NACFB Expo continues to expand
15/06/2023
At the NACFB Commercial Finance Expo Leasing World arrived to find a queue already formed spilling out into the concourse, but once we were through that, there was a fresher, more open-plan feel to Hall 3a, which meant less time spent navigating busy corridors and more time catching up with commercial finance experts of all shapes and sizes.
On the subject of sizes, this year’s Expo was the biggest to date; as Brandon Hall, Head of Sales Broker Asset Finance at Allica Bank, admitted, “We say it every year, but it’s true!” There were in fact no fewer than 4,500 attendees, and 144 exhibitor stands, in 2023, and so while the new layout meant plenty of elbow-room, the characteristic "background roar" of two thousand simultaneous conversations was louder than ever.
Louis Taylor (CEO, British Business Bank) was the first keynote speaker considering his vision of future business lending support, and he took several questions from the audience including from one questioner who owned multiple businesses. Following that, and as this article’s thumbnail image with this news story shows, Martin McTague (National Chair, Federation of Small Businesses) was welcomed to the stage by host Naga Munchetty for a sit-down interview addressing the issues of why small businesses were borrowing less. Among other conference theatre events during the afternoon, the thorny topic of “how regulation can empower not impede brokers” drew a good crowd, as Julie Ampadu (Director of Chameleon Compliance) shared her thoughts as to how the lending community might adapt to future changes.
Other highlights for us included Liberty Leasing’s fundraising initiative as they made a £5 contribution to Mountbatten Hospice for every Mountbatten enamel sunflower brooch taken by a stand visitor, the IMAX-sized PacMan game at Allica Bank, and the fresh-pressed apple carrot and ginger drinks at NatWest.
Of course there’ll be a full write-up and gallery in the July issue of Leasing World!
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