Speech by Sheree Howard at the APCC Spring Conference 2026. This weekend, tens of thousands of runners will line up in Greenwich Park for the start of the London Marathon.Well done to them – a Netflix marathon is much more my speed.Unlike what’s needed to prepare for a Netflix marathon – opening a bag of sweet and salty popcorn – Sunday’s runners will have been training for months. Many even years.And nearly all will have had support along the way, whether from a coach, physio or friend at a parkrun.What strikes me about that relationship is where the responsibility sits.A coach designs the programme, corrects the technique and knows how to get a runner to the start line in the best possible shape.But they’re not the ones lacing up their trainers. The runner is.Getting authorised is more like a marathon than it might seem.Filled with documents, deadlines and – let’s be honest – a fair amount of adrenaline, it can feel like that final sprint down the Mall for many firms as they reach the end.And you are their support system, helping them get authorisation-ready.That preparation genuinely matters.Because gaining the right to be a regulated financial services firm isn’t easy.Nor should it be.
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