“Thank you all. Farewell, enjoy life, be happy.” – Chris Sier steps down as FinTech North chair
Today we share the news with the FinTech North community that Chris Sier, our long standing Chair, has stepped down from his role.
As many of you will be aware, Chris was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer back in 2023. Since this time he has undergone numerous courses of treatment, battling bravely against his condition and surprising none of us by making a mockery of his initial prognosis. Sadly over recent weeks things have taken a different course, and as a result Chris is unable to continue in his role.
Chris was our first and only Chair to date, and he has recorded this message for the FinTech North community:
At this time, we would like to thank Chris for the significant impact he has had on FinTech North over the last decade, and to take the opportunity to reflect on and celebrate his journey with us over the years.
Chris was a keynote speaker at the first ever FinTech North event, which was jointly hosted by Whitecap Consulting and White Label Crowdfunding back in April 2016, taking place as part of the inaugural Leeds Digital Festival. This event took place at AQL’s historic and iconic data centre at the Salem Chapel in Leeds, which was kindly lent to us for the day by its owner, Adam Beaumont. Chris’ keynote that day was memorable not only for his characteristic deep insight and hard hitting messaging, but also because of how he delivered it, taking to the glass floor of the chapel in his socks, enabling him to be closer to the audience than the pulpit stage allowed. This was controversial at the time, but the structure of the chapel floor was subsequently enhanced with a permanent walkway, to enable all speakers to do this.
Another notable feature of this first conference was that it included several speakers from Estonian FinTech and Tech firms, something else which went on to become a feature of FinTech North events. Chris’ passion for Estonia become well known and he has always beenunwavering in his enthusiasm and support for the country and the wider Baltic region, frequently chairing FinTech missions hosted by Whitecap Consulting and FinTech North, in partnership with the Department for International Trade (which is now known as DBT).Fittingly, the Salem Chapel became the location of the Estonian Consulate to the North of England in 2018.
Over the years, Chris has been unwavering in his commitment to FinTech North, making multiple trips to the North of England to chair our events and conferences in Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, and other key northern hubs. His role only ever been ambassadorial and unpaid, which speaks volumes about his passion for his role and our purpose.
Chris’ presence at our events has always been hugely appreciated by the FinTech North team, not to mention the preparation and planning he has put into his keynotes, and his advice and guidance on agenda topics and speakers. His preparation didn’t always go to plan, however, and in 2019 he completely missed his opening address at our Newcastle conference. As we were preparing to kick things off with 200+ delegates at Sage’s head office, it transpired that Chris had got a taxi to The Sage in Gateshead, a completely different venue which was several miles away. We have enjoyed reminding him of this over the years, and it is one of numerous stories we have reminisced with him about recently.
Chris was extremely proud to be appointed as a FinTech Envoy by HM Treasury in May 2018, a role that he took very seriously and one which provided a much needed link between the regional FinTech ecosystem and central Government. When the Envoy programme was discontinued early in 2023, Chris was disappointed but it did not dampen his enthusiasm to support the North and all the other regional FinTech groups across the UK. He continued to make time in his diary to attend and speak at events across the UK, and was a regular a highly vocal participant in the fortnightly meetings of the FinTech National Network, a group formed in 2019 by Innovate Finance, FinTech North and FinTech Scotland, which soon expanded to include FinTech West, FinTech Wales, FinTech NI, and SuperTech WM.
In the announcement of his official appointment as Chair of FinTech North in September 2018, Chris gave this quote:
“I’m delighted to take on this role which I see as highly complimentary to my professional interests and my personal passion for the regional economy. The UK is fortunate to have a core strength in financial services and a forward-thinking regulator. London’s role in the global FinTech economy is a significant one, but I strongly feel the regional cities of the UK have much to offer on a national and international basis, with the Northern Powerhouse perhaps the region with the most potential. I’d like to see an increasing amount of collaboration across the northern cities and I think FinTech North is perfectly placed to help create the joined up environment and community that is required for the north to prosper.”
Since this time, FinTech North has has fostered increased collaboration and coordination between the great northern cities/ecosystems, hosting close to 150 events including establishing annual conferences in Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and York. Additionally, we have embarked on international FinTech activity spanning multiple continents, and now have three full time employees supported by numerous key partners. We’ve embraced the challenge Chris laid out in his quote, and we’ll continue to strive for greater things in future.
In honour of Chris’ legacy at FinTech North, we will be naming the opening slot at our annual conferences as the Chris Sier Keynote. This brief for this slot will be to deliver an insightful talk, laced with deep industry expertise, strong calls to action, and with and a free licence to share provocative views. This is what Chris has always brought to our events, and they were all the more memorable for it.
Chris, from all of us at FinTech North, thank you for everything.
