Annual Mortgage Conference 2025

Paul is a forward thinking and innovative Technology Leader and Non-Executive Director  with extensive experience in the property services and technology sectors. Holding a range of board positions as a Non-Exec Director in multiple trade organisations he has chaired the development of data standards through the PISCES (OSCRE)  and the Open Property Data Association (OPDAS) organisations as well as the Legal Software Suppliers Association. In his career he has built and led IT service businesses in the Telecoms and Property sectors and has functional expertise in Technology, Development, Operations, and wider Exec management roles.

Harry leads Monzo's Homeownership team, where he pioneered the unique in-app feature allowing UK homeowners to view their mortgage and equity, regardless of their lender. This innovative tool, powered by credit reference agency, open source, and Monzo data, helps over 350,000 customers manage their largest financial commitment. Prior to Monzo, at Habito (one of the leading UK mortgage brokerages), he built propositions that met big gaps in the market: the home-buying service Habito Plus and launched long-term fixed mortgages. He has also held diverse roles across Corporate & Business Banking and Mortgages at Barclays.

Christie Cook has been Retail Managing Director at Hodge since 2023, leading the team responsible for the bank’s Savings and Mortgages business. She brings together expertise across Strategy, Product, Marketing, and Underwriting to deliver great customer outcomes, particularly for the underserved. Christie has extensive industry experience, having held the role of Head of Mortgages at Nottingham Building Society, senior product roles at Glenhawk Financial Services and the Bank of Ireland, along with earlier operational leadership positions at Kensington Mortgages and Lehman Brothers. Christie is a passionate advocate for social mobility and workplace equality. She believes in the importance of listening, offering support, and building inclusive teams, and is committed to creating space for others to thrive and progress their careers.

John Cronin is Founder and Financials Industry Analyst at SeaPoint Insights, an independent Research & Insights firm. He is the author of the widely read Financials Unshackled newsletter on Substack, which offers independent perspectives on critical developments and themes in the Financials domain. John was, most recently, an institutional equity & fixed income research analyst at Goodbody covering Banks and Real Estate, having previously worked at Investec. He was regularly invited to present to UK bank & building society Boards and Executive Committees as well as at conferences and All-Parliamentary Party Groups. He is a Qualified Chartered Accountant and has degrees from University College Cork and the London School of Economics.

Richard is a leading property industry figure best known for delivering insight and strategic advice on the residential and mortgage markets.  He delivers advice and insight for industry and policy makers across emerging housing trends, housing development, mortgage lending and investment. He appears regularly in the media on the key aspects of housing that matter to Government, business and consumers. Richard started his career at Savills, then joined analytics business Hometrack which was acquired by ZPG Plc in 2017.

Harbinder has been a Lawyer at HMLR for 25 years and is now the Transformation Legal Lead since March 2024. She qualified as a solicitor in 1997 having worked in the private sector in family Law and conveyancing. Harbinder is a graduate of Law from Sheffield University.

Expertise:

• 25 years of land registration practice & policy
• Leading and managing lawyer teams
• Expert for HM Land Registry product and services
• Providing legal advice on transformation within HM Land Registry

Angela is a dual-qualified conveyancer with an extensive understanding of the challenges within residential property law and practice. Transitioning to consultancy, she advised startups on reshaping the industry whilst streamlining conveyancing processes.  With a career marked by a passion for positive change Angela has been an influential force in the residential property industry.  Today Angela is the Head of UK Market Development for PEXA offering a digital proposition that combines title validation, secure financial settlement via RTGS at the Bank of England and lodgement with land registry all within a collaborative workspace. She continues to have an unrelenting dedication to transformation together with a commitment to a more efficient, transparent, and user-centric property market.  Angela sits as an Executive Member of the Open Property Data Association, Co-Chair of the Digital Identity Working Group of the Digital Property Market Steering Group,  a professional member of the CILEX Disciplinary Tribunal and is an active participant of the Home Buying and Selling Council.  Beyond the day job Angela is a mum of two, loves to travel and is a qualified executive coach and yoga teacher. 

Diane's work includes policy and legislative aspects of property law and conveyancing practice for both commercial and residential property. This involves working with government departments, particularly MHCLG, HMRC, the Department of Business and Trade and the Department for Science Innovation and Technology. Diane sits on several boards and groups including the Searches Working Group, the Land Registry Advisory Council, the Consumer Code for Homebuilders, the HMRC Stamp Duty Land Tax Working Together Steering Group and the cross-industry groups: the Home Buying and Selling Council and the Digital Property Market Steering Group. Her current focus is on working with these cross-sector groups to improve the home buying and selling process for consumers. She is also working on revisions to the Law Society’s National Conveyancing Protocol, the government’s proposals on commonhold, leasehold reform and building safety.

