The National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB) connects over 2000 members in the UK, providing a supportive community for lenders and commercial finance brokers alongside excellent compliance and regulatory services. The NACFB Commercial Finance Expo (CFE) 2021 gave a platform to promote their mission, ‘Helping Fund UK Business’, which now sees them confront some of the issues our industries and economy face due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s Expo meant industry stakeholders could regroup with new insights and developments from a turbulent year; their ‘Moving Britain Forward’ initiative aims to establish a line of communication with UK industry and government representatives to galvanize British business. The initiative’s remit includes supporting the growth of small and medium enterprises (SME), giving SMEs the valuable opportunity to access expert commercial finance advice.

Established in 1992, NACFB have earned their place as the UK’s largest industry name for commercial finance brokers. 2021’s Expo took place at its traditional venue, Birmingham’s flagship National Exhibition Center (NEC), on Thursday 30th September. The CFE 2021 enjoyed 2000 attendees and 130 first-rate Exhibitors, allowing lenders, funders and commercial brokers to promote their quality services.

Esteemed BBC financial journalist Naga Munchetty welcomed participants to the event, followed by a keynote session with Keith Softly, Head of Fixed Assets at Lloyds Banking Group, who were The CFE’s headline sponsors.

A selection of the fascinating and insightful panel sessions offered were:

• ‘Shaping Policy & Regulation – Relief, Recovery and Reform’

• ‘Empowering SME Housebuilders’

• ‘The Drive to Digitize – Threat or Opportunity?’

• ‘Decarbonized Finance – Funding Greener Futures’

Journalist and Political Speech Writer Philip Collins also offered a session titled ‘Where Do We Go from Here?’, exploring contemporary politics and policy in regards to the commercial finance sector.

Changing with the pace of the nation, The NAFCB CFE navigated its way back on site, optimizing proceedings with a range of enriching tools available through All In The Loop. Its custom, branded mobile app was sponsored by Keystone Property Finance, a central environment where participants could access an Interactive Site Map, Digital Agenda, Messages, Personal Profiles, and a Request Meetings feature. As a Paperless and Contactless alternative, NACFB were able to lessen the risk of COVID-19 transmission and overcome the rigidity of printing, with a skilled Live Team updating information in real-time.

The platform meant the fullest possible Networking experience could be achieved, allowing Sponsors and Exhibitors to be contacted during and after the event. The annual Expo is also host to The NAFCB Commercial Broker Awards, this year recognizing 14 different demonstrators of #BrokerExcellence in the UK.

It was moving for All In The Loop to support this excellent event in physical attendance (one of the first since the outbreak of COVID-19) as well as through event services, depicting an industry learning to thrive in the new normal.