In conversation with Financial Services: Why innovation really matters
The term ‘innovation’ might bring to mind a race for better technology, systems and smarter data, but beneath it all lies a fundamental question: how do we create a fairer financial future for all?
For most people, financial advice isn’t about products, platforms, or policy. It’s about life: buying a first home, protecting a family, surviving a setback, or planning for a future that feels uncertain.
Yet for millions, financial advice remains out of reach.
As one of the most significant regulatory shifts in recent years begins to reshape how people access financial support, the financial services sector is radically reshaping how advice and guidance is delivered.
This is just the kind of challenge that our pioneering Innovation Calls take on, led by our team in the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL). Our latest call focused on the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Advice Guidance Boundary Review, a technical name for a very human issue: how to make financial help clearer, fairer and available to far more people.
Bringing together fintech founders, academics, financial services leaders, and regulators, FRIL’s Innovation Call creates a space where policy, practice, and possibility meet.
Here, we speak with two financial services leaders involved in the call to find out more about why innovation is so important to their firms, as well as the future of the sector:
- Maria Herrero Bullich – Chief Customer and Digital Officer, Insurance, Pensions & Investments at Lloyds Banking Group.
- Kate Murray – Strategic Projects Lead, Scottish Widows & Lloyds Banking Group.
Addressing the Big Picture
“For me, the utopia is that everyone who wants to do the right thing for their future has real choice. Whether they’re looking for simple guidance, clearer recommendations, or full financial advice. What matters is that people have different options, depending on their needs, and the freedom to decide which path is right for them,” explains Maria.
“It’s important to us to close the advice gap by building tools that help people think about their futures, especially those who can’t afford traditional advice, so they still have access to clear, targeted support when making important financial decisions.”
And this work matters, because the numbers are concerning. Millions of people across the UK still receive no financial advice at all, and while support exists, it is often out of reach for those who need it most.
The Advice Guidance Boundary Review represents a critical moment for the sector, an opportunity to ensure that more people can finally access support when making some of the most important decisions about their money.
Kate explains: “Our purpose is to help more people secure their financial futures, in a way that aligns with our wider goal of helping Britain prosper. There’s a real advice gap in the industry, and whether someone is our customer or not, we want to help fill that void so more people can move towards a more prosperous financial future.“
“At one end of the spectrum, people can’t afford advice –so they self-serve through available guidance, but don’t know what to do with it. At the other end, people can access full, holistic advice. In the middle, many don’t know how to save, invest or prepare for retirement. That’s where we see innovation and new solutions helping people understand their next step, whether that’s saving and investing more, planning for retirement, or putting more into their pension.”
Meeting Consumer Needs
And when we look more closely at this issue, it becomes clear that a one-size-fits-all approach simply won’t meet the diverse needs of consumers. Across the industry, firms are increasingly focused on developing more tailored ways to support those who are currently slipping through the advice and guidance net.
Maria explains: “There are parts of society that face very different challenges, from the gender gap in pensions to younger generations trying to save for the future. We’re focused on how to bring people who often have less financial confidence into the conversation and help them think about their futures.“
“Different groups need to be engaged in different ways. Younger people can be hard to reach, so we use techniques like gamification to encourage them to start those conversations. Others, such as people who feel less confident about investing, or women who may have taken career breaks and are worried about having enough for a comfortable retirement, face different barriers.”
These are very real issues, affecting everyday lives. Kate stresses the impact of what happens if the gap isn’t closed:
“Through work like our annual Women in Retirement report, we can see a massive gap in people’s financial futures. Significant proportions of society, who are working today, are on track to reach retirement without enough money, and that means going from work to a retirement in poverty.“
“That’s a serious problem, not just for individuals, but for the UK as a whole. It’s a systemic, government-level issue that needs to be addressed now, to prevent that happening for people as much as possible.”
Future Solutions Now
Finding solutions to these challenges requires a collaborative approach – different perspectives, experience and skillsets. That’s why this FRIL Innovation Call matters so much.
“It’s been so interesting to meet the fintechs and to connect with strategic partners, to better understand what they can bring to help us move at pace and innovate – so we can, at scale, support more customers to secure their financial futures,” says Kate.
“It’s been so interesting to meet the fintechs and to connect with strategic partners, to better understand what they can bring to help us move at pace and innovate – so we can, at scale, support more customers to secure their financial futures,” says Kate
“This is a huge opportunity for us. Scottish Widows has been involved in earlier calls, and this feels like a real chance to do things differently. At Lloyds Banking Group, we’re constantly trying to change how we innovate and move faster. Bringing in outside thinking, new technology, and completely different perspectives helps us bridge that and go quicker.”
