KAREN JOY BACUDO

Finance Editor

FinTech North is returning to Leeds for a 10th anniversary conference, marking a decade since the organisation launched in the city.

The event will be held at Salem Chapel, aql’s HQ and the venue where FinTech North began. It will bring together founders, industry executives and public sector representatives to discuss how the sector has changed across Leeds and the wider Yorkshire region.

Participants include West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin, the National Wealth Fund, Leeds Digital Festival, the Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority, Mastercard, GoCardless and FIS.

The agenda will focus on how financial technology has developed over the past decade, along with the regulatory challenges and commercial opportunities facing the market. Topics include mortgages, banking, lending, payments and regtech.

Regional growth

The event comes as new figures highlight the scale of the sector in West Yorkshire and the wider North of England. According to Whitecap Consulting, West Yorkshire is home to 94 fintech firms, while the Leeds City Region fintech ecosystem contributes £700 million a year to the regional economy.

About 60 national and international firms have chosen the Leeds City Region as a base for their UK operations. Across the North, there are around 400 fintech firms employing 20,000 people directly, with a further 70,000 in fintech-related roles.

The sector has also contributed about £2 billion in Gross Value Added to the UK economy. These figures point to the growing strength of regional fintech clusters outside London, particularly in areas with established expertise in financial and professional services.

Leeds has long been one of the UK’s main centres for banking, insurance and data-driven business services, giving fintech companies access to both talent and large customer markets. The city has also worked to raise its profile in digital industries through networks, accelerator programmes and events that connect start-ups with investors, regulators and established financial institutions.

Origins

FinTech North traces its beginnings to a decade ago, when Whitecap Consulting and White Label Crowdfunding launched the initiative as part of the first Leeds Digital Festival programme. Organisers say that early conference helped establish what became the UK’s first regional fintech hub.

Since then, the group has expanded its activity across the North through events that bring together start-ups, larger technology companies, policymakers and academics. Its aim has been to strengthen the Northern fintech ecosystem and create links between regional firms and national decision-makers.

The anniversary conference also coincides with the 10th year of Leeds Digital Festival, underlining how closely the city’s fintech and wider technology communities have developed alongside one another. That overlap has become increasingly important as fintech businesses move beyond payments and consumer apps into more specialised areas of financial infrastructure and compliance.

Joe Roche, General Manager at FinTech North, highlighted the sector’s economic footprint across the region.

“With around 400 fintech firms across the North employing 20,000 people directly, and 70,000 employees working in fintech-related roles, the region has contributed approximately £2bn in Gross Value Added to the UK and become a powerhouse for innovation and opportunity. The Leeds City Region has played a significant role in the growth of the fintech ecosystem, with approximately 60 national and international firms choosing the region as a base for their UK operations,” Roche said.

Roche also reflected on the organisation’s role in the market over the past decade.

“Over these 10 years, FinTech North has played a central role in both advocating for and actively helping to shape the ecosystem. As the country’s first regional fintech hub, we have witnessed and contributed to the development of a thriving national community,” he said

Trav Expert Limited (Ltd), based in Hounslow (London), traded under the names Best4trips, Travel Crew, and Air Waay.

The travel company offered flights and holiday packages to destinations around the world, including:

• Sydney
• Maldives
• New York
• Dubai
• Barcelona
• Bangkok
• Amsterdam
• Auckland
• Barbados

Trav Expert Limited ceases trading putting flights and holidays at risk

Trav Expert Ltd ceased trading as an ATOL holder on May 21.

Air Travel Organiser’s Licence (ATOL) is a government-backed financial protection scheme, run and managed by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), that all tour companies in the UK are required to have.

ATOL guarantees customers receive refunds if a company collapses.

A company fails as an ATOL holder if it has entered insolvency in the past six months and can’t meet its obligations to consumers, the ATOL website explains.

ATOL has warned anyone who has booked flights or holidays with any of the three companies associated with Trav Expert Ltd to check their ATOL certificate and the type of their booking on its claims information page.

It continues: “Bookings sold as accommodation only, non-flight Packages & cruise only bookings, which do not include a flight element, are not covered by the ATOL scheme.”

In this instance, travellers are urged to contact their travel insurance provider or card issuer for assistance.

If the name listed on your certificate is not Trav Expert Limited, contact the ATOL holder shown.

Despite no longer being an ATOL holder, Trav Expert Ltd remains ‘active’ on Companies House.

The company has been contacted for comment.

Who can claim a refund?

Travellers affected by Trav Expert Ltd ceasing trading as an ATOL holder can claim refunds if they meet certain criteria.

ATOL-protected packages with Trav Expert Limited (due to travel after May 21)

Travellers who booked ATOL-protected packages with Trav Expert Limited for trips after May 21, 2026, and have already received their flight tickets should first contact the airline to confirm whether their bookings remain valid.

If the airline confirms the tickets are valid, customers have two options:

1. If they no longer wish to travel, they can submit a claim for a refund through the ATOL scheme, provided they paid by cheque, debit card, charge card, bank transfer, or cash.
2. If travellers decide to use the flight but are asked to pay again for other elements of the holiday package, they may claim the cost of these replacement services through ATOL (depending on their original payment method).

