Our annual Midlands Financial Services dinner brings together
many of the sector's most influential people in the region
– including senior representatives from banks, building
societies, insurers and asset managers.
It's a great opportunity to take the temperature of the
financial services sector which is so important to the overall
health of the Midlands economy.
The mood in the room for this year's event was one of
growing optimism. With an improving economy and a gradual rise in
interest rates likely to benefit many in the sector, it wasn't
surprising that three-quarters of those who attended expect to see
their business's performance improve in the coming months.
However, with more and more 'FinTech' and
non-traditional financial services firms – such as Google and
Apple – entering into retail financial services the vast
majority of firms were expecting the marketplace to become more
competitive. Consequently, and in light of continued regulatory
change,
