Meet Our Speakers: IPA Roadshow | Manchester 2026
IPA Manchester Roadshow Host
Louise Brittain, IPA President 2026-27; Head of Restructuring and Insolvency, Azets
Louise Brittain has been a licensed Insolvency Practitioner since 2001 specialising in Contentious and litigious Insolvency including International Asset Tracing, Provisional Liquidation, Liquidations, Administrations, Court Appointed Receiverships, Interim Receiverships and High profile Bankruptcy. She is the lead partner for all POCA work. She has been a partner at Azets since 2013. She is now Joint Head of Restructuring and Insolvency nationally.
Louise is a Vice President of the Insolvency Practitioners Association. In 2023 she was awarded Insolvency Practitioner of the Year (Large Firm) and in 2024 was awarded the Sebbin Award for her Outstanding contribution to the Insolvency Profession.
IPA Goals and Priorities for 2026
Marcial Boo, Chief Executive Officer, IPA
Marcial Boo has been Chief Executive of the IPA since 2024. He was previously the CEO of three other regulators and worked as a senior civil servant in government. He also chairs the professional body for regulators, the Institute of Regulation.
Insolvency Service: Sector Update and Strategic Priorities
Joseph Sullivan, Head of Insolvency Practitioner Regulation, Strategy, Policy & Analysis, Insolvency Service
Joe is head of Insolvency Practitioner Regulation at the Insolvency Service and has over 23 years experience in insolvency. He has recently led work to define the Agency’s role in tackling fraud and money laundering within a new investigation and enforcement strategy and developing a closer partnership with Companies House. Previously Joe was an Official Receiver for both London and Public Interest Unit offices, dealing with a range of bankruptcy and liquidation matters, including Debenhams PLC and the SK:N group of companies. Joe also previously spent 10 years in insolvency practitioner regulation, helping to oversee the work of the RPBs. Joe is JIEB qualified, passing both exams in 2022.
Insolvency Service Session
Ashleigh Finnigan, Senior Leader Redundancy Payments Service, Insolvency Service
I am a Senior Leader in the Insolvency Service, with five years’ experience across the organisation and two years within the Redundancy Payments Service (RPS). I am responsible for the day to day operations of RPS, ensuring efficient delivery of support to customers and stakeholders. I am passionate about operational excellence, developing people, and delivering high-quality public services in complex, fast-paced environments. I lead collaboratively, with a focus on continuous improvement and strong team engagement.
Samantha Ware, Senior Technical Advisor, Chief Technical Officer Team, Insolvency Service
I have worked for the Insolvency Service since 1993, initially spending 16 years in Official Receivers Services and then 12 years in the Debt Relief Order Team. I have also managed the Adjudicator and Breathing Space teams. Latterly I worked in Redundancy Payments Services managing the Employment Tribunal team and representing the Secretary of State at tribunal hearings as a lay representative. I took up my current role as Senior Technical Advisor in June 2024.
ICO Financial Investigations: Regulator and Creditor
Kerry Smith, Investigations Group Manager, Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
Kerry Smith has worked at the ICO for twelve years. She currently manages the Financial Investigation Unit (FIU), a specialised team responsible for recovering significant civil monetary penalties and undertaking financial investigations under POCA. The FIU also undertakes further investigations into the individuals responsible for breaches of legislation and looks to identify opportunities for disruption and obstruction which can involve partnership working with other agencies.
Kerry has also managed the Privacy and Digital Marketing Investigation Teams. These teams are responsible for enforcement of the data sharing or trading and direct marketing provisions in the Data Protection Act and the Privacy and Electronic Communication Regulations. Prior to joining the ICO, Kerry worked for a number of organisations in various enforcement and intelligence roles, including HMRC.
Legal Insights and Practical Tips for Insolvency Professionals
Adam Berman, Legal Director, Trowers & Hamlins LLP
The Economic Outlook 2026/2027
Subrahmaniam Krishnan-Harihara, Director of Business Policy and Research, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce
Crypto Asset Recovery: Separating Fact from Fiction
Aidan Larkin, Co-Founder & CEO, Asset Reality
Aidan Larkin is the co founder and CEO of Asset Reality, the seized asset company building the first end to end platform for seizing, managing and disposing of physical and virtual assets. An Associate Fellow at RUSI, he lectures and consults for the UNODC and global organizations on asset recovery and crypto. A former UK criminal investigator with HMRC, he later managed seized asset portfolios for the UK government, including leading some of the world’s first public auctions of seized cryptocurrency.
Andrew Sidaway, Insolvency & Asset Recovery Director, Grant Thornton UK Advisory & Tax LLP
Andrew Sidaway is a Director in Grant Thornton’s Insolvency and Asset Recovery team, focusing primarily on contentious cross-border matters and those involving digital assets. He is a member of the firm’s Digital Asset Recovery practice and serves as a Director and committee member of the Crypto Fraud and Asset Recovery Network. Andrew has worked across multiple engagements involving digital assets and brings significant experience in addressing the unique challenges these assets present in the context of an insolvency appointment.
David Hale, Detective Sergeant, Regional Economic Crime Unit, North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU)
David is a Detective Sergeant and Regional Asset Recovery Lead with over 16 years’ experience in financial crime investigation and confiscation strategy across multiple UK policing jurisdictions.
An accredited Financial Investigator through the Proceeds of Crime Centre, he specialises in cross-border asset recovery, organised crime finance, and crypto-asset seizure — with a focus on embedding asset denial strategy at the earliest stages of investigation to maximise disruption and victim compensation.
He has led investigations resulting in the restraint and recovery of millions in criminal assets, working alongside international partners including the FBI, U.S. Secret Service, and Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He holds blockchain analysis certifications from Chainalysis, Asset Reality, and the University of Nicosia, and has collaborated with RUSI on research into underground banking and transnational organised crime.
David is recognised as an early adopter of the powers introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2024, applying its provisions operationally to strengthen asset recovery outcomes in live cases. He is passionate about developing financial investigation capability, mentoring the next generation of investigators, and building stronger public-private partnerships to keep pace with evolving criminal methodologies.
Troublesome or Troubled? Vulnerability in Contentious Situations
Michelle Butler MIPA FABRP, Partner, The Compliance Alliance
Michelle is a partner of The Compliance Alliance, which for over 10 years has provided document packs, compliance reviews, technical support and webinars to insolvency practitioners. Michelle is also a member of R3’s General Technical Committee and was on its working group to develop the proposal for a statutory fee for CVLs.
Michelle has spent the last 35 years in the insolvency profession, the first 15 in insolvency practices and then 7 in the IPA, ending in 2012 as their Head of Regulatory Standards and Monitoring. She then became an independent consultant before becoming a founding member of The Compliance Alliance in 2015.
Outside of work, Michelle’s love of the natural world has led her to swim with manta rays, chase tornadoes, fly over an erupting volcano and work on environmental conservation projects across three continents.
Employment Rights Act 2025 – What You Need to Know
Joanna Dodd, Partner, Clarion
Joanna is an experienced litigator and has defended a number of multi-party claims in the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal – including claims for unfair dismissal, discrimination and whistleblowing. Joanna excels in cutting through the detail to get to the heart of the legal issues and determining the appropriate strategy for the client efficiently and effectively.
Beyond Box-Ticking: Effective Compliance and Regulatory Realities for 2026
Stuart Jary, Inspector, IPA
Stuart Jary is an Inspector at the Insolvency Practitioner’s Association. Stuart joined the IPA as a regulatory officer and has extensive industry experience having worked for FRP Advisory, PwC and HMRC.