Awards Judging Panel

Debbie has been working in Credit Management and Debt Collection since 1987.  During that time she has roles ranging from operations, to sales and business development for large, global organisations and within smaller, entrepreneurial businesses.

For the last 6 years, she has been Managing Director of Everyday People Financial Solutions, Debt Collection business, where her responsibilities included FCA Senior Management Functions 16 and 17, and playing a fundamental role in the development, implementation and execution of their Consumer Duty Framework.

She has experience of early to late stage collections across a wide range of industry sectors, including Financial Services, Energy, Water, Retail, Automotive and Telecommunications; predominantly within B2C.

Debbie is a graduate Fellow member of the CICM, The Consumer Credit representative on the CICM Advisory Council since 2016, and has served on the Executive Board of Trustees acting as Vice Chair and Chair over the last 6 years.

Chris Warburton has spent over 15 years in executive roles, leading transformation and delivering performance improvements in businesses in the UK, Canada and across many other markets around the world.

With a passion for new ideas, technology and process innovation, he helps teams find new ways of working to improve performance. Chris frequently speaks at events and conferences. He is always keen to look ahead of the curve, demystify and share experience with a wider audience. For him, it is all about helping create great conversations in order to generate great solutions.

Data minded and people orientated his experience spans sectors from financial services, telecommunications and more recently in an advisory role in consultancy. He has specialist knowledge across the customer lifecycle, from Account Origination to Fraud, Account management, Collections and Recoveries. He is currently working on a series of videos exploring the latest ideas, innovation and technology in Credit and Collections. The conversation is available at RO-AR.com.

Vishnupriya (Priya) Devarajulu is a Senior Full Stack Software Engineer with over a decade of experience working with top financial institutions, including American Express, FIS, Wells Fargo, and Credit Suisse. She holds a Master’s in Computer Engineering from the University of Houston Clear Lake, where she also served as a Research & Graduate Teaching Assistant, instructing courses in Machine Learning and Digital Design.

Her expertise spans software development, artificial intelligence, machine learning, performance engineering, and cybersecurity. She has worked extensively on developing scalable applications, optimizing system architectures, and implementing AI-driven solutions across diverse projects in finance and technology. Beyond technical contributions, she is passionate about knowledge sharing and has authored Unlocking Efficiency: Using AI to Optimize Software Development, exploring how AI enhances software engineering practices.

Vishnupriya has published over 15 research articles in leading journals and has presented at international conferences. She actively contributes to the advancement of technology as a member of multiple editorial boards, reviewing research in AI, cybersecurity, and software development.

As a dedicated mentor and hackathon judge, she has guided teams in developing impactful solutions across various domains. Her commitment to technological innovation and industry collaboration continues to drive meaningful advancements in software engineering.

Tony is Chief Executive of K2 Business Partners, a boutique firm focussed on hands-on investment in struggling and financially constrained SMEs that have huge growth potential.

Over thirty years’ experience of transforming the prospects of companies by establishing a simple business model and implementing a clear strategy that is supported by systems and funding to achieve sustainable growth. This is achieved by installing a culture and strategy based on discipline, people, systems, and processes that underpin the business activity and secure the company’s future. Tony’s focus is on never running out of cash and minimising debt – he dislikes factoring and refinancing.

Lucy is Head of Strategy and Communications at the Consumer Credit Trade Association. She is a senior corporate communications and public affairs professional with over ten years of experience working in the alternative credit market.

Lucy has previously held positions at Dollar Financial UK and the Consumer Finance Association. Through these roles she has led firms through an unprecedented period of regulatory scrutiny and change. Lucy holds a Masters in Public Policy with Distinction from the University of Nottingham.

In her current role Lucy advocates on behalf of the alternative lending sector with stakeholders such as HM Treasury, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Luke Sculthorp has been associated with the credit and collections industry for over fifteen years, working in consumer credit lending, third party collections, legal recoveries, high court enforcement as well as credit control. Before joining the senior leadership team at the CICM, Luke was appointed as non-retail credit control manager at United Utilities PLC. Luke leads the CICM Corporate Partnerships and Development Partnerships Programmes, assisting to embed best practice across UK & International operational credit teams.

