SJUK Leaders in Security Conference - Agenda
The Manchester Deansgate Hotel, Manchester, UK
24 June 2026
Keynote Speaker
- John Mason, CEO, Placing Platform Limited
Speakers
- Ian Stokes, CEO, Centurian Media Ltd.
- Rick Mounfield, Conference Chair & Director, Optimal Risk
- David Vigor, End User Business Development Director, HID
- Beatrice Timpson & Rachel Miller, Sanctuary Counsel
- Simon Goatcher, Chartered Chemist, Fellow of the Security Institute & Advanced Systems Thinking Practitioner
Panellists & Moderators
- Tom O’Driscoll CSyP, Head of Security Operations and Intelligence, National Highways
- Hugo Hoyland, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Asset Reality
- Isabella Dixon Smith, Co-Founder, INGRIS
- Francis Jones, CEO and Co-Founder, BattleBottle
- Gaelic Jara, CTO and Co-Founder, eNOugh
- Scott Hamer, Head of Security and Resilience, St. Paul’s Cathedral
- David Vigor, End User Business Development Director, HID
- Peter Harrison, Founder & Managing Director, FGH Security
- Siân Doherty, Managing Director, Arc Monitoring
- Jennifer Ciolfi CSyP, Group Director of Security, Global Switch
- Richard Dempers, Co-Founder and Director – Solutions & Technology, Rheinberry
- Oliver Lacey, Head of Global Sales, Advancis Identity Solutions
- Neil Gardner, Lead Sales Engineer, Rhombus
- Neil Jones, Director of Cybersecurity Evangelism, Egnyte
- Sarah Mathers, VP, Head of International Security and International Events Leader, National Basketball Association (NBA)
- Chris Worthy CSyP
- Matt Fitton
- Nigel Brown CSyP, Head of Corporate Security and Organisational Resilience, BBC
- Michelle Russell, CEO, Security Industry Authority
- Sarah Cork, Co-Chair, SIA’s Buyer’s Special Interest Group
- Jayne King, Co-Chair, SIA’s Buyer’s Special Interest Group
- John McCreadie, Lead Security & Risk Manager, Fortnum & Mason
- Shaun Hipgrave, Director, Protect and Prepare, Homeland Security Group, (HSG)
- Rosie Richardson, Strategy Director, Createc
- Morgan Ely, Founder and CEO, echomis Ltd
- Raegan Moss, Senior Security Controller, Mott MacDonald
- Dr Garry Evanson CSyP, Lead Tutor, MSc International Risk & Security Programme (University of West London & Perpetuity Partnership)
- Sophie Cairney, Lead Risk Intelligence Consultant, Securitas Risk Intelligence Center (RIC)
- Sally Fitton CSyP, Director at Sally Fitton Consulting & Senior Security Manager, NPR
08:00 – 09:00 BST
BREAKFAST AND NETWORKING RECEPTION – TEA & COFFEE
09:15 – 09:25 BST
WELCOME
Ian Stokes, CEO, Centurian Media Ltd.
Rick Mounfield, Conference Chair and Director, Optimal Risk
09:30 – 09:50 BST
John Mason, CEO, Placing Platform Limited
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
John Mason, CEO, Placing Platform Limited
John is CEO of PPL, the sophisticated electronic trading and placing platform that sits at the heart of the Lloyds of London speciality insurance market. It enables brokers and underwriters to quote, negotiate and bind complex non-standard risks that range from international shipping fleets, vital to global trade and energy, to unique events with ‘black-swan’ potential. Over 80% of the risks placed in London trade across the PPL platform.
Prior to this John was a Managing Director at the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), responsible for the underlying data platforms that support super-fast data aggregation. These process up to quarter of a million updates a second disseminated to over 250,000 desktop environments in real and non-real time. He has also held senior positions at Thomson Reuters, Refinitiv and Bloomberg.
During his career John has worked with Defence to provide strategic analysis of geopolitical, economic and security risk. He has advised policy teams and helped create a new capability within the MoD to combat economic threat. His SJUK Leaders in Security Keynote Address will examine the financial environment as a key element of UK critical national infrastructure, exploring the diversity and increasing frequency of threats to the UK and considering how the UK might mobilise to address them.
