This year's Annual Conference, generously sponsored by Menzies Corporate Restructuring, was held in Venice on Wednesday 14th to Friday 16th of November 2007.

The beautiful and unique city of Venice provided the perfect backdrop for this year's first ever ABFA Annual Conference - appropriately titled 'The New Renaissance'. As delegates arrived and enjoyed the sites of the city, the Pisani Moretta, a villa on the Grand Canal, provided the most perfect setting for the Welcome Reception on the evening of Wednesday, 14th November. The reception was generously sponsored by Credit IQ and PWC, and with all the boats turning up on time, delegates were floated to the reception and greeted with a fanfare and beautiful candelabrum, not to mention the ladies... What a way to start!

The morning of the conference got off to a fantatic opening with Ted Ettershank, ABFA Chairman, being greeted with a fanfare. Then it was time to introduce the BBC's Kate Silverton, who generously hosted the conference's proceedings throughout the day. First up were Kate Sharp, ABFA, and Erik Timmermans, IFG, who presented some findings on the European legislation which affects the industry across Europe. The accompanying report will be out in early 2008.

Then it was Doug Richard's turn to capivate the audience with his tales of failure on the way to greatness, as he spoke about what drives an entrepreneur. Doug held everyone's attention during his half and hour session, which was a great conclusion to the first session of the day, before delegates went for coffee. After coffee Tim Corbett, MD of Fortis Commercial Finance and ABFA Vice-Chair, spoke to the audience on the threats and opportunities which the development of Supplier Finance brings with it, before we then went on to hold a panel session on ABL - A Point of View. The panel was comprised of clients and corporate financiers, and they went on to explain to the audience how the indusry could help itself in terms of the offering and the sales process involved.

During the lunch session for the first time this year we had a comedian to entertain everyone and the room was packed for Ardal O'Hanlon's standup routine. Then the programme resumed as two futurologists, Robin Mannings and Ian Pearson, held an hour long session on the future and what may happen that will influence businesses in the years ahead. This question and answer session provided a rare insight into the issues which businesses and the human race will need to address sooner rather than later. It was then the turn of the Invoice Financiers to take to the stage in a panel session about their future. With so much talk about ABL, this session focused on where the future lay for the non-ABL members of the ABFA, and the concensus was very much that their future is bright and that there is plenty to play for in their own market space. And then the final session of the afternoon was left to our conference host Kate Silverton and Ted Ettershank. For once the tables were turned and Ted interviewed Kate about her background and her experiences. Having been to report from Iraq, finished a hostile environment course, and just finished filming 'Ultimate Wild Water' - there was plenty to keep us engaged until the end of the session; this seemed a fitting tribute to the lady that had hosted our conference so professionally. It certainly ended the conference on a high. Then it was time for Ted to close the conference day and invite everyone back for dinner in the evening, after some serious networking free time.

The evening of 15th and the Gala Dinner maintained the high standards set during the Welcome Recpetion, the evening before. The hotel's food was fantastic, but most delegates will have left with a great memory of being entertained by Elysium, a very talented female trio of singers who entertained the audience during dinner. But undoubtedly the highlight of the evening for many will have been being entertained by Rory Bremner. Rory was more than on form and had the audience in stitches, leaving them wanting more... Perfect.

This conference event was a fitting start to the new era that is now the ABFA. Many thanks are due to our Platinum Sponsors - Menzies Corporate Restructuring, for helping to make the conference such a success. Also many thanks to Gold Sponsors - Credit IQ and Baker Tilly, to PricewaterhouseCoopers and to all the other companies who supported this year's event.

We look forward to welcoming more delegates to our 2nd ABFA Annual Conference in 2008. The dates and venue will be announced as soon as possible.

To view more photos of this event, please visit our photo gallery

To view the conference video, please click here