SPEAKERS

As Managing Director for New Zealand, Craig is a key member of the global sales leadership team, responsible for driving relationships with government, financial institutions, enterprise, and promoting the small business economy. Craig has been with Xero for several years, and returns to New Zealand from the United Kingdom, where he led Xero's entrance into Europe, the Middle East and South Africa markets.Craig is a father of four and a successful former rugby player who spent more than eight years playing professionally in New Zealand, France, England, and Wales.

Bronwyn Hudson is a Personalised Nutrition and Wellbeing Strategist in private clinical practice. She also lectures on BSc and MSc programmes at the Centre for Nutrition Education and Lifestyle Management. Bronwyn is motivated by the desire to make a real difference in the health and wellbeing of others, using the latest in scientific knowledge and current best practice. Personally, she has supported her husband on his mental health journey and together they are raising four pretty awesome kids in Orewa, Auckland. Bronwyn has a Bachelor of Teaching from Waikato University and a Masters of Science (Personalised Nutrition) from Middlesex University.

Damon is an international leader in fintech with over 15 years of experience delivering cutting-edge digital marketing and payments technology. As Director of Partner at Xero, Damon understands the ins and outs of accounting and bookkeeping. With extensive fintech experience, he understands how regulatory challenges like Making Tax Digital can become opportunities for partners.

As part of NatWest’s portfolio of growing standalone digital ventures, Mettle is a new kind of business current account, created with small and medium-sized businesses in mind. Mettle is on a mission to build a product that makes running a business easier, by helping owners get paid, control costs and stay compliant. With a strategy background and extensive tech and fintech experience, Marieke joined as Mettle CEO with an established track record in leading a variety of disruptive and innovative businesses across the globe.

Suw Charman-Anderson is the founder of Ada Lovelace Day, a global celebration of women in science, technology, engineering and maths. Each year, ALD hosts a flagship ‘science cabaret’ in London, and independent groups put on their own events around the world. She has also produced a podcast, resources database, free education pack, posters and more. Her latest project is the Finding Ada Network, a mentorship and knowledge sharing platform for women in STEM and advocates for gender equality. Previously, she has worked as a social technologist and freelance journalist, and in 2005 she co-founded the Open Rights Group, a digital rights campaigning group. 

Following an early career in technology and consulting, Andy has led a variety of business strategy teams across the banking industry. Over the last three years he has been central to NatWest’s proactive approach to the tech disruption in financial services by establishing a portfolio of SME focused standalone digital businesses. Under his leadership, Andy has ensured that NatWest are trailblazers in best serving SME needs.

Mr. Gulamhuseinwala was appointed Implementation Trustee for the Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) on 13 April 2017. In his role as Trustee, he has oversight and responsibility for Open Banking’s development and delivery of the common technical standards underpinning the Competition and Market Authority’s (CMA) Open Banking initiative. Prior to joining Open Banking, he was involved with the Entity’s work through its stakeholder working groups and has been active in financial technology as both an investor and a start-up founder.

Edward’s team works with Xero’s 700+ app partners, leading banks and fintech organisations to reduce the friction points that hold back small businesses. His role covers banking and fintech engagement, leveraging Open Banking and PSD2 to realise the next generation of services for Xero customers. As a speaker, Edward has a talent for making these deeply technical subjects more accessible, simplifying the theory and demonstrating the practical implications. Edward is passionate about enabling success for small businesses and brings first-hand experience of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs. He is a co-founder of two cloud businesses; a VC-backed challenger in IT security subsequently acquired by Websense, and a business applications vendor for SMEs. Previously, Edward held leadership roles with a number of software and cloud organisations, including Microsoft, where he led UK sales for the Microsoft Dynamics ERP & CRM product division.

Diane has more than 15 years experience in product management and marketing, focused on delivering tech initiatives for Small Businesses. Within Xero, she is responsible for driving the product marketing strategy for the UK and EMEA. Having worked extensively within the Small Business sector, Diane brings a wealth of understanding of Small Businesses' ambitions as well as their challenges. She remains extremely passionate about encouraging Small Businesses to achieve their digital best.

After David’s dream of becoming a sportsperson was crushed, along with the ligaments in his knee, he had to get a proper job. Since then he’s worked across the financial services industry, never losing his competitive desire to win. Having pitched, established and run billion-pound transformations for some of the biggest FS companies on the planet, the realisation that digital banking is only 1% finished spurred his desire to establish an organisation that can make it happen. David is CEO of 11:FS, a challenger consultancy building out new propositions and ventures for some of the biggest brands on the planet. 11:FS also build in-house products from competitor benchmarking tools to core banking systems. Most recently, David led the creation and market establishment of the challenger business bank Mettle for NatWest in the UK as it’s CEO. He is also host of business podcasts, Fintech Insider and Insurtech Insider.

