Richard Childs

Richard has 35 years banking experience, the last 24 of which were spent working in treasury risk management roles in corporate and investment banking.

In his last role at Barclays he was a senior manager running the UK and Ireland Corporate Foreign Exchange business, responsible for the team servicing mid to large corporate clients.

Prior to this, he managed the Southern England Corporate Risk Management team providing bespoke risk management policies and solutions for both Foreign Exchange and Interest Rate exposure.

Richard has extensive experience in structuring and selling FX and Rates derivatives and has helped many corporate clients develop their risk management strategies, often assisting in presenting bespoke solutions at board meetings.

He understands the importance of peer analysis and is an advocate of dynamic risk management. In addition to assisting clients manage their transactional flows, Richard also has experience in helping to manage event lead risk.

The last decade has seen an increase in regulation and as a result Richard is acutely aware of the need to consider the suitability of a product for his clients. He has developed both policies and product registers to ensure appropriateness in terms of both product and pricing.

His decades of experience together with his calm and structured approach make Richard a well respected member of the community across both the banking and corporate world and he was a frequent presenter and speaker at KBI (key business institutions) events across the UK and Ireland.

In his spare time Richard enjoys kayaking, cycling, surfing and skiing.

Paul Atkinson

Paul has spent his entire 31-year career to date working in treasury risk management within a number of major international and high street banks.

He spent his initial years developing his risk management knowledge at ABN Amro Bank before joining National Australia Bank where he was instrumental in developing the Yorkshire Bank Treasury. After seven years in this lead role, Paul joined Barclays Bank in 2005 to develop out their Northern Treasury franchise.

In his last role at Barclays he was a Head of the UK and Ireland Rates for the Corporate Bank. The Rates business covered the structuring of vanilla and complex Interest Rate Derivatives to mitigate both balance sheet and cash flow risk across a broad spectrum of Corporate and Real Estate clients.

Paul has extensive knowledge and experience not only in the Rates business but also across FX and Commodities. He has helped many clients develop their governance and strategy around a solid risk management framework. He has been involved in some of the largest North West M&A events of the last 10 years, providing bespoke innovative solutions to manage their event risk.

As well as his extensive product knowledge, Paul also has a strong knowledge of the increasingly complex regulatory backdrop and helped many clients meet their regulatory requirements. He is well placed and networked within the Northern Business Network, he regularly imparts his knowledge and experience at corporate events as well as being a keynote speaker at the Manchester Business School.

A family man with three great children, Paul enjoys leading from the front and is actively passionate and competitive in delivering success for himself and others who entrust and support him in the work and home environment. Paul is a keen sportsman, having played cricket, football and tennis in his younger years but is now concentrating on improving his golfing ability!