The total area at Olympia taken up by the show increased by 10% on 2016, with The Hub and conference theatre seeing a record attendance in all sessions.

Lenders and brokers from all over the UK attended the exhibition, which took place last Wednesday (8th November). 

Keynote speaker Sir Christopher Meyer

For the first time ever, this year’s FP Show was entirely CPD-accredited, promoting an all-day conference programme which played host to 25 speakers and panellists. 

The morning programme included a two-part property session, with the first chaired by Liz Syms, CEO at Connect for Intermediaries, focusing on residential lending. 

The second session covered commercial lending and was overseen by Beth Fisher, editor of Bridging & Commercial.

Other conference highlights included a discussion and Q&A on the impact that specialist and challenger banks are having on the market, and a debate between Larry Elliot, economics editor at The Guardian, and Philip Coggan, author and columnist at The Economist, where Brexit, the possibility of a Labour government and the impending Autumn Budget were discussed.

 
Conference theatre at the Finance Professional Show

The speed roundtable event in the afternoon provided delegates with the chance to partake in concise, to-the-point pitches from a variety of providers with slightly less mainstream offerings.  

  
The conference was complemented by 85 exhibitors – representing the full spectrum of financial options available today – including Bank of Cyprus UK, Equity Release Council, Go Develop, VATBRIDGE and Hitachi Capital Business Finance.

During the event, Bridging & Commercial approached a number of exhibitors to see how the day had gone, with the common theme being the lively atmosphere that the show produced.

Lendhub’s exhibition stand at the FP Show 2017

Chris Adamou, director at Lendhub, said: “It has been fantastic exhibiting here … it’s the first time for Lendhub and it has been an absolutely fantastic day [and] a great success.”

Chirag Shah, CEO at Nucleus Commercial Finance, commented: “We met lots of new introducers and the stand was constantly busy and felt like a real hub, which was great.

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“A big highlight was definitely our sponsorship of the entrance area – that really made an impact –and the number of people we heard talking about Nucleus, coming to find Nucleus and wanting to meet our growing team meant we met a lot of new introducers and caught up with everyone in our existing network.

“We are already looking at several deals that were introduced at the show.”

Alex Hammond, head of mortgage marketing at Castle Trust, stated: “It’s the first time that I have actually attended the show, and I have been very impressed, both with the quality of the attendees and also the quality of the conference programme.

“It has been a great day in terms of being consistently busy, and there has been a really good buzz about the place.”

Stuart Urquhart, partnership manager at Spotcap UK believed the FP Show was a great opportunity to meet brokers and other attendees.

“There were three themes that stood out in conversations: the use of new technology, interest in diversifying product portfolios and the continued importance of personal relationships.

“It was a great opportunity for us to speak to brokers at our stand in person and tell them more about our fully unsecured offering and tech behind it.

"Overall, [it was] a great event and we’ll make sure to attend next year - hopefully with an even bigger presence.”

 
John Davies, director at Just Cash Flow PLC, said: “We have significantly increased our broker network and the FP Show was a great opportunity to put faces to names.

“Additionally, a lot of interest was shown in the flexible finance facilities we provide and, since the show, we have been busy following up the excellent introductions that were made.

“The conference programme was well put together and very interactive.

“The former British ambassador [Sir] Christopher Meyer and journalists Larry Elliot and Philip Coggan were particularly good value, giving attendees an insightful perspective into the economy and all things Brexit.”

Ross Nedderman, underwriting manager at Assetz Capital, added: “…It’s a good forum to find out what is going on in the industry, and to meet a good range of people.”

Together’s exhibition stand at the FP Show 2017

Rob Oliver, head of field sales at Together, stated: “This year’s FP Show was better than ever, with [many] exhibitors and an impressive conference programme.  

“It was great to hear from some high-profile speakers, and to see so many brokers and lenders coming together to share their knowledge and insights, with some really topical debates.

“One of my personal highlights was watching our commercial CEO Marc Goldberg joining the commercial property panel debate.

“As a leading lender in this field, it was interesting to hear views from across the industry on how they think this market will develop in the future.”  

Wayne Lee, business development manager at Hope Capital, added: “We have done quite a lot of meetings today with some people we already deal with and a couple of new ones as well, so for us it has gone quite well.”

Jonathan Newman, senior partner at Brightstone Law, said: “It has been a really interesting day, but I think what has been most interesting about it [is that] I have come across people that I have never come across before and they seem genuinely interested in making new relationships and that has been very rewarding.”