10am – 12pm3 February 2026
10 St Bride Street, London
techUK
Scaling in... is a event series designed to help techUK SME members explore new industries and markets. Each session focuses on a specific sector, providing insights into opportunities, challenges, and practical steps for successfully selling into that market.
The UK’s financial services industry is one of the most competitive and internationally connected in the world, anchored by London as a leading global financial centre and supported by thriving regional hubs in cities like Edinburgh, Manchester, and Leeds. The sector makes a major contribution to the UK economy, generating around £280 billion in economic output (12–13% of GVA), employing nearly 2.5 million people across the country, and delivering a significant trade surplus that underpins the UK’s global economic influence.
The financial services sector offers a major growth opportunity for UK tech firms as one of the country’s largest and most innovation-driven industries, with significant budgets dedicated to digital transformation. Banks, insurers, and asset managers are seeking new technologies to modernise legacy systems, improve customer experience, strengthen security, and meet regulatory requirements—areas where UK tech excels. With London as a global financial centre and a thriving fintech ecosystem supported by progressive regulators, the sector provides a springboard for UK firms to scale, build credibility, and access international markets.
Join us for this in-person event to gain the insights, connections, and strategies you need to successfully engage with banks, insurers, asset managers, and other financial institutions.
This interactive session will explore:
How the financial services sector is evolving and where technology is driving transformation.
The key challenges financial services firms face—and how tech solutions can address them.
Practical advice on navigating procurement, compliance, and partnership models.
Opportunities for SMEs and scaling tech companies to position themselves as trusted partners.
Whether you’re already working with financial services firms or looking to enter the market, this event will help you understand the sector’s needs and connect with the right opportunities to grow.
Panel Discussion: Unlocking Advanced Technologies for Financial Services
Tom Graham, MD Banking, Accenture (Chair)
Kulwinder Johal, Group Head of Technology Cyber and Change Risk Management, Coventry Building Society
Lana Hampicke, Partner, T3
Ian Ellis, Director of Customer & Industry Partnerships, LSEG
Technology Spotlight
Christopher Sanders, Global Head of Customer Intelligence Solutions, Quantexa
Networking
Stephanie Barr
Programme Manager, SME Engagement and Nations & Regions, techUK
Stephanie Barr
Programme Manager, SME Engagement and Nations & Regions, techUK
Stephanie is the Programme Manager for SME Engagement and Nations & Regions at techUK.
Working across the two programmes, Stephanie develops activities to support the growth and development of tech SMEs and engages with members and stakeholders more broadly to help strengthen regional tech economies.
Prior to joining techUK, Stephanie worked for a political events company and as a Senior Caseworker for an MP. She holds an MA (HONS) in Politics from the University of Glasgow.
Outside of work, Stephanie enjoys travelling, climbing and playing squash.
James leads our financial services programme of activity. He works closely with member firms from across the sector to ensure innovation and technology are fully harnessed and embraced by both industry and regulators.
Prior to joining us James worked at other business organisations including TheCityUK and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) in roles focused on supporting the financial & related professional services eco-system, with a particular focus on financial technology and market infrastructure.
Ed is Head of SME Engagement and is responsible for shaping techUK’s proposition to our SMEs across the country, ensuring our policy work, market access activity and services benefit the SME community.
Prior to working at techUK, Ed worked in the at the Department for International Trade, engaging with a variety of businesses, particularly SMEs, to understand the benefits of Free Trade Agreements and act as case studies in press and social media. Ed has also worked in policy and public affairs within the voluntary sector, namely the Alzheimer’s Society and the Men’s Health Forum.
Ed holds a MA in International Relations from Leiden University, and in his spare time enjoys spending time with his son, travelling, and visiting historical sites.
The techUK Financial Services programme connects tech firms, the FS industry, and regulators to ensure innovation and technology can be fully embraced. Through market engagement activities and events, we help to empower decision makers and aid collaboration.
Our members develop strong networks, build meaningful partnerships and grow their businesses as we all work together to create a thriving environment where industry, government and stakeholders come together to realise the positive outcomes tech can deliver.
James leads our financial services programme of activity. He works closely with member firms from across the sector to ensure innovation and technology are fully harnessed and embraced by both industry and regulators.
Prior to joining us James worked at other business organisations including TheCityUK and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) in roles focused on supporting the financial & related professional services eco-system, with a particular focus on financial technology and market infrastructure.
Junior Programme Manager - Financial Services & SME Engagement
Lourdes de Miguel
Junior Programme Manager - Financial Services & SME Engagement
Lourdes de Miguel joined techUK in January 2026 as a Junior Programme Manager in the Financial Services and SME Engagement programmes.
Lourdes supports the financial service programme’s mission of connecting firms from across the ecosystem to ensure innovation and technology can be fully harnessed by financial services. She also assists the SME team to help members meet, network and collaborate with their peers, industry leaders and customers.
Prior to joining techUK, Lourdes gained experience in research, finance, and stakeholder engagement across several organisations. Starting off at Elcano Royal Institute in Brussels, she supported seminar creation and event organization engaging with key policymakers and industry leaders developing an understanding of European policymaking. She later joined Swift, assisting the Industry Engagement team to build connections with Central Banks and other international bodies as well as developing research on macroeconomic topics.
Lourdes holds a BA (with honours) in Politics and International Studies from the University of Warwick.
Programme Assistant, Data Centres, Climate, Environment and Sustainability, Market Access, techUK
Lucas Banach
Programme Assistant, Data Centres, Climate, Environment and Sustainability, Market Access, techUK
Lucas Banach is Programme Assistant at techUK, he works on a range of programmes including Data Centres; Climate, Environment & Sustainability; Market Access and Smart Infrastructure and Systems.
Before that Lucas who joined in 2008, held various roles in our organisation, which included his role as Office Executive, Groups and Concept Viability Administrator, and most recently he worked as Programme Executive for Public Sector. He has a postgraduate degree in International Relations from the Andrzej Frycz-Modrzewski Cracow University.
Stefan Gajewski is a Head of Product at GBG, leading digital identity and trust innovation that helps organisations unlock growth while managing risk across the UK and global markets.
I'm a partner in Accenture's UK business, and lead our work with Banking clients. I also run Accenture's Fintech Innovation Labs/growth programme. I help clients use technology to innovate and modernise..
Lana Hampicke is a technology, risk, and RegTech expert with 20+ years of experience helping organizations adopt emerging technologies in complex and fast-moving markets. She is co-founder of T3, an award-winning Responsible AI agency supporting Big Tech and frontier companies to build, scale, and deploy AI safely by design. Ex IBM and Big 4, she is also a former Chief Risk Innovation Officer and COO at FTSE 500 firms.
Global Head of Customer Intelligence Solutions, Quantexa
Christopher is a global leader in data and AI for financial services, with 10+ years’ experience working with global banks and insurance firms on data and AI strategy and the delivery of data-driven solutions to accelerate growth, reduce costs and enhance customer experience.
Christopher is Global Head of Customer Intelligence Solutions at Quantexa, where he is responsible for setting the solution strategy and roadmap, acting as a subject matter expert across the business for sales, marketing and AI, and working with clients and partners across sectors and regions to help them unlock the value of their data to grow and optimize their businesses.
Previously, Christopher led the Data Analytics & Monetization team at Barclays, where he helped the bank design and deliver a range of data-driven applications across the group including for Corporate & Investment Banking, Wealth Management and Retail Banking.
Join us on 16 March for techUK’s annual Policy Conference, bringing together senior leaders from government, regulators, industry and academia to discuss the key issues shaping UK tech.
