growing fintechs, alongside the scaleup leaders and executive search firms who build the boards behind them. One afternoon, one room, the people setting the agenda for UK fintech leadership & governance.
16 November 2026 | 1:30pm – 6:30pm | Deloitte LLP, 1 New St Square, London EC4A 3HQ
The Attendees
Who's in the Room
Unicorn founders and CEOs building the next generation of UK fintech
Chairs and Board Members governing fintech's fastest-growing companies
Fintech scaleup leadership teams preparing for their next stage of growth
The top headhunters shaping board composition across financial services and technology
Confirmed Speakers
Speaker Profiles
Ann Cairns
Chair, CAB Payments PLC
Chair of CAB Payments Holdings plc. Chair of TMF Group. Chair of Moving Ahead. Board member of Lightrock and London Business School. Former Executive Vice Chair of Mastercard and former CEO of Transaction Banking at ABN AMRO. Ann has spent time in corporate, government and not for profit roles.She is a great advocate of inclusion in the business world and was global chair of the 30% Club.
Charles McManus
Co-Founder & Board Director, ClearBank; Founder & Chair, Freedom; Chair & Adviser to several Fintechs; Co-Chair, Innovate Finance's Unicorn Council
Co-founder of ClearBank and its CEO from 2015 until stepping back in March 2025, growing the business to 250+ customers across the UK and Europe and leading it to profitability; now a Non-Executive Director on the ClearBank board. Founder & Chair of Freedom, and Chair and Adviser to several fintechs. Over 30 years in global investment banking, wealth management and retail banking, including as Group CFO of RBS Ulster Bank. Co-Chair of Innovate Finance's Unicorn Council for UK Fintech.
Clare Francis
Non-Executive Director, Bank of America (MLI), Baillie Gifford and Gallagher; Former CEO, Standard Chartered UK
Clare brings extensive financial sector experience and her most recent executive role was as CEO of Standard Chartered in the UK, Regional Head of Europe and Global Head of Investors/Insurance. Prior to this she worked at Lloyds Bank for over 10 years including as Head of Corporate and Institutional Banking, Global Head of International and Global Head for Corporates. She also spent 17 years at HSBC where she held senior roles in IT transformation, markets and risk. Clare currently has a number of non-executive roles including Bank of America (MLI), Baille Gifford and Gallagher, where Clare is the Chair of the Remuneration Committee and a member of the Nominations, Audit and Risk Committees.
Deborah Cooper
Partner, Head of Board Practice, Miles Advisory
Partner and Head of the Board Services and Financial Services practices at Miles Advisory since 2019, advising boards on Non-Executive, Chair and Chair of Risk/Audit appointments. Previously with Heidrick & Struggles, Norman Broadbent, The Miles Partnership and Warren Partners. Ambassador for Women on Boards.
Graham Durgan
Chair, NED Association and Audeliss
Chair Audeliss, the Non-Executive Directors’ Association, Emile Woolf International and International Financial Publishing. Previously Chair at Thomas Murray, Durgan Monstein plc and senior adviser to Mazars, ICAEW Council Member. More importantly; ski tourer, fly fisher and sailor; drove around the world in 2013 and hopes to sail around in 27/28.
Hayley Thompson
Financial Services M&A & UK Head of Fintech, Deloitte
Partner in Deloitte's Financial Services M&A Transaction Services team, with over 16 years' experience across buy-side and sell-side diligence and IPO reporting-accountant roles, with a particular focus on payments. Lead author of Deloitte's Future of Money research.
Husayn Kassai
Founder & CEO, ollo
Husayn is the Founder/ex-CEO at Onfido ($0-100m ARR in 7 years; sold in 2024 as the largest UK AI exit). Now Founder/CEO at ollo - building internal AI capability for mid-market companies, combining tech and training. Based at London AI Hub. Ex-President of Oxford Entrepreneurs; BA in Economics and Management from Keble College, Oxford.
