Speakers
Meet the leading keynote speakers and panelists helping you discover new paths to make smarter AP & P2P business decisions
Our conference speakers will share their own professional experience, and help you approach your goals with a fresh perspective to overcome challenges, and make smarter decisions.
Speakers are currently being shortlisted
We’re currently working on shortlisting the most engaging and accomplished speakers in the world of Accounts Payable and P2P Leadership. If you would like to be considered as a speaker to take part in a panel discussion and share your knowledge and experience, please contact us on support@acarp-edu.org to discuss further.
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Conference Host
Sue Beardsmore
Sue Beardsmore worked for BBC television for over 20 years on daily news as one of the main presenters of Midlands Today. She has extensive production, writing and coaching experience, both inside and outside the BBC, in television and radio. She is now a media consultant, trainer, facilitator and moderator.
She has a BA in English and Politics from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, and an MA in Mass Communications from the University of Leicester.
Featured IFOL Speakers
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Garry Stevens
AP/P2P Trainer – IFOL
Over 40 years in the Finance Industry, 25 years with Aberdeen City Council taking early retirement from position of Financial Services Manger in 2016. Responsible for Accounts Payable function carried out a full transformation project to deliver best in class and award winning AP team to the benefit of the Council and its suppliers. Joined IFOL in 2021 to assist students with their CAPP studies delivering webinars, masterclasses and workshops on all aspects of AP and P2P
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Caroline Adams
AP/P2P Trainer – IFOL
I am an experienced, passionate Shared Services Leader, with over 40 years’ experience in the industry. Having led Teams through numerous transformations and unprecedented periods of change.
I now work as a Consultant/Contractor helping Companies with AP/P2P & Shared Services challenges, sharing knowledge & delivering best practise
I enjoy new challenges & thrive under pressure and believe that people are at the forefront of enabling & leading transformation & ensuring we drive future growth & success for our AP/P2P/Shared Services teams
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Martin Kirby
AR/OTC Trainer – IFOL
An Order to Cash Leader with extensive operational experience leading large scale Transactional Finance teams in high volume environments for Global companies.
A deep expertise in the Order to Cash process means his knowledge and experience is highly sought after by Clients, Institutes and Associations operating in the Finance Shared Services and Credit Management industry.
Martin is a multiple Award winner creating top class Order to Cash teams for World Class Finance functions.
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Sam Hitchen-Rae
Director – IFOL
Sam is Partnerships Director at The Institute of Financial Operations & Leadership, who develop and administrate their own suite of certification programmes and continuous education for professionals in the field of AP/P2P, AR/OTC and Payroll.
Since 2018, Sam has led the growth and expansion of IFOL’s partnerships with employers of all sizes, professional bodies and technology providers across the UK, US and Canada. Previously, Sam owned and managed a recruitment business, specialising in Transactional Finance and IT markets and was joint owner and founder of an online membership community for AP professionals in the UK.
Sam’s key interests are in research and education for Operational Finance professionals, and he enjoys seeing education enabling career mobility for individuals and performance improvement for businesses.
Keynotes and Panelists
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Cristian Cataldo
TL Payables Management EMEA – Hugo Boss
Finance Leader, with professional experience in Chile, Spain, Turkey and Germany.
Former Nike General Accountant and S2P Coordinator for AGS Region.
Current Team Leader Payables Management EMEA at HUGO BOSS in Germany. Leader for the Accounts Payable Shared Service Center, responsible for the success of my team, mentoring and giving the extra mile for their professional development.
Passionate about RPA and Digital Trends in P2P and Accounts Payable.
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Robert Brooker
Head of Fraud and Forensics at PKF GM
Robert Brooker is Head of Forensics and Fraud within PKF GM and formerly Head of Fraud at Transport for London (“TfL”). He is an Accredited Counter Fraud Specialist (“ACFS”), Financial Investigation and Wicklander – Zulawski Non-Confrontational Interview Technique trained.
Robert has led disciplinary and criminal investigations, concerning Fraud, Bribery and Corruption, security breaches, cybercrime, intellectual property and procurement allegations. He has worked in the private, public and not for profit sector within fraud, bribery and corruption, in addition to Fraud Risk Management for over 20 years.