And that’s why innovation in financial services is about far more than technology, systems, and data. As Maria puts it:
“We focus on creating experiences that aren’t built around products, but around people. It’s about understanding what they need, where the gaps are, and how to help them close them.”
The Advice Guidance Boundary Review. Just what does it all mean?
Advice: A regulated service where a financial adviser looks at your full financial situation and gives you a personalised recommendation.
Guidance: Support that points you in the right direction based on limited information you share, without telling you exactly what to do.
Boundary: The line that separates advice from guidance, defining how much information is needed and what a firm can or can’t recommend.
Review: The regulator’s process of consulting industry and consumers, and government to create clear new rules that will shape how these services work in future.
What next?
Enjoyed this piece? Hear from the perspective of the fintechs involved in the call. If you’re interested in the work of FRIL more generally and would like to contact a member of the team email: FRIL@fintechscotland.com.
About FRIL
2026 and Beyond: FinTech Scotland’s Next Chapter
A Message from Aleks Tomczyk
In 2025, global fintech investment rose by 21% to $53bn, signalling a welcome return to growth across most markets. The US remained the global leader at $25.1bn, while the UK reclaimed second place with $3.6bn. These figures are more than just encouraging – they point to renewed confidence across the fintech ecosystem and set a strong foundation for 2026.
Against this backdrop, I feel a genuine sense excitement and responsibility as Chief Executive of FinTech Scotland. We’re at a pivotal moment for the cluster: it’s vibrant, the ambition is real, and the opportunities ahead of us are immense.
My immediate focus is clear, centred on three priorities.
Firstly, we will strengthen and scale our innovation programmes to deliver real value across the ecosystem including measurable social impact.
That means deepening the work already underway and improving on it:
- Through our award-winning Financial Regulation Innovation Lab, we will continue to strengthen the collaboration between innovators and regulators, ensuring Scotland remains at the forefront of fintech that supports regulation and reducing operating costs whilst improving consumer outcomes.
- With the Centre of Excellence in Digital Trust, led by Edinburgh Napier University, delivered in partnership with Edinburgh and Glasgow Universities, we will position Scotland as a global innovator at the intersection of digital trust, identity, crypto and data in financial services.
- We will scale the Finance and Health Lab, driving better financial wellbeing, resilience and long-term financial health for people across Scotland.
Secondly, we will build sharper, more targeted support for fintech entrepreneurs – from idea through to international scale-up.
This means clearer enabling pathways, stronger networks, better access to funding, and programmes (including our Innovation Labs) grounded in real company needs. Alongside this, we will amplify Scotland’s presence in priority global markets, making our firms more visible, better connected, and bringing more of Scotland’s fintech innovation onto the world stage.
Thirdly, we will drive greater collaboration across the ecosystem.
By enabling connections inside and outside Scotland amongst our strategic partners, fintechs, academic institutions and in related professional services we will help financial services and fintech companies large and small to prosper. This will be made possible by strong foundations – an excellent talent pool, world class research base and great, forward thinking, existing financial services companies – we will help to strengthen them, further.
These three things will result in growth, create high-value jobs, attract inward investment, encourage new startups and strengthen resilience in the cluster. Fintech will play an enhanced critical role in Scotland’s economic future.
I have a background in technology innovation and business building. I have run major change projects in financial services. I have built two fintechs from the ground up.
One of the things that has always excited me most is the role of people, networks and ecosystems in innovation. Technology doesn’t create change – people do. Innovation succeeds best when stakeholders collaborate to solve real problems, when trust is built, and when ambition and success are shared.
I am confident that by building further on our fintech community, and by staying focused, collaborative and ambitious, we can deliver tangible impact for our companies large and small, our people, and our country – plus companies and people elsewhere.
In the years ahead, I look forward to meeting many of you – employees, founders, investors, academics, regulators and partners – because relationships are the bedrock of success. I welcome your ideas, your energy and your feedback, and I encourage you to reach out to us here any time.
Here’s to the journey ahead.
