The inaugural Chris Sier welcome address
In November, following a brave battle with colon cancer, we received the news that our chair Chris Sier had sadly passed away.
In honour of Chris’ legacy and in recognition of his incredible contributions to Northern FinTech, all of our future flagship conferences will include a dedicated Chris Sier welcome address – a segment for bold ideas, deep industry insight and the kind of provocative, action-driving thinking Chris was known for.
At our Manchester Conference 2025 last month, our director Julian Wells delivered the inaugural Chris Sier welcome address. To mark this moment, we’d like to share this with the FinTech North community. Continue scrolling to read the full transcript, or watch the full video below:
“Good morning everyone, and welcome to FinTech North. It’s brilliant to have you with us, and my thanks go to all our partners and supporters who make this event possible. Those of you who know me will know that I don’t script my speeches. But today, I have.
And I’ve done that as a mark of respect to Chris Sier, FinTech North’s first and only Chair, because he shaped so much of what this community has become, and therefore the words used in this opening address deserve to be carefully chosen.
Chris meant a great deal to this community, and to me personally. He believed deeply in what FinTech North could be: bold, principled, and genuinely regional as well as national. He gave his time, his insight and his passion to helping shape FinTech North, and to championing fairness and transparency across financial services.
I had the privilege of working closely with him, and I learned a great deal from his advice, his challenge, and his belief in what this community could achieve.
He signed off his final message with the words: “Thank you all. Farewell, enjoy life, be happy.”
Thank you, Chris. We’ll honour that spirit today, and your legacy will live on in so many ways, including this speaker slot at our future conferences.
To open, let’s look at the economic backdrop
Are we at a turning point? Let’s hope so, albeit I’m not sure many of us in the room are too excited about tomorrow’s budget.
Let me briefly set the context we’re operating in.
The economic environment is cooling but not cold. Growth is modest, inflation has eased but remains sticky, and households and businesses are still making careful choices.
We’re also in a rate environment that has come down from its peak, but not settled into a new normal. That brings uncertainty – and opportunity – particularly in areas such as lending. If Chris were here, I’m sure he’d correct me and refer to responsible lending.
And the policy backdrop is shifting. Smart Data, payments reform and AI frameworks are all shaping the next phase of competitiveness, and creating excitement in respect of potentially game changing reform in areas such as homebuying.
FinTech doesn’t sit outside economic conditions; it responds to them. Historically, moments like this often produce some of the strongest innovators. A great example is Zopa, one of the original FinTechs, who came to prominence in the wake of the credit crunch, and who have recently opened a Manchester office.
So where is UK FinTech now?
The sector has is stabilising and has matured.
First, investment has stabilised at a more rational level. The hype cycle is behind us, scaleups have been maturing (such as today’s headline sponsors OakNorth), and firms with strong business models are prospering.
Second, the UK remains Europe’s strongest FinTech ecosystem, and a desirable target market for international FinTechs, but global competition has intensified. As a nation, we need to compete on agility, talent, regulatory clarity and real-world application.
Third, and importantly for today’s conference, the regional story is now central.
This year, Whitecap published the North of England FinTech Report 2025, which found 400 FinTech firms operating across the North, and estimated that the sector is contributing around £5 billion a year to the regional economy.
That’s a scale and a level of impact that simply didn’t exist even a few years ago, and it reflects the depth and diversity of capability across Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Liverpool and the wider region.
UK FinTech has grown up. It’s more balanced, more disciplined, and more regionally distributed than ever.
There are opportunities to be excited about…
Looking ahead, there are some clear opportunity areas:
Open Finance & Smart Data
Expanding beyond bank accounts and payments, with mortgages and SME finance first up on the FCA’s agenda for its first two TechSprints.
AI as operational infrastructure
From underwriting to fraud detection, onboarding to compliant personalisation – AI is bringing efficiencies and enhancements that are challenging our ways of working, and consumer expectations.
Embedded finance
Widening the use of embedded payments will help drive growth in FinTech – allowing FinTech solutions to reach any sector where a transaction sits inside the customer journey.
Digital identity & trust
Foundational to reducing fraud and enabling faster, safer transactions across so many areas of financial services, and there is significant work being done in the north relating to areas such as property data and trust frameworks.
Tokenisation & digital assets
Tokenisation might just prove to be the FinTech word of the year in 2026, as we see a shift toward regulated, real-world assets and new settlement models.
Financial inclusion & cost-of-living responses
Amidst the challenging economic environment, we will see ongoing and increasing demand for tools that support affordable credit, savings and SME liquidity.
The next phase of UK FinTech will be built on foundations such as data, AI, trust infrastructure and distribution ecosystems.
There are also challenges to face up to
Funding remains tough for early-stage firms.
Regulatory expectations continue to rise.
Fraud is escalating rapidly, fuelled by deepfakes and identity theft.
There are talent gaps in AI, engineering and risk, and FinTech careers need better signposting from an earlier stage. This is something that FinTech North is actively helping address.
And scaling remains difficult without strong route to market, which for most FinTech firms means partnerships.
These aren’t barriers, but they are the constraints that will shape the next generation of winners.
At this point, in the spirit this keynote is intended to be delivered, I’d like to table a couple of radical ideas for the Government that might significantly move the dial for FinTech entrepreneurs.
Firstly, let’s make it an easier choice to become a FinTech entrepreneur, and introduce a fully funded 12 month salary for every FinTech founder. This would de-risk the decision to start, and also ensure that great ideas are not limited by personal wealth, postcode, or privilege.
Secondly, let’s introduce a national FinTech innovation tax credit, tailored to meet the needs of FinTech R&D, such as compliance, fraud, and financial inclusion.
And to be really radical, let’s offer enhanced relief for firms based in the regions outside London.
Closing in Chris’s Spirit
So let me close with three quick thoughts.
- First, the UK’s advantage is its problem-led, commercially grounded innovation culture, and we need to build from this.
- Second, the regions (especially the North) now sit at the heart of the national FinTech story.
- And third, 2026 will be a landmark year for Open Finance, AI, digital identity, and tokenisation.
And I want to finish in a way Chris often did in his opening remarks over the years.
Chris believed events like this only matter because of the people in the room, and he believed passionately that every speaker deserves a question, especially the entrepreneurs showcasing their businesses.
So, in his spirit:
- Enjoy the day.
- Be bold.
- Be curious.
- Talk to people.
- Ask questions (to every speaker, especially the FinTech entrepreneurs).
- Make new friends, and make new contacts.
Thank you, and have a fantastic day at FinTech North.”
We’re on the lookout for more speakers to deliver the Chris Sier welcome addresses at our upcoming flagship conferences. If you’re interested, please reach out to us at info@fintechnorth.uk.
You can read the full Manchester Conference 2025 write-up here.
