AGENDA

DINNER

Tuesday 10th February 2026
Bulgari Hotel London, Knightsbridge

18.45
Drinks reception

19:50
Opening Remarks

CEO, Fast Growth Icons

19:55
Welcome Address
Jon Dawson
Partner, Head of Sectors & Markets, HaysMac

20.00
Seated Dinner
Enjoy three courses from the Chef’s selection at the Bvlgari

22.30
Carriges

MAIN DAY

Wednesday, 11th February 2026
Claridge’s, Mayfair

08.00
Breakfast & Networking

09.00
Host
Uday Singh
Co-Founder & CEO, Fast Growth Icons

09.10
Opening Remarks from the Chair
Ben Fletcher
Founder & CEO, The Mothership

09.30
Welcome Address By our Lead Sponsor
Terry Shephard
Head of Entrepreneurs, S&W

09.35
From CFO to CEO: Strategic Finance for Scaling Businesses
Luisa Barile
Group CEO and ex-CFO, ManyPets

This session explores what makes a high-impact CFO in high-growth, tech-led SMEs—focusing on the CEO–CFO dynamic, how finance shapes value creation, and practical steps for CFOs aiming to broaden into general leadership. Luisa Barile will share concrete examples from her own transition, advice on board engagement, setting and influencing strategy and demonstrating a credible path to profitable growth.

10.00
Balancing Growth and Profit
Hugh Courtney
CFO, Zilch

How do you support the business to reach their goals while managing the amount of risk they are taking? No one wants to be the CFO that always says no, but you do want to be voice of reason that challenges assumptions and keeps people honest. How do you create a finance team that can effectively partner with the business to engender a risk-based, investment mindset approach to growth, and set the right guardrails?

10.25
Roundtables on Growth Efficiency
Compare notes with your peers on how they decide the appropriate trade-off between growth rate and risk profile, and how they communicate that with the business.

11.10
Morning Break

11.35
Forecasting in an Uncertain World
Rajesh Gupta
CFO, OakNorth Bank

As the saying goes, "the plans are useless, but the planning is essential". How do you create a rigorous and useful forecast that provides both a useful framework for the business and has the flexibility for people to adapt to the unknown? How useful are these forecasts and scenario plans in managing risk? What is the right cadence for updating the forecast, and how much time should the business be spending on forecasting vs executing?

12.00
Roundtable Networking and Discussion Sessions
Select a topic from the list below to join a group discussion
13.00
Seated Lunch
Enjoy three courses from Claridge’s exclusive menu

14:30
Welcome Address By our Champagne Sponsor
Ben Tompkins
Managing Director & Head Europe, Global Technology Group, Stifel

14.35
The CFO’s Role in Reimagining Organisational Structure
Ben Averis
CFO, Yotoplay

How big should your future team be? As AI accelerates, CFOs must right-size for an uncertain future without losing speed, control, or culture. Drawing from engineering principles, Ben sees the finance team as a product and the company as its customer. He talks about how to build lean, tech-enabled, specialist-supported, high-performing teams and how this is a smarter way for every function to scale without bloat.

15.00
AI for CFOs: Practical Adoption, Auditability and Competitive Advantage
Liz Kistruck
CFO, Motorway

A practical discussion on how finance leaders can adopt AI safely and effectively. We will cover three application areas: product-integrated AI, call-centre automation, and back-office tooling (finance, legal, analytics). We'll discuss the trade-offs between agility and robustness, auditability requirements, and the need for human-in-the-loop designs.

15.25
Roundtable Networking and Discussion Sessions
Select a topic from the list below to join a group discussion

16.25
Closing Address
Uday Singh
Co-Founder & CEO, Fast Growth Icons

16:30
Champagne Reception

17:30
Close

Roundtable Discussion Topics

Fundraising - Series C, D, E and PE

Exit planning & Execution

Strategic M&A - Planning and Executing Acquisitions

International Expansion & Risk

Venture Debt - Cost, Risk,Timing

Forecasting & Scenario Planning

Managing Investor & Board Expectations

AI & Automation in Finance

Building & Structuring Finance Teams