Judging Panel 2027

Chair of the Judges: Adam Cadle, Editor, MoneyAge

Damien Druce, Chief Operating Officer, Black & White Bridging
Emily Hollands, Group Head of Intermediary Sales and Distribution, OSB Group
Paul Hunt, Co-Founder, Square 1 Media
Richard Merrett, Managing Director, Alexander Hall
Karen Rodrigues, Sales Director, TAB
John Somerville, Director of Financial Services, LIBF
Debbie Staveley, Founder and CEO, bClear Communications   
Adam Tyler, Chief Executive Officer, The Bridging & Development Lenders Association (BDLA)
Sally Wright, Head of Distribution, Paragon Banking Group   

Chair of the judges: Adam Cadle, Editor, MoneyAge
Adam Cadle is a business and finance journalist with over 15 years’ experience, and is currently the editor of Insurance Asset Management, MoneyAge and Corporate Finance News. He previously worked as deputy editor on Pensions Age and European Pensions. Adam has chaired a number of award judging panels and conferences over the years both in the personal finance and insurance asset management spaces. He is a graduate from Sussex University with a BA honours in French and History and is NCTJ qualified.

Damien Druce, Chief Operating Officer, Black & White Bridging
With more than two decades of experience across specialist property finance, banking and lending, Damien has built a reputation for delivering operational excellence while maintaining a strong focus on customer outcomes and broker relationships. Since joining Black & White Bridging, he has helped drive the business through a period of rapid expansion, supporting the company's ambition to become one of the UK's leading specialist lenders.
Passionate about raising standards across the industry, Damien is a strong advocate for transparency, innovation and responsible lending. His experience spans underwriting, credit, operations, product development and business transformation, giving him a well-rounded perspective on what distinguishes outstanding businesses and individuals within the property finance sector.
As a judge, Damien brings a commercial, balanced and impartial approach, recognising excellence, innovation and sustainable success while understanding the real-world challenges faced by businesses operating in today's market.

Emily Hollands, Group Head of Intermediary Sales and Distribution, OSB Group
Emily Hollands is Group Head of Intermediary Sales and Distribution, responsible for leading the Group’s intermediary sales and distribution strategy. She oversees field and internal sales, corporate accounts and broker operations, focused on strengthening broker relationships, enhancing operational effectiveness and delivering a more connected intermediary experience. Emily joined OSB Group, in 2016 as a National Account Manager before progressing to Head of National Accounts. She was appointed Head of Specialist Finance in 2021, later becoming Group Head of Distribution, and was promoted to Group Head of Intermediary Sales and Distribution in 2026.

Paul Hunt, Co-Founder, Square 1 Media
Paul has worked in marketing within the financial services and property sectors in a career spanning over 25 years. Since 2001, he has held Head of Marketing Director roles in businesses like Platform (the intermediary lender of Co-op), Lehman Brothers and Countrywide and has managed both B2B and B2C.
His experience includes relaunching Platform in 2003 following the merger with Verso, setting up a bids team at Countrywide to win multi million £ valuation contracts with lenders, acting as PR spokesperson, launching the largest PRS development in the North West of England and building a customer retention model for Countrywide’s financial services business.
A well known industry spokesperson, he has an extensive contact list across the mortgage industry.

Richard Merrett, Managing Director, Alexander Hall
Richard Merrett is Managing Director of Alexander Hall, one of the UK’s leading mortgage brokers and part of the Foxtons Group. He has also held Director positions with largemortgageloans.com and in Distribution with SimplyBiz Mortgages. He currently sits on the AMI Board and is Chair of the Green Mortgage Advice Initiative (formerly Mortgage Climate Action Group).

Karen Rodrigues, Sales Director, TAB
Karen Rodrigues became Head of National Accounts at Market Financial Solutions when she joined the team in July 2023, and has since been promoted to Head of Sales. With over 20 years’ experience in the mortgage intermediary sector, Karen is focused on bringing Market Financial Solutions wide range of fast and flexible financial products to the large clubs, networks & packagers across the UK.
Starting her career in financial services with Halifax, Karen has always worked closely with mortgage intermediaries, focusing on networking to build longstanding and deep relationship and understanding the service requirements of networks, clubs, packagers and mortgage brokers. Karen moved to One Savings Bank, where she was a National Account Manager working on both the Kent Reliance and Prestige Finance brands, as well as holding positions at Aldermore Mortgages, GE Money and Kensington. Karen worked as Corporate Sales Manager for Vida Homeloans for 4 years, and in April 2020, Karen joined ULS technology, now Smoove as director of sales.

John Somerville, Director of Financial Services, LIBF
With over three decades of experience in Regulated Financial Services, John Somerville has held various roles, including Financial Adviser, Regional Manager, and Business Development Manager at renowned companies such as Aviva, AXA, and Legal and General. Prior to joining LIBF, John served as the Regulated Learning and Development Manager at Nationwide Building Society and as a Regulated Learning and Development Consultant at Intrinsic Financial Services, now Quilter. For the past six years, John has been dedicated to nurturing the next generation of Banking, Mortgage and Financial Advice Professionals at LIBF. He takes immense pride in helping individuals achieve their qualification ambitions, thus playing a vital role in shaping the future of the UK Financial Services Profession.

Debbie Staveley, Founder and CEO of bClear Communications
Debbie Staveley is a PR and communications professional. She is the founder and CEO of bClear Communications, an agency which has specialised in financial services, fintech, property and construction for 20 years.
bClear Communications is now one of the most well-respected public relations agencies in the financial services sphere. The team at bClear is well known for achieving outstanding results that eclipse those most other agencies. It specialised in everything from communications strategy and digital PR to white papers, award entries and, of course, generating extensive media coverage for clients in both trade and national press.
Prior to founding bClear Communications Debbie set up an internal communication at RBS, managed B2B and B2C PR at Bristol & West and Bank of Ireland and then internal and external communications at top-75 law firm Clarke Willmott.

Adam Tyler, Chief Executive Officer, The Bridging & Development Lenders Association (BDLA)
Adam is CEO at The Bridging & Development Lenders Association (BDLA). He began his early life as a Merchant Navy officer with Shell before coming ashore. Following a career with the Royal Bank of Scotland, in 2005 Adam took over the running of a financial Trade Association responsible for 1600 commercial finance brokers and 140 lenders to business. During that period, he oversaw lending to SME's of around £100bn. In addition, he also had the chance to help shape and influence some of the new business lenders that came to market following the financial crisis.

Sally Wright, Head of Distribution, Paragon Banking Group
Sally has over 35 years’ experience in financial services, and previously held the role of Head of Intermediary Distribution at Hampshire Trust Bank, and before that Head of Sales at Vida Homeloans. She has a vast amount of experience from her time in the intermediary sector, including roles with OSB, Rooftop Mortgages, Mortgage Trust and Nationwide. Sally is now Head of Distribution at Paragon, where she is tasked with building relationships with the largest network and club partners. With a focus on raising awareness of the banks buy-to-let proposition, Sally is working to broaden the distribution network and ensure strategies are aligned and opportunities are maximised.