09:55 – 10:15 BST
PANEL DISCUSSION – From Experience to Innovation: The Entrepreneurs Closing Security Gaps
Moderator: Tom O’Driscoll CSyP, Head of Security Operations and Intelligence, National Highways
Panellists:
- Hugo Hoyland, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Asset Reality
- Isabella Dixon Smith, Co-Founder, INGRIS
- Francis Jones, CEO and Co-Founder, BattleBottle
- Gaelic Jara, CTO and Co-Founder, eNOugh
This session explores how entrepreneurs are transforming real-world operational experience into meaningful security innovation, identifying vulnerabilities and addressing gaps that existing technologies or traditional approaches have failed to solve. Each speaker brings insight shaped by direct exposure to practical security challenges across different environments and sectors. The discussion examines how these experiences have inspired new products, services and operating models, as well as the realities of validating, funding and scaling early-stage ideas within the security industry. The panel will also explore the role of entrepreneurial thinking, collaboration and user-driven innovation in advancing more effective, practical and scalable security solutions that respond to rapidly evolving threats and operational demands.
10:20 – 10:30 BST
PRESENTATION – The Future of Access Control: How Intelligent Identity Improves Security and Experience
Presenter: David Vigor, End User Business Development Director, HID
As identity management evolves beyond simple authentication, it is becoming a live source of intelligence across increasingly connected workplaces. This session explores how access control, IoT-enabled devices, mobile credentials and facial recognition are coming together to deliver more responsive security, using real-time data to improve visibility, decision-making and resilience. It will also highlight the benefits for employees, end users and visitors, showing how connected identity can strengthen protection while creating a smoother, more intuitive access experience.
10:35 – 10:55 BST
PANEL DISCUSSION – How Will Security Leadership Evolve in the Intelligence-Led Revolution?
Moderator: Scott Hamer, Head of Security and Resilience, St. Paul’s Cathedral
Panellists:
- David Vigor, End User Business Development Director, HID
- Peter Harrison, Founder & Managing Director, FGH Security
- Siân Doherty, Managing Director, Arc Monitoring
- Jennifer Ciolfi CSyP, Group Director of Security, Global Switch
Human expertise and advanced technology are becoming inseparable as organisations adapt to increasingly connected and risk-aware environments. In this panel, senior leaders will explore how AI, manufacturing and real-time intelligence are reshaping human security services through collaborative decision-making between people and agentic systems. AI will not replace security professionals, but it will increasingly augment human judgment, accelerate response and enable more proportionate, risk-based security operations. The discussion will examine how integrated security ecosystems are replacing siloed controls, and how organisations are balancing autonomous AI capability with human accountability and trust. Panellists will bring perspectives from manufacturing, frontline security officers, alarm receiving centres and the corporate end user.
11:00 – 11:45 BST
MORNING NETWORKING BREAK – TEA & COFFEE
11:50 – 12:10 BST
PANEL DISCUSSION – AI, Automation & the Accountability Gap
Moderator: Richard Dempers CEng, Co-Founder and Director – Solutions & Technology, Rheinberry
Panellists:
- Oliver Lacey, Head of Global Sales, Advancis Identity Solutions
- Neil Gardner, Lead Sales Engineer, Rhombus
- Sarah Mathers, VP, Head of International Security and International Events Leader, National Basketball Association (NBA)
- Neil Jones, Director of Cybersecurity Evangelism, Egnyte
This panel confronts persistent myths surrounding AI while examining the operational realities organisations now face. It explores the growing risks of over-reliance on automation, erosion of critical thinking, cultural reluctance to challenge AI-driven outputs and the emergence of new threat vectors created by rapidly evolving technologies. The discussion will also examine how organisations can balance innovation with human judgement, particularly in high-pressure security and operational environments where accountability cannot be outsourced to technology. A key focus will be the importance of governance, accountability and responsible project management when introducing AI into security environments.
12:15 – 12:40 BST
FIRESIDE CHAT – Playing 4D Chess: National Security Challenges for the Private Sector in the Age of Hybrid Warfare
Panellists: Chris Worthy OBE CSyP; Matt Fitton
Revolutions in data creation, financial movement, information access and electronic automation are critically altering the balance of power between the State, the individual and the private sector. This conversation between two national security thinkers will be wide-ranging and contentious. They will consider risks to a UK weakened by key technical developments in the 21st century, and newly vulnerable in today’s complex geopolitical landscape. How can security leaders sustain and strengthen their organisations and cope with the challenges of an increasingly unpredictable environment where hybrid threats exploit emerging technologies to pose new risks to everyone?
