Women in Collaboration is holding a finance leadership gathering in London for senior female finance executives, focused on funding pressure, AI adoption and finance transformation.

More than 100 women in roles including Chief Financial Officer, Finance Director, FP&A and finance transformation leadership are expected to attend the closed-door session at Oracle NetSuite’s Helicon building in Moorgate.

The programme centres on the pressures finance teams face as leaders balance financial control with growth planning, board expectations, tighter reporting timetables and greater regulatory scrutiny.

Sessions will examine how finance leaders manage constrained funding environments, address fragmented systems and improve confidence in reporting and audit preparation. A separate breakout session will explore the use of AI and data within ERP systems, while another panel will discuss changes in finance technology.

One keynote interview will feature Catherine Turner, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of SearchHive, discussing lessons from finance leadership and from building a technology business in a strained funding environment.

Women in Collaboration, formerly London Women’s Collaboration, is a cross-industry collective that brings together senior women’s networks across payments, fintech, automation and emerging technology. It was formed to encourage collaboration between communities that often operate separately and has previously run executive and policy-adjacent forums.

The gathering is being delivered by London Women Groups with Rsult, a NetSuite alliance partner, and backed by a wider group of industry networks including European Women in Payments Network, Women in Automation, Women in Open Banking and fintech community organisations.

Finance pressures

The agenda reflects the widening remit of senior finance executives, whose responsibilities increasingly extend beyond reporting and cost control into transformation, systems oversight and technology decisions.

One panel on funding pressures will explore how finance leaders can balance day-to-day stewardship with strategic growth and investment planning. The discussion will cover indicators to watch, common failure points and ways to make the case for finance functions under pressure.

Another session will focus on the risks created by disparate systems and weak data confidence. It will examine how finance departments can improve real-time reporting, strengthen audit readiness and reduce operational risk through better data architecture and integration.

A further panel on innovation in the office of finance is intended to move beyond broad claims about AI and focus instead on current tools and measurable efficiency gains.

The format will prioritise peer discussion over formal presentation, with structured networking designed to encourage exchanges between executives facing similar operational and strategic constraints.

Zhenya Winter, Co-founder of Women in Collaboration, outlined the rationale behind the agenda.

“The role of the CFO has expanded significantly, often without equivalent increases in time, resource or certainty,” Winter said.

She said the event would focus on practical examples rather than theory.

“This event is designed to give senior finance leaders practical perspectives on funding, data, systems and AI that is grounded in real experiences rather than theory,” Winter said.

AI and data

AI adoption and data integrity have become more prominent issues for finance functions as companies seek faster reporting, stronger controls and better visibility across operations.

The AI and data breakout is expected to centre on how an integrated ERP system with embedded AI may change forecasting, controls and operational visibility. That will sit alongside wider discussion of the challenge of maintaining confidence in financial data while modernising legacy systems.

Winter said those tensions are becoming more central to finance leadership.

“Finance leaders are increasingly expected to lead transformation while maintaining absolute confidence in the numbers,” she said.

“Hearing how peers are addressing these tensions, particularly around AI adoption and data integrity, is invaluable.”

The emphasis on peer exchange reflects a broader pattern in executive forums, where finance leaders often seek practical information from counterparts dealing with similar budget, staffing and systems constraints rather than general commentary on technology trends.

Winter described that peer-to-peer element as the main benefit for participants.

“For many CFOs, the most valuable insights come from peers facing similar constraints,” she said.

“Our goal is to create an environment where those conversations can happen openly and productively.”

TomTom has chosen HowNow to support its move to a skills-based organisation, with the partnership centred on TomTom Academy, an internal learning platform for its workforce.

TomTom Academy launched in December 2024, with its full skills functionality rolled out in July 2025. The platform is intended to link employee development to changing business requirements as part of a two-year people strategy.

Based in the Netherlands, TomTom provides geolocation technology, including maps, real-time traffic information and navigation services, to carmakers, businesses and governments. The group employs more than 3,300 people worldwide.

A key factor in selecting HowNow was its AI-based skills-mapping technology, which is designed to give TomTom a current view of workforce skills and gaps while directing employees to relevant learning opportunities.

The partnership also reflects TomTom’s effort to reshape learning across the business by giving employees skills-led development paths aligned with shifts in customer demand and market conditions.

