Caroline Mather

🚀 The North of England FinTech Report is here! The inaugural North of England FinTech Report has been produced by Whitecap Consulting, in partnership with FinTech North and with the support of national and regional strategic partners. The new report, which launched at our event this week, maps the FinTech ecosystem across the North of England, identifying all FinTech firms active in the region and highlighting key activity, strengths and growth opportunities. Key findings include: ⭐️ The North of England's FinTech sector generates an estimated £5.1 billion in GVA annually, forecast to grow to £6 billion by 2030. 🏡 The region is home to 400 FinTech firms. 💪 Key sector strengths include Payments, Lending, WealthTech, and Banking, aligning with the financial heritage of the region. 📈 Identifies five ‘big ideas’ that could significantly accelerate the growth of the sector in the North. Read the report in full here: https://lnkd.in/eZs-C4vK This collaborative project has been conducted in partnership with regional and national organisations including Aviva, Bruntwood SciTech, FCamara Consulting & Training, FinTech North, Innovate Finance, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, MIDAS Manchester's Inward Investment Agency, Mastercard, NatWest Group, The Northern Powerhouse Partnership, The North East Combined Authority, PEXA UK, Pulsant, RSM and West Yorkshire Combined Authority. #FinTechNorth #NorthFinTech2025 #DigitalUK #RegionalGrowth Joe Roche Ryan Walsh Rachel England Julian Wells Chloe Thompson Queralt Smith Vila Henri Murison Lauren Cassells Suzanne Lawson Katherine Megson Rafael F ∴ John Birtwhistle Peter Cunnane Rashee Pandey Sam McGurk Neil Pickles Will Haydock TAP.cert Chloe Thompson Edoardo Barbi Rebecca Hall ACIM Ben Franzini Verdi Taylor-Bishop Felicity Williamson Katy Raife

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Finova, the UK’s largest cloud-based mortgage and savings software provider, has today announced the appointment of Gareth Richardson as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Gareth brings a wealth of experience in banking and technology, positioning him ideally to lead Finova through its next stage of growth and innovation. Gareth joins Finova after six and a half years at retail banking technology firm Thought Machine, where he served as Chief Operating Officer and Deputy CEO. During his tenure, he played a key role in scaling the company into a globally recognised leader in cloud-native banking infrastructure, helping to redefine the industry’s approach to real-time, cloud-based systems. His appointment marks a defining moment for Finova. Over the past 12 months, the company has completed its transition to a fully SaaS-based product suite, secured strategic investment from Bain Capital’s Tech Opportunities business and Octagon Capital, and merged with MSO under the Finova brand. It has also sustained commercial momentum, recently signing a landmark five-year partnership with Aldermore to deliver mortgage origination and servicing across buy-to-let, commercial real estate, and residential lending via Finova’s cloud-native lending platform. Gareth’s arrival follows a wave of senior leadership hires and promotions, including Richard Marsh as Chief Customer Officer, Rowan Clayton as Chief Product Officer, and Richard Bolger as Chief Human Resources Officer. https://lnkd.in/e-GT2gNr

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🤝 Zopa Bank partners with Infact to share all consumer credit information UK digital bank Zopa Bank has partnered with licensed credit bureau Infact to report all consumer credit information across its products, supporting 1.5 million customers in building accurate, up-to-date credit files. The collaboration aligns with 𝗭𝗼𝗽𝗮'𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 campaign driving actions to improve consumer financial resilience while supporting healthy competition in the UK bureau market. Zopa Chief Analytics Officer Jeremy Penzer emphasized the partnership helps customers build stronger credit profiles accurately reflecting financial behavior, enabling informed decisions and improved credit scores. Infact CEO Will Mason highlighted creating a more complete picture of consumer creditworthiness through accurate, comprehensive, and current credit profiles. The strategic collaboration establishes new standards for UK credit reporting by combining Infact's mission-driven technology innovation with Zopa's customer-focused banking approach to deliver transparent financial data helping people build stronger financial futures. Source/More info: https://lnkd.in/ew3QAxzB This and more in the newsletter! Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/ecvqiKBY Find this helpful? [ 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 ] Anything to add about this subject? [𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁] Nice story. Next! [ 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 ]

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Monzo Bank has become the latest bank to join the MTD goldrush as the digital bank announces that sole traders and landlords will be able to file taxes directly to HMRC from their business bank account without the need for separate software. The filing tool, provided via a partnership with Sage Embedded services, supports the quarterly MTD submissions and end-of-year returns, starting from the 2026/2027 tax year. Monzo joins the likes of NatWest Group, Starling and Tide in the race to attract business bank accounts -- a recommended step in the MTD process. Full story in the comments below 👇