Future-Ready Skills in Financial Regulation: AI, RegTech and ESG Leadership
Alessio Azzutti, John Finch and Xiang Li, of the University of Glasgow, introduce two new professional courses for our FinTech, Financial Services and Financial Regulation communities, introduced as part of the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab project. Please do follow up with us by alessio.azzutti@glasgow.ac.uk, john.finch@glasgow.ac.uk, or xiang.li@glasgow.ac.uk
In today’s fast-changing and increasingly complex regulatory landscape, financial institutions face mounting challenges: rising compliance costs, increasingly sophisticated financial crime, outdated technological capabilities, and growing sustainability demands/pressures from stakeholders and activists. Faced with these pressures, professionals need to reskill and upskill, in particular in areas of AI, RegTech, and ESG leadership, to thrive and remain competitive.
About the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL)
As part of the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL), we are committed to promoting the flourishing of human capital, particularly deepening the expertise in financial regulation among financial services, fintechs and regulators. We aim to make our university’s educational offering easily accessible and directly relevant to industry professionals to support both career and organisational development. Aspiring to excellence in what we do, we introduce learner-centred active learning approaches and incorporate real-life challenges into our teaching that help our course participants address the challenges they experience at work and develop and implement appropriate solutions.
Our FRIL team at the University of Glasgow has spent two and a half years living and breathing financial regulation innovation alongside our colleagues in financial services, fintech and regulation. The FRIL project involves us all in co-developing and collaborating on action research, knowledge exchange, and innovation calls, and our skills development theme, professional education courses, presented as short micro-credentials. By drawing together our insights from the FRIL project together with our expertise in research and learning and teaching in the University of Glasgow’s Adam Smith Business School and School of Law, we have developed two professional education courses in ‘AI, RegTech and Financial Compliance’ and ‘ESG Leadership’.
Our Learning Design Approach
Experiential and active learning inform our course design and approach to learning. This approach has been proven impactful in leadership, entrepreneurial, and professional education. It draws on wide-ranging experiences of working professionals in roles connected with the courses, across careers, supports participants in applying concepts and tools introduced in the course to workplaces, and facilitates reflections and discussions among participants through practical cases and in-course exercises.
The focus of the course content is informed by leading industry professionals involved in the action research and innovation calls, thereby ensuring close alignment with industry demands. Alongside expert-led lectures and interviews, participants immerse themselves in interactive activities—from tackling real-world compliance scenarios and innovation challenges to collaborative problem-solving with peers. This ensures learners move beyond concepts into the skills and confidence to navigate the complex intersection of financial regulation, compliance demands, sustainability, and AI solutions.
Course 1: AI, RegTech and Financial Compliance
Led by: Alessio Azzutti and Ian MacNeil
Context
With exploding regulatory requirements, rising costs, increasingly sophisticated financial crime, outdated systems, and shifting consumer expectations, financial compliance is becoming ever more demanding for regulated institutions. This urgent need for both business and technological innovation is driving the rise of Regulatory Technology (RegTech)—and particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI)—which is transforming how organisations respond. Lasting success, however, depends not only on innovative technology but also on professionals equipped to harness it.
Course details
This course progresses from AI and RegTech foundations to real-world applications, governance, emerging regulations, and future-ready compliance strategies. Assessment is fully practice-based: instead of traditional exams or theoretical essays, learners will complete a Capstone Project where they design an AI-enabled compliance solution, analyse its risks and governance, and map a personalised professional development pathway.
If you’re interested in this course, please email Alessio Azzutti at Alessio.Azzutti@glasgow.ac.uk.
Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Critically analyse and evaluate AI applications in financial compliance contexts.
- Design theory-informed, effective, responsible, and future-ready solutions.
- Position themselves as compliance professionals prepared to lead digital transformation in banking, finance, FinTech, consultancy, and regulatory bodies.
Course 2: ESG Leadership
Led by: Erika Anderson, John Finch and Xiang Li
Context
Complex and dynamic regulation remains a feature of sustainability and ESG reporting, with notable differences across regions and jurisdictions. Given the long-lived qualities of reputation, product and process, and the global reach of supply chains, investors, consumers, and business customers want to know about an organisation’s sustainability offer and profile. We focus on that point of transition—from compliance to strategy and leadership—highlighting the strategic approach to leveraging ESG insights to achieve both the organisation’s competitive advantage and reduction of material risks embedded in sustainability.
Course details
This course covers the regulatory framework and its implications for organisations and their supply chains, including sustainability reporting and disclosures as these address risk management and inform investment and investor stewardship. From reporting to transition, the course highlights the critical roles of strategic development, leadership and organisational change. We draw on case studies, short lectures, interviews with the community of practice, evaluations of current sustainability plans, and discussions among participants and our teaching team to facilitate participants’ learning.
Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Evaluate an organisation’s sustainability performance from multiple perspectives.
