We are living in changing times! The plans for Brexit ebb and flow and now we have an Election suddenly upon us and we are all needing to adapt to the working implications that brings. As we reach the transition from the football and rugby seasons to the cricket season, the rain suddenly appears after months with barely a drop! We have a new French President, a new Chair of the IMA (congratulations Jane!), a new Chairman of Lloyds Banking Group and; well I promised not to mention Mr Trump again!
MALG is not immune from these changing times – far from it!
It’s been an incredibly busy few weeks at MALG so there’s lots to update you on but first I’d like to introduce two new additions to the MALG team following Maria Wadsworth’s departure:
Dionne Stocking is MALG’s new Membership Co-ordinator. She has been involved in MALG for a number of years as the Secretary of our South East regional group and has a background in the credit/collections sector. She will be responsible for member recruitment and member liaison and will be in touch with you regularly to help you get the most out of your MALG membership. Please feel free to contact her any time on dionne.stocking@malg.org.uk
Tracey Iveson will also be providing MALG with administrative support.
You will hopefully get chance to meet Dionne and Tracey at a future national members meeting or at our conference in November if not before.
Making the most of your MALG membership
Now that our new website is up and running, you may have noticed your company’s profile listed on the members’ page: www.malg.org.uk/membership/members. Please don’t forget to link to this from your own website and social media channels to demonstrate your commitment to ‘working together to improve the lives of people in debt’.
We also have a testimonials page featuring some of your feedback on MALG membership which we will be sharing and crediting you for on social media over the coming months www.malg.org.uk/membership/testimonials
There are also several other ways that you can benefit from a profile opportunities as a MALG member, including sending us details of your upcoming events to be listed on the events calendar on our website www.malg.org.uk/events and sending us your latest news. In particular, we are interested in any new research that you are publishing and if we can find out about it in advance via an embargoed press release that would be even better. Please keep dionne.stocking@malg.org.uk updated.
Most importantly though, we would encourage you to use the exclusive ‘MALG Member’ logo on your website and in marketing materials, linking back to the MALG website. If you don’t have a high resolution version of the logo, please email dionne.stocking@malg.org.uk and she will send you it along with our brand usage guidelines.
#IMAConf17
The Institute of Money Advisers Conference on Monday and Tuesday was a great success. Our Chair Liz Barclay hosted a fantastic first day and I attended the awards ceremony/dinner and second day of the event.
The theme was ‘Built to last: quality and sustainability in money advice’ and sessions included a fantastic keynote talk from Sian Williams of MALG member Toynbee Hall and workshops on Universal Credit and providing advice online. The conference also incorporated the Institute of Money Advisers’ Annual Awards and AGM where Jane Clack of Payplan was elected as the new Chair.
I’m looking forward to speaking at the DEMSA Conference on 7 June in Manchester about the future of money advice. More details on that to follow in my next blog!
Robert Skinner’s #creditawards win
Congratulations again to our Board member Robert Skinner on winning the Martin William’s Award for his contribution to the credit industry. Read more on our website here: https://malg.org.uk/malg-board-member-robert-skinner-wins-award-contribution-credit-industry/
The Standard Financial Statement: Humanising Affordability Assessments in a Digital World
Last month, I was quoted in this article by Simon Howard of TALKINGTECH in Global Banking & Finance Review. Read more here: https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/the-standard-financial-statement-humanising-affordability-assessments-in-a-digital-world/
MALG 2017 Conference Update
We have already received some delegate booking for our conference on ‘shaping the future of money advice’ at 30 Euston Square London on 27 November. You can book your place online via Eventbrite now and choose to pay by either card or invoice. Just click on the link at the bottom of this page: www.malg.org.uk/conference
We are also making lots of progress with bringing sponsors and exhibitors on board. We have several organisations interested and have already confirmed Money Advice Service and Money Advice Trust as not-for-profit exhibitors, Lowell as programme sponsors and Telrock as a commercial exhibitor/fintech sponsor. There are now only three not-for-profit member exhibition stands remaining on a first come, first served basis so please let us know asap if you want to book one.
The commercial exhibition stands, which are £2,000 each, are available to MALG Members and Non-Members alike. This is a great opportunity for all and especially FinTech companies to demonstrate the latest tools and tech. The exhibition will be central to the whole event and is intended to be truly interactive rather than just an opportunity for exhibitors to ‘sell’ to delegates. We’re very excited about this element of the event and expect the remaining stands to be snapped up quickly so please let us know if you want to book a stand now!
A range of bespoke sponsorship packages are also available for those who want to support the work of MALG in bringing together advisers, creditors and other stakeholders.
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