Rachel Edwards is a Senior Policy Adviser at the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries. She is the project lead for Working in Mortgages which is a careers and outreach initiative with more than 130 volunteers from more than 90 firms and is also the project lead for the Green Mortgage Advice Initiative which is a cross-industry project intended to act as a source of support for intermediaries, helping them to understand and address green issues. Rachel’s background in financial services is primarily managing underwriting and processing teams for mortgage lenders. 

After 15 years working for the UK government and the EU on housing policy, Paula launched the HomeOwners Alliance. Now in its 11th year, HomeOwners Alliance exists to restore trust in home ownership by lobbying for policies and industry practices to get a better deal for homeowners. 

With almost 5 million unique visitors a year, her website offers practical help to homeowners facing some of the biggest and most complex decisions of their lives.  

Paula is a respected commentator and advocate for homeowners and is regularly quoted in the media and appears on radio and TV. 

Paul is Managing Director of the leading PR and marketing agency, Square 1 Media. Paul has worked in marketing within the financial services and property sectors in a career spanning over 25 years. Since 2001, he has held Head of or Marketing Director roles in businesses like Platform (the intermediary lender of Co-op), Lehman Brothers and Countrywide and has managed both B2B and B2C. A well-known industry spokesperson, he has an extensive contact list across the mortgage industry.

Jeff is an experienced professional in the mortgage market and has worked within it since the late 1990s. He has worked for many lenders at Exec Level and now operates as a strategic consultant and runs Mortgage Marketing Forum. His expertise spans all things strategy, marketing, products, people development and research. 

Mike is the Event Director of the successful Mortgage Business Expo series of events that bring Lenders and Intermediaries and has over 30 years of experience in events with an unrivalled knowledge of the b2b, b2c and consumer markets. 

Since joining Mortgage Business Expo in 2010 Mike and his team have developed the delegate and exhibitor experience and have introduced many of new innovations that have helped make Mortgage Business Expo a must attend event.  

In addition, Mike has been successfully involved in a wide range of projects from new launches through to turnaround strategies on events, conferences and publications. 

Charles is Director of Mortgages at UK Finance, the trade body for the banking and finance industry, with nearly 120 mortgage lenders in its membership. Charles and his team are responsible for responding to government and regulatory policy requests on behalf of the UK ‘s mortgage lending industry. In addition to his role at UK Finance, Charles is a non-executive of Stonebridge Mortgage Solutions, and chairs its Risk Committee. 

With over 30 years in the finance industry, Charles’ career encompasses all parts of the mortgage sector, including an Executive Director and Chief Risk Officer at a top 10 building society, a director in the financial services practice at a Grant Thornton, and 11 years regulatory and compliance experience at the FCA.  Whilst at the FCA, Charles, was Head of Department for the mortgage sector, where he oversaw the implementation of both the Mortgage Market Review and the Mortgage Credit Directive. 

Robin Rouwenhorst is the Mortgages and Housing Policy Manager at the Building Societies Association (BSA). The BSA is the voice for all 42 UK building societies and its objective is to champion and support its members. In this role, she works closely with industry, Government, and the regulator to support and influence mortgage and housing policy. Her work covers mortgage regulation, first-time buyers, later life lending, and other strategic opportunities and challenges shaping the mortgage market.

Before joining the BSA, Robin successfully ran her own mortgage brokerage, specialising in helping first-time buyers navigate the homebuying process. Robin is passionate about improving the homebuying and selling process, supporting first-time buyers and is a firm advocate for financial education in the industry.

Robert helped establish the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) as an independent entity on 1 February 2012. Robert joined the former parent trade body, AIFA, in October 2006, initially looking after the Association of Finance Brokers and since 2008, AMI. He stood down as Chief Executive in March 2025 and continues to provide advisory support to the AMI team

He brings a wealth of industry experience to the trade body having held a number of front line sales roles in personal, private and corporate banking combined with experience in marketing, training and internal audit with both HSBC and Santander.

Robert served five years as a non-executive director of the Buckinghamshire Building Society and is now Chair of the Board Risk Committee at the Darlington Building Society.

Debbie Staveley is a PR professional specialising in financial services, property and construction. Her background includes working in-house at RBS, Bristol & West/Bank of Ireland and a top-75 law firm, establishing both internal and external communication functions. 

In 2005, Debbie founded bClear Communications, now one of the most well-respected public relations agencies in the financial services sphere, working throughout the UK. The team at bClear is well known for achieving results and has an outstanding track record of generating extensive media coverage for its clients in both trade and national press. 

Stephen has held senior positions within large international property advisory companies carrying out UK and pan European loan security and portfolio valuations for clients including two of the largest European Industrial portfolios. Having also worked for one of the UK’s largest specialist lenders, Stephen has unique experience in carrying out valuation reviews and providing lending advice in all property types and sectors, helping identify property specific valuation and lending risks. 

Following a career with the Royal Bank of Scotland, in 2005 Adam took over the running of a Financial Trade Association responsible for 1600 Commercial Finance Brokers and 150 UK lenders to business. During that period, he oversaw lending to SME’s of around £100 billion. In addition, he also had the chance to help shape and influence some of the new UK business lenders that came to market following the financial crisis.  

Adam is now Consultant to the Financial Intermediary and Broker Association, a Director of Intermediaries at Black and White Bridging and a Director of the Genesis Initiative, helping small businesses across the country gain better access to finance as well as helping small businesses find that all important funding they need to grow their business. 

Sally has over 35 years’ experience in financial services, and previously held the role of Head of Intermediary Distribution at Hampshire Trust Bank, and before that Head of Sales at Vida Homeloans. She has a vast amount of experience from her time in the intermediary sector, including roles with OSB, Rooftop Mortgages, Mortgage Trust and Nationwide.  

Sally is now Head of Distribution at Paragon, where she is tasked with building relationships with the largest network and club partners. With a focus on raising awareness of the banks buy-to-let proposition, Sally is working to broaden the distribution network and ensure strategies are aligned and opportunities are maximised.  

Dr Yi Wu is a Lecturer in Real Estate Economics, specialising in housing economics and corporate finance. Dr Wu joined Henley Business School from Cass Business School as Lecturer in Real Estate. Dr Wu spent time as a visiting scholar at the University of San Diego and the National University of Singapore and worked for Yuexiu, a Hong Kong based real estate investment trust and CHER AMI Investment Group, a Guangzhou based private fund.

Dr Wu was appointed as the chair of the Society of Property Researchers (SPR) and chair of RED Foundation Data Research & Academia Steering Group in 2023, co-chair of Global Women in Society in 2022. She has good connections with the real estate industry, including Knight Frank, Co-Star, CBRE, JLL, MSCI, and BNP Paribas Real Estate. She works with various business organizations in shaping big data strategies in business decision.