- Develop a comprehensive ESG/sustainability plan, integrating compliance with business strategy.
- Lead organisational change by embedding ESG considerations into leadership and strategy.
Practical Information
- AI, RegTech and Financial Compliance course: to be delivered in-person at the University of Glasgow between 16 October and 27 November 2025.
- ESG Leadership course: to be delivered online in six weekly modules from late September 2025, with an option for participants to complete the assessment and claim 10 credits at the postgraduate level, which are recognised by the University of Glasgow.
- Both courses will also be available online in early 2026.
- Participants from both courses can receive a certificate of participation
Future-Proof Your Expertise
Whether your focus is mastering AI-enabled compliance or leading ESG transformation, these short courses will position you at the forefront of professional development. Join us to upskill/reskill, strengthen your expertise, prepare for your organisation’s transition, and lead confidently in a rapidly evolving financial landscape.
Regulatory Insights: September 2025 – Balancing Growth, Innovation and Consumer Protection
Our strategic partner Pinsent Masons has released the September edition of its FS Regulatory Risk Trends update, highlighting the latest developments shaping the UK regulatory landscape.
This third edition of 2025 comes at a time when government and regulators are under pressure to balance economic growth, innovation and competitiveness with strong consumer protection and the integrity of the financial system.
FCA focus: innovation with safeguards
The FCA continues to implement its five-year strategy, with an emphasis on innovation and efficiency. This quarter’s insights point to several areas of interest:
- AI regulation and adoption: the FCA is engaging with the opportunities and risks around AI in financial services.
- Payments innovation: consultations on contactless payments and targeted support show a regulatory push for consumer benefit and wider adoption.
- Market infrastructure: the FCA has approved the first PISCES platform, a milestone for digital settlement systems.
Wider government initiatives
Alongside the FCA’s actions, HM Treasury is consulting on significant changes to the redress framework overseen by the FCA and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). These proposals could have a major impact on how firms manage complaints and consumer redress.
Risks on the horizon
While innovation is encouraged, firms also face heightened scrutiny. Recent regulatory activity includes:
- Market reviews into retail insurance, digital customer journeys and premium finance.
- Ongoing exploration of the future of cryptoasset regulation.
- Criminal prosecutions linked to financial crime.
- Preparations for an industry-wide redress scheme following the Supreme Court motor finance case in August.
To discover the full update click here.
Morgan Stanley Marks 25 Years in Glasgow with a Uniquely Scottish Celebration
This year, Morgan Stanley celebrates 25 years in Glasgow, a quarter of a century that has seen the firm grow from just six colleagues in 2000 to more than 2,000 today. From the outset, the Glasgow office has played a vital role in the firm’s global network, supporting technology, finance, operations, legal, and compliance functions while building deep partnerships with the city and its people.
Morgan Stanley is celebrating throughout 2025 with a series of events recognising the people and partners who have shaped its success. One highlight was a reception with Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE), attended by First Minister John Swinney, SFE CEO Sandy Begbie, and Vida Rudkin, Head of Morgan Stanley Glasgow.
A tartan for the next chapter
An important moment of the celebrations is the unveiling of a bespoke tartan, designed in collaboration with The House of Edgar. Inspired by the firm’s brand colours, the Morgan Stanley tartan is rich with symbolism: a 25-thread black stripe to mark the Glasgow office’s 25th anniversary, two blocks of blue totalling 90 threads to honour the firm’s 90th global anniversary, and six colours to represent the six original employees who founded the office in 2000.
Celebrating with Glasgow
The tartan will take centre stage on 25 September at a special reception in Glasgow City Chambers, hosted in partnership with Glasgow City Council and the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. This event forms the main celebration of Morgan Stanley’s anniversary year, coinciding with both Glasgow’s 850th anniversary and the FinTech Scotland Festival 2025. It promises to be a unique moment, bringing together the global financial community and the city to reflect on past achievements and look ahead to future opportunities.
Scotland’s Evolving Coworking Landscape: Glasgow, Edinburgh & Aberdeen Lead the Way in Q2
As Scotland’s fintech and innovation economy continues to thrive, so too does its flexible office infrastructure by offering agile, scalable workspaces that meet the needs of growing startups, enterprise teams, and remote workers alike.
