ProductTank Manchester — January 2026

We're be back on Wednesday 14th January for the next ProductTank Manchester with great product speakers and great networking!

Location: Kraken Technologies Limited, 3rd Floor, No 2, Circle Square, 1 Symphony Park, Manchester M1 7FS, United Kingdom

Speakers:
Dan Dalton — Director of Product Management at Sage

Bio: Dan Dalton is a product leader, advisor, and coach with more than 14 years of experience building high-performing teams in B2B SaaS, fintech, and payroll. As Director of Product Management at Sage, he leads the global strategy and delivery of Sage’s cloud payroll portfolio, helping businesses simplify compliance and scale with confidence.

Dan specialises in building product organisations that move with purpose, teams that cut through noise, focus on what matters, and deliver lasting impact. Beyond Sage, he coaches emerging product leaders and advises early-stage companies on achieving product-market fit and scaling without losing focus.

Title: Product Management Needs Builders, Not Bureaucrats

Description: Product management is going through an identity crisis. AI is rewriting the rules, frameworks are multiplying faster than results, and teams are burning out under the weight of their own rituals. The truth? Product management itself isn’t broken, but a type of product manager is.
In this talk, Dan Dalton explores the shift from bureaucratic to builder-led product management. He unpacks the mindset, behaviours, and resilience that define the modern PM, and shows how builders are thriving by cutting through noise, focusing on outcomes, and delivering what matters.
Expect an honest look at how our craft lost its way, why AI isn’t the threat we think it is, and how to reset your own practice for the years ahead. You’ll leave with practical ways to ditch theatre, reclaim focus, and start building again.

Thomas Mintoff — Product Director at Flagstone

Bio: Thomas Mintoff is Product Director at Flagstone. With 12+ years in product, including time at GlaxoSmithKline building tools for global finance teams across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, Thomas spent the last six years helping Flagstone move from fintech start-up to scale‑up, delivering year‑on‑year profitability and growing to ~£20bn in assets under administration. Starting as the third product manager, he now leads a team of 16. In Beyond Product‑Market Fit — Scale, Systems, and Customer Love, Thomas shares practical lessons on turning PMF into compounding growth: the foundations of scale, the systems that multiply impact, and keeping customer love at the center.

Title: Beyond Product‑Market Fit — Scale, Systems, and Customer Love

Description: You’ve nailed product‑market fit—congratulations! But now the real work begins. This talk explores what happens after PMF: how to scale without breaking, build the systems that underpin sustainable growth, and keep customers loving (and investing in) your product. Drawing on lessons from Flagstone’s journey, we’ll cover the operational foundations, team structures, and cultural shifts that turn fit into momentum—because PMF isn’t the finish line, it’s the starting gun.

Dan Summers – Head of Product, AXA Commercial

Bio: Dan is an experienced Insurance professional, having spent 20 years in Financial Services. Dan has held several senior roles within AXA Insurance, leading operational claims departments across Retail and Commercial insurance following qualification and multiple years in a strategic HR leadership role.
Dan is a qualified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and project manager and has lead Product Management within the Commercial Insurance arm of the UK since 2022.

Title: Leading with Impact: Elevating Product Teams through Strategic Leadership

Description: Discover how strategic leadership can elevate product teams and drive impactful results. This session will explore practical principles and insights for leading with confidence in a product management context.

Why you should come?
Networking with fellow product people 👋

• Great talks from local and national speakers 🎤
• Food 🍕and drink 🍺
• We welcome people from all backgrounds!

We're a friendly bunch, our typical crowd includes:

• senior product leaders
• startup founders
• mid-level PMs
• new PMs
• people looking to get into Product
• engineers/developers
• designers
• people who work with product teams - and just want to learn more.

Whatever your situation, come along and say hello.

Event timings
6:00pm start - Networking (drinks and food)
6:30pm - Talks (3x 20-min talks + 5-min Q&A)
8:00pm - Talks finish - more networking - drinks and food
8:30pm - Close

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Please note:

• Speakers and venue are be subject to change.
• We sometimes take photos at our events for community and promotional use. By attending, you’re happy for any photos you appear in to be used in this way.
• Your name will be used for registration and check-in purposes only.
• Tickets are free but limited — please update your RSVP if you can’t make it so someone else can grab the spot.