As Head of Field Sales at Xero Kat leads a team of field based account managers. Kat has extensive experience of the tax and accounting industry and uses this to help shape and define the Xero partner strategy in the UK.
Kat is passionate about developing others and guiding accounting partners through their digital transformation journey.

 Ian heads up a team of field based account managers at Xero, helping to shape the UK growth strategy. He has focused his career on business development and sales, specialising in software and the professional services sector.

Duncan is Chief Product Officer at GoCardless, the global recurring payments specialist. Since the early days of GoCardless, Duncan has been at the forefront of the company’s mission to take the pain out of getting paid for its customers. Passionate about the vital role small businesses play in our economy, Duncan is an expert in the world of payments and the impact they have on business prosperity. Before joining GoCardless, Duncan worked in management consultancy, advising investors on Fintech and financial services M&A at Oliver Wyman.

Richard heads up a team at iwoca who working with accountants, educate and spread awareness of where small businesses can use finance effectively to buffer cash flow or to support growth. He's fascinated with how fintech companies are revolutionising industries, simplifying the way we work and interact, and how small businesses are in a perfect position to move fast and take advantage of these changes. When not taking on the £10B small business lending gap with iwoca, Richard can often be found chasing a white ball around a golf course or avidly discussing the last Wolves game.

Darren is responsible for growing Soldo’s small business division across Europe.
He has extensive experience scaling hypergrowth SaaS and Fintech companies that have defined their respective categories, including Xero and NetSuite. Darren is now establishing Soldo as Europe’s leading spend management solution, helping small businesses and accountants to banish the inefficiency of spending and expense management, and enabling business owners to focus on what they do best.

Andrew has worked in a range of industries from being a buyer for a furniture factory, setting up his own product design company and also business development for an accounting firm. Studying for an MBA was instrumental in helping him decide to develop a career in software that helps small businesses. He has worked at Xero for nearly 6 years and now supports his National Accounts team as they strive to digitise the largest firms in the UK. 

Gayle is a Campaign Manager at Xero and has been a member of the Partner Marketing team for four years. She enjoys creating tools and resources to help Xero partners reach their practice goals and use technology like Xero to make their day easier but most importantly more enjoyable. Gayle is a lover of all four legged furry animals and is the proud owner of a Swedish Vallhund dog who she loves taking for long country walks. 

Mark Thompson has lead and built some of the largest invoice finance, ABL and client management sales businesses and teams in the U.K. and Europe. He has spent over a decade working for some of the world's most established investment banks. Mark has moved into the private equity and Fintech space and is now the Head of Growth and Strategic Partnerships here at MarketInvoice.

Over the last 3 years, Jordan has worked on every area of the MarketInvoice business and launched two new products; he now finds himself focused on scaling company operations through risk automation. Jordan began his career in Mexico as an analyst at the investment bank Rothschild, before moving to a strategy role at HSBC. Jordan later transferred to London in 2013 and turned his focus to commercial banking strategy and to expanding HSBC's lending proposition to SMEs. Jordan read Spanish and Commerce at Georgetown College. He is a Fulbright Scholar, fluent in Spanish and a part-time rower.

Emma Jones MBE is a business expert and best-selling author of business books such as Working 5 to 9 and The StartUp Kit. She is founder of Enterprise Nation, having launched the company back in 2005. Enterprise Nation has now grown to be a community of over 75,000 people, all of whom are doing amazing things. She is passionate about supporting people in Britain to start and grow their own successful business, and representing their views to government and media.

Ben first found his way to Xero in 2014 in his native home of Australia, where he helped hundreds of accounting firms migrate their practice to Xero and the cloud. Ben then made the move to London where for the past four years his role (and passion) has been to bring fintechs onto the Xero platform to help customers gain a better view of their financial position, manage payments and access capital. Ben lives in London with his wife and spends his down time working on his golf game and supporting mediocre sports teams. 

Ash joined Xero in London five years ago, having attended her first Xerocon in New Zealand a year prior. It was there that her blood turned blue and she decided Xero was the place for her, no matter the country she was based. Ash is a passionate communicator by nature, as well as a firm believer in using technology to improve the way we all live and work. As well as spending time getting to know the Xero partner community, Ash now leads a team of marketers focused on developing content and communications that highlight the right information and insights to help accounting and bookkeeping firms grow and better support their business clients.

