Speaker Profiles

Chris  Warburton has spent over 15 years in executive roles, leading transformation and delivering performance improvements in businesses in the UK, Canada and across many other markets around the world.

With a passion for new ideas, technology and process innovation, he helps teams find new ways of working to improve performance. Chris frequently speaks at events and conferences. He is always keen to look ahead of the curve, demystify and share experience with a wider audience.  For him, it is all about helping create great conversations in order to generate great solutions.

Data minded and people orientated his experience spans sectors from financial services, telecommunications and more recently in an advisory role in consultancy. He has specialist knowledge across the customer lifecycle, from Account Origination to Fraud, Account management, Collections and Recoveries. He is currently working on a series of videos exploring the latest ideas, innovation and technology in Credit and Collections.  The conversation is available at RO-AR.com.

Chris Leslie joined the Credit Services Association (CSA) as Chief Executive in August 2020, having formerly served as MP for Nottingham East since 2010 and for Shipley from 1997 to 2005. He was a Minister overseeing courts, local government and the Cabinet Office – and in opposition was shadow City Minister and then Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2015. He was Director at New Local Government Network from 2005 – 2010.

Maria is an experienced operations leader with over 12 years in debt and collections, affordability and customer outcomes. A passionate advocate for vulnerable customers, she specialises in transforming collections journeys, championing industry best practice and finding smarter ways to balance technology, commercial performance and genuinely empathetic customer support.

Profile to follow soon…

James is an experienced fintech leader. He is passionate about real-time technology and its ability to transform outcomes. As CEO of Flexys, James focuses on improving results for collections operations and their customers. Flexys leads the way in collections technology, enabling organisations to collect more efficiently. This reduces friction for people in arrears, helping them to achieve a faster resolution.

Brendan Twomey is an accomplished technology leader with over 25 years’ experience delivering complex strategies for leading UK banks and fintechs. Most notably, at 10x Banking, he played a pivotal role in scaling the company’s technology architecture, building its product pipeline, and delivering enterprise-grade solutions for innovative financial institutions worldwide. He has also held senior roles at Lloyds Banking Group and the Royal Bank of Scotland, leading large-scale transformation initiatives and modernising legacy systems.

As Chief Technology Officer at Pepper Advantage, Brendan is responsible for setting and leading the company’s global technology vision and strategy. He oversees the development of Pepper Advantage’s proprietary platforms, including PRISM, ensuring scalability, security and operational excellence. Brendan also leads tech innovation strategies across the group, driving the integration of emerging technologies to strengthen client solutions and improve performance.

Based in London, Brendan is passionate about building high-performing, collaborative teams and creating a culture of innovation, agility and continuous learning.

Ryszard is a product and technology leader with extensive experience delivering digital transformation across credit businesses and financial services. His expertise spans product strategy, data, platform delivery and scaling technology-led propositions from concept through to launch

James Syron has spent more than 25 years working across credit, collections, data and technology. He has held senior leadership roles at Callcredit, Experian and fintech businesses.

His experience spans the full credit lifecycle, with expertise in using data, decisioning and digital technology to better understand customer behaviour and improve outcomes. At StepChange, James focuses on helping partners get more value from working with the charity, improving performance, strengthening collaboration and enabling more customers to access effective debt support. He is particularly interested in how technology can remove barriers rather than create them, making things simpler for people and helping organisations support customers more effectively.

Mark is the Founder and Managing Director of Indigo Cloud Ltd, a UK software company he established in 2012 to serve the credit and debt collection industry. He leads the design and development of DebtView, a multi-tenant cloud CRM built on Microsoft Azure that supports collection agencies and creditors across multiple sectors. Throughout his career, Mark has worked in hands-on debt collection operations, database administration, software development, business intelligence, and business analysis. That rare mix of frontline industry experience and technical depth shapes his practical approach to building technology, with a strong focus on regulatory compliance, data security and real-world usability. He aims to give the industry tools that make collections simpler, faster and smarter, without compromising on quality or control.

Profile to follow…