Jenny Knott
NED & Chair of Audit Committee, British Business Bank; Non-Executive Director, Simply Health and Gresham Technology plc
Jenny Knott is a former CEO of an Investment Bank and has over 35 years’ experience in banking and financial services, as well as a being a leading innovator in financial technologies. Jenny holds several Non-Executive Board roles as well as being a Trustee for various charities. Jenny is a mentor and confidential commercial advisor to several CEOs and Chairs. As co-founder of FinTech Strategic Advisors, Jenny assists Clients to achieve scale and commercial success. Jenny believes in stake-holder capitalism and supports the World Economic Forum’s Sustainable Capitalism and ESG Outcomes as being a ‘must’ for a successful business to thrive and survive. Jenny is an author and frequent public speaker on emerging FinTech and Digital (Crypto) Assets as well as the commercial benefits of truly innovative and inclusive Board and Corporate cultures.
Julia Fearn
Senior Partner, Warren Partners
Managing Partner and Board Director at Warren Partners, an employee-owned and certified BCorp search firm where she advises boards and leadership teams across financial services on Board, NED and C-suite appointments, succession planning, leadership assessment, development, and team effectiveness.
Kate Grussing CBE
Managing Director, Sapphire Partners
Founder and Managing Director of Sapphire Partners, a research and relationship driven board and executive search firm focused on financial services which she launched in 2005 after a blue chip career at McKinsey & JPMorgan. A leading advocate for board diversity in UK executive search; awarded a CBE in 2022 for services to business.
Khurram Hussain
Partner, Warren Partners
Specialises in Chair, NED, CEO and ExCo appointments including CIO, CTO and CDO roles across large-scale international organisations, FinTechs, private equity-backed and privately owned businesses. Closely involved in the Warren Partners Board Fellowship Programme. Deputy Chair of the NWBLT Diversity Drivers group.
Lisa Mazza
Senior Managing Director, Financial Services | Board Practice, Teneo
Senior Managing Director in Teneo's People Advisory practice, leading chief executive, Chair and Non-Executive Director appointments across banking, market infrastructure and asset management since joining the firm in 2018.
Mike Walters
Co-Founder & CEO, Form3
Mike was appointed CEO in October 2023, having joined Form3 as CPO and co-founder in 2016. During his roles as CPO he was responsible for strategy, product development, product management as well as strategic initiatives, playing a key role in the business' funding activities and key client relationships. Prior to Form3, Mike held senior Product roles within Barclays: as Product Director for Barclaycard Payment Acceptance (card acquiring) he was a member of the Executive Committee and responsible for P&L, product management, strategy development, vendor selection and management, digital transformation and M&A. As Head of UK Corporate Payments for Barclays Corporate Bank, Mike held product management responsibility for all payment, receipting and reporting products delivered to Barclays corporate clients – this included defining the Barclays Corporate Bank mobile payments strategy and initiating, building and scaling multi-award winning mobile payment solutions. Earlier in his career he managed client relationship teams responsible globally for the North American Financial Institutions and FTSE 250 sectors providing him with significant product and enterprise client experience domestically and internationally.
Patrick Dunne OBE
Founder and Author of "Boards," BoardDelta
Author of the award-winning book Boards, now in its third edition. Experienced Chair and board adviser; former member of the Higgs Review; Visiting Professor at Cranfield School of Management and Associate Fellow at Warwick Business School.
Richard Davies
CEO, Allica Bank
CEO of Allica Bank. Before joining Allica, Richard was Group COO at digital bank Revolut. Prior to that he was CEO of OakNorth and held leadership roles at TSB and HSBC.
Simon Olsen
Equity Capital Markets Partner at Deloitte
Simon is a partner in Deloitte’s Equity Capital Markets Group and has been with the firm since 1999. He has been working in ECM for over 20 years, with his first IPO being in 2002. Simon has strong public company and equity capital markets transaction experience, including Main Market IPO (Premium, Standard and HGS), AIM IPO, Main Market transitions, equity rights issues, Class 1 acquisitions and disposals, and demergers. Simon’s experience includes both acting as reporting accountant, and also working alongside a company’s management to support them through all aspects of a transaction.
