Cath commenced work at Blackpool Council as an engineer in the Coast Protection Team in 1996, moving to Procurement and Projects in 2014 and has been in procurement ever since. Cath took up her current position as Head of Procurement and Exchequer Services in 2021.

Consumer Editor at the Financial Times, Claer Barrett is an economic broadcaster and columnist. She presents the FT Money Clinic podcast, and covered business and finance news on Eddie Mair’s LBC drivetime show, making complex market issues relevant and accessible. She is also a regular on Lorraine, helping viewers with their money questions and concerns.

Prior to joining the Financial Times, Claer was the property correspondent for Investors Chronicle until she became managing editor of weekly industry magazine, Property Week. At the FT, she writes the weekly Serious Money column covering everything from saving money to the effects of Brexit on your holiday plans and hosts the Business Clinic videos. She is also a frequent commentator on radio and TV, talking about personal finance, consumer, and small business issues.

Her latest book What They Don’t Teach You About Money: Habits to Get You Unstuck and on the Road to Financial Freedom, will look at seven habits that unlock financial independence.

In her talks, Claer examines everything from the impact of financial markets on business, investment, and property, to the more personal economic affairs such as inheritance tax, pensions, and wealth management. As a former retail correspondent, Claer also looks into how consumerism has changed, the future of the high street, and the digitalisation of real estate and the financial services sector.

In applying a more human and sociological take on finance, Claer analyses the intersection between debt, finances, and mental health in the workplace. She examines its relation to womenomics (women’s financial issues), as well as how companies should embrace new ways of working to retain and support Generation X and Z staff. In lighter moments, she also looks at some of the more unusual requests for investment advice she’s received from FT readers.

Kelly Beaver is Chief Executive of Ipsos in the UK and Ireland, one of the largest and most innovative research organisations in the UK. With over 2,000 specialist research, operational, and advisory employees across 12 offices, Ipsos delivers reliable information and true understanding of Society, Markets and People.  Kelly has been with Ipsos for over a decade. Previously, she was Managing Director of Ipsos’s UK Public Affairs division, which supports government clients to monitor and understand public opinion, behaviours and societal trends, design public services and policies, and to determine what works in achieving social and economic policy objectives. In addition to her role at Ipsos, she also holds several honorary positions external to Ipsos in academia and charities.

Kelly is a regular commentator in the national press and broadcast media. She is experienced at presenting to senior audiences on public and business leader opinion, as well as societal and consumer trends across a range of topics including trust, gender equality, employee engagement, leadership, and many others. She was awarded an MBE in June 2022 as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to academia, research and the COVID-19 response, and was named in the Female FTSE Board Report – 100 Women to Watch 2022.

Kelly, who is originally from Northern Ireland, now lives in North London with her husband, and daughter Charlotte.

Alix is a strategic risk professional with over 20 years’ experience working both with and within the public sector. Alix is passionate about the value of risk management and its role in driving improved resilience of organisations and communities. Her current role involves looking at the key emerging and evolving areas of risk impacting the public sector now and in the future and leading Zurich Municipal’s response to these. Alix is also leading on the Sustainability agenda for Zurich Municipal, through the lenses of Planet, People and Communities.

Andrew Burns is an Associate Director at CIPFA where his role is to enhance the strong links between CIPFA and the local government sector, building trust to improve public financial management and governance.

He was CIPFA President in 2017/18 serving an Institute with over 14,000 members worldwide who work throughout the public services, in national audit agencies, in major accountancy firms and in other public bodies where public money needs to be effectively and efficiently managed.

Until December 2018, he spent 12 years as Director of Finance and Resources for Staffordshire County Council; was Treasurer of the Staffordshire Pension Fund and a former President of the Society of County Treasurers.

He is also a trustee of the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny (CfGS) the leading national organisation promoting and supporting excellence in governance and scrutiny across public service and an experienced Non-Executive Director in the social housing sector.

Simon is Vice President, Research & Advisory Services at the Urban Land Institute (ULI), where he is responsible for managing its innovative research agenda covering the key issues shaping the future of cities and the real estate industry including climate change and sustainability, investment and development trends and shifts in demography and technological change.

Prior to joining ULI, Simon specialised in research on global cities and real estate for Grosvenor, one of the world’s largest privately-owned international property businesses. Simon’s role involved undertaking analysis on global city developments to inform the company’s long-term strategy and thinking on cities. He has undertaken major research projects on megatrends for real estate, examining topics such as urbanisation, demographic change, digital disruption and climate change.

Simon also has previous experience working in urban planning, economic development and strategic consulting for the retail sector. He holds an MSc in Urban Economic Development from The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, University College London.

Carol has worked as the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer at Manchester City Council . As well as being the S151 officer, she had responsibility for the Corporate Core and for driving a number of priorities such as the leading on the Council’s Zero Carbon Action Plan and as SRO for The Factory and Town Hall projects. Her previous experience in Manchester has included her role as Deputy City Treasurer responsible for Finance and Performance and ICT as well as being a member of the Health and Social Care Devolution Team, as Assistant Chief Executive overseeing Finance and Performance and as the Assistant Director of Finance and Commissioning for Social Services.

