UKREiiF 2022, levelling up and the future of real estate

Designed to give impetus to the Levelling Up agenda, UKREiiF is a major new Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum. It will be holding a three-day event in Leeds from May 17th to 19th that will bring together the public sector, government, investors, funders, developers and construction firms. All the major cities and regions will be represented, and key themes have been identified:

·         Net Zero

·         Social Value and Inclusive Growth

·         The Future of Real Estate

·         Building Better Communities

Furthermore, there will be an Investor Centre that focuses on inward investment.

Levelling Up is intended to regenerate deprived parts of the country; specifically, 20 town and city centres. This will be led by Homes England, a non-departmental public body, with Sheffield and Wolverhampton the first two cities chosen.

UKREiiF is an attempt to address the question of infrastructure and the extent to which the UK is currently set up to optimise the new levelling up agenda. The Leeds event is intended to provide opportunities for the private and public sectors to further the Levelling Up agenda; investment specialists can meet public sector stakeholders; healthier, smarter, greener places can be planned.

Built Environment Networking sits behind UKREiiF. They are important players in providing conferences, exhibitions and networking opportunities, both physical and online, and have an annual attendance exceeding 40,000 people and over 1,000 client speakers. Let’s turn again to the themes above.

Of particular interest is social value, which is not only being promoted at the event, but actually being measured during the three days:

“Built Environment Networking…[is teaming]…up with Loop – one of the UK’s leading social value calculators, to measure and maximise the social value generated from the event, with the longer term vision to utilise the finalised report as a catalyst for future events.”

This is a very progressive and inclusive move, which puts the event organisers’ money where their mouth is – what is the point in inviting people to talk about social value if the event at which they’re doing so can’t demonstrate it? See here for a list of activity designed to drive social value at the Leeds weekend, including a dedicated pavilion in which Loop will be sharing its knowledge and best practice.

And what of the social value being driven by the topics under discussion at the event? Here’s Keith Griffiths, founder of Built Environment Networking:

“All forward-thinking organisations are now focused on developing robust environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies. Sometimes, however, the ‘s’ in ESG can play second fiddle to the ‘e’. While UKREiiF can boast very strong environmental credentials, we also want to lead the industry in terms of providing the very best in social impact.”

Of course, sustainability is central to the event; as well as relevant awards, such as ‘Social Value & Inclusive Growth Creator of the Year’, Net Zero is one of the key themes identified above.

City urbanisation tree. Photo: Gerd Altmann on Pixabay

There will be a dedicated Pavilion at the event, sponsored by the UK’s Business Council for Sustainable Development. It will feature a variety of activities and content, such as speeches and keynotes, panel discussions and workshops – with leading figures and influential voices from many blue-chip firms, developers, investors joining local and regional authorities, and government officials.

Moreover, there is a specific stage dedicated to sustainability innovation, upon which pioneers in the real estate, property and infrastructure sectors can showcase their solutions. Furthermore, as with social value, the event is demonstrating its own sustainability credentials, as it is set to gain ISO20121 Event Sustainability Management Accreditation.

To turn to the Future of Real Estate, it’s all about inclusivity, being forward thinking and, of course, sustainability. Yet again, there is a dedicated pavilion, with a particular emphasis on the role of technology in helping to achieve the government’s 2050 Net Zero target, which, as it says on the site, “isn’t achievable without the construction, real estate and property industry making major changes in the way we plan, build, develop and manage.”

We are all aware that digitalisation is a key component of getting to Net Zero; indeed, a recent McKinsey report states that

“climate technologies that are already mature could, if deployed widely, deliver about 60 percent of the emissions abatement that will be needed to stabilize the climate by 2050.”

The importance of this for the sector can’t be overstated, given that the industry’s carbon emissions make up a significant part of the UK’s overall.

Lastly, there is the Investor Centre for driving inclusive investment. This is what it says on the relevant section on the site:

“Not only are we positioning ourselves with the largest cities and regional authorities across the UK – but we’re also actively working and speaking to smaller local authorities to ensure their opportunities are promoted and shared. We’re utilising many tools to do this, including our free-to-access Real Estate Opportunities Portal, alongside discounted costs for the public sector, SME developers/investors and more.”

This is to be applauded, as is UKREiiF’s decision to encourage involvement in the event regardless of the size of the location, and to limit the amount of exhibition and sponsorship space one region can have. By definition, levelling up can’t just involve major cities and funding must be spread equitably. Indeed, there is an 80/20 rule’, which means that 80% of the total of government funding for housing is to be directed at areas where it will be most affordable, so £1.8m of Brownfield funding will go to the North and Midlands, instead of London and the South East.

There are some interesting keynote speakers as well, such as Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, Joanne Anderson, Mayor of Liverpool City Council, Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, and Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. Other public sector speakers include Andrew Kerr, Chief Executive of The City of Edinburgh Council, Suzanne Wylie, Chief Executive of Belfast City Council, Marvin Rees, the Mayor of Bristol, Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, and Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands.

From the private sector, there are Anna Devlet, Head of Social Sustainability at British Land, Lynda Shillaw, Chief Executive Officer at the Harworth Group, Katie Kopec, International Director at JLL, Jennie Coleville, Head of ESG and Sustainability at Landsec, and Jennie Daly, Group Operations Director at Taylor Wimpey. Heads of leading occupiers include Dr Kath Mackay, Director at Bruntwood Life Sciences, and Andy Williams, Vice President, UK Strategy, at AstraZeneca.

Overall, there will be over 250 speakers. Let’s hope it’s a great success. As we discussed in a recent piece on our site, there has been some criticism of the lack of detail in the government white paper on levelling up. Let’s hope the May event can be part of the important process of fleshing out how this ambitious plan is going to work.