The Motor Ombudsman and Radius Law, the provider of legal services to the motor industry, are coming together to host their Annual Automotive Business & Law Update event on Wednesday 14th May 2025.
The automotive sector is experiencing rapid transformation, driven by technological advancements, shifting market dynamics, and evolving finance, compliance, and consumer laws.
Against the backdrop of broader economic, legislative, and policy changes, this annual industry event will delve into these critical issues. Experts will explore their potential impact on automotive businesses, discuss the legal implications, and outline the key changes organizations should consider implementing to stay ahead in this evolving landscape.
Event details
The event will be held at The Motor Ombudsman’s London offices, 71 Great Peter Street,
London, SW1P 2BN on: Wednesday 14th May 2025, 9am-5.30pm.
Registration is from 9.00-9.40 am.
There’s a packed agenda with an address from legal and industry leaders.
A drinks reception following the event from 5pm.
Topics include:
The conference will be chaired by The Motor Ombudsman’s Managing Director and Chief Ombudsman, Bill Fennell. There’s a packed agenda with presentations from a range of industry experts.
Led by industry research, this event has been carefully curated to address the most important automotive issues and legal implications surrounding each:
• Economic Outlook 2025 and the impact on the automotive sector
• Consumer law changes and what it means for our sector
• Employment law update
• Modern slavery
• Finance compliance changes
• The changing automotive marketplace
• Dealing with the insolvency of your partners
• Introducing AI
• Creating an unstoppable culture of Good Governance
Who should attend
The event is designed for both legal and non-legal professionals, from car manufacturers / OEMs, dealers and independent businesses, including:
- In-house counsel;
- Senior managers in automotive businesses;
- Network, franchising and compliance professionals in automotive sector
Registration fees
Early bird tickets are availalbe until 14th February 2025.
Motor Ombudsman-accredited businesses and Radius Law clients benefit from a 20% discount (use discount code: MOTOR)
For Motor Ombudsman-accredited businesses
- Early bird ticket: £188.80 +VAT (Save £106.20 on general admission)
- General admission: £236 +VAT (Save £59)
Non Motor Ombudsman-accredited businesses
- Early bird ticket: £236 +VAT (Save £59)
- General admission: £295 +VAT
Register today!
If you are interested in attending, please register below.
Agenda
Time | Session | Speaker |
| 9:00 AM – 9:45 AM 9.45 – 10.15 | Arrival and refreshments
Chair’s Welcome | Bill Fennell, The Motor Ombudsman |
| 9:45 AM – 10:00 AM | Conference Opening A ‘whistle-stop’ tour of the most important business and legal challenges for the automotive sector. | Iain Larkins, Director, Radius Law |
| 10:15 AM – 10:45 AM | Economic Outlook 2025 – for the Automotive sector | Rob Elder, Bank of England |
| 10:45 AM – 11:00 AM | Break Coffee & Refreshments | |
| Stream 1 | Stream 2 | |
| 11:00 AM – 11:45 PM | BREAKOUT 1 Zeynep Desen, Lead Adjudicator,
| BREAK OUT 2 The change in Government has provided a swing to employee friendly laws. This session will provide an update on the recent employment law changes and the consultations for future developments. Sandra Martins, Radius Law |
| 11:45 AM – 12:30 PM | BREAKOUT 3 Modern Slavery The UN estimates that 50 million people are trapped in slavery. That’s more than ever before. New laws are coming – increasing responsibility on corporates to do more. This session will provide insights into slavery risks and provide guidance on reporting obligations.
