Boardroom Capital: Where Investment is Heading – and Why It Matters
This Chairs & NED meeting explores how today’s capital markets are shaping strategic decision-making at board level. Led by Investec, this session begins with a top-down view of public markets, macroeconomic conditions, and investor sentiment, before drilling into the sectors, themes, and geographies attracting capital.
Have ORAs Got Trustees To The Next Level In Terms of Scheme Governance?
As the first tranche of schemes approach the deadline for signing their first ORA, we reflect on what we have learned, and what could be done better going into the next cycle and the ongoing ORA process. We will also discuss a response to the challenges of seeing the ORA as not just a one-off compliance exercise but as a valuable ongoing part of business-as-usual. Chairs of pension schemes can also take the opportunity to reflect on whether the implementation of the General Code more generally has brought real governance benefits for their schemes.
SPEAKERS
Jenny Gibbons, Head of Trustee Governance Consulting, WTW | Mat Backus, Pension risk specialist, WTW
This Executive to Non-Executive Director masterclass is designed to support senior executives in successfully transitioning into non-executive (NED) roles.
A Bridge Over Troubled Waters: The River Island Restructuring Plan
The UK retail sector has been grappling with subdued consumer demand, an accelerated switch to online shopping during the pandemic and rising costs squeezing profit margins. High Street and mixed channel retailers face stiff competition from online-only stores. This was the backdrop to clothing retail brand River Island sustaining losses in 2023 and 2024.
As AI moves from concept to reality, many organisations are struggling less with the technology itself and more with its impact on people and culture. This session focuses on the practical and human challenges of AI adoption: anxiety about job security, confusion over future skills, and a growing divide between “AI insiders” and the wider workforce. We will consider how poorly managed implementation can erode trust, disengage employees, and undermine organisational values and what we can do to avoid that eventuality.
CHAIR
Jeff Uden, Global Head of Performance & Attraction, Aventum Group
SPEAKERS
Jamie Nevshehir, VP, HR Operations and People Analytics, NBCUniversal | James Gilding, Chief Strategy Officer, Kings Secure Technologies
Modern Succession Planning involves collaborating with other departments in identifying and developing potential leadership successors, ensuring a seamless transition of power and resilience in adapting to a faster-changing workforce.
SPEAKERS
Sue Whalley, Chief People & Performance Officer, Associated British Foods | Peter Jackson, Former CEO, Hill Dickinson LLP
A confidential whistleblower allegation against the CEO lands late in the evening—hours before the board is due to meet. Reputational risk is immediate, evidence is partial, and the CEO is unaware. What does good board leadership look like in the first 24 hours?
Uniting the Generational Gap: A Culture Framework for High-Performance Marketing
Join Matt Field, CMO of Aventum Group, for a critical session tackling the dual talent crisis facing modern marketing: a retiring workforce converging with an acute shortage of emerging talent. As AI accelerates change and widens the generational gap, the solution isn’t more tools, it’s building the right culture first.
SPEAKERS
Matt Field, Chief Marketing Officer, Aventum Group
AHN Members Dinner with Ian Workman, Chief Customer Officer at Homes England
With recent leadership changes at Homes England, we recognise that members will be particularly interested in the agency’s priorities for the coming years. We are therefore delighted to welcome Ian Workman, who leads Homes England’s Social Housing, Safety and Ownership Directorate, to our Affordable Housing Network members dinner.
SPEAKERS
Ian Workman, Chief Customer Officer, Homes England
