UKREiiF has become a fixture in the industry calendar since its launch four years ago.
This year, the property event will return to the Royal Armouries Museum and New Dock in Leeds between 19 and 21 May and thousands of professionals from across the property sector are expected to attend.
Andrew Battye, senior external affairs and content manager at UKREiiF, says the event will have “something for everyone” connected with regeneration, property investment and development.
In addition to the usual core themes of regeneration, housebuilding and commercial development, new streams added to the agenda include coastal communities and sports and leisure, Battye says.
Our focus is on unlocking delivery – turning strong investor interest into active projects
Tom Newman-Taylor, East Midlands Freeport
Typically, he adds, coastal areas often get overlooked when it comes to regeneration, despite many of these communities having higher-than-average levels of inequality. But he believes these areas are well placed for public and private sector investment. “There are lots of really exciting entrepreneurial people [in coastal communities] and there’s lots of energy,” he says. “If they’re given a bit of a helping hand, a lot can be achieved.”
Among the coastal areas seeking investment partners at UKREiiF this year is Redcar, the North East seaside town in Tees Valley. The town centre is undergoing a major regeneration, with support from the government’s Towns Fund. Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council is now seeking private sector partners to take forward the next phase of development in the area.
Battye says the Redcar delegation at this year’s event will highlight ways the property and infrastructure sectors can “help the town and the community fulfil its potential”. He adds: “It’s quite a deprived area, but has lots of opportunities.”
East Midlands Freeport seeks to free up investment
Tom Newman-Taylor
East Midlands Freeport is the UK’s only inland freeport and has more than 1,480 acres of developable land.
Tom Newman-Taylor, chief executive of East Midlands Freeport, says the company is attending this year’s UKREiiF to engage directly with investors, developers and policymakers at a “critical moment” for the area. “Our focus is on unlocking delivery – turning strong investor interest into active projects that drive jobs, growth and clean energy,” he says.
The delegation has two priorities this year: expanding East Midlands Intermodal Park (EMIP) in Derby and addressing capacity constraints at junction 24 of the M1, which it says is limiting economic growth in the area.
EMIP is an advanced manufacturing and logistics site near the Toyota Motor Manufacturing site with the potential to create 10,000 jobs if expanded.
“We are looking to work with long-term investment partners across advanced manufacturing, energy and logistics, alongside public sector support to unlock enabling infrastructure,” Newman-Taylor says. “This includes mechanisms to accelerate upfront infrastructure funding and de-risk major private investment.”
He adds that UKREiiF remains an important event because it “brings together the full ecosystem” of investors, government and delivery partners required to move complex projects such as motorway redesigns.
Other coastal development sites that will be promoted this year include those within the Freeport East zone, which includes the Port of Felixstowe.
“There are lots of proposed investments in data centre infrastructure and other technology infrastructure that makes use of the port infrastructure and the land that’s there,” Battye says. “Hopefully, that will bring some wider investment and create jobs that benefit coastal communities.”
On the theme of sports and leisure, there has been a real boom in investment in stadiums across several sports, including football, rugby and cricket, Battye says.
Last year, for example, Manchester United revealed plans to build a 100,000-seat stadium as part of a major regeneration project for the Old Trafford area. The scheme, which is backed by Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, would create 15,000 homes and around 90,000 jobs in the area.
In the West Midlands, Birmingham City FC also unveiled plans last year for a sports-led, multi-billion-pound redevelopment of the Bordesley Green area of the city. The proposals include a new 62,000-seat stadium, housing and hotels and green spaces.
“These investments don’t just provide sports clubs and the fans with an improved experience – they can also be a catalyst for a greater regeneration of the area,” Battye says.
Grounds for development
Football-led regeneration sports schemes due to be discussed at this year’s UKREiiF include Leeds United’s proposed stadium masterplan and the Scottish Football Association’s proposals for Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland’s national stadium.
Rugby Union team Cornish Pirates and the All England Lawn Tennis Club will also promote their respective stadium redevelopments in Penzance and Wimbledon, south-west London. “It’s not a sector that is thought about as much in relation to the property sector, but obviously it provides a lot of opportunities for the companies attending UKREiiF,” Battye says.
Last year, every mayor of a combined authority attended the UKREiiF conference as well as 11 government ministers. Battye expects another strong showing from across local and central government.
Crossovers between energy infrastructure and the property and development sectors are only growing
Nicola Riley, Turley
“I think pretty much every regional mayor will be in attendance again,” he says. “We are co-ordinating with the UK government and there’ll be ministerial representation from several departments.”
Senior politicians who have confirmed they will attend this year include Anna Turley, MP for Redcar and minister of state in the Cabinet Office; West Midlands mayor Richard Parker; and government housing minister Baroness Sharon Taylor.
Although it is an economically challenging time for many developers and investors, this year’s event looks set to become the biggest yet, with a record number of pavilion spaces sold and the number of attendees expected to be the highest yet, according to Battye.
He adds: “It’s always hard to say what the exact number is going to be, but we predicted 16,000 [people would attend] when we started planning for this year’s event and that still looks reasonable.”
Turley on a mission to build new relationships
Nicola Riley
Energy and infrastructure will be among the themes on the agenda at this year’s UKREiiF. Nicola Riley, senior director for net zero infrastructure at planning and urban design consultancy Turley, says the inclusion of these themes at a property event makes “a significant statement” about their growing importance in development.
“The crossovers between energy infrastructure and the property and development sectors are only growing, from industrial cluster decarbonisation and heat networks to grid reinforcement, data centres and net-zero-aligned regeneration,” she says. “These are complex, multi-stakeholder projects and UKREiiF is the right forum to bring those conversations together.”
Riley provides strategic advice on net zero transition, which includes onshore and offshore wind, solar energy, carbon capture and heat networks. At the conference, she will also be joined by colleagues at Turley with expertise in sustainability and ESG, strategic communications, placemaking, logistics and town centre regeneration, and supporting projects at the intersection of energy, place and investment.
Riley describes UKREiiF as a “key moment in the calendar to strengthen relationships and build new connections”. She adds: “It’s an opportunity to meet local authorities with place-based decarbonisation strategies, investors active in energy and storage and the government and industry decision-makers who can accelerate delivery.”