
Growing FinTech in Scotland
EVENT SUMMARY
Hear from FinTech industry leaders on how to grow a successful FinTech in Scotland
Join us in Glasgow for the first FinTech-Tables meetup event.
Our mission is to create a collaborative community where we can hold meaningful conversations in an environment where knowledge can be exchanged and new innovations and partnerships can emerge.
For our launch event we will be joined by FinTech industry leaders sharing their knowledge, experience and opportunities for growing a successful FinTech in Scotland.
Agenda:
6pm: Arrival & networking with nibbles and drinks
Welcome & introduction to FinTech-Tables
(Ian Davey, Director, BDM Marketing & Communications)
Speaker 1
Sector update. FinTech Scotland – Research & Innovation Roadmap
(Mickael Paris, Marketing Director, FinTech Scotland)
Speaker 2
Building and scaling a successful FinTech in Scotland
(Andrew Duncan, CEO, Soar)
Speaker 3
Why we chose Scotland to expand our Fintech business
(Pardeep Cassells, Head of Financial Products, Access Fintech)
Networking to close 45 mins networking with, nibbles, drinks and board games.
RECAP
On the 12 May 2022 we were joined by guests from across the FinTech ecosystem in Scotland to discuss “Growing FinTech in Scotland”.
The event was kindly hosted by Data Talent Specialists, MBN Solutions, and we were joined by speakers from Fintech Scotland, Access Fitech, and Soar to hear from industry leaders about the challenges and opportunities for building and scaling a FinTech business in Scotland.
The main takeaways from the event included:
-The FinTech Scotland Research and Innovation Roadmap will form the industry strategy for the FinTech sector here for the next 10 years, with a focus on 4 key areas; Financial Regulation, Payments & Transactions, Open Finance Data, Climate Finance.
-There is no room for complacency from the cluster – Scotland must continue to push forward with more research, collaboration and innovation to continue the growth of the sector and to make Scotland the first choice destination for anyone who wants to scale up a Fintech business.
-There are still many challenges facing the industry, none more so than attracting and retaining talent. Small FinTech firms need to give consideration to how they can compete with larger financial institutions who are now starting to hire inhouse teams for their technology projects.
Hourly Schedule
Day
Speakers:
Andrew Duncan, Mickael Paris, Pardeep Casells



Speakers
- Andrew DuncanCEO - Soar
Andrew is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for technology. In 2011 he founded SwarmOnline, a software house focusing on mobile and web applications. He organically grew Swarm from his living room to offices in Glasgow & Edinburgh with over 25 employees serving some of the UK’s largest companies. Following on from this, Andrew formed Glasgow based Fintech, Soar, in 2017. In addition to his entrepreneurial achievements, Andrew is an author, having written two technical textbooks used all over the world by developers. His credentials have earned him some top speaking slots at conferences across Europe and the USA and he regularly takes to the stage in the UK.
- Mickael ParisMarketing Director - Fintech Scotland
Mickael Paris is Marketing Director at FinTech Scotland. He was part of the team that launched the company in January 2018. Mickael has over 15 years experience working for both start-ups and FTSE100 companies including Maxymiser, Skyscanner and Standard Life. He joined
At FinTech Scotland Mickael focuses on developing the profile of the SME community and the Scottish fintech cluster locally and globally. He’s also responsible for creating bridges with international fintech hubs, encouraging inward investment as well as helping Scottish firms export.
In 2015 he was featured in the BIMA100 list of marketing influencers as well as the Marketing Magazine NextGen Power 100.
- Pardeep CasellsHead of Financial Products - Access FinTech
Par is focused on the creation and rollout of new securities products for the finance sector against the core AccessFintech platform. Before joining AccessFintech, Par’s experience was predominately in outsourced middle office operations where she gained cross-product experience in operational, relationship management and project management roles.