An advisory board for fintech firms in the South West has made two senior hires as it looks to grow influences across the sector nationwide.
Bristol-based FinTech West has hosted events bringing together start-ups, scale-ups and established financial tech companies since 2016.
The group has now hired PwC director Katharine Adlard and NatWest’s Louis Spencer to help provide greater guidance and support to firms in the regional sector.
Ms Adlard leads PwC’s financial services tax team in the West and Wales and has more than 17 years of experience in the sector. She has been involved with FinTech West since its inception, and also in a recent regional fintech cluster strategy report for the West of England Combined Authority (WECA).
Mr Spencer is a senior relationship manager at Natwest and technology, media and telecoms lead for the bank’s West of England commercial banking team. Over the past decade he has contributed to business reports and ecosystem initiatives including the WECA FinTech Strategy Review 2022 with Deloitte.
Ms Adlard said: “I have a particular interest in FinTech and how it can disrupt and shake up the traditional financial sector offering, and I have enjoyed facilitating sessions through PwC’s partnership already, sharing insight into the industry and contributing to thought leadership. I am excited to make an impact in this sector with FinTech West and look forward to all we can achieve together.”
Mr Spencer said: "I’m looking forward to bringing my expertise from working with NatWest Entrepreneurship Accelerator and growing businesses into FinTech West to bring about an inclusive growth of all its members.
FinTech West said the additions to its team would be “extremely beneficial” for the organisation, with more collaborations, events, seminars and support set to be offered following their appointment.
Stuart Harrison, director of FinTech West, said: “Having extremely experienced and knowledgeable board members like Louis and Katharine is fantastic for FinTech West and we are excited to continue the journey to help promote and provide vital support to the ever-growing FinTech community across the South West.”
FinTech West was originally formed as Bristol FinTech by businesses operating in the city, including law firm Clarke Willmott, PwC, Hargreaves Lansdown, Barclays bank, and Deepbridge Capital.
The organisation later changed its name with Whitecap Consulting, the co-founders of FinTech North, joining when it opened a Bristol office in 2018.
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