Leeds played host to the latest FinTech North conference this week, drawing over 250 attendees from across the UK’s fintech ecosystem. This year’s event also marked the debut of the Innovate Finance Pitch360 competition in the region, giving startups a platform to pitch live in front of an expert judging panel.
Among those making a flying visit to the event was Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, who stopped by mid-morning before heading off to catch a train to Bradford to meet the King Charles and Queen Camilla, who were in Yorkshire to mark Bradford’s status as the current UK City of Culture.
“Now I did have a speech, but because there was a change in the agenda and I have to catch a train to Bradford to meet the King and the Queen…but I really just wanted 60 seconds to say I am delighted to see you all,” Brabin said.
Despite the rush, she managed to shoehorn in a string of updates, from growth plans to transport upgrades.
“I am so proud to be the Mayor that everywhere I go, when people used to 10 years ago talk about fintech and financial services in London, they’re now talking about us. We have the Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the National Wealth Fund, all of the insurance companies, professional services and the building societies here.”
Brabin said this “agglomeration of talent and brilliance” was central to her regional growth strategy with financial services, fintech and professional services number one in that growth plan.
She also referenced the newly launched Weaver Network – the region’s rebranded public transport system inspired by West Yorkshire’s textile heritage – and plans for a tram line between Leeds and Bradford.
But with a quick apology and a smile, she dashed off… “the King is calling.”
Luckily for Tracy, Cloth Hall Court, where the event took place, sits just a short stroll from Leeds station… (and not far from where tens of thousands recently gathered to celebrate Leeds United’s promotion back to the Premier League).
Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
Leeds in focus
As Brabin shot off to meet the royals, speakers throughout the day reinforced her message: Leeds means business when it comes to fintech, with the city’s strengths in regtech, lending and banking cited again and again.
Gilda Smith-Leigh, innovation manager at Leeds City Council, spoke about efforts to make that growth inclusive and long-term. “One in five jobs in Leeds is now in the fintech space. We know that we’ve got many, many businesses operating in the fintech field in Leeds, and also financial and professional services,” she said.
“They recognise that Leeds is growing and has a growing significance in terms of being a financial centre within the UK. So London is great, and we know that we’re not quite London, but we’re running a very close second.”
Smith-Leigh touched on initiatives like Leeds Digital Festival and workspaces like Platform, Nexus and West Village as part of the city’s support infrastructure. “We want traditional systems to be challenged. We want things to be more open,” she added. “If we can support that as a local authority by making sure the conditions are right, we will continue to do those things.”
She closed her speech with a challenge to the audience: “The future of fintech won’t be built by chance. It will be built by bold thinkers like you who are right here in the room. Our strap line for innovation at Leeds is: ‘are you in’? So my question for you is, are you in?”
Regulators at the ready
One organisation that clearly ‘is in’ is the FCA with its regional office in Leeds located five mins down the road from Cloth Hall Court. The regulator announced earlier this year that it was expanding in the city with an extra 5,000 square feet of office space, and the site now hosts over 300 staff, with around 100 more expected to join.
Colin Payne, head of innovation at the FCA, took to the stage at Fintech North Leeds 2025 to offer what he described as “a look behind the scenes of the work we do at the FCA”, touching on its five-year innovation strategy and the opportunities available for fintech firms to engage directly.
He spoke about the FCA’s innovation initiatives, including its sandbox schemes, digital sandbox and soon-to-launch AI lab, as well as a new ‘policy sprint’ model designed to speed up engagement with firms and translate technical insights into regulatory outcomes.
“Fintech now doesn’t live in Shoreditch,” Payne told the audience. “We want to hear from you. It’s really important. We want you to support the innovation pathways. We want you to sign up for sandboxes, come into the tech sprints, come into the policy sprints. It’s an open door.”
He also encouraged founders to get in touch early – “even before you write the first line of code” – and doubled down on the message that the FCA’s innovation team is approachable and technically capable. “You can find me on LinkedIn, and I will respond to you. I come from your world, so I speak the same language.”
The session was a reminder of the scale of the challenges ahead. “I’m really, really keen on answering some very, very difficult questions,” he said. “And there are some difficult questions ahead of us.”
From policy to perspective
If the FCA’s Payne offered a look behind the regulatory curtain, a panel on macroeconomic trends zoomed out to explore the bigger picture: both regionally and nationally.
Chaired by Julian Wells of Whitecap Consulting, the session brought together leaders from government, academia and industry: Richard Carter (CEO, Lenvi), Mohammed Gharbawi (Bank of England), Natalie Moore (Leeds Beckett University) and Nicole Sandler (CFIT).
The discussion covered the UK’s place in global fintech, the role of central banks and regulators in shaping innovation and the economic backdrop influencing the sector’s trajectory. The panel didn’t shy away from differences of opinion – particularly around the challenges fintech startups face when working with large institutions. But as Julian said: “Nobody likes a panel when everyone agrees with each other.”
Sandler questioned whether the UK still leads in global fintech. “There was a time where I’d say the UK was probably first,” she said, referencing pre-Brexit momentum. “We’ve definitely fallen far down the line in terms of where we are in policy making and what we should be doing in innovation.”
Moore struck a cautiously optimistic tone. Despite recent turbulence, she said fintech remains a major force in the UK’s service-led economy. “With uncertainty comes opportunity to innovate.”
Gharbawi outlined how the Bank of England is stepping up on AI and digital resilience, with a principles-based approach to tech regulation: though uncertainty still weighs on investment.
Carter, offering a founder’s view, didn’t sugar-coat things: “Don’t start with banks. They’re too hard to navigate. Start small, prove your model, then scale.” That said, he noted bigger players are increasingly open to change.
Elsewhere on the agenda…
Simon Wright (PEXA) and Pat Szubryt (Leeds Building Society) explored how AI and digital tools could help fix the UK’s broken property transaction process.
Neil Richardson (Cyber Alchemy) warned that deepfakes are becoming “a clear and present danger” for KYC. Alex Craven (The Data City) called outdated SIC codes “a compliance risk hiding in plain sight.”
Christina Cooper (Mastercard) outlined how major players can push innovation in regtech through partnerships, while a panel featuring Raisin and Oxygen Consultancy tackled the classic ‘build or buy’ dilemma.
Kris Brewster of LHV Bank later explained how his team built a retail bank in under a year – a sign that speed and fintech can go hand in hand. “We’re more of a software development company that is a bank, than a bank that is a software development business.”
Ellie Kirkman, consultant, Started PR, with Kris Brewster, CCO, LHV Bank
Pitch perfect
FinTech North Leeds 2025 wrapped up on a high with the regional debut of Innovate Finance’s Pitch360 competition, a Dragons’ Den-style showdown designed to spotlight the next wave of fintech innovation.
Co-hosted by Peter Cunnane from Innovate Finance and Rachel England from FinTech North, the session gave six early-stage startups just three minutes to pitch their innovations live – followed by a quick-fire Q&A with the judges.
Not all of them managed to beat the clock but brought a wide mix of ideas – from AI-driven motor insurance and climate-conscious banking tools, to cross-border credit solutions for migrants, smarter smartphone security, reusable packaging infrastructure and investment assistants powered by AI.
After a close call, James O’Sullivan, founder and CEO of Nuke From Orbit, took home the trophy… impressing judges with its mission to protect consumers in the growing wave of smartphone thefts.
The post FinTech North Leeds: Innovation, Investment and a Pitch for the Future appeared first on The Fintech Times.
