Financial services tech hub to launch in Birmingham
EY has announced plans to establish a new Financial Services Technology Hub in the Midlands, as it responds to rising market demand for tech expertise outside London.
The new hub will be run by a four-strong leadership team - Sagar Khandelwal, Heather Hales, Mark Wood and new hire, Joe Murray - and forms part of EY 's ambitious growth target to double its UK financial services technology revenues over the next three years.
Located at 1 Colmore Square in Birmingham, the new Hub expands EY 's already-strong financial services audit and advisory technology capabilities and will serve clients across the UK.
Sagar Khandelwal is a UK partner and has been at EY since 2013.
He has extensive digital and emerging technology expertise, and leads large scale digital, cloud and data transformation programmes for financial services firms.
Sagar also brings very relevant experience in terms of setting up EY 's technology hub in the Midlands, having established three similar such hubs in European locations over the past six years. Prior to EY, Sagar was the interim CIO & Head of Delivery for Insurwave, an insurance blockchain platform.
Heather Hales is a UK partner with over 22 years ' experience working in insurance.
She joined EY in 2010 and currently leads the firm 's Insurance Technology Transformation People team, supporting some of EY 's largest European financial services clients achieve multi-year digital and technology transformations projects.
Mark Wood joined EY as a UK partner in 2020 and, throughout his career, has led on a number of major change programmes, and has particular expertise in digital transformation and technology-driven strategy.
Joe Murray joins EY from BJSS where he was head of ops transformation and sustainability.
He will be focused on helping banking clients navigate their digital transformation journeys. Joe has over 21 years ' experience delivering complex transformation operations.
Prior to his career in consulting, Joe spent 16 years in the UK Armed Forces.
Martina Neary, financial services Midlands leader at EY, said: “This is a significant investment in our technology business in the Midlands as we expand the range of skills and services that we 're able to provide to clients.
“We have a strong and growing Midlands practice and are focused on attracting top tech talent to meet the needs of financial services companies across the region and the UK. ”
Preetham Peddanagari, EY UK financial services technology partner, added: “Birmingham, and the Midlands more broadly, is a natural place to establish a technology hub given the talent in the area and the leading financial services companies in the region.
“Sagar, Heather, Mark and Joe are already drawing up exciting expansion plans and we look forward to welcoming further new team members in the near future from across the Midlands. ”