Jen is People Experience Director (EMEA) at Xero. In this role, she is responsible for nurturing an environment in which Xero employees can believe, belong and flourish. Jen is an experienced coach and has a passion for supporting others so that they can bring their whole selves to work to do the best work of their lives. She has conducted thorough research into the psychological conditions that foster high performing teams and cultures which promote a strong sense of belonging. Using her findings and having designed recruitment, development and cultural programmes for client businesses - always with people at the heart - Jen now works within companies where she can see this impact first hand. At Xero, Jen is keen to ensure every Xero (present and future) is provided with a world-class, inclusive and enjoyable (fun!) experience.

Matt is an Account Manager at Xero, working closely with Xero Partners across East Anglia and the Midlands to successfully transition their firms into delivering higher client engagement through the adoption of practice wide cloud computing. He built his experience across retail, insurance and marketing industries before joining Xero in 2018. Whilst at Xero he also co-launched and now co-hosts the Matt & Shaheen Podcast which features prominent guests across accounting, finance and fintech sectors.

Guy is an entrepreneurial accountant that is passionate on removing bottlenecks from business processes in order to achieve scalability. I'm a big believer in technology over outsourcing where possible and suitable. Guy is the founder of Interactive Accounting, which was one of the first cloud-only Xero Practice's in the world in 2009 and has won multiple Xero partner of the year awards during that time. His firm scaled up to over A$4M in fees in just over a 4 year period and Guy’s story has been showcased by NAB, one of the major banks in Australia as well as the ACCA in the UK. He is currently 100% focused on turning Practice Ignition into the single point of collaboration for small business owners and their advisors. 

Shaheen is an Account Manager at Xero, looking after partners across Northern Ireland, Scotland and the North. Originally from Hong Kong, he cut his teeth out of university co-founding and running a craft beer distribution business. The business went on to win multiple awards and successfully acquired a major competitor in the industry, before Shaheen moved to the UK to join Xero. He also co-hosts The Matt & Shaheen Podcast, featuring guests from accounting and Fintech.

With experience in multiple different technology industries, across operations, product development, I’ve developed a passion for harnessing the power of technology to solve complex challenges faced by businesses - in a simple way. I’m currently focused on leading Xero’s efforts to launch and market Xero's business products in UK/EMEA, whether used by the business themselves or their accountant/bookkeeper. 

A geek at heart, Alistair has worked within the digital industry for over 18 years. Alistair is passionate about driving change and launching products that help our partners save time so they can do more. Alistair also enjoys building productive teams and working collaboratively on projects that are in line with the business and customer needs.

Matt is a Partner Consultant at Xero, working closely with partners across the South and South West of the UK. Matt started his career as an accountant but always had a special focus on technology and process design. Since joining Xero in late 2016 Matt has built up many of our conversion tools and helped many partners achieve success in their Xero projects, including 2 Large Partner of the Year winners.

A fully certified bookkeeper and Director of Fresh Financials, Emma Fox supports businesses and enables them to concentrate on making profit. Emma reinvents bookkeeping, helping SMEs, limited companies, partnerships and sole traders make the most of their accounts. Originally working from home and now from a converted barn at the base of the South Downs, Emma’s business is moving forward at a fast pace. Fresh Financials was runner up for the IAB Bookkeeper of the Year Award in 2018 and won Xero’s UK Bookkeeper of the Year Award in 2016. Emma and her team get real enjoyment and satisfaction from helping business owners understand their financial story.

Oliver has extensive experience working closely with accountants and bookkeepers, having held senior roles at both Receipt Bank in the UK as well as Xero in its New Zealand headquarters. Prior to that he has held senior roles at large corporations, focused around business and pricing strategy. He has also founded a tech start-up and grown it to £5m annual revenue over three years. Oliver is also a qualified accountant, being a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

Will Farnell is the founder of Farnell Clarke, an innovative and pioneering accounting firm based in Norwich and London, UK. Farnell Clarke was named Best Independent Firm (East of England) three times and Most Innovative Firm of 2016 at the British Accountancy Awards. Farnell Clarke is one of the first 100%-cloud practices in the UK and the way Will deployed technology was a significant catalyst in the firm’s 36% year-on-year growth. Will now uses the experiences acquired over the last 10 years to support other firms in moving to a digital-based strategy. Will is also the author of ‘The Digital Firm’, a blueprint for digital transformation within an accounting firm.

Avi is a former accountant that has worked at Xero for five years, starting off in our New Zealand team helping firms transition onto the Xero platform. With expertise in the core functions of Xero, as well as Report Templates and Xero Practice Manager, for the last year and a half, he's been based in our Toronto office, helping grow Xero in Canada.