The Mortgage Business Expo (MBE) has revealed its line-up of speakers and panellists for its Manchester show, along with its full seminar programme.
MBE North will take place at Manchester Central on March 19th and will once again host the Financial Intermediary & Broker Association (FIBA) Annual Conference.
The event will feature a seminar programme chaired by Rob Barnard, director of intermediary relationships at Pepper Money.
Keynote speaker Paul Broadhead, head of mortgages and housing at the Building Societies Association (BSA), will offer insights into the economic outlook for the housing and mortgage sector.
The first session of the day, ‘General Market Overview’, will feature FIBA chairman and chief executive officer of SimplyBiz Mortgages Martin Reynolds, alongside Bank of Ireland’s Dave Rogers, Hampshire Trust Bank’s Chris Daly and Mike Davies from YBS Commercial Mortgages.
This will be followed by the first of two standalone FIBA sessions, both of which will be chaired by Adam Tyler, a consultant for FIBA.
FIBA’s morning session, ‘Bridging and Development Finance’, will feature Market Financial Solutions’ Tom Gill, Blacks Solicitors’ Ian Errington, Crowd Property’s Steve Smith, and Richard Deacon from Octane Finance.
The afternoon session, ‘Expanding Your Business Through Specialist Property Finance’, will feature Lloyds Banking Group’s Carolyn Asplin, Atom Bank’s Karen McGrath, Jason Berry from Crystal Specialist Finance and Tanya Elmaz from Together.
The insurance seminar, ‘Having The Conversation About Insurance’ and ‘Why Protection and GI Discussions Shouldn’t be a Consumer Duty Obligation’, will include Lauren Bagley from Uinsure, Mike Donohoe from Caspian, Daniel Edmondson from Advise Wise, and Louise Colley from Zurich.
The technology panel will explore the topic ‘Is 2024 Finally the Tech Tipping Point for the Mortgage Market?’, and will feature Mortgage Brain’s Neil Wyatt, Mel Spencer from One Mortgage System (OMS), and Lee Flavin from Mortgage Metric.
The penultimate session of the day in the main theatre will see Martin Reynolds and Rob Barnard co-chairing a joint FIBA and MBE discussion on buy-to-let and complex buy-to-let.
They will be joined by panel members Daniel Clinton from The Mortgage Works, Mike Cook from Market Financial Solutions, Jonathon Stinton from Coventry Building Society, and David Whittaker from Keystone Property Finance.
Following this session, a discussion on later life lending will conclude the seminar programme in the main theatre.
Over in the Marketing Theatre, Google Digital Garage will host three sessions throughout the day: ‘Digital Marketing Strategy’ in the morning, followed by ‘Find Customers with Google Maps’, and ‘Get Started With Digital Advertising’ in the afternoon.
Also in the marketing theatre will be Steve Davies from Giving Mortgages, discussing ‘The Future of Lead Generation for Mortgage Brokers’.
While in The Mortgage Marketing Forum session, Jeff Knight of Grey Matter Marketing and director at The Mortgage Marketing Forum, will share his insights in the seminar; ‘Quick Marketing Wins in a Tricky Market’.
As ever, visitors will also earn CPD hours towards the CII/Personal Finance Society member CPD scheme.
Martin Reynolds, chief executive officer of SimplyBiz Mortgages and FIBA Chairman, said: “The panel session topics cover all the key aspects that advisers are feeding back to us on our travels and the speakers and panellists offer probably the widest spectrum of the market that we have seen at one event.
“I am very excited to co-host for FIBA with our friends at MBE and look forward to meeting as many advisers as possible on the day.”
Rob Barnard, director of intermediary relationships at Pepper Money, added: “Mortgage Business Expo is one of the stand-out items in the mortgage calendar and this year’s Manchester event promises a speaker programme packed full of valuable insights.
“Feedback from brokers tells us that demand for buy-to-let property in the North of England is growing significantly as investors look to regions that offer the potential of higher yields.
“So, the buy-to-let discussion will be particularly pertinent for all attendees.”
Mike Mikunda, event director for MBE, concluded: “We are excited to offer such a superb line-up of speakers and seminars for this year’s delegates in Manchester.
“The panel sessions are sure to offer engaging discussions and valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities facing brokers and lenders in today’s mortgage market.
“Delegates will also have the opportunity to meet with a diverse range of exhibitors representing all sectors of the mortgage market on the day.
“We are also delighted that Square 1 Media is once again our media partner, as we look forward to another memorable Manchester MBE.”