According to CoworkingCafe, Scotland is now home to 279 coworking spaces, placing it firmly on the map as one of the UK’s most active regions for flexible work. The report draws on proprietary July 2025 data and offers in-depth insight into inventory levels, subscription pricing, and operator presence across the UK and Ireland.
| Scotland’s Coworking Snapshot: Q2 2025 Total inventory: 279 coworking locations National median prices across Scotland: Monthly memberships: £150 Day passes: £23 Virtual offices: £95 Meeting rooms: £25/hour Top Scottish operator: Wasps, with 18 locations |
As fintech companies continue to scale and decentralise, demand for high-quality, flexible workspace solutions is rising outside of London and the South East. Scotland’s coworking scene — especially in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen — offers a cost-effective, collaborative alternative to traditional office setups. Let’s take a closer look at how these top-performing coworking hubs are shaping the future of flexible work in Scotland.
Glasgow: Scotland’s Largest Coworking Market
With 61 coworking spaces, Glasgow ranks #4 in the UK overall and stands out as Scotland’s leading hub for flexible office solutions. The city combines affordability with an increasingly sophisticated offer — making it attractive to both startups and established businesses.
- Monthly memberships: £160 — below the UK median (£180), but slightly above the Scottish median (£150)
- Day passes: £23 — tied for the most affordable in the UK
- Virtual offices: £119 — significantly higher than the national and Scottish averages
- Meeting rooms: £23/hour — one of the UK’s most cost-effective options
Edinburgh: High Demand, Premium Pricing
Edinburgh ranks #5 nationally, with 55 coworking locations offering a premium experience in the heart of Scotland’s capital. The city’s thriving fintech sector and knowledge economy are reflected in above-average pricing.
- Monthly memberships: £192 — well above both Scottish and UK medians
- Day passes: £30 — a capital-level price, in line with greater London
- Virtual offices: £99 — slightly above the UK and Scottish averages
- Meeting rooms: £40/hour — among the most expensive in the UK outside of London
Aberdeen: A Growing Presence in the UK Top 15
With 26 coworking spaces, Aberdeen ranks #11 in the UK and completes Scotland’s trio of cities in the national top 15. Its coworking market is maturing steadily, balancing competitive pricing with national benchmarks.
- Monthly memberships: £160 — on par with Glasgow
- Day passes: £28 — higher than average, reflecting solid demand
- Virtual offices: £95 — matching both the UK and Scottish medians
- Meeting rooms: £30/hour — aligned with the national average
For a deeper look at coworking trends across the UK and Ireland — including operator rankings, detailed city-level data, and full pricing breakdowns — explore the full Coworking Industry Report for Q2 2025.
Photo by CoWomen: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-using-laptop-photography-2041398/
Accelerating growth in Scotland’s financial services sector
EY’s new report “Accelerating growth in Scotland’s financial services sector” is a growth playbook for one of Scotland’s most important industries. Developed by EY and based on a September 2024 survey and in‑depth interviews with senior leaders across banking, insurance, asset‑management and fintech, the study runs each insight through EY’s Financial Services Accelerant Framework to model where the greatest levers for expansion lie.
What it says about Scotland’s financial services economy
The report states that if Scotland can pull the right “accelerators”, gross value‑added (GVA) could be 21 % higher by 2028, adding 16,000 jobs and lifting average annual growth to roughly 4 % well above the historic 2 –3 % trend.
EY’s recommendations focus on a three year policy sprint: visa reform to attract global talent, narrowing tax differentials with the rest of the UK, bolstering digital and physical infrastructure, and targeted R&D funding, especially for fintech innovation.
Fintech
Fintech is one of three key growth sectors identified in the report (alongside green & sustainable finance and asset management). Scotland already hosts a thriving fintech cluster spanning payments, Open Finance, WealthTech and RegTech, recognised internationally as an industrial cluster.
Sector leaders see talent as the decisive variable. Demographics and labour supply rank as the No. 1 factor in creating a globally competitive hub, with regulatory clarity in second place.
FinTech Scotland’s CEO Nicola Anderson, who contributed in the report said :
“Scotland’s industry‑wide innovation strategy for fintech and financial services is set out in the FinTech Research and Innovation Roadmap… The University of Edinburgh, for example, has more AI expertise than anywhere else in Europe and has a history of AI expertise in other sectors.”
Supporting Scale: Addleshaw Goddard Opens Applications for 2025 AG Elevate Accelerator
Addleshaw Goddard has launched the latest edition of AG Elevate, its accelerator programme aimed at supporting ambitious tech scale-ups with legal expertise, strategic mentorship, and industry connections.
Now in its eighth year, the ten-month programme is designed for businesses with growth ambitions and existing funding in place, offering them legal insight, access to industry events, and monthly one-on-one guidance from AG’s senior legal professionals.
