The FSXpert Group is pleased to announce further growth of its membership with the recent addition of Les Cantlay, Hugh Morgan, Sara Ager, and Sally Gilding. The Group now consists of over 60 Financial Services Experts, covering the full spectrum of expertise across the sector, including governance and boards, compliance, insurance, and investment banking.
Les Cantlay is a Chartered Insurer with over 40 years of experience in the Financial Services sector, encompassing Wealth and Investment Management, Online Stock Broking, Advisory, Banking, and Insurance.
As a seasoned consultant specialising in Financial Services across multiple jurisdictions, Les has held C-suite leadership positions across all three lines of defence in regulated environments. He possesses a unique blend of expertise, having advised some of the largest Financial Services firms while also serving in approved roles under the UK regulatory Senior Management Regime. Les has been authorised by regulators as Chief Risk Officer and Chief Compliance Officer for both a Bank and Investment Businesses.
In the realm of regulated governance and oversight, Les has served as Board Chair and Nomination and Remuneration Committees Chair, in addition to participating in various Audit Committees. He is experienced in fulfilling the roles of Consumer Duty and Whistleblowing Champions, and he has successfully guided companies through complex regulatory landscapes in multi-jurisdictional settings.
Currently, Les is the Chair of a UK Platform business focused on Custody and Trade Execution, and he is also a Director of an Independent Financial Advisory (IFA) business.
Hugh Morgan has worked in investment banking in an advisory capacity for over 35 years, guiding companies listed in London on their capital markets and financial advisory requirements.
Hugh joined the City in 1988, initially at Hoare Govett before helping form an international mergers and acquisitions team at Chemical Bank. He subsequently worked at Samuel Montagu and UBS before joining Panmure Gordon where he became Managing Director and Co-Head of Investment Banking. More recently he has worked at a senior level at Shore Capital, at W.H. Ireland, where he was Head of Corporate Finance, and at Zeus where he jointly ran the PLC advisory practice.
Hugh’s broad multi-sector transaction experience has included advising companies of all sizes listed in London both on the “main list” and on AIM over several decades and has involved managing numerous IPOs, secondary equity offerings and public takeovers as well as advising boards on strategy, governance, valuation, due diligence, and day to day regulatory compliance. He has a keen focus on the detail of the regulatory requirements of being a publicly quoted company, in particular those set by the FCA, London Stock Exchange and Takeover Panel; in this regard he has acted, respectively, in a Sponsor role, as a Qualified Executive under the AIM Rules and as Rule 3 adviser under the City Code.
Hugh read PPE at Lincoln College, Oxford and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1988.
Sara Ager is a legally qualified compliance and regulatory specialist with over 20 years of experience in the insurance industry. She has worked in and for Lloyd’s managing agencies, Bermudian reinsurers, MGAs, and London Market brokers, holding senior roles spanning legal, compliance, claims, and corporate development.
Sara has advised extensively on authorisations, conduct risk, delegated authority oversight, claims practices, outsourced arrangements, and regulatory engagement. She has played a key role in launching and scaling innovative insurance models, including Lloyd’s service companies and the UK’s first super MGA.
She has technical knowledge of UK and international regimes, including FCA, PRA, Lloyd’s, and Bermuda Monetary Authority regulation.
Sally Gilding is an accomplished Non-Executive Director (NED) and Chair with over 30 years’ experience in the banking and corporate services sectors. She combines business leadership with deep expertise in governance, risk, and compliance, and has a strong record of managing complex regulatory environments while supporting sustainable business growth. Sally has held senior roles across global institutions, including Deutsche Bank, where she led Corporate Services and Corporate Trust businesses, including paying agency services.
She has served as an NED and Chair, where she advised on regulatory matters, and product development in capital markets and fiduciary services.
Sally holds degrees in Law and Social Sciences and has extensive experience in regulatory training and governance panels.
The expertise of these additional Experts has significantly enhanced the experience across the Group, especially in the fields of governance, boards, risk and compliance, investment banking, capital raising, managing agencies, brokers, and reinsurers.
In welcoming these Experts to the Group, Oliver Lodge, Managing Director, said “The experience and expertise of these additions to the Group make a further contribution to what is already a group of exceptional depth and breadth across the financial services sector. The expertise that we are able to offer to litigants and others provides world-class credibility as well as highly respected independence of perspective. We know that solicitors and their clients need that credibility from Experts and that the courts require that independence. Solicitors also need to find the right Expert and do not want to spend weeks of their valuable time in the process. Our Group of Experts provides an easily and swiftly accessible resource of financial services expertise. As we continue to grow our Group, we are delighted to welcome our newly joined Experts.”
The FS Expert Group focuses entirely on the financial services sector and provides expertise to litigants and others engaged in disputes and investigations relating to this leading professional sector in the UK and globally. In court, the Group provides expert witness evidence and independence of thought, based on extensive personal experience.
September 2025