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Tuesday’s package of Leeds Reforms from the Chancellor Rachel Reeves marks a positive step towards a more dynamic financial services sector. We're pleased to see the planned reform of the Financial Ombudsman Service, which aims to deliver quicker, more effective outcomes for consumers. A renewed focus on the payments infrastructure is a welcomed step towards driving innovation and improving economic efficiency and the review of the ring-fencing regime reflects the need for regulation to evolve alongside the sector. These measures lay the groundwork for a more globally competitive financial system. We're looking forward to continuing to work alongside the Government to help deliver this vision - backing sustainable growth, strengthening trust and unlocking long-term opportunity.

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🚀 Accelerating the ambitions of UK smaller businesses Our Growth Guarantee Scheme has reached £2.5bn in total lending, enabling smaller businesses across the UK to invest, expand and thrive. 📍 69% of this lending has reached businesses outside London and the South East 📍 £270m+ has supported businesses in the North West alone 📍 Over £633m has been provided to companies under five years old Chancellor of the Exchequer Rt Hon Rachel Reeves said: "The Growth Guarantee Scheme has made a huge impact on our regional economies, helping smaller businesses across the UK to invest and grow, creating jobs and putting more money in people’s pockets." Launched in July 2024, Growth Guarantee Scheme can be accessed via accredited lenders and provides crucial financing through term loans, overdrafts, asset and invoice finance, supporting up to £2m per facility. 👉 Click through for the key highlights of this milestone. 

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📊 Leeds Building Society wanted to expand into Limited Company buy-to-let lending — but needed a solution that could move as quickly as the market.  With Finova Lending, they now have a fully digital origination journey that streamlines processes for teams and brokers, while opening the door to new lending opportunities. It’s a clear example of how flexible technology can turn strategy into results. 📖 Read the full case study: https://lnkd.in/ez2XRZPr #FinovaLending #DigitalTransformation #SpecialistLending 

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Pleased to see the Government’s new Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, recently announced by Rt Hon Rachel Reeves, set out an opportunity for UK fintechs. According to the Checkout.com Global Trust Index (https://lnkd.in/e7FaJse2) the UK scores 8.6 for trust in the future growth of digital payments – a strong indicator of confidence in the market. By building a more collaborative, trusted, and high-performing ecosystem, the UK can strike the right balance between innovation and regulation, protecting consumers, building trust in the system that allows innovative to flourish and simplify experiences. Credit to Katie Ramsey and the teams at the Department for Business and Trade. It’s a step forward in championing fintech innovation here in the UK.

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Monzo Bank is migrating its investment and pension accounts to the Seccl platform, with plans to expand its proposition with digital accumulation self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) and trading capabilities for exchange-traded funds (ETFs). ✒️Tyler Pathe has the story ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/ehMMGy-g #BankingTech #WealthTech

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Our experts comment on the Small Business Plan - Promises Crackdown on Late Payments The Government launched its Small Business Plan today with the aim of supporting SMEs across the UK and unlocking growth. In the Plan, the Government pledges to tackle late payments! The Small Business Plan also unveils £4bn worth of funding, which will be used to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs and small business owners. You can read the Government's full statement on the Plan here - https://lnkd.in/gdfRq2D7 Subrahmaniam Krishnan-Harihara, Deputy Director of Research at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said:  "The Government's new Small Business Plan, with its 'toughest crackdown on late payments in a generation', is a welcome and necessary move for SMEs. The proposals, including new fining powers for the Small Business Commissioner and a mandated 60-day payment term, are a crucial step towards improving cash flow and fostering business stability"... Hear more from Subrah - https://lnkd.in/eckKszZh

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🎺 We've agreed an ENABLE Guarantee with finance provider 4Syte, supporting a facility of up to £100m. The transaction will unlock additional capacity, increasing 4Syte’s invoice finance and asset-based lending to smaller UK businesses. The funding is being provided by NatWest while the Bank is guaranteeing a portion of the funding and will help to support a doubling of the existing funding facility. “Working with a new delivery partner in 4Syte and alongside an established funder like NatWest, demonstrates our commitment to increasing the diversity of providers in the wider lender market, supporting them at whatever stage of their journey they are on," says Michael Strevens, Our MD, Structured Financial Institution Solutions.

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