Stonebridge has outlined details of its 2022 National Conference & Awards, which will take place on 21 March at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole.
The Conference, taking place for the first time since 2020, is being held under the theme, ‘Empowering success through valued relationships’ and will provide Stonebridge Appointed Representative (AR) firms and advisers with a range of sessions designed to support their activities and help them develop and grow opportunities and income streams.
Stonebridge will open the conference with a session on the business development, operational and recruitment support available from the network including a focus on business standards, technology, and marketing.
Moderated by David Smith, economics editor of The Sunday Times, the next session will feature Tim Bannister, director at Rightmove Data Services, and Chris Pearson, head of intermediary mortgages at HSBC UK, who will look at the trends and future outlook for the UK’s property and mortgage markets.
There will also be sessions on the changing nature of customer behaviour and how to tune into it, connecting protection to mortgage customers, plus a panel session looking at the role advisory firms have in the ‘Green’ space.
Finally, the conference keynote speaker on the day will be former Wales and British & Irish Lions rugby captain, Gareth Thomas, who will talk about his success on the field, and the challenges he had to overcome as the first openly gay man in the sport.
Stonebridge will also be holding its annual dinner and award ceremony on the evening of 21 March where it will reward a range of AR firms for excellence in 2021.
Rob Clifford (pictured), chief executive of Stonebridge, said: “2022’s Conference, Dinner and Awards has effectively been two years in the making so we wanted to make it very special for all those who attend. We were last able to put our firms and partners under one roof back in 2020 and clearly a lot has happened in the intervening months and years. The day at Hilton Birmingham Metropole will be a chance to review what has happened but to also look to the future in terms of what advisory firms can expect in 2022 and beyond, and to highlight how Stonebridge is going to support their activities and ambitions.
“We have put together a very strong roster of conference sessions and we are particularly pleased to be able to announce Gareth Thomas as our keynote speaker who I’m sure will provide motivation and inspiration for all that attend. Stonebridge will also, as usual, be handing out the gongs at our Awards evening – 2021 was a challenging year but undoubtedly an excellent one for many firms and we’ll be rewarding them for all their outstanding efforts. We’re looking forward to seeing the Stonebridge ‘family’ in Birmingham and providing views on the market itself and the many opportunities firms can access.”