Robert is also Chair of the London Fraud Forum, a public/private partnership dedicated to best practice in preventing, detecting and investigating fraud, bribery and corruption. As well as being a founding member of United Kingdom Identity Fraud Advisory a social enterprise assisting victims of identity fraud to repair their identity
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Rachel Lyons
Sustainability Expert – THREEPOINTFIVE
Rachel is an expert in leadership, management and personal development who has been working with the executives and employees of blue-chip companies for the last 13 years. Among the firms she’s delivered training to are the Bank of England, the London Stock Exchange, HSBC, Barclays, RBS, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Schroders, Deutsche Bank and CitiGroup.
She has studied theatre at degree level and regularly performs comedy in front of a live audience.
Before becoming a coach, Rachel worked in human capital management at Goldman Sachs. This experience at a world-leading investment bank means she understands financial services from the inside and can design training which is relatable and relevant.
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Fiona Bennett
Lean Business Innovation & Transformation
I am a lean business innovation provocateur, who stimulates and guides senior management and leaders to take the bold, courageous and decisive action to drive impactful strategic
I believe that real transformation is so much more than tinkering around the edges of processes or playing with new tech toys. It’s about having a clear vision for a better world, a better business environment that inspires your teams, as well as having a positive impact on the communities in which you operate in.
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James Denning
Partner, Process Mining – Microsoft
I lead the Minit process mining business within Microsoft, as part of the Power Platform business since our acquisition in April this year. Prior to that I was the CEO at Minit.
Previously I’ve held a number of leadership positions in the enterprise software business, including setting up the European operation for Automation Anywhere and growing the business to 250 employees in the EMEA region.
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Rick Lyons
Sustainability Expert – THREEPOINTFIVE
Rick has a background in climate science and journalism and is passionate about driving change by making climate change easily understood. His research has been published in the journal of Atmospheric Pollution Research, been cited by policy makers and featured in newspaper and BBC TV reports. His study on the effects of nitrogen dioxide pollution served as a catalyst for Brighton to work towards a car free city centre. Thanks to an MSc (distinction) in Carbon Management from Edinburgh University he has a grounding in all aspects of climate science and policy – and is always looking for ways to break this information down for a general audience. He regularly writes about climate change for national newspapers and magazines, including The Times, The Sunday Express, Vice magazine and the Daily Star, where his fortnightly column brings environmental issues to a tabloid readership. It is this combination of down to earth communication and academic knowledge that means he can provide both accurate and easy to grasp training.
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Keeley Tennant
Director of Central Finance and Business Improvement – SOCOTEC UK
I am a commercially minded business professional with a proven track record managing large teams and developing talent in complex environments with a number of competing KPI’s.
With a passion for process improvement I am proud to have delivered a number of Transformational Change Initiatives, including digital transformation.
My key achievements include;
- Eliminating paper within the Central Finance Teams by introduction of the following
Automated Purchase Order system (RPA)
AI Payables Automation
Launch of Expenses system
- Design and creation of behavioural modules to support sustainability
Adopting project methodologies ( First Choice) performance dialogs and visual management to manage PRS (Problem, Root Cause, Solution, Engagement and KPI
- Project Sponsor/Owner for multiple cross functional projects to support continuous improvement activities – A number of these have reported positive improvements with productivity/process improvements•
Employee Engagement improvements and KPI improvements recorded
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Andi Lonnen
Financial Trainer, Speaker & Author – Finance Training Academy Ltd & FBP Academy
With over 20 years’ experience as a qualified FCCA accountant & former Commercial Finance Director, I – along with our incredible team – now thrive on upskiling thousands of accountants around the globe to become stronger, more value-adding Finance Business Partners who help improve business performance in their organisations.
A regular speaker at CIMA, ACCA, AAT & NHS Finance conferences & events, I am a guest speaker on several financial podcasts, contribute to FBP articles in trade publications & have written a book on ‘Introduction to Finance Business Partnering: Fad or Value Add?’ I am also the founder of the FBP Bootcamp®, our annual conference, usually held in October.
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Killian McCarthy
Sales Director – SoftCo
Industry leader working with Global Finance functions on P2P best practice, AP Automation for over 15 year with clients on building out global shared service finance departments specifically focussing on the P2P processes.
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Patrick Wetzels
Director – Kwik Consulting
Innovative leader with proven ability to produce results for Finance, Operations & IT with a strong track record of creating high-performance cultures. My extensive experience comes from having a 20+-year career in high profile Project & Finance roles in Fortune 500, international, multi-site and big four environments and matrix structures. I am also a Blockchain enthusiast who helps international MedTech businesses to expand into the UK.