Our History

In 1990, four firms of professional advisors came together to establish a conference to address  from the perspective of their separate fields, the  problems and issues faced by a number of their mutual clients, including Catholic dioceses and religious orders. The sponsoring firms were:

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• Philip Jukes Limited

• Haysmacintyre, Chartered Accountants

• Stanley Hicks, Surveyors

• Stone King, Solicitors

 

The first conference took place in April 1991 at the Whitbread Brewery in the City of London and was well received.  It became an annual event in London, with specialist seminars also taking place elsewhere in the UK generally in the Autumn. From 2001 the venue has been Church House, Westminster, apart from one year at the ICC in Birmingham.

 

With the objective of keeping delegate fees as reasonable as possible, the sponsoring firms invite a guest sponsor each year who subsidize what is inevitably an expensive conference but also assist with the planning of the conference and take part as speakers. In recent years these have included Merrill Lynch, Schroders, CCLA, Sarasin & Partners, Cheviot Asset Management, Rathbones and Investec Wealth & Investment.

Each year the conference features a number of external speakers as well as speakers from the sponsoring firms who all add value to the programme created by the organisers. 

In addition a prominent guest speaker in relevant fields is asked to present a keynote speech.  Amongst these have been Cardinal Basil Hume OSB, Sister Jane Livesey cj, Deacon Stephen Morgan, Chris Bain (CAFOD), Fr Nicholas King sj, Dr Anjali Mullick (St Joseph’s Hospice), Tony Mills (HCPT), Dr Lavinia Byrne, Nick Purnell QC, Mgr John Armitage, Fr Michael Holman sj and Dom Antony Sutch OSB.