Which AFC community do you belong to?

Our communities: where specialists connect, learn and lead

 Rebrand note (August 2025). Asset Finance Connect (AFC) —our holding brand — will transition to finance-connect.com over the coming months. Under this umbrella we’re developing a family of community brands, including Auto Finance Connect, Equipment Finance Connect, and our core product Asset Finance Connect (predominantly broker-channel business for SMEs). In September 2025, we’ll add Receivables Finance Connect, with further communities to follow.

 Asset Finance Connect brings together like‑minded professionals to explore topics of common interest, share what works, and build long‑term relationships. Our communities span the UK and mainland Europe and are designed to help members stay ahead of technology, regulation, sustainability and economic change.

We do this through in‑person conferences, roundtables, dinners, awards, and interactive digital events at both intimate and at‑scale formats. In the UK we host Europe’s largest auto and equipment finance event; in mainland Europe we convene an invitation‑only summit for auto and equipment finance leaders. Asset Finance Connect is all about connections—connecting you with industry colleagues and with the latest industry thinking.

How our communities work

  • Purpose‑built groups. Each community brings together finance providers and key ecosystem participants who share common opportunities and challenges, but also benefit from focused coverage in our content and at our events.
  • Pick the best fit(s). Many members span multiple areas. We encourage you to choose the one—or few—that fit best, rather than trying to be exhaustive about everything you touch.
  • Blended participation. Communities meet across face‑to‑face and digital formats to spark new ideas, fuel innovation, and drive industry growth.

Community overviews

Auto Finance Community

Scope: Consumer and business auto finance.

What links the sub‑segments

  • Transition to battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and the charging ecosystem
  • Implications of government sustainability policy
  • The growing influence of Chinese OEMs in European markets
  • Development of subscription and mobility services
  • The ebb and flow of personal contract hire (PCH) in the UK

Focus by sub‑segment

  • Consumer auto finance: regulation, customer outcomes, and lender–dealer relationships
  • Business auto finance: compliance, taxation, fleet policy, and utilisation

Typical participants: Auto manufacturers (OEMs), dealers and dealer groups, auto captives, independents, banks, and the various forms of fleet finance companies.

Community leader

  • David Betteley — former Global Head of Auto Finance at Jaguar Land Rover and EVP at Toyota Financial Services. Brings board‑level, multi‑market experience in risk, distribution, and manufacturer finance partnerships.
Equipment Finance Community

Scope: Funding for commercial vehicles, plant and machinery, technology and office equipment—typically at mid‑market and corporate scale.

What makes it distinct: Channel to market. Equipment finance providers frequently work via vendor finance partnerships, manufacturer–bank joint ventures, a bank’s corporate customer base, and increasingly multi‑party partnerships to deliver complex transitions to greener assets.

Typical participants: Equipment manufacturers, vendor finance companies, bank and captive funders, and re‑sellers.

Community leaders

  • John Rees — former Chief Commercial Officer at Société Générale Equipment Finance (SGEF); a veteran of international vendor programmes and structured partnerships.
  • Richard O’Donohue — former Head of Partnerships at Dell Financial Services; now Head of Captives at AFC (equipment finance community), focusing on OEM, channel and reseller ecosystems.
Asset Finance Community

Scope: Primarily challenger banks and independent providers serving SMEs.

What makes it distinct: A strong reliance on the broker channel for distribution, alongside direct SME relationships.

Typical participants: Independent and challenger funders, brokers/intermediaries, and wholesale funders providing block discounting and other secondary funding sources.

 Community leader

  • Stephen Bassett — former Head of Asset Finance at Arkle Finance; deep practical expertise in SME origination, broker partnerships, and credit operations.
Receivables Finance Community (launching October 2025)

Scope: Invoice finance and asset‑based lending (ABL).

Focus: Lenders and ecosystem partners working on funding working capital—covering origination and onboarding, portfolio risk, fraud controls, operations and servicing, and data & technology.

Typical participants: Lenders, private equity, debt advisers and other introducers.

Which community fits you? A quick guide
  • You finance cars or light commercial vehicles (consumer or business): Auto Finance
  • You fund equipment via manufacturers or vendors (JV/vendor programmes, corporate channels): Equipment Finance
  • You fund SMEs directly or through brokers (wide asset classes, challenger/independent focus): Asset Finance
  • You fund working capital against invoices or assets (IF/ABL): Receivables Finance

Remember: many organisations straddle more than one area. Pick the one—or few—that best reflect your primary market, channel, and day‑to‑day priorities.

What you’ll get by participating

  • Stronger networks: broaden and deepen relationships across your immediate peer group and the wider ecosystem.
  • Sharper insight: understand what’s on the minds of your peers and how leading organisations are responding.
  • Practical takeaways: approaches you can apply—today—to technology change, regulatory shifts, and sustainability goals.