Last week, 230 registered delegates came together at the Leeds Marriott Hotel for Finance Futures: The Executive Summit 2026 – Headstar’s annual conference delivered in partnership with TheBusinessDesk.com.
What began as an idea from Headstar Managing Director James Roach has grown into one of the region’s leading events for senior finance professionals. Now in its second year, Finance Futures continues to bring together CFOs, FDs and business leaders to share lived experience, challenge thinking and address the issues shaping the finance function.
This year’s executive summit was also a CPD-accredited event, providing 3.75 hours of recognised CPD learning for finance professionals, reinforcing the event’s focus as not just a networking opportunity, but an event that also provides valuable structured professional development.
Industry experts brought practical perspective to the stage
This year’s agenda combined economic insight, practical finance leadership discussion and forward-looking debate on the practical realities of AI adoption in finance and the increasing cyber risk, reflecting the breadth of challenges currently facing finance leaders.
Finance Futures: The Executive Summit brought together senior finance leaders from a range of well-known regional and national organisations, including transport operator TransPennine Express, manufacturers such as Mansfield Pollard and Hartwell Manufacturing, and consumer brands including Northern Bloc, Kirkstall Brewery and Pure Pet Food. The programme also featured speakers from professional and financial services firms such as Walker Morris, Lloyds Bank, PIB Insurance, Unity Advisory and RG Finance, alongside leaders from digital and technology businesses including IDHL, Answer Digital, G2M Group, Hubrx, Yes Energy and of course, Headstar.
The speakers’ contributions provided real-world perspective across topics such as business resilience, transformation, leadership alignment and the evolving role of the CFO.
A standout session explored the CFO-CEO dynamic, with Headstar MD James Roach taking to the stage to join a live panel discussion with Ben Priestley (CFO, Mansfield Pollard) and Lou Ellis Frankland (Founder & MD, Mansfield Pollard) to discuss how strong alignment, trust and challenge underpin business performance.
The agenda also included a Fireside Chat: Females in Finance session led by Headstar Associate Director, Karen Pitchforth, interviewing Fractional CFO Rachel Griffin. As well as focusing on female leadership in finance, their conversation also drew on insights from Headstar’s HerFinance Circle network, highlighting the importance of strong peer support across the profession.
From idea to established Executive Summit
What began as a small-scale idea has quickly developed into one of the region’s best-attended gatherings of senior finance leaders. Finance Futures: The Executive Summit was first conceived by Headstar Managing Director, James Roach, who then collaborated with TheBusinessDesk.com to help bring it to life back in February 2025.
One year on, with over 200 registered delegates in the room, the Summit has already established itself as a flagship event in the regional finance calendar.
Reflecting on how it has developed, James said: “It started with a simple question – could we bring senior finance leaders together for open, practical conversations about what they’re actually facing? Seeing the room full shows there’s a real appetite for that.
Textbooks and courses have their place, but nothing replaces hearing someone speak candidly about what they’ve lived through. In a world when AI tools can generate insight in seconds, the value of in-person discussion and shared experience feels even more important.”
Strong engagement from across the region
Overwhelmingly positive feedback about this year’s event has already been streaming in, including multiple nods to the “fantastic speakers and insights”.
Fractional CFO, Will Day, summarised the day well by saying, “Great to see such a strong turnout at the Finance Futures: Executive Summit today. Plenty of takeaways on data, technology and talent to bring back to current and future clients – and a timely reminder that strong financial leadership is more important than ever.”
Further Insights from the Event
For further coverage of this year’s Finance Futures: Executive Summit, please check out the BusinessDesk.com post-event write-up articles below:
- Grounds for economic optimism and tips to shore up the balance sheet https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/yorkshire/news/2150882-grounds-for-economic-optimism-and-tips-to-shore-up-the-balance-sheet
- Unravelling the CFO-CEO relationship and confronting the cyber crime threat
https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/yorkshire/news/2150893-unravelling-the-cfo-ceo-relationship-and-confronting-the-cyber-crime-threat
