Over 120 Fellows, Governors and invited guests attended the Leasing Foundation First Annual Conference hosted by the Royal Bank of Scotland in London on 30 September 2013.

Chris Sullivan, the Foundation's Patron and 2013 conference chair, opened the event by talking about the role of the Foundation in setting the agenda for leasing and asset finance on key issues including education, professionalism and building awareness of the role of leasing and asset finance for small business.

The conference keynote speaker, Lord Mervyn Davies CBE, spoke about the value of an industry body that has a strong emphasis on social good, developing human and social capital and on the Foundation's role in innovation in technology, products and new markets and in re-establishing professional standards in the finance industry.

The conference launched projects in education, including an industry-wide global core competencies definition for asset finance that will drive the future of education and training; research projects in SME perceptions of asset finance and leasing, and a global research project on redefining the leasing industry. The Foundation also launched its Future Leaders programme, supported by NetApp Capital Solutions and Société Générale Equipment Finance, in which a cohort of 8 exceptional individuals will work with the Foundation for 12 months on leadership development.

The conference also featured a discussion with Nick Compton, 2012 PCA Player of the Year, on the challenges of an international sporting career, a panel on diversity in leasing and asset finance, and a discussion on the future of leasing and asset finance.

Andrew Denton, Foundation CEO, said “We wanted to create a new kind of conference for the leasing and asset finance industry - one that brought our Fellows and Governors together to look at some of the issues that will define our industry for the next decade - innovation, education, the evolution of leasing and asset finance. We are delighted that we have the enthusiastic and generous support, both corporately and personally, of so many people across the industry and across the world. I'd like especially to acknowledge the support of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Société Générale Equipment Finance, NetApp Capital Solutions, Siemens, Great American Lease and Loan Insurance Services, Grant Thornton and DWF. Their generous support is invaluable".