She is CIPFA qualified and has a diploma in management and is a member of the CIPFA Council and is chair of the Public Financial Management Board. Carol has a wealth of experience in financial management, governance and assurance and fulfilling trustee roles. She is currently a trustee for a number of joint ventures such as Northern Gateway and Manchester Central and for the Greater Manchester Learning Trust.

Polly spent much of her career at the Guardian where she reported on health, social affairs and education, before joining the lobby team as Whitehall Editor, writing about government and policy. She went on to be digital editor of the Guardian, then led newsrooms as Editor-in-Chief at HuffPost UK, a Partner at Tortoise Media and Managing Director at PA Media. Her book, Behind Closed Doors, an investigation into social services in England, was published by Virago in February 2022 and was a finalist in the Orwell Prize for political writing. In it, she sets a vision for a different way that the state and communities can work together to solve problems. She serves as a trustee of the Public Interest News Foundation, as well as a Non-Executive Director of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. All her career has been concerned with where the state meets citizen and how we can improve the relationships between those with power, and those without.

David joined the Health Foundation in May 2018 and currently leads a programme of work developing policy and analysis related to the wider determinants of health. His work focuses the role that social and economic policy and business can play in improving health, and understanding the influence that health has on social and economic outcomes of people and places.

Previously David worked for the Resolution Foundation as a Senior Fellow working on a range of issues including tax and benefit policy with a focus on Universal Credit, calculating the Living Wage, demographics, pensions and pay progression.

Prior to this, he worked as an Economic Adviser at the Department for Work and Pensions on areas including childcare and state pensions.

Mark was appointed Head of Accountancy (Deputy s151 Officer) for Blackpool Council in June 2021 having spent several years as a Finance Manager primarily supporting Children’s and Adult Services. Mark moved to local government after spending five years in the manufacturing and services sectors.

Former Director at Accenture Research, Stephanie Hare is a political risk analyst, historian and researcher in technology. Stephanie frequently writes editorials for the Financial Times and is a regular commentator on BBC World News, BBC World Service and Radio 4 analysing matters from China’s Huawei scandal, to cryptocurrencies,to the gender pay gap.

Stephanie has worked as an analyst at foreign policy advisory Oxford Analytica, where she conducted analysis into the euro crisis, which was covered by the BBC. She later worked as a strategist at the US software company Palantir, until she became Principal Director of Research at Accenture. Looking at technology through political and historical lenses, Stephanie’s research includes the effects of EU data protection on global companies, the ethical implications of data mining and AI, the challenges to policy making and the risks of a global technological revolution.

With an understanding of both the policy and the engineering sides of technology, in her talks Stephanie draws from a range of perspectives to cover the multilayered questions about the future. She covers everything from biometrics and AI in HR, digital footprints and the ‘datafication’ of children’s identity to consensus in policy-making, spending on cybersecurity and accountability. As in her book, Technology Is Not Neutral: A Short Guide to Technology Ethics, she also expertly provides a practical overview of how to create and use tools and technologies to maximize benefits and minimize harm.

Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt has been independent chair of the NHS Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board since July 2022 and was previously chair of the Norfolk & Waveney integrated care system. In 2023, she authored the Hewitt Review, an Independent Review of Integrated Care Systems, which has proved highly influential with government and opposition policy-makers as well as NHS, local government and other partners. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/642b07d87de82b00123134fa/the-hewitt-review.pdf 

After a decade in the voluntary sector, Patricia became press secretary and policy co-ordinator to Rt Hon Neil Kinnock in 1983, supporting Labour’s Policy Review after the 1987 election. As deputy director of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), she established the Commission on Social Justice at the request of Rt Hon John Smith, and became MP for Leicester West in 1997. She served in the Blair Government as Cabinet Minister for Women, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and then Secretary of State for Health. As Health Secretary, she introduced the smoke-free legislation, establishing the NHS Choices website (www.nhs.uk) and created a ground-breaking public consultation – Our Health, Our Care, Our Say – that urged a shift towards prevention and services closer to people’s homes and communities.

Patricia has a long-standing interest in digital transformation of healthcare. As chair of the UK India Business Council from 2010 to 2018, she helped build partnerships between the two countries in healthcare and other sectors, and retains her interest in India as chair of the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development.

Australian by birth, Patricia came to Britain as a student, graduating from Newnham College, Cambridge. She lives in Norfolk; in her spare time, she is an enthusiastic gardener, active in her village community and loves walking and running (very slowly). She has a daughter in London and a son in Sydney.

Ben Hunte is a senior reporter for VICE World News, investigating stories about LGBTQ people, race, and inequality from across the world. Previously, Ben was the BBC’s first LGBTQ Correspondent, reporting on stories surrounding sexuality and gender, before becoming the BBC’s West Africa Correspondent. He is one of the UK’s most recognisable LGBTQ broadcasters and his in-depth journalism led to several viral reports.

