Commercial Finance Conference 2026

David has worked in financial services for over 40 years. At Barclays he worked for three Group chairmen, helped set up Large Corporate Banking, had wide experience in SME and consumer banking and ran the Group’s IT and operations function. David subsequently led Commercial Banking for Lloyds Bank, then was chief executive of Cattles PLC (a consumer finance and invoice finance business) before joining Moneycorp (an independent FX provider) as CEO. Before joining UK Finance David spent eight years at Bibby Financial Services as the chief executive.

David is the Managing Director for Resilience and Cyber, Commercial Finance, and Data and Research. David leads on policy and other activities relating to commercial banking, invoice finance and asset-based lending, as well as operational resilience. 

David also leads on ensuring our data and research function is providing our members will valuable insights and strengthening our advocacy activities. David was previously a Policy Director in the FCA and before that spent nearly 2 decades as a civil servant, mostly in the Treasury. During that time David played a leading role in the design and delivery of many financial service polices, including leading on Covid loans policy throughout the pandemic, as well as leading on government policy around access to finance for SMEs”.  

Gareth has over 20 years of extensive experience in senior roles across product management and strategy predominately the financial services industry. For the last 7 years, Gareth has been operating as part of the senior leadership team at Experian Business Information Services, driving the Product Management function to strategically enable commercial lenders and alternative finance platforms to better support UK Small Business. Gareth is known for his excellent knowledge of the commercial lending market landscape, and passion for delivering product innovation and new-to-market digital capabilities. Gareth has also held senior product management positions at both Reuters and Thomson Reuters.

Aysha leads the team’s work on government loan schemes, economic crime, restructuring and insolvency, and innovation. Her work spans Commercial and Invoice Finance/Asset Based Lending and she also works closely with other policy areas across UK Finance. A lawyer by background, Aysha has particular expertise and focus on all legal issues impacting business banking and finance.  

Prior to joining the Commercial Finance team, Aysha was interim General Counsel at UK Finance, where she was heavily involved in the set-up of the Covid-19 emergency loan schemes as well as advising on UK Finance’s response to the pandemic, several major industry-wide and internal projects, and key policy and operational matters.  Before joining UK Finance, Aysha spent over 15 years in private practice and in-house as a competition/commercial lawyer.

Lee heads up the Data and Research team, which is responsible for gathering, analysing and producing commentary on a range of data series covering payments, business and personal finance. Her focus is on ensuring the information requirements of members are met, supporting advocacy priorities and monitoring developments in the UK economy. The team also supports the broader research activities across UK finance. 

Prior to joining UK Finance, Lee was Deputy Director at the Enterprise Research Centre and previously Chief Economist at Make UK.

Within UK Finance, Laura leads the specialist policy team focused on operational resilience and cybersecurity, working closely with industry leaders, senior government officials, and regulatory bodies to shape policy that is both effective and proportionate. Through committee engagement, regulatory consultations, and bilateral dialogue, Laura plays a central role in ensuring that the interests UK Finance's members are reflected in policy. 

In addition to her policy leadership within UK Finance, Laura leads the CMORG (Cross Market Operational Resilience Group) PMO, supporting the industry’s collective efforts to strengthen systemic resilience. Working with the Bank of England and senior industry representatives, she coordinates cross market initiatives, facilitates collaborative working groups, and oversees programmes addressing sector wide operational risks. Through this role, she ensures consistent alignment and meaningful industry input across CMORG’s resilience priorities.

Laura is a Chartered Professional Accountant from Canada with extensive experience in risk, regulatory compliance, cyber security, operational resilience, and large scale transformation, and her national level risk expertise includes providing evidence in Parliament on the resilience of the financial services sector’s use of the UK’s undersea cable infrastructure. She has held senior executive roles within highly regulated sectors, including roles across all three lines of defence within Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Lloyds Banking Group, and Mastercard.