Corporate communications consultant Dee Gallagher has worked in public relations (PR) for over 24 years and has a specialism in financial services. Founder of Amp Corporate Communications, Dee has experience of running PR agencies as well as in-house PR and communications teams, working in the UK, Europe and US.
Dee has worked with UK and global finance brands, devising comprehensive communication strategies, including highly successful consumer empowerment and credit education campaigns. With Consumer Duty highlighting the importance of communications in financial services, Dee brings an additional perspective to the Credit and Collections Industry Awards judging panel, to provide a more holistic view.
Dee is a member of both the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) and the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) and holds an MSc. Corporate Communications. Dee has also held non-executive director roles and is a member of Women on Boards.

In his role at Cifas, the UK’s fraud prevention service, Mark is responsible for innovation across both new and existing services, as well as overseeing the execution and roll-out of innovative products.

Cifas is a not-for-profit membership organisation that sits at the heart of the UK’s fight against fraud and financial crime – sharing data, intelligence and learning amongst its 700-plus members. Mark has a wealth of expertise in fraud, identity verification and identity assurance, having worked globally across multiple industry sectors for over 25 years.

Prior to Cifas, he spent 16 years at GBG, where he led the product management team for its identity verification suite, managing the launch of the industry’s first truly electronic identity verification (EIDV) service in 2004. He went on to become General Manager, running both the Identity Verification and Identity Assurance divisions. Mark also held the position of Head of Product and Engineering for TruNarrative, playing a key role in positioning the start-up organisation to gain a significant presence in the industry before it was acquired by LexisNexis.

Russell Hamblin-Boone was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Civil Enforcement Association (CIVEA) in January, representing around 2000 enforcement agents who collect civil debt on behalf of local authorities. For almost five years he was CEO of the Consumer Finance Association (CFA) and led reform of short-term lending practices during a period of intense political and media scrutiny. He has been described as doing more than anyone else to build the intellectual case for a high-cost, short-term credit market in the UK. For the second year running Russell was named in the Credit 500, as one of the fifty top influencers. He has also held senior positions at the Finance and Leasing Association (FLA) and the Energy Retail Association, now known as Energy UK, where he helped to set up the first trade association dedicated to energy suppliers. He has worked in Downing Street and as private secretary to the Leader of the House of Lords.

Amir Ali is the Founder and CEO at Remote Court Users. He has also worked in private practice for 21 years for a few leading firms of solicitors who specialised in Debt Recovery, Litigation, Dispute Resolution, Insolvency together with Company & Commercial work at senior management level. He was additionally Head of Litigation for Shire Leasing Plc. Amir was invited to join the High Court Enforcement Officers Association (formally, the High Court Sheriff`s Association) firstly at John Marston & Co (now Marston Group) as a Client Relationship Manager before taking up the role as Director of Client Services and Business Development at High Court Enforcement Group and has over four decades of experience in both the Legal and Enforcement Sectors in the UK.

Amir served as Chair of the Civil Court Users Association (CCUA) for five years from Sept 2015 to Sept 2020 (he served a total of 11 years on the CCUA Board). The Association is charged with airing and addressing the concerns of all Civil Court Users in the UK at the very highest levels of Government, Ministry of Justice (MOJ), and His Majesty’s Courts & Tribunal Service (HMCTS) to include all other Stakeholders concerned with Policy Change within the Civil Realm.

Amir sits on the Law Advisory Boards of three Universities in the UK and was appointed the inaugural President of The Professional Paralegal Register (The PPR). The Register champions diversity, inclusivity and equality within the Profession whilst delivering access to justice and consumer protection for all. The PPR is the independent voluntary regulator for all paralegals, now part of The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX).

Latterly Amir has been assisting Ministry’s of Justice, globally wishing to transform their courts to incorporate Online Dispute Resolution (ODR), immediately following his tenure as part of a consortium tasked with leading the charge for the UK Government backed initiative powered by Tech Nation / LawTechUK, to help transform the UK Legal Sector through technology. Both the vision and ambition are to create an ODR Platform for UK PLC and the SME Business Community within England and Wales.

Amir was additionally named in The New Year’s Honours List 2022 and was awarded an OBE by Her Majesty the Queen for “Services to Court Users and the Law.”