Communications and PR expert, leadership coach and speaker David Thompson will close the Leasing Foundation Annual Conference on 30 September with a segment on ‘establishing credibility’.

David will talk about the challenges that industries and companies face in winning the trust of customers, building relationships among wary, even hostile stakeholders and how businesses and institutions can influence opinion and win over target audiences. 

David’s career in communications began with public relations and marketing agency Ketchum in Washington D.C. He joined the company's Munich office in 1995 and was a Director of the agency’s Corporate Practice Group in London. He now directs Total Awareness Coaching working with clients including Whirlpool, Biogen Idec, Kingfisher, Kering (formerly PPR), Bottega Veneta and Yves Saint Laurent.

Peter Thomas, Foundation COO, notes “We started a heated debate last year, reported widely in the leasing press, on how the industry is perceived. In that debate Patrick Gouin (Société Générale Equipment Finance) pointed out that leasing lacks focused strategies, Christian Roleofs (Grant Thornton UK) said that the leasing industry needs to examine its raison d’etre and Sharon Butler (NetApp Capital Solutions) emphasised that the asset finance industry needs to innovate to survive. David will provide a distinctive and inspiring viewpoint on these issues, based on extensive knowledge and experience in other industries, showing how leasing and asset finance can understand and communicate more effectively.”

The Leasing Foundation First Annual Conference will take place on 30 September 2013 hosted by RBS in London. To learn more about the conference, click here.

The mission of the Leasing Foundation is to support the leasing and asset finance industry by providing focus and organisation for charitable activities, by performing rigorous, challenging and relevant research in areas that have an impact on the industry and its future, and by seeking opportunities to sustain the industry by developing people in the industry. The Foundation is not a lobbying body or a trade association.