Join us for our 2026 Annual Conference & Awards Ceremony at the prestigious Carden Park, Cheshire's leading country estate! We’ll bring together 200 guests to connect, have fun and gain valuable insights from industry experts and peers on how to improve payment processes across the higher education ecosystem. During the conference you’ll hear the latest findings from our research initiatives and student payer experiences, as well as topical keynote sessions, panel discussions, best practices, product updates and more. You’ll also be part of our awards ceremony celebrating the achievements of the sector.
Take a look at this 2-minute video for highlights of a previous Annual Conference & Awards Ceremony.
Who should attend
This event is for senior financial decision-makers and other key institutional stakeholders involved in the management of payment acceptance.
Agenda
Optional pre-event activities - Monday 2nd March
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 15:30 - 18:00 | Pre-event activities |
| 18:30 - 22:30 | Informal Networking Reception |
Day 1 - Tuesday 3rd March
| Time | Session | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 07:00 - 08:00 | Exercise | ||
| 09:00 - 09:30 | Registration | ||
| 09:30 - 09:50 | Welcome & Introduction Simon Read, SVP, EDU, EMEA, Flywire | ||
| 09:50 - 10:30 | Product Keynote Corey Rethage, Senior Director, Product Management & Peter Murdie, Senior Product Manager, Flywire | ||
| 10:30 - 11:00 | Networking Break | ||
| 11:00 - 11:20 | New Research Sheona Griffiths, Senior Director, Flywire | ||
| 11:20 - 11:40 | Client Case Study - Kingston University, London Chris Billington, Head of Finance Shared Services & Matthew Sheahan, Student Advice Manager, Kingston University, London | ||
| 11:40 - 12:10 | Fireside Chat: Scaling Securely: How Governance, Risk & Compliance Frameworks Empower Global University Growth David King, co-President of EDU, Flywire; David Neild, Head of Consultancy, UK & Aled Morgan, Sr Director, Head of Compliance - EU, Flywire | ||
| 12:10 - 12:30 | Life of a Payment Giles Rowlinson, Senior Payments Manager, EMEA, Flywire | ||
| 12:30 - 13:30 | Networking Lunch Break | ||
| Track 1 - Flywire Solutions | Track 2 - Future-Proofing The Student Journey | Track 3 - Bite-sized Learning: Understanding Payments | |
| 13:30 - 14:00 | Workshop: Debt Recovery Strategies - Policies, Process & Tools Bridget Walker, Senior Consultant, Flywire & Mark Gilbert, Senior Technical Consultant, Flywire | Research Findings: Admissions Navigator Oliver Mussett, Senior Strategic Partner Manager, Flywire | Card Payment Mechanics & Economics TBC |
| 14:00 - 14:30 | Fireside Chat: The International - Finance Partnership Tom Wilmot, Director, Global Expansion, Flywire; and Sophie Turnbull, Director, International Recruitment, University of the West of England | Bank Payment Systems Landrick Pinto, Payments Director, Operations Infrastructure & Network Enablement, Flywire | |
| 14:30 - 15:00 | Networking Break | ||
| 15:00 - 15:30 | Workshop: Student Financial Software (SFS) Mark Gilbert, Senior Technical Consultant, Flywire | Workshop: 2030 Applicant & Student Journey Blueprint Sara Sandford, Senior Consultant, Edified | Open Banking & Alternative Payments Giles Rowlinson, Senior Payments Manager, EMEA, Flywire |
| 15:30 - 16:00 | Payment Regulations David Neild, Head of Consultancy, UK, Flywire | ||
| 16:00 - 17:00 | Keynote: Mike Bates - human intelligence specialist, covert counter-terrorism operations leader, entrepreneur & adventurer | ||
| 18:30 - 00:00 | Annual Awards Ceremony Dinner | ||
Day 2 - Wednesday 4th March
| Time | Session | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 08:30 - 09:00 | Registration | ||
| 09:00 - 10:30 | AI in Higher Ed (One year later) Brad Waldron, Corporate Athlete, Business Provacateur, Speaker & Author | ||
| 10:30 - 11:00 | Networking Break | ||
| 11:00 - 12:30 | Think Tank Simon Read, SVP, EDU, EMEA, Flywire | ||
| 12:30 - 13:30 | Networking Lunch Break | ||
| Track 1 - Flywire Solutions | Track 2 - Securing & Steamlining the Student Journey | Track 3 - Bite-sized Learning: Understanding Integrations | |
| 13:30 - 15:00 | WPM Deprecation Oliver Mussett, Senior Strategic Partner Manager & Peter Murdie, Senior Product Manager, Flywire | A Shifting Policy and Regulation Landscape: Are You Ready? Jo Brewin, Consultant, Flywire; Paul Davy, Agent Compliance Manager, University of Leeds; Bridget Walker, Senior Consultant, Flywire; Dan Harris, Global Financial Crime Compliance Director, Kaplan International & Tom Wilmot, Director, Global Expansion, Flywire | Understanding Integration Types Bailey-Jane Steffen, Manager, Technical Implementation UK; Toby Joss, Technical Implementation Manager, Flywire; & Rob Deacon, Senior Sales Manager, EDU, Flywire |
| 15:00 | Conference Close | ||