Zoë Warren, Philanthropy Lead, IJM UK | BREAKOUT 4 The FCA Discretionary Commission review and the shock Court of Appeal decision on commission in October has provided a turbulent year in Auto finance. We’ll be reviewing the latest status and, as always, providing practical advice. Jerry Page, Radius Law |
| 12:30 PM – 1:15 PM | Lunch | |
| 13:15 PM – 2.00 PM | The changing automotive marketplace The automotive marketplace is in turmoil. Retailers are consolidating, manufacturers are multiplying, the Government has changed and, of course, we are shifting away from ICE. How will the next 10 years shape this sector? | Richard Aucock, Auto Retail Network Perran Moon, MP Marc Palmer, Head of Strategy & Insights, Auto Trader Vicky Read, CEO, Charge UK |
| 2 PM – 2:45 PM | BREAKOUT 5 Consumer law changes – impact on Auto Sector The Digital Markets Competition and Consumers Act 2024 – is being implemented throughout 2025 and 2026. This session will focus on the three issues that we think will have the most impact on the Automotive Sector: • Reforms to Melanie Wiseman, Head of Legal, SMMT | BREAKOUT 6 Patrick Ayad, Hogan Lovells |
| 2:45 PM – 3:30 PM | BREAKOUT 7 Help! My business partner is insolvent The Automotive supply chain is closely interdependent on others. When one business in the chain fails, the effect is often expensive to the reputation and finances of others. New law in 2020 materially changed the rights on insolvency events to provide more ‘breathing space’ to insolvent businesses, but potentially causes more costs to other businesses.This session will explore the risks and recommended protections. Ben Hargraves, Radius Law | BREAKOUT 8 We all know that, like it or not, we must embrace AI to survive.In this session, we’ll consider the opportunities and risks and top tips for the successful implementation.
Peter Bury, PaoloAlto Networks |
| 3:30 PM – 4:15 PM
| Creating an unstoppable culture of Good Governance Corporate Governance is vast and getting everyone to do the right thing all the time is challenging, probably impossible. This session will provide an overview of the challenge and provide practical insights on developing an unstoppable culture of Good Governance.
| Gail Harrison, Sewells Iain Larkins, Radius Law |
| 4.15-4.30 PM | Closing remarks | |
| Drinks reception |
Speakers
Bill Fennell
Managing Director and Chief Ombudsman, The Motor Ombudsman
Bill has worked in the motor industry for almost three decades, and has held senior roles at JLR, BMW and Rover, amongst other vehicle manufacturers. Bill has a first class reputation of enhancing consumer satisfaction. His knowledge and experience of the issues surrounding the sector bring invaluable insight and expertise to the Motor Ombudsman.
Iain Larkins
Director, Radius Law
Iain founded Radius Law in 2013 and leads its automotive practice – one of the largest dedicated automotive law teams in the UK representing automotive manufacturers, retailers, parts suppliers and trade associations.
Prior to establishing Radius, Iain was the Chief Legal and Compliance Officer for the Mercedes-Benz UK
Jerry Page
Compliance Consultant, Radius Law
Jerry has worked in financial services for 35+ years, within the automotive-related field for 25+ years and in a compliance, risk and governance role for 10 years or so. He often compares compliance to visiting the dentist – nobody wants the pain or cost, but they do want to keep their teeth.
Jerry’s five areas of interest are FCA compliance in consumer credit and general insurance; Enterprise Risk Management; KYC, money laundering and financial crime; data protection and corporate governance.
Marc Palmer
Head of Strategy & Insights, Auto Trader
With over 20 years in the car industry, Marc has rich experience of buyers, their activities, motivations and experiences. From the brands they consider to the various models on their shortlists – be they performance cars, old school classics, humble hatchbacks or the latest electric vehicles, he uses this data to help the auto sector and policy makers understand the car market, with a particular focus on accelerating electric car adoption.
Sandra Martins
Head of Employment, Radius Law
Sandra Martins is the head of the employment department at Radius Law. Sandra has particular experience of advising businesses on IR35, TUPE (including in an insolvency context), corporate transactions, business restructures, redundancies, executive exits and settlement negotiations.
She works closely with HR departments and senior management and provides practical legal guidance on all employment-related issues
Additional speakers and biographies to be added in due course.
Any questions?
If you have any questions about the event, please contact our Business Services Team.
Register here
If you are interested in attending, register below.