Derek has been part of the International Leasing and Asset finance Market since 1960. Following seven years with Mercantile Leasing, the first leasing company established in the UK, he has spent much of his time in the industry creating and managing new leasing and finance companies for a number of major organisations across the World – Midland Bank,(Joint founder of Forward Leasing) Barclays Bank UK and Barclays International, (Founder of the UK and numerous leasing business and MD or Chair of various International subsidiaries), Kleinwort Benson (Banking Director and Head of Leasing and New Financial Products) and AT&T Capital across EMEA and Asia Pac (Chairman and CEO) from its start-up in 1990 to his retirement in 1997, located in London and Hong Kong; via greenfield start-ups, JVs and acquisitions (and some disposals). He has Chaired the Equipment Leasing Association (now the FLA) and served on the Boards of Leaseurope, ELFA (Equipment Leasing and Finance Association of the US) and the Hong Kong Leasing Association. Retiring from Hong Kong in 1997, he returned to the UK and retained a directorship of AT&T Capital, China, representing the two Chinese joint venture partner companies (China Post and Telecommunications and MOFCOM). He founded IAA-Advisory (and the Alta Group, Europe), in 1998, as an international consultancy in leasing, asset finance and project finance, with clients which include Governments, major industrial companies and international banks. He was a joint founder of the Captives Forum, which is the European trade body of the in-house finance companies owned by major industrial companies such as IBM, Cisco, John Deere, Dell, Volvo and many others.Derek has mentored senior management of a number of bank and manufacturer owned leasing and asset finance businesses; and provides general advisory and mentoring services to the leasing and asset finance market. He sits on the Asset Finance Code Group of the Finance and Leasing Association; is a past Trustee of the AFPA Trust, is a Member of the High Value Resources Panel of Macmillan. He founded the 6C’s Club, a charity luncheon club for the senior management of the Leasing and Asset Finance Industry; and was also, a joint Founder of the Leasing Foundation. Is co-author of The Leasing Handbook published by McGraw Hill and Leasing Deconstructed, published by Grosvenor House. He is also a Freeman of the City of London and has received Lifetime Achievement awards from the UK, European and Chinese equipment leasing communities.