Teresa Graham qualified as a Chartered Accountant and, from December 1986 to August 1987,  was seconded to the UK Government’s Enterprise and Deregulation Unit. In March 1988 she was appointed to the Government’s Deregulation Advisory Panel for a two-year term and served through two decades of administrations.

She is currently Chair of the SME Advisory Group at UK Finance and Chair of the Administrative Burdens Advisory Board of HMRC. She was the senior independent Director of the Treasury’s Office of Tax Simplification until it closed down in 2023.

In terms of major pieces of work for Government, she completed a high-profile review on pre-packaged administrations for SoS Cable, an independent review for the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the Small Firm’s Loan Guarantee Scheme and a ground-breaking study for the Prime Minister Brown, “Less is More”.  

During her time as NED of the British Business Bank she chaired both their risk and Remco committees, was a member of the audit committee and led a review of two of the Bank’s products to ensure they remained fit for purpose.

She holds a number of appointments, including non-executive, mentoring and advisory roles in growth businesses. She started up and ran the award-winning company Salix Finance Limited holding funds of approximately £1bn on behalf of DESNZ for allocation to the public sector to invest in energy saving schemes on their estates.

Teresa received the honour of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2020 honours list for services to small businesses. She was awarded a CBE in the 2007 honours list for public service and an OBE in the 1997 honours list for services to better regulation and the small firm’s sector.

She is also Head of Parties and Fun at the Lexi Cinema in London which she co-owns!

Richard is CEO of Allica, a digital bank focused on established SMEs that has lent over £4bn since launching in 2020, and named by Deloitte in 2023 and 2024 as the fastest growing technology company in the UK, and by the Financial Times in 2025 as the second fastest growing company in Europe. He is also on the board of Bumper, a leading automotive fintech. 

Previously, he was Chief Operating Officer at Revolut, as it scaled from 5 million to 15 million customers and launched in various new geos, and he was the inaugural CEO at OakNorth. 

Matt Adey is Chief Economist at the British Business Bank and a graduate of Cambridge University and Australia National University. His responsibilities include leading a team of economists producing publication quality research on small business finance markets, delivering economic support for Business Bank product development and evaluation of British Business Bank activities. His previous experience includes roles at the Bank of England, the UK Financial Services Authority, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the UK government Department of Business, Innovation and Skills.

Louise is the Chief Economist at the CBI and a member of its Executive Committee. She and her team provide business leaders with advice on the UK economic outlook and global risks. Building on the insights from members, she shapes the CBI’s overall view on economic and fiscal policy and leads the CBI’s discussions with senior politicians and policymakers in these areas.

Louise also oversees the CBI’s economic consultancy business CBI Economics. Before moving into the role Louise was the Director of Economic Policy at the CBI. She led the CBI's policy work on tax and regulation, as well as developing the CBI’s strategy and evidence base for enhancing the competitiveness of the UK’s business environment. Prior to joining the CBI, Louise spent 13 years at HM Treasury as a member of the Government Economic Service, where she led on a number of different analytical and policy issues, including National Living Wage policy and assessing the economic and distributional impacts of policy measures at fiscal events.

Louise holds an MSc in Economics from the University of Bristol and studied Economics and International Development at Bath University. 

Danielle is a seasoned financial services leader with over two decades of experience driving growth, transformation and exceptional customer outcomes. She joined Aldermore in 2022 and heads up the Savings and Business Finance team, setting strategic direction and delivering innovative solutions that support both business objectives and customer needs.

Prior to Aldermore, Danielle enjoyed a 20-year tenure at Barclays Bank and in her last role as Managing Director for Mortgage and Premier Distribution she orchestrated a major integration and transformation programme, streamlining processes, elevating the customer and colleague experience, and achieving measurable improvements in efficiency and satisfaction.

Throughout her career, Danielle has held a broad range of leadership roles spanning commercial delivery, strategic change and operational excellence. She is also a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, with a particular focus on developing female talent.