Simon Rabin
Founder & CEO, Chip
Chip is your wealth app - providing market leading cash savings, an Investment Fund ISA offering Blackrock, Vanguard & Invesco funds and a bunch of great tools that make it easier to save, invest and build long-term wealth.
Susanne Chishti
Chair, FINTECH Circle
Founder and Chair of FINTECH Circle, the UK's leading global fintech network. Investor, FTSE board member, Non-Executive Director, and bestselling editor of The FINTECH Book Series (Wiley), translated into 10 languages and sold in 107 countries. 15+ years' senior experience at Deutsche Bank, Lloyds Banking Group, Morgan Stanley and Accenture in London and Hong Kong. Leads a global fintech community of 260,000+ professionals.
Tanya Gass
Partner, Board & Legal Practices, Norman Broadbent Plc
Partner in Norman Broadbent's Board and Legal Practices. From a legal background: after gaining a First in Law at a Russell Group University, she qualified as a corporate solicitor at international magic circle law firm Clifford Chance, then moving to Jones Day to continue with general corporate legal work, as well as equity markets and M&A. During her time at Jones Day, she was seconded as Deputy General Counsel to FTSE 100 Hanson plc to assist with the sale of their European Brick business. Tanya left practice in 2003, spending the next two decades delivering technical corporate law and corporate governance training to universities, law firms, accountancy practices and corporate boards, as well as being regularly asked to speak at and chair conferences relating to her areas of expertise. In addition to her legal search work, Tanya assists NB clients with their chair and non-executive director recruitment needs and undertakes Board Effectiveness Reviews. Prior to joining Norman Broadbent, Tanya was the NED Recruitment Lead at Women on Boards UK where she worked with SMEs, large privates, AIM and FTSE 350 companies to source diverse NED candidates from the network's membership.
Tory Hyndman
Partner, Sainty Hird & Partners
Tory is a Partner at Sainty Hird and a member of the Asset Management and Board Practices, with over 20 years’ experience in executive search and leadership advisory. She was previously a Partner at David Barrett Partners and at Heidrick & Struggles, in the Global Asset & Wealth Management Practice. Tory volunteers with GAIN (Girls Are INvestors) and is a Governor of James Allen’s Girls’ School. Born and raised in Canada, she completed her undergraduate degree at Queen’s University (Ontario) and her MBA at London Business School.
The Rationale
Why Attend
01
Hear directly from sitting Chairs, NEDs and unicorn founders on what world-class fintech governance looks like in 2026 and beyond.
02
Get ahead of the board-level AI literacy, IPO-readiness and cross-border scaling questions investors and regulators are now asking.
03
Meet the Top Headhunters shaping who sits in the boardroom next, and what they're now screening for.
Partner Executive Search Firms
The Headhunters Behind the Board Programme
The FINTECH Circle Board Programme is backed by the leading executive search firms shaping fintech boards. Their partners will be in the room and speaking at the Summit.
Your Summit Host
Susanne Chishti
Founder & Chair FINTECH Circle
Susanne Chishti is the award-winning Founder & Chair of FINTECH Circle and an experienced FTSE board member with almost 30 years of financial services experience. She is a Non-Executive Director of Crown Agents Bank (CAB Payments PLC) and an Advisory Board Member of Elevator Ventures, the venture capital fund of Raiffeisen Bank International, a leading European banking group with 45,000 employees, 19 million customers and €200 billion in total assets.
As Co-Editor of the bestselling FINTECH Book, translated into 10 languages and sold across 100+ countries and its five companion titles (The WEALTHTECH Book, The INSURTECH Book, The PAYTECH Book, The AI Book and The LEGALTECH Book), Susanne has shaped how the industry talks about its own transformation.
Her career started with more than 15 years across Deutsche Bank, Lloyds Banking Group, Morgan Stanley and Accenture in London and Hong Kong, following an MBA from WU Wien in Vienna and an early career start at a fintech company in Silicon Valley, before the term ‘fintech’ existed.