Annual Conference & Awards Ceremony 2026

3rd-4th March 2026
Carden Park, Cheshire

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 & Adrian Muller, Compliance Director, 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	Flywire's AML/CTF Compliance Program Adrian Muller, Compliance Director, Flywire
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? Paul Davy, Agent Compliance Manager, University of Leeds; Dan Harris, Global Financial Crime Compliance Director, Kaplan International; Jo Brewin, Consultant & Bridget Walker, Senior Consultant, 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

It was my first conference and I thought it was fabulous. Amazing networking opportunity and super informative.
This conference is absolutely invaluable. It provides detailed information on products from a trusted partner, more general information on the sector and payment trends, great keynote speakers, the best networking opportunities and was held at a great venue in a fantastic location.
Best event of the year and anyone that thinks they might benefit from the content covered should definitely come along.
Quality content, great networking, fantastic location and great hospitality.
I would recommend this conference as it was very well run, the content was relevant, I had good opportunities to network and had a good time. I also felt very well looked after which was important when traveling and balancing responsibilities.

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