Awards Judging Panel

Faizan Haq is a Senior Policy Adviser at the Finance and Leasing Association (FLA). He has over 12 years of experience in the legal, consulting and financial services sectors.

Faizan graduated with an Honours degree in Law and started his career at a ‘Magic Circle’ law firm, before later moving on to work for one of the ‘Big Four’ consulting firms.  He then spent over 7 years at one of the UK’s largest banks, with roles in the Credit Risk, Group Corporate Treasury and Group Corporate Affairs teams.   Faizan helped shape the bank’s regulatory and external affairs strategy, and also regularly engaged with civil servants and politicians in Westminster.

In his current role at the FLA, Haq regularly engages with regulators and advises member firms on their approach to mortgage regulation, credit information and technology issues.  He is keen to help his member firms to both navigate technological change and to embrace the challenges that come along with it.

Amir Ali is the Founder and CEO at Remote Court Users. He has also worked in private practice for 21 years for a few leading firms of solicitors who specialised in Debt Recovery, Litigation, Dispute Resolution, Insolvency together with Company & Commercial work at senior management level. He was additionally Head of Litigation for Shire Leasing Plc. Amir was invited to join the High Court Enforcement Officers Association (formally, the High Court Sheriff`s Association) firstly at John Marston & Co (now Marston Group) as a Client Relationship Manager before taking up the role as Director of Client Services and Business Development at High Court Enforcement Group and has over four decades of experience in both the Legal and Enforcement Sectors in the UK.

Amir served as Chair of the Civil Court Users Association (CCUA) for five years from Sept 2015 to Sept 2020 (he served a total of 11 years on the CCUA Board). The Association is charged with airing and addressing the concerns of all Civil Court Users in the UK at the very highest levels of Government, Ministry of Justice (MOJ), and His Majesty’s Courts & Tribunal Service (HMCTS) to include all other Stakeholders concerned with Policy Change within the Civil Realm.

Amir sits on the Law Advisory Boards of three Universities in the UK and was appointed the inaugural President of The Professional Paralegal Register (The PPR). The Register champions diversity, inclusivity and equality within the Profession whilst delivering access to justice and consumer protection for all. The PPR is the independent voluntary regulator for all paralegals, now part of The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX).

Latterly Amir has been assisting Ministry’s of Justice, globally wishing to transform their courts to incorporate Online Dispute Resolution (ODR), immediately following his tenure as part of a consortium tasked with leading the charge for the UK Government backed initiative powered by Tech Nation / LawTechUK, to help transform the UK Legal Sector through technology. Both the vision and ambition are to create an ODR Platform for UK PLC and the SME Business Community within England and Wales.

Amir was additionally named in The New Year’s Honours List 2022 and was awarded an OBE by Her Majesty the Queen for “Services to Court Users and the Law.”

Profile to follow

Steve Williams has over 15 years’ of experience as a corporate finance advisor.  He works at Continuum Advisory Partners having previously been a Director in Deloitte’s corporate finance practice.  He has advised businesses across the credit management industry for 10 years, advising on numerous high profile transactions involving major companies in debt purchase, debt collection and judicial services both in the UK and across Europe.

Steve continues to witness his clients’ development of compliant technology solutions as an increasingly fundamental requirement to maintain operational effectiveness, preserve creditor relationships and adapt to evolving customer trends.

Chris Dick has been Director of Operations at Registry Trust since June 2021, with responsibility for all aspects of operational, systems, and compliance performance. Prior to that Chris has over 20 years’ experience working in financial services with Barclays.

Chris progressed through a variety of leadership roles, primarily in Corporate and Business Banking, latterly as Head of Business Banking Servicing & Support with responsibility for a global team delivering day-to-day support to Barclays’ business clients. In 2019 Chris moved to take on a two-year role with AQA Education to support delivery of a regulatory change programme focused on the security of assessment materials.

PROFILE TO FOLLOW…

Rob Thompson is a Partner at Brachers LLP, heading up their Collections and Recoveries Team. Since 2020, he has also been elected annually as Chair of the Civil Court Users Association (CCUA).

Since becoming a Partner at Brachers in 2015,  his team have been shortlisted for a number of awards, including winning the Credit Excellence Award in the Legal and Enforcement Sector, in 2020.

Rob entered the Credit 500 index in 2021. He is also Chair of the Creditor Recoveries Liaison Committee and additionally sits on the Enforcement Law Review Group.

Brendan Clarkson has more than 25 years of experience in corporate lending and insolvency, working with businesses of all sizes, lenders, creditors and government bodies.