ATOL warned that services, including accommodation and transfers, may not have been paid for by Trav Expert Ltd, and travellers could be required to rebook and pay for them directly.

The scheme advised confirming all costs with suppliers before travelling.

ATOL also said: “If you choose to travel and use your valid flight, you are not protected under The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 as your package travel provider has ceased to trade. 

“You will therefore be responsible for any risks arising from each individual element of your trip which would have previously been protected.”

Those who paid Trav Expert Limited directly by credit card, even in part, are not eligible to claim a refund from ATOL.

Instead, they must make a claim through their credit card issuer under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

Credit card providers are responsible for refunding customers up to the entire amount paid, including payments made by cheque, cash, debit card, or charge card.

ATOL-protected flight-only bookings with Trav Expert Limited (due to travel after May 21)

For ATOL-protected flight-only bookings without issued flight tickets, refunds are available through ATOL if payment was not made by credit card and you have been issued with an ATOL Certificate.

Customers who have e-tickets or scheduled flight tickets should confirm validity with the airline, as these are expected to remain valid for travel.

If the airline confirms the ticket is valid, customers are not eligible for an ATOL refund and should still be able to travel.

Cancelled ATOL bookings (before May 21)

For customers still awaiting refunds for cancelled ATOL bookings made before May 21, 2026, claims can be submitted through ATOL, provided payment was not made by credit card.

In all cases where a credit card was used for payment, they must make a claim through their issuer.

Travellers are reminded to keep all original booking confirmations, ATOL certificates, and payment evidence, as these may be required to support their claims at a later stage.

Claims made to ATOL must be made by May 20, 2027.

Other UK travel companies that have closed in 2026

Four other UK travel companies have already closed in 2026:

Luxury UK holiday company Salamander Voyages also shut down in April after entering administration.

Meanwhile, four UK airlines have fallen into administration or liquidation already this year:

• Ascend Airways (liquidation)
• EcoJet Airlines (liquidation)
• Zenith Aviation Limited (administration)
• European Cargo (administration)

Have you booked flights or a holiday through Trav Expert Ltd (Best4trips, Travel Crew, or Air Waay) recently? Let us know in the comments below.

KAREN JOY BACUDO

Finance Editor

GoCardless has become the exclusive integrated payment provider for Intelligent Billing, linking its payment services with a billing platform used by telecoms operators and managed service providers.

Under the agreement, Direct Debit and open banking payment services will be built into the Intelligent Billing platform, developed by PRD Technologies. The integration lets businesses trigger payment collection from a customer’s bank account when an invoice is generated, with payment status updates returned to the billing dashboard.

The setup is aimed at organisations with complex recurring revenue models, particularly in telecoms and managed services, where finance teams often handle large volumes of repeat invoices and collections. By consolidating invoice generation, payment initiation, and reconciliation into a single workflow, the system is intended to reduce the need for staff to switch between separate tools.

The integration also includes GoCardless’ Success+ payment retry tool, which, on average, recovers 70% of payments that initially fail by automatically retrying collections.

For Intelligent Billing, the partnership provides a single integrated payment supplier within its platform. For GoCardless, it extends the reach of its bank payment services into a specialist software provider serving sectors that rely heavily on recurring billing and usage-based charging.

Telecoms operators and managed service providers often manage billing structures that combine subscriptions, usage charges and service add-ons. This can make collections and reconciliation more laborious, particularly when payment processing sits outside the core billing system and requires separate manual checks.

PRD Technologies positions Intelligent Billing as a specialist platform for billing and data processing, with customers ranging from smaller businesses to large providers and resellers in telecoms and managed services. The software also supports areas such as subscription management and Microsoft billing.

GoCardless, which focuses on bank payments, says more than 100,000 businesses use its services to collect and send payments through direct debit, real-time payments and open banking. It processes more than USD $130 billion in payments annually across more than 30 countries.

Executives at both companies said the agreement addresses the operational burden that delayed payments and manual billing work can place on recurring revenue businesses.

“We are excited to continue our relationship with Intelligent Billing as their exclusive payment provider to bring automated bank payments directly into the platform. For telecoms and MSPs managing complex recurring revenue, billing admin and delayed payments are a massive burden on resources. This integration solves that pain point by connecting invoice generation straight to payment collection, helping businesses save time, improve cash flow, and focus on growth,” said Tom Metcalfe, Director, Global Partnerships, GoCardless.

Simon Adams, Managing Director at PRD Technologies, developers of Intelligent Billing, said the integration reflects PRD Technologies’ approach to the platform.

“Our goal has always been to automate every process and make billing as simple as possible for our clients. By choosing GoCardless as our exclusive payment provider and integrating them natively into Intelligent Billing, we are delivering a complete billing-to-cash cycle in one place. Telecoms operators and MSPs can now look forward to effortless, set-and-forget payments that eliminate heavy manual admin, reduce failed collections, and keep them in full control of their financial performance,” said Adams.