Panel events are open to all MPF and Panel members. Participants can tap into rich case studies and anecdotes - great to supplement dry statistics from surveys when presenting to management. These are intimate peer-group events to discuss issues under the 'Chatham House Rule', governing the confidentiality of the source of information received at a meeting. Much of the benefit comes from people sharing tacit know how on how to use explicit knowledge more widely or effectively in their organisation or externally.
Participants will learn new ideas and approaches, but what they share will be difficult to copy for quick commercial advantage because it will be culture specific - culture being the "deep" differentiator in most excellent knowledge businesses, regardless of sector. So each event will cover not only best practice but also ways participants have found to tackle typical cultural barriers to implementation.
As a membership organisation, all events are member only. However, those interested in joining are welcome to attend one event as our guest in order to 'smell the coffee'.
Panel Chair: Nick Heywood-Waddington has been involved with the professional services industry for many years, most recently as Director of Finance at Linklaters since 1998 and previously as a partner in the professional services practice group at Deloitte.
Panel Director: Rob Parsonage joined Barclays in 2006 as London Head of Professional Services. Rob has over 12 years experience in the Banking industry, prior to joining Barclays he held a number of senior leadership roles within the Abbey Group.
Charlotte Balfry, Berwin Leighton Paisner
Andrew Cope, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Richard Dunkley spent nine years at Price Waterhouse where he was responsible for managing the provision of audit services and business advice to major European and US firms in the media, property, insurance and manufacturing business sectors. He also gained considerable exposure to a variety of non-audit assignments including the London Stock Exchange flotations of organisations. Since leaving Price Waterhouse in 1995, Richard has worked in a variety of finance positions in both public and private companies within the services sector, culminating in his appointment as the Group Finance Director of NB Real Estate in June 2002.
Paul Edwards joined DLA Piper as CFO in late 2004 with responsibility for all matters financial outside of the US. He is a member of both the Firm's International Board and the Management Executive. His extensive experience in the professional services industry includes three years with Linklaters in a group controllership role and seven years with Simmons & Simmons as the Director of Finance. An ACA, he qualified with Arthur Andersen, leaving as an Audit Manager to join Lex Service plc where amongst other things he gained considerable and varied experience as a user of a broad range of professional services.
Laurence Milsted is Finance Director of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and is responsible for all aspects of financial management and financial systems. He has been at Freshfields since 1993 and Finance Director since 1998. Over this time the firm has grown significantly with revenue increasing by over four times and the international network extended organically and through two major German mergers.
David McLaughlin was appointed Group Finance Director at Simmons & Simmons in May 2005 and is responsible for the financial affairs of the worldwide partnership managing a global team. Prior to that David was Associate Director and Head of Group Finance at Linklaters, where he was responsible for the reorganisation and restructuring of the global finance team, provided merger support and due diligence activities and was heavily involved in the selection, development and implementation of SAP. David trained with Touche Ross & Co, where he worked on a number of audit assignments in London and Paris and on forensic investigations in Luxembourg. On leaving the profession, David established the group reporting function at Arjo Wiggins Appleton.
Bob Warburton, Deloitte
Richard Williams spent four years at Ernst & Young where he trained as a chartered accountant before leading teams providing audit and corporate finance services to clients across many sectors, including Insurance, Media and Energy. In the period since leaving E&Y in 1998, he spent time developing his skills in business in the media and telecommunications sectors, before joining Lane Clark & Peacock LLP in the Spring of 2004 as Financial Controller. Since that time, Richard has progressed at the Firm of Consultants and Actuaries to the role of Finance Director, a role that involves Strategic Planning, Board interaction and the promotion of the business within Europe and beyond.