Judging Panel

Chairman of the Judges

Rod is a director of his own consultancy business, which specialises in providing advisory services to the financial services industry and its principal suppliers. He has been involved in private equity provision as a business angel on his own behalf and has represented other investors.

Co-ordinator for nominations and Judges

Alison is a freelance journalist specialising in the financial services and technology industries. She has a BA in European Business Administration from ESC Reims, France, and an MBA from Cranfield University. Having gained marketing experience in the IT sector, she later worked in consumer credit and then as a consultant in the financial services industry.

Industry adviser

Formerly a member of the general management team at the Co-operative Bank, David now works with clients across the world in the development of profitable delivery channel strategies. He has received many invitations to speak at or direct workshops and has played a prominent role in several finance industry initiatives. Other activities have included membership of the panel of the UK Banking Code Standards Board, and the General Assembly of The University of Manchester.

Partner, Blake Lapthorn

As a partner in the law firm Blake Lapthorn, Jimmy specialises in IT, IP, and corporate, commercial and outsourcing law issues. He has a Masters degree in Electronic Engineering (first class), commendations in all Law Society examinations and a postgraduate diploma in IP Law & Practice from the University of Bristol. He writes regularly for legal and industry publications. Jimmy is also a lecturer at the University of London and presents at numerous international legal conferences, as well as on Law Channel TV.

Group Head of Marketing, Towergate Partnership

Marc has enjoyed over 20 years in the insurance industry, having worked with both insurance companies and brokers before joining Towergate Partnership in 2006 as Group Head of Marketing. Towergate is Europe's largest independently owned insurance intermediary and is renowned for its innovation and successful reinvention of the general insurance distribution model. Marc has a Masters degree in Marketing and Strategy Management, holds a qualification from the Chartered Institute of Marketing and has a Chartered Insurance Institute Diploma.

Industry adviser

Tony is Associate Director of Studies, Postgraduate Programmes at the ifs School of Finance. He has a background in studying the conjunction between technology and financial services strategy. After gaining a PhD from the London School of Economics he has worked in financial journalism, investment banking and consulting.

Head of Corporate Development, Beazley Group

Mark is an accomplished management consultant and has more than 20 years' experience in the financial services industry. He has successfully led complex projects and programmes for a range of large banks, building societies and insurance companies, including strategic options analysis, project portfolio management, and process re-engineering. Mark is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales with a first-class MA in Mathematics and a postgraduate diploma in Computer Science from Cambridge University.

Industry adviser

Richard is director of his own business, F S Insight Ltd, specialising in banking IT. This ever-evolving role involves developing and participating in new initiatives in the banking industry harking back to his roots in banking customer-facing roles developing business opportunities and supporting sales, and many years with the global banking teams of IBM and SAP.

Director, DJM Risk Management (Former Head of Operational Risk, Wholesale Banking, Lloyds TSB)

David has been in banking for over 35 years, retiring from Lloyds TSB in January 2008 to become an independent risk consultant. In his time with Lloyds, David had many diverse roles. These included leading the bank’s main international trade finance branch in Lombard Street and also its principal operational centre for global corporate customers based in London and Gillingham. As an internal auditor, David's audits included treasury operations in London, equity trading in Frankfurt, commodity trading in New York and international operations in Sydney and Wellington. He is currently working at the Bank of England.

Mark is currently a director of his own consulting company. He was formerly Chief Executive of Sun Bank Plc and Heritable Bank Plc and a former Board and Strategic Marketing Director of Sun Life Financial of Canada (UK) Ltd. He has established a number of banking businesses in retail savings, offshore markets, asset and professionals finance, mortgages and property finance. In 2006, he led his team at Heritable Bank to create the online savings business Icesave for the parent company, Landsbanki. He started his career in Midland Bank and has worked in retail, commercial and international banking across a full spectrum of disciplines. He was on the board of the BBA and holds a BSc in Banking and Finance and an MPhil, both from Loughborough University.

Training Manager for Bankhall, the IFA support services provider Suzanne has over 20 years of experience within financial services, several of these within sales, management and regulated supervision. Suzanne is a qualified training consultant, having achieved her Certificate in Training Practice (CIPD) in 2000. Prior to joining Bankhall, Suzanne worked as a successful sales consultant and regulated trainer for a large UK bank assurer. She has recently completed her Masters degree in Personnel and Development at Liverpool John Moores University and has recently completed her MBA at Chester University.