Before moving into journalism, Ben worked as a Strategy Manager for Google alongside growing his YouTube channel, with over 100,000 followers. He left to become a full-time influencer and train as a journalist, starting his journey reporting for Channel 5 and ITV news, hosting shows on BBC Radio 4 and then a news anchor for BBC News Africa.

One of the BBC’s youngest correspondents, Ben’s journalism exposed many issues including Poland’s ‘LGBT-Free Zones’, the government’s failure to record LGBTQ suicides, electric shock ‘conversion therapy’ and the rise of hate crimes during the pandemic. He is open about his own experiences as a Black gay man and is passionate about not only serving the LGBTQ community but educating those less familiar with the issues affecting the community.

Ben has a strong track record of delivering agenda-setting original journalism online, for TV, and radio. He has been named on both The Guardian and DIVA Magazine’s Pride Power and has won several awards for his journalism.

Paul is the Group Chief Executive of Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) and Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust (JRHT). Paul started with us on the 1 September 2020, and was previously a Director General in the UK Government working on the national response to the COVID-19 crisis. He has held Director General roles at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Education. He was Deputy Chief Executive for Policy and Organisational Strategy at the Ministry for Children in New Zealand. Paul has also held senior roles at HM Treasury, the Cabinet Office, and a local authority. He has worked throughout his career on economic and social policy issues and public service reform.

Owen was appointed as Chief Executive of Hertfordshire County Council in January 2019 having spent the previous three years as the council’s Executive Director of Resources and s151/Chief Finance Officer.

Owen moved to local government after spending eight years in the Senior Civil Service, where he held Finance Director roles at the Home Office, HM Courts Service and the Legal Aid Agency.

He spent the first 12 years of his career in professional services with PWC, working with a wide range of private and public sector clients and also qualifying as a chartered accountant.

In addition to his operational responsibilities at HCC, Owen has been a member of his local system’s Integrated Care Board alongside NHS and voluntary sector partners.

Owen has also recently concluded terms as lead local authority Chief Exec for the East of England region and has been the Vice-Chair of the Association of County Chief Executives.

Outside work Owen’s interests focus around family, fair weather road cycling and reading.

Adam commenced work at Blackpool Council as a Modern Apprentice in Accountancy in 2004 and has recently project managed the implementation of the Council’s new Finance system, TechnologyOne. Adam’s current position is Finance Manager – Systems and Reconciliations.

Dr Raphael Olaiya is an expert in scientific software development. In his current role as a Lead Data Scientist in the NHS, he is responsible for finding innovative solutions and strategies to improve clinical outcomes in medical settings, working with clinical data, AI, VR and AR.

After completing his Bachelor’s in Medicine, Raphael pivoted to doing a MSc in Data and Computer Science. In speeches and his research, he combines this background in both medicine and data to explore the empirical links between wellbeing and health. Away from medicine and software, he is recognisable to younger viewers as the co-host of Operation Ouch!, where he educates the audience on the human body.

Ian is a Cipfa fellow who started his local government finance career in the 1980’s qualifying as an Accounting Technician before studying for Cipfa whilst at Blackpool and Preston City Councils. Ian is delighted to represent the NW region on Cipfa Council having been elected in 2023.

On leaving local government, Ian worked for the DWP before moving into consultancy and has spent the last 20 plus years at several major suppliers providing a variety of solutions and transformational services to the public sector with a significant focus on Local Government back-office enterprise solutions.

From the steps of Downing Street to the inside of the White House press briefing room, Jon Sopel  has spent four decades reporting on global events and interviewing the people who tried to shape  them. 

Described by President Trump as ‘another beauty’ his face has graced just about every news  programme on the BBC and his familiar voice has carried across the airwaves of BBC Radio from  Paris, Kuwait City, Washington DC and Blackpool. 

In February 2022 Jon announced he was leaving the BBC to launch the News Agents Podcast  alongside Lewis Goodall and Emily Maitlis. In July 2023 Jon launched with Emily News Agents USA. 

As the BBC’s North America Editor Jon reported on the rise and fall of President Trump. He was Paris  correspondent when Concorde crashed and was based in Kuwait City during the 2003 invasion of  Iraq. 

Jon’s presentational skills have been extensively used across the BBC as an in-studio host for BBC  News Channel, The Politics Show, BBC News at One, BBC Two’s party conference coverage,  Newsnight and on BBC World News. 

Outside the studio Jon has reported live into every major BBC news bulletin on location from around  the country and across the globe, including coverage of Nelson Mandela’s funeral, the inauguration  of a new Pope, countless elections, and wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Middle East. He has  interviewed numerous Presidents, Prime Ministers and the occasional Emir.

Steve has 38 years of public finance experience, 10 in the acute health sector and 28 with Blackpool Council, the last 12 as its statutory finance officer during a period of massive regeneration of the premier seaside resort in the UK. Steve has also held many voluntary roles and is currently chair of Trinity Hospice Audit Committee.