12:45 – 13:05 BST
PRESENTATION – Communications in Crises
Co-Presenters: Beatrice Timpson & Rachel Miller, Sanctuary Counsel
When a crisis hits, the technical response is often only half the battle – the other half is responding in the court of public opinion. Join Beatrice Timpson (ex-No. 10) and Rachel Miller from Sanctuary Counsel for a “behind-the-curtain” look at how to communicate through a crisis. Through case studies – ranging from international cyber-breaches to physical site disasters – we’ll explore the real-time pressures of strategic decision-making and the friction of legal constraints. You’ll gain actionable insights on the “dos and don’ts” of crisis comms and discover why a security plan is only truly robust when operations and communications are in total lockstep.
13:10 – 14:10 BST
BUFFET-STYLE LUNCH AND NETWORKING
14:15 – 14:35 BST
PANEL DISCUSSION – Procuring Security Responsibly
Moderator: Nigel Brown CSyP, Head of Corporate Security and Organisational Resilience, BBC
Panellists:
- Michelle Russell, CEO, Security Industry Authority (SIA)
- Sarah Cork, Co-Chair, SIA’s Buyer’s Special Interest Group
- Jayne King, Co-Chair, SIA’s Buyer’s Special Interest Group
- John McCreadie, Lead Security & Risk Manager, Fortnum & Mason
- Shaun Hipgrave, Director, Protect and Prepare, Homeland Security Group (HSG)
‘Procuring Security Responsibly’ marks the launch of the consultation on the Security Industry Authority supported DRAFT Buyer’s Charter and shares the latest on the work of the Buyer’s Special Interest Group (SiG). The discussion explores why responsible procurement is critical in today’s security landscape, how that needs to change with Martyn’s Law coming in and increasing public protection expectations. Delegates will be equipped with practical insights on how to strengthen compliance, reduce organisational risk and safeguard reputation through more robust procurement strategies. Panellists will examine ethical accountability, effective provider selection and cross-sector collaboration to raise standards. The Charter, developed by buyers and endorsed by the SIA, sets a framework for informed, transparent and responsible security purchasing.
14:40 – 15:05 BST
FIRESIDE CHAT – From Battlefield to Boardroom: Robotics, Drones and the Future of Security
Panellists: Rosie Richardson, Strategy Director, Createc; Morgan Ely, Founder and CEO, echomis Ltd
In this fireside chat, Morgan and Rosie explore how global conflict and emerging threats are accelerating innovation in robotics, drones, autonomy and defensive security. Drawing on their respective experiences, they discuss the evolving balance between offensive and defensive capability, and what organisations can learn from technologies being rapidly tested in real-world conflict and other applications. The session will examine the art of the possible with mobile systems and the widening gap between technological capability and organisational governance and readiness to adopt – offering security leaders practical insight into what to watch for next and how to build adaptive, technology-ready organisations.
15:10 – 15:30 BST
PANEL DISCUSSION – From Hidden to Heard: Building the Next Security Workforce
Moderator: Sally Fitton CSyP, Director at Sally Fitton Consulting & Senior Security Manager, NPR
Panellists:
- Dr Garry Evanson CSyP, Lead Tutor, MSc International Risk & Security Programme
(University of West London & Perpetuity Partnership) - Sophie Cairney, Lead Risk Intelligence Consultant, Securitas Risk Intelligence Center (RIC)
- Raegan Moss, Senior Security Controller, Mott MacDonald
The security sector is changing, but questions remain about who it represents, who it attracts and whether it can truly call itself a profession. For many young professionals, security can still appear dominated by traditional backgrounds and pathways that do not reflect the diversity of modern society or the environments security now protects. This panel will explore whether professional identity in security is evolving or fragmenting in an era where public trust in traditional professions is shifting more broadly. As AI, technology and social expectations reshape work, what does professionalism actually mean in the 21st century? Is security becoming more open, accessible and multidisciplinary, or is the very concept of a profession beginning to lose relevance? Panellists will challenge assumptions around credibility, expertise, diversity and the future identity of the security profession.
15:35 – 15:55 BST
PRESENTATION – Systems Thinking for Security Leaders
Presenter: Simon Goatcher, Chartered Chemist, Fellow of the Security Institute & Advanced Systems Thinking Practitioner
In complex and evolving security environments, the difference often lies in how we think, not just what we do. While most professional development focuses on tactical execution, effective leadership requires the ability to navigate complexity and see the broader context. This session builds on the instinctive strengths many security leaders already possess, exploring security challenges through the lens of systems thinking. The aim is to help you see problems more clearly, frame them more effectively, and equip your teams to understand the bigger picture so they can perform at their best.
16:00 – 16:20 BST
CLOSING REMARKS
Rick Mounfield, Conference Chair and Director, Optimal Risk
Ian Stokes, CEO, Centurian Media Ltd.
16:30 BST
EVENT CLOSE & NETWORKING DRINKS