Brendan has built close relationships with solicitors, other professionals, banks and client companies in order to understand their debt management needs. He has also developed good working relationships with government organisations. He appreciates the range of debt recovery options available to organisations, and works hard to ensure their best interests are served.

Brendan has regular contact with the credit management profession through his involvement in credit circles across the UK. He has served as chair of Surrey and Sussex CICM and is heavily involved with the institute.

Eleanor Demuth has over 25 years in credit, risk and collections.  Most recently she was the Risk Director at Curve. She has previously worked for Metro Bank, Deloitte, NewDay, and Cabot Financial.

Russell Hamblin-Boone was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Civil Enforcement Association (CIVEA) in January, representing around 2000 enforcement agents who collect civil debt on behalf of local authorities. For almost five years he was CEO of the Consumer Finance Association (CFA) and led reform of short-term lending practices during a period of intense political and media scrutiny. He has been described as doing more than anyone else to build the intellectual case for a high-cost, short-term credit market in the UK. For the second year running Russell was named in the Credit 500, as one of the fifty top influencers. He has also held senior positions at the Finance and Leasing Association (FLA) and the Energy Retail Association, now known as Energy UK, where he helped to set up the first trade association dedicated to energy suppliers. He has worked in Downing Street and as private secretary to the Leader of the House of Lords.

Ian Leslie has walked the unique path of accountant to sales leader and has over 20 years experience working in both finance and sales across a variety of sectors including Property and Insurance. Working as the UK & Ireland Sales & Business Development Leader in Marsh Credit Speciality he specialising in cashflow optimisation solutions, and

Ian always seeks to provide his clients with a tangible financial benefit.

As a sales leader, he aims to move sales in insurance into the 21^st century, and bring through the next generation of sales talent.

Ian is a big supporter of the benefits of collaboration and regularly works with others within the industry to organise events and workshops aimed at sharing best practice and improving our ever-evolving industry.

Naveed is the Head of Policy & Advice at the Consumer Credit Trade Association, an Association which represents nearly 200 consumer credit firms. Naveed’s role and responsibilities include advice and guidance to members in relation to legislative and regulatory matters. Naveed has extensive experience and knowledge in Consumer Credit.

Prior to joining CCTA, Naveed worked as a Compliance Consultant/Advisor for many years at various firms, supporting portfolios of clients with legislation, FCA regulation and compliance.

With over two decades of credit and risk management expertise, Martin Kirby is a distinguished leader known for his strategic vision and operational excellence. As a Credit Lead for Calor Gas, Martin spearheads innovative strategies to enhance credit and risk management practices, driving operational efficiencies and customer satisfaction. His extensive career includes senior roles at renowned organisations such as Business Stream, KIER Group Limited, ADECCO UK, and Bupa Healthcare, where he successfully led teams, implemented robust systems, and achieved significant financial improvements. Martin holds an MBA from INSEAD and Manchester Business School and is a Six Sigma Black Belt, bringing a wealth of knowledge in financial strategic planning and stakeholder engagement. Martin is an expert presenter and negotiator committed to fostering collaborative environments and delivering exceptional results

Luke Sculthorp has been associated with the credit and collections industry for over fifteen years, working in consumer credit lending, third party collections, legal recoveries, high court enforcement as well as credit control. Before joining the senior leadership team at the CICM, Luke was appointed as non-retail credit control manager at United Utilities PLC. Luke leads the CICM Corporate Partnerships and Development Partnerships Programmes, assisting to embed best practice across UK & International operational credit teams.

Daniel Cichocki is a Commercial Finance Director at UK Finance, the UK’s leading banking and financial services trade association.  He leads on all commercial finance regulatory advocacy and implementation.  His focus is on improving customer relationships, access to finance and enhancing competition.  In recent years, Daniel has also lead UK Finance’s LIBOR transition team supporting over 100 banks and lender members during the benchmark transition.

Daniel started his career in Deloitte’s Banking and Capital Markets group, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant and served a range of financial services clients in assurance and advisory engagements.  He is also a Chartered Banker.

Maria Harris is the Director of Digital Cat Consultancy Ltd and is a Non-Exec Director at United Trust Bank and South Tees NHS. In her consultancy role, Maria provides digital and fintech expertise to the mortgage industry. Previously the Director of Lending at Atom bank where she designed, built and launched the multiple award winning, first fully digital mortgage in the UK.

With over 25 years’ experience in management, Maria has held roles across a number of sectors including travel, utilities and more recently in financial services where she was awarded the inaugural Women in Finance Award for services to banking by HM Treasury. She is a vocal advocate for equality, diversity, and the role of technology in improving financial wellbeing and the customer experience.