Other factors behind the decision included product alignment, integration with other systems and ease of use. The partnership also fits TomTom’s wider internal approach to work and employee development.

One early aim has been to widen access to content creation inside the company. Employees in different markets can now create learning materials for colleagues, broadening the flow of knowledge across the business.

For HowNow, TomTom joins its list of technology sector customers. For TomTom, the project forms part of a broader effort to organise learning around business needs rather than fixed roles.

Aneta Milosierna-Santos, People Product Lead at TomTom, said, “[HowNow’s] AI skills mapping functionality was a big selling point for us, as was the strong sense of partnership we felt during those initial conversations. Like TomTom, HowNow is an agile, fast-growth company…because of that, we could see their potential to evolve with us, and that really resonated.”

Milosierna-Santos also highlighted the platform’s effect on internal knowledge sharing: “In just a few short months, HowNow has enabled us to democratise learning. Any one of our employees, in any of our geographic markets, can now become an internal content creator. This is already multiplying knowledge across and between our employees at speed – and in a way that is quick and easy for them.”

TomTom’s Chief Human Resources Officer, Arne‐Christian van der Tang, linked the project to the company’s broader workforce model: “At TomTom, our people strategy is built around what we call the now of work – creating the conditions for our teams to have impact today. Academy gives us real-time visibility into skills across our organisation and enables our people to learn, grow and deliver value with agility. In a world where the pace of change is relentless, this partnership helps us stay responsive, flexible and focused on empowering TomTom’ers to do their best work, every day.”

Nelson Sivalingam, co-founder and chief executive of HowNow, described TomTom as a business moving towards a different organisational model: “TomTom is a progressive organisation that continues to create world-class products and services. By becoming a skills-based organisation, the company has demonstrated a strong commitment to its people and future success – and we’re delighted to be supporting TomTom on that journey.”

After Old Windsor Logistics said it will no longer deliver parcels in Abingdon or Oxford on Wednesday, April 15, parcel delivery firm Evri has said service in the area is operating as normal.

In addition, the major business said it had been in touch with the more than 25 on-site drivers from Old Windsor Logistics who lost their jobs this month.

READ MORE: Evri statement as UK delivery firm contractor shuts with drivers fired

They have offered work to them and the chance to become Evri community couriers with a large proportion reportedly accepting the offer.

Old Windsor Logistics, which has its Oxford base at the Horspath Trading Estate in Cowley, had delivered parcels for Evri for seven years.

Daniel Sheehy, owner of Old Windsor Logistics (Image: Daniel Sheehy)

Announcing the end of the partnership, the owner of Old Windsor Daniel Sheehy said it was because his drivers were no longer earning enough money to maintain a living.

He said their rate per package delivery had been systematically cut since 2019.

“We cannot do it any longer,” the 35-year-old said.

He added: “Over the last two years they have systematically reduced and reduced the rate, and over the last three months they have dropped it even lower.

An Evri lorry (Image: Alamy/PA)

“I have said to them we need an injection to secure the business so I can pay the VAT and pay the drivers’ wages.

“We need a better rate so we can survive as a business.”

A spokesperson for Evri said they routinely review arrangements with their partners and are committed to working with them and supporting them in their service.

On April 15, the spokesperson added: “We routinely review our delivery model and third party relationships to offer continued service improvements and the best delivery choices for our customers.”

Old Windsor Logistics has a base at the Horspath Industrial Estate (Image: Google Maps)

However, Mr Sheehy claimed there had not been proper dialogue with the major Leeds-based delivery company since he first raised the issue last October.

He said: “It’s ridiculous. We do not want to ruin service for anyone. It’s just we are at a point where we cannot physically pay the drivers and carry on.”

The owner of Old Windsor Logistics added that the rate gets even lower when fines for their service are taken into account.

READ MORE: Evri parcel delivery disruption after Oxford firm collapses

Over the Christmas period these apparently totalled £7,600 and he said the system for allocating them was unfair, particularly for fines relating to picture proof for delivery.

The spokesperson for Evri added: “Independent data has recognised us as having the highest on-time delivery rate of all carriers and our dedicated community couriers are at the heart of our business.

“As we continue to grow, we continue to welcome new community couriers who our customers tell us provide a high standard of service.

“Keen applicants can express their interest on our website.”