12 Sep 2025 | Posted In MALG updates

Hello to all our Members and Associates,

In this edition of Bob’s Blog:

  • Conference TWO MONTHS TODAY!
  • CEO Retirement
  • New Board Members
  • National Members Virtual Meeting 2 October
  • Latest Podcast Episodes
  • New Members
  • Members Friday Forum
  • Regional Meetings
  • Latest Money Advice/Debt Sector News

 

Conference TWO MONTHS TODAY!

Theme: Evolving Together – The Changing Landscape of Debt Policy
Date: Thursday 13 November 2025
Venue: Aspire Leeds
Headline Sponsor & Exhibitor: CDER GroupWe are beyond excited to welcome everyone back to Leeds for the MALG Conference 2025 exactly two months today! The Sessions we’ve already announced (below) are shaping up nicely and we are very pleased to have now confirmed several more speakers including the FCA’s Director of Consumer Finance, Supervision, Policy & Competition, Alison Walters, who will be joining us for a ‘Fireside Chat’.

  • Keynote Presentation: Lee Healey, CEO & Founder of IncomeMAX
  • The Changing Nature of Public Sector Debt Collection: Considering Ability to Pay
  • Fintech Showcase: Innovative and Cutting-Edge Solutions for Supporting Financial Resilience and Financial Capability
  • Financial Inclusion: Rebuilding Creditworthiness after Economic Abuse and other Financial Difficulties
  • MALG Friday Forum LIVE: The Future of Consumer Protection
  • Better Together: Artificial Intelligence and it’s Impact Across the Debt Landscape

View the full programme here and find out more/watch the video here for a flavour of what to expect.

All 21 Exhibition Stands have now SOLD OUT and we have a fantastic range of old and new Exhibitors who will be showcasing how they ‘work together to improve the lives of people in debt’ on the Mezzanine. We know there is a lot of interest so we are looking into ways that we can accommodate a few more Exhibitors and we will be operating a waiting list for those who we can’t squeeze in, in case there is any last minute availability. We are also fortunate to have a number of Sponsors but still have some Session Sponsorship Packages available – please contact  bob.winnington@malg.org.uk as soon as possible if you are interested.

The full list of Sponsors and Exhibitors confirmed so far can be found here.

Finally, following the success of it last year, we are bringing back the Drinks Reception (sponsored by Trustfolio) this year and we would urge as many of you as possible to stick around for it as a key part of Bob’s retirement ‘farewell tour‘!

FIND OUT MORE AND BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW!

 

CEO Retirement

Speaking of Bob’s retirement, for those of you who missed his announcement on LinkedIn on 19 August, MALG CEO Bob Winnington will be retiring after 10 transformational years on 31 March 2026. The tributes have already been pouring in and, needless to say, he will be much missed and leaves a fantastic legacy. The search for his successor will begin very soon – watch this space!

New Board Members

Following the recent appointment of Fiona Hoyle as the new MALG Chair, a number of new MALG Board Members have been appointed: Carole Kenney of CDER Group, Muna Yassin of Rooted Finance and Jason Wassell of Consumer Credit Trade Association (CCTA). Find out more about the MALG Board here.

National Members Virtual Meeting 2 October

We’ve had an overwhelming response to our upcoming National Members Meeting – thanks to everyone who’s registered so far. If you haven’t yet signed up, don’t miss sessions on:

  • Co-creating Intermediation Tools for Financially Vulnerable or Over- indebted Buy-Now-Pay-Later users
    • Anita Zhao, Associate Professor in Marketing, School of Management –Swansea University
    • Philippa Ward, Professor of Marketing – University of Gloucestershire
  • Re-imagining Insolvency
    • Meg van Rooyen, Policy Lead – Money Advice Trust
    • Matt Vaughan-Wilson, Senior Creditor Liaison Policy Officer – Citizens Advice
  • Update on Ofgem’s Debt and Vulnerability Work
    • Martin Campbell, Head of Customer Vulnerability and Debt – OfGem

National Members should have received your free, password-protected link to the registration form. If you haven’t and think you are eligible – or if you are a Non-Member who would like to attend as a guest for a one-off taster of National Membership – please email info@malg.org.uk.

You will be hearing more from us in the coming months on the Swansea University and University of Gloucestershire BNPL research, which we are supporting, and we hope we can get as many of our Members as possible involved in it – more info coming soon.

National Members Virtual Meeting 2 October

We’ve been very busy over the last six weeks recording the latest MALG Podcast episodes with Lee Healey of IncomeMAX (who we did a special edition video episode with!) and Chris Leslie of Credit Services Association. We also have another already lined up to go out in early October with a guest who has some fascinating insights on the world of Buy-Now-Pay-Later debt – watch this space.Whilst Lee and Chris may be familiar to many of you, a lot of what they talk about in these in-depth episodes is likely to be completely new to you (as it was to us) and well worth a listen. We launched the Podcast in response to Member appetite to dive deeper into topics with our expert speakers and really get under the skin of how we can ‘work together to improve the lives of people in debt’. We hope that our listeners are getting as much value out of it as we are. If you haven’t listened in yet, you can find all episodes at www.malg.org.uk/podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

We are looking to secure a Podcast Sponsor and will be sharing details of this soon. If this is something your organisation is interested in, please get in touch with Bob on bob.winnington@malg.org.uk.

New Members

Welcome to our newest MALG Members, SignVideo by Sorenson, Salford City Council, BlackbullionHelen Pettifer Training and Durham Christian Partnership, who are demonstrating their commitment to ‘working together to improve the lives of people in debt’:

If you are not already a Member, why not start taking advantage of the full range of benefitsOur Membership Application Form is fully online and takes just minutes to complete. Find out more about packages/prices, download our new Membership Brochure, and apply here.

Existing Members: If there are any organisations or sectors you would like to see as MALG Members, please let us know and we will look to engage with them. We are particularly keen to engage more energy and banking sector Members – any introductions that can be made would be much appreciated.

 

Members Friday Forum

Whether you’re a regular, have attended before, a Member who’s yet to take advantage of this hugely popular benefit, or you have a colleague who would like to attend, we would be delighted to welcome you on screen for an hour of informal, open – and usually lively! – debate on the latest issues facing those across the debt landscape. The sessions attract up to 60 Members and often result in tangible solutions and collaborative opportunities so don’t miss out.

The next fortnightly session is on Friday 26 September 2025 and all other information and dates can be found here.

 

Regional Meetings

If you are a National Member, you have access to all the Regional Groups chosen on your original Membership Application form and should receive email invitations with a password-protected link to the online booking form for all relevant Meetings. If you do not receive these and think you should be, please contact info@malg.org.uk.

Details of all upcoming MALG Regional Meeting Meetings, including the face-to-face South West Meeting at Computershare in Bristol on 25 September, are listed in the events calendar here.

Please note the main contact for each Regional Group below should you have any other queries: