Once again the FD Forum was three days very well spent. A chance to meet the suppliers you want to meet and to network. Once again the organisation and service was exceptional.
Richard Francis - Finance Director
Interwoven
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Conference
The process of creating the conference programme is based upon a dialogue with the people who know best.
Delegates tell us what subjects they would like covered and, assuming there is sufficient demand, we cover them.
Delegates review our proposals and, where necessary, help us to improve them.
Delegates help us to select the right speakers for each subject. We use only acknowledged experts as speakers and moderators.
Contact us if you would like to contribute to the programme, either with ideas for content or as a speaker
Highlights from Past Conference Programmes
Opening Address
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| Keynote |
| Frank W. Abagnale |
Frank W. Abagnale is one of the world’s most respected authorities on the subjects of forgery, embezzlement, and secure documents. For over 25 years he has lectured to and consulted with hundreds of financial institutions, corporations, and government agencies around the world.
He began to acquire his rare blend of knowledge and expertise as a teenager. More than 30 years ago, he was known as one of the world’s most famous confidence men, as depicted in his best-selling book, Catch Me if You Can and the motion picture of the same name, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo diCaprio. He cashed $2.5 million in fraudulent cheques in every state and 26 foreign countries over a five-year period. Between the ages of 16 and 21, he successfully posed as an airline pilot, an attorney, a college professor, and a paediatrician. Apprehended by the French police when he was 21 years old, he served time in French, Swedish, and US prison systems. After five years, he was released on the condition that he would help the US government, without remuneration, by teaching and assisting federal law enforcement agencies.
Mr. Abagnale has been associated with the FBI for over 25 years. He lectures extensively at the FBI Academy and for the field offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. More than 14,000 financial institutions, corporations, and law enforcement agencies use his programs. In 1998, he was selected as a distinguished member of the "Pinnacle 400" by CNN Financial News. He has published several books about protecting yourself from identity theft including: The Art of the Steal (2001); and his forthcoming Stealing Your Life: The Ultimate Identity Theft Prevention Plan (April 2007). His incredible story takes you from laughter to tears on an emotional roller coaster ride, and explains what life is really about.. |
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A Trip to the Future
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| Keynote |
| Ian Pearson |
Ian Pearson graduated in 1981 in applied mathematics and theoretical physics from Queens University, Belfast. After four years in Shorts Missile Systems, he joined BT Laboratories as a performance analyst, and later worked in network design, computer evolution, cybernetics, and mobile systems. From 1991 until 2007 he was BT’s futurologist, tracking and predicting new developments throughout information technology, considering both technological and social implications. He now does exactly the same things for Futurizon, a start - up futures institute. As a futurologist and consultant, he lectures widely on his futures views. In between conferences, he writes on topics such as human evolution, women’s issues, ageing, social trends, the environment and of course advanced IT.
He has received many awards for his papers, written several books and has made well over 400 TV and radio appearances. He is a Chartered Fellow of the British Computer Society, the World Academy of Art and Science, the Royal Society of Arts, the Institute of Nanotechnology and the World Innovation Foundation. He was recently awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science degree by the University of Westminster.
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Leading under Pressure – Peacekeeping in the Balkans 1992 - 1993
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| Keynote |
| Colonel Bob Stewart, Defence Analyst |
| Frequently contributing to newspapers and current affairs journals, Bob Stewart’s book ‘Broken Lives’, about command during the Balkan War, was a best seller. He has often appeared on television for the BBC, SKY, CBS and CNN as well as being the anchor ITV news channel commentator during the last Gulf War. Recently he wrote and presented a 60 minute BBC film on ‘Military Principles in Business’ as well as a series on ‘Negotiation’ for Channel Five TV. In August 2007 he wrote and presented a Channel 4 documentary on the future of the Territorial Army. Bob Stewart has been Chairman of the Independent Defence Media Association, representing freelance British defence and security journalists, for the last six years. |
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The global economic view & the credit crunch
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| Industry Session |
| Justin Urquhart Stewart, Marketing Director, Seven Investment Management |
| With the global economic picture having dramatically altered in over the past 12 months, leading Investment Manager and City Commentator Justin Urquhart Stewart will examine global markets, including issues such as the credit crunch, Northern Rock, the future stability of sterling and the US markets after the sub-prime mortgage fiasco. He will put the current situation into a historical context and consider the wider ramifications and long-term effects of these factors. |
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Successful growth strategies: how to avoid growing pains
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| Industry Session |
| Richard England, Business Coach, Shirlaws Business Coaching |
This session with examine how you can grow your business. A leading Business Coach will share with the audience practical examples of how an FD can support a business to manage both the commercial and cultural impacts of growth strategies.
This session will examine the forward planning that supports the successful execution of new strategies and initiatives. This session will also consider the timing of growth strategies relative to the business cycle and evolution of
your organisation.
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Driving Future Growth: forging productive partnerships with your sales & marketing teams
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| Industry Session |
Prof. Robert Shaw, Director, Value Based Marketing Forum Ltd
Ray Perry, Director of Brand, CIMA |
Being able to work productively with the teams around you is an essential tool for most senior managers and Finance Directors are no exception. FDs need effective working partnerships with their sales and marketing teams to help sustain cash inflows and drive growth.
But how far should you as an FD go to help these teams improve their processes and performance? How can you best communicate with one another? And how can you build a mutual relationship of trust and confidence?
This session will offer key practical, manageable and easily implemented tips to enable and enhance such relationships. This is taken from research into over 100 organisations based on a 7 year research programme between CIMA, CIM and the DMA on working practices and the marketing-finance relationship. It will help you identify the sales and marketing practices that need to be improved, how you can best influence them, and what leads to the best working relationships.