A Track Record of Impact
Since its inception in 2017, AG Elevate has worked with more than 60 companies across fintech, clean-tech, prop-tech, and beyond. Notable alumni include Tumelo, Amiqus, Finance Unlocked, and Fuuse. Several participants have gone on to raise significant funding or complete acquisitions, such as SymPhysis Medical and EpiCapture.
Scottish representation in the 2024 cohort included CataNiTek (specialist chemical manufacturing), Coastr (vehicle rental technology), and Frontier Robotics (autonomous underwater exploration) highlighting the programme’s commitment to fostering innovation across the UK’s regions.
What’s on Offer
Participants in AG Elevate receive:
- A dedicated legal mentor with monthly strategy sessions
- 25 hours of complimentary legal support
- Access to AG seminars, insight sessions, and networking events
- Legal publications and updates from AG’s sector experts
- A 30% discount on any further legal work during the programme
David Anderson, Partner at Addleshaw Goddard, said:
“Early-stage and scale-up companies often face legal challenges that can delay growth or investment. AG Elevate is about addressing those challenges early with the right support. We’re particularly keen to hear from businesses in fintech and digital assets this year—areas where we’ve built deep capability.”
Eligibility and How to Apply
AG Elevate is open to tech businesses based in the UK, Ireland, France, Spain, or Germany that have received seed or later-stage investment and have clear plans for rapid growth.
Applications are open now and will close at the end of July 2025.
Apply here
Applications Open for the JPMorganChase Fintech Forward Programme
Applications are now open for the JPMorganChase Fintech Forward Programme, a new 12 week in-person and virtual accelerator designed to help fintech leaders realise their business vision.
Backed by JPMorganChase’s extensive network, the programme offers tailored support to help scale high-potential fintech companies across the UK.
Selected fintech leaders will gain access to a suite of resources designed to drive sustainable business growth. These include:
- Executive sponsorship for a senior JPMorganChase leader
- Mentorship from an experienced advisory team
- A customised programme focused on strengthening a founder’s network and impact
- Opportunities to present to JPMorganChase stakeholders, external investors and partners
- A sponsored trip to Slush, one of Europe’s leading startup events, held in Helsinki
To reduce barriers to participation, travel, accommodation and other reasonable costs for in-person events will be covered by JPMorganChase if required.
The programme begins with two days at JPMorganChase’s Glasgow Technology Centre on 10th and 11th September 2025 with full-day in-person sessions in London every two weeks. Virtual sessions every other week for between 3-4 hours per week. The trip to Slush 2025 takes place between 18th November and 21st November 2025.
Who should apply?
We are seeking applications from businesses that:
- Apply technology to create scalable solutions within financial services.
- Have a live product demonstrating market traction, with annual revenues not exceeding £1 million.
- Show a commitment to making a positive impact on individuals and/or businesses in the UK.
- Are dedicated to active participation in the programme.
We are actively encouraging applications from founders or business leaders who have encountered obstacles to growing their business, including a lack of proximity to funding and networks, and/or those addressing the needs of underserved consumers, businesses or communities.
Applications are assessed on a rolling basis, and early submission is encouraged. The deadline for applications is 27 June 2025.
Mind the Gap: Bridging the UK’s pension divide with digital solutions
The UK pensions landscape is at a crossroads: with 38% of the working-age population under-saving for retirement and 52% of people accessing their pensions without adequate advice, the risk of poor financial outcomes are at an all-time high. Yet, the market is set for huge growth, with defined contribution pension assets projected to explode to £800 billion by 2030.
This is not a new problem, and despite well-intentioned efforts like auto-enrollment from policy-makers and new digital products from providers, there is still a fundamental disconnect; customers lack engagement and understanding in later life planning and financial outcomes.
Solving this challenge presents a significant growth opportunity for providers, but to do so needs a design-led approach focused on deeply understanding your customers through three core elements: Empathy, Engagement and Empowerment. Technology – and particularly AI – of course plays a crucial role, but doesn’t replace the need for empowered advisers. The future will be hybrid: a combination of traditional digital interfaces, agentic AI, and human touchpoints to create hyper-personalised experiences based on an individual’s aspirations, circumstances and preferences.
This whitepaper, drawing on digital partner CreateFuture‘s decades-long experience in the Wealth & Pensions sector, provides a compelling vision for the future of pensions engagement, outlining how a hybrid approach leveraging digital innovation, AI, and empowered advisors can create truly customer-centric experiences and unlock a more secure future for savers.