As Head of Product Development & Propositions for Aviva Equity Release, I lead our new and existing propositions development activity to ensure we meet customers' evolving needs and deliver good customer outcomes.   I chair our Customer Forum which drives continuous improvement of customer support and experiences, and helps shape our strategy and innovation for the future.  I joined Aviva’s Equity Release business two years ago, with over 20 years experience across Aviva including Public Policy, Strategy, Risk, and Regulatory Affairs with a particular focus on the Retirement market.  

Charles has over 25 years financial services experience and joined UK Finance in August 2020. As Director of Mortgages he has overall responsibility for delivering the mortgage policy work of UK Finance.

Prior to joining UK Finance, Charles was Executive Director and Chief Risk Officer at The Nottingham Building Society where he was accountable for designing and implementing the Society’s risk strategy and framework. Charles brings with him a wealth of experience including time as a director in the Regulatory Financial Services Practice at Grant Thornton LLP and 11 years regulation and compliance experience at the FCA. Whilst at the FCA, Charles was Head of Department for the mortgage sector, where he developed the FCA’s approach to the supervision of the UK mortgage market and oversaw the implementation of both the Mortgage Market Review and Mortgage Credit Directive.

Naomi leads our European Retail Finance Team and has spent her entire 25+ year career advising and assisting within the financial services sector, both in-house and in private practice.  She started her career, and at the time unusually qualifying In-house at Cheltenham and Gloucester Building Society, which had just become part of the Lloyds Banking Group, but joined Eversheds on Qualification.  She worked in the Cardiff office for over 10 years before moving back in-house to be responsible for all the retail products at Nationwide Building Society. After leaving Nationwide, Naomi worked as part of Konexo, Eversheds contracting division before return to Eversheds, based in London as a Partner in 2018. She has a particular focus on consumer credit as well as extensive experience in mortgage credit and financial services regulation.  In the past 12 months she has advised the majority of the clearing banks, challenger banks, building societies, on consumer credit, mortgage and other financial services regulatory issues and she also has lead on a number of transactional relationships in the sale, purchase and financing of mortgage and other loan portfolios. She has also supported clients as part of S.166 regulatory investigations, helping others prepare for an FCA site visits as well as reviewing and assessing clients Consumer Duty Board reports. Naomi is ranked in the legal directory Partners and Chambers for her expertise in the area of consumer finance, being particularly adept at providing advice on consumer credit issues and other regulatory compliance issues.   

Her clients say: "..She provides an excellent level of support and guidance on regulatory matters….She is a consumer finance expert."   "Naomi is very business-minded and very good at dealing with FCA regulation." 

James has over 25 years’ experience in housing and financial services economics and analysis. Joining the Council of Mortgage Lenders in 2003, which merged into UK Finance in 2017, he has continually developed the mortgage industry’s rich data assets, creating a world-leading knowledge base for the sector. Leveraging these assets and his two decades of industry and data knowledge, James has overall responsibility for UK Finance’s mortgage sector analysis and authors many of its publications, including our flagship Household Finance Review.

Prior to settling in financial services James held a range of academic, public and private sector roles in economics, interspersed with sabbaticals to lose himself in various interesting corners of the world. He has now mostly grown up and is married with two mostly grown children and two mostly grown dogs, all of whom believe they are superior economists to him.

Spencer has been involved in transforming mortgage lending and the property transaction for more than a decade. 

He was CTO of the business that developed the Property Risk Hub, deployed at Nationwide Building Society, Barclays and other lenders. This business was acquired by Zoopla in 2020 and integrated with Hometrack where Spencer  became VP of Product & Technology for the Hometrack AVM and PRH.

He joined CLSQ in April 2023 to lead its strategy for mortgage lenders, using the powerful combination of financial-grade property data, the ability to map that data to every property in the UK and the use of data led insurance to protect stakeholders interests.

Stuart started working with industry and Government in 2020 designing and developing a trust framework for customer digital identity. The first use case was to meet the different regulatory needs and standards across the full home buying process, from new home builders, estate agents, conveyancers, brokers and lenders. Initial experience in customer identity started under the UK Government digital identity scheme, gov.uk/verify in 2014. Stuart designed, developed and delivered an identity trust scheme for thin-file people, working with the DWP, Birmingham City Council, and the London Boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Hackney, as well as a range of housing associations. The objective was to enable vulnerable people, who lacked bank accounts and other traditional means of proving their identity, a method in which to use other data to verify their identity to access services such as Universal Credits. Whilst the work proved highly effective the Government cancelled Verify.

Spencer has been involved in transforming mortgage lending and the property transaction for more than a decade. He led the development of the Property Risk Hub, a property risk automation platform, built in collaboration with Nationwide Building Society, and adopted by Barclays and other lenders. This business was acquired by Zoopla in late 2020 and integrated with Hometrack where Spencer became VP of Product & Technology. He joined CLSQ in April 2023 as Strategic Development Director leveraging the power of CLSQ’s financial grade property data and insurance for lenders and across the entire property transaction.