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Career development and employee benefits: the key to staff retention
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| Industry Session |
Tim Butter, Employer Consulting Director, Baker Tilly
Barry Payne, Head of Employer Business Relationships, ACCA |
How do you attract the best employees? A recent study showed that about a quarter of accountants have turned down a job because of a perceived lack of clear opportunities for career progression. This, coupled with the annual CPD requirement for finance professionals, means that employers must pay attention to developing their employees’ careers or risk losing their high flyers and their detailed knowledge of their business to their competitors.
Interrelated with these issues is the need for an approach to employee benefits and incentives which makes your employees see your organisation as a long-term prospect and encourages them to grow its value. Market practice in this area is towards a mix of lifetyle benefits such as flexible working hours for parents and sponsorship of community voluntary work with an increasingly sophisticated approach to performance-related pay, share incentive plans, and the maximisation of the use of tax efficient benefits. This sort of approach to non-cash benefits can benefit organisations in all sectors, especially in challenging economic times. A leading industry practitioner will explain how such actions can benefit your organisation even in a challenging economy.
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Food for thought - Reducing labour costs in a declining market
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| Industry Session |
| Kevin McCavish, Partner – Employment Law, Shoosmiths |
| The credit crunch has hit - we are in a recession. With such difficult times, companies are increasingly looking to reduce their costs. Kevin McCavish, employment partner at Shoosmiths, looks at the some of the steps that can be taken in the HR context to take to ride out the storm ahead. From shelving bonuses and pay awards to outsourcing, offshoring and redundancies, this session will consider the options available and how to implement them. |
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Sustainable cost reduction – myth or reality?
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| Industry Session |
| Simon Brew, Partner, Deloitte |
In today’s current market, pressure to cut costs is high. To meet external pressures, many companies are undertaking cost reduction programmes but very few are able to make them a success. Instead of realising the long term benefits of their cost reduction programme, many are having to revisit front and back office operations year after year, exhausting precious management time and resources.
So where are companies going wrong? And how is it that companies that aim low seem to achieve even less? This session will look at current approaches to cost reduction in the US and the European markets and why programmes are failing to deliver. It will also advise on specific ways that you can improve your cost reduction programme to ensure more sustainable results for the future.
Guided by expert, Simon Brew at Deloitte, this workshop will allow you to ask questions pertinent to the challenges your organisation is facing and discuss the importance of adopting a proactive approach to cost reduction to ensure long term success.
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Procurement policy and processes: why procurement knowledge is essential to your organisation
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| Industry Session |
| Matthew Eatough, Managing Director, buyingTeam |
Managers are accountable for the resources and funds at their disposal and for making them constantly stretch further. Procurement expenditure can account for up to 30 - 60% of an organisation’s expenditure : improved procurement plays
a key role in meeting efficiency targets and in saving money.
This session will help you understand the role professional procurement plays in delivering business objectives and will make specific practical suggestions of things finance can do to catalyse the realisation of the procurement opportunities in your business.
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The road to success-or nowhere? Why some FDs make it, and others don't
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| Industry Session |
| Karen Wilson, CEO, Hoggett Bowers |
What is it that makes CFOs/FDs successful? How have they got to the top of their profession and into the prominent business roles?
A leading executive search firm dealing with a wide range of FDs and CFOS from many different sectors and backgrounds will explore the commercial and financial challenges/hot topics currently facing organisations. From recruitment, the development of FDs teams and ultimately their successors, in addition to furthering their own careers, this session will look at the myriad of competing demands placed upon FD/CFOs.
Emphasis will further be placed upon the skills, personal attributes and the profiles of the high-flying FDs and CEOs. The session will also explore reasons why and provide insight into why some FDs potential and career progression can stall.
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Succession planning: how to leave your business in good health
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| Industry Session |
| Richard England, Business Coach, Shirlaws Business Coaching |
Planning for the day you want to exit your business and how you can achieve that is something everyone intends to do which never quite seems to be on the priority list. In the course of this workshop you will review the steps organisations need to take to ensure a smooth transition and gain the maximum value for the business they have created.
This session will cover commercial and cultural considerations in succession, your succession criteria and finally timing and planning i.e. when you should start thinking about your succession plan.
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What to do if your company gets ‘too close to the rocks’ – how to save its potential
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| Industry Session |
| Eric Tracey, Senior Independent Director, Chloride Group plc and former trouble-shooting finance director |
| In today’s competitive market and with the effects of the credit crunch on companies, organisations need to be more aware than ever of the dangers posed by unexpected cash flow hiccoughs. Actions or inactions by bankers, suppliers and customers alike can have much more sudden effects on a company than many Boards expect. The role of denial in delaying getting to grips with the real issues cannot be over-emphasised. Hear from an FD who helped guide two ailing organisations through a period of recovery in order to preserve (or minimise the loss of) shareholder value. |
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Incident management and crisis resolution: Preparing for failure
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| Industry Session |
| Doug Ross, Managing Director, Square Peg International |
Organisations can minimise their exposure to risk and improve their response to adversity by preparing for the possibility of failure.
Typically leaders have few chances to learn from high-risk situations, where disastrous disruptions can occur and the threat of business discontinuity is real. Yet inexperienced leaders need to cut their teeth on just these situations.
Arming leaders with decision processes and allowing them to test out various scenarios greatly improves the likelihood of mitigating the disruption of a crisis. Our experience shows that chance truly does favour the prepared mind.
This seminar will look at:
- What makes issues management unique?
- What is an issue, an incident or a crisis?
- Developing processes and protocols
- Simulation and testing
- Establishing control and monitoring the environment
It will help you to assess a situation, develop a disciplined approach to taking action, and ensure that people are poised to work as a coordinated team in a crisis.
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