Around £150 billion worth of investment opportunities are set to be showcased and discussed at UKREiiF (The UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum) this coming May as towns, cities, and counties across the UK look to meet investors and developers to bring forward sustainable and inclusive growth within their regions.
Almost 12,000 domestic and international attendees will head to Leeds in May 2024 for a three-day event where UK cities and regions will highlight opportunities and ambitions across numerous sectors, including housing, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, technology, healthcare, energy, retail and high streets, infrastructure, leisure, and hospitality, industrial, and more.
This week, numerous speakers have been confirmed, including senior figures from the public sector and government, including Graeme Craig, Chief Executive of Places for London, Roger Mendonca, Chief Executive of Midlands Engine, James Heath, Chief Executive of the National Infrastructure Commission, and Maria Machancoses, CEO at Midlands Connect.
With over thirty stages, the event has been described at the Glastonbury of the real estate industry as bringing a mixture of content, activity, and fringe events together to create an inspiring and creative way to make connections, tackle challenges in the sector, and create investment opportunities to drive inclusive and sustainable prosperity across the UK.
Event Background
Launched in 2022, the event is held over three days and brings together the public and private sectors, with all of the UK’s cities and regions represented alongside the UK Government and the numerous governmental departments. Over 700 speakers will be involved across 30 stages, with speakers already confirmed including The Rest Is Politics stars Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart, in addition to the Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Kerry McCarthy. Mayors from numerous devolved authorities have already announced they’ll be attending, including Mayor Tracy Brabin of West Yorkshire, Mayor Oliver Coppard of South Yorkshire, and Nik Johnson of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
Having grown from 3,500 attendees in 2022 to 7,500 in 2023, the event in 2024 is set to attract over 12,000 to Leeds. In addition to 12,000 attendees, the event is set to attract a further 3,000 people to the city to enjoy the fringe events across the city, with £20 million set to be generated for the local Leeds community. The event generated £2.25 million in social impact in 2023 for the local economy.
Facilitation and Investment
The event has already been lauded across the UK by many cities and regions, with Torbay Council recently confirming a major £100 million investment into the seaside destination, which is set to create jobs, homes, and revitalise the leisure offering in the region, all happening directly because of the event. In addition to this, there are several other schemes totalling over £500 million of investment known to be in the pipeline across other cities following direct facilitation and introductions at the event.
During UKREiiF, international and domestic investors, developers, and occupiers will be invited to meet and greet UK cities and regions to understand their requirements and see if there are any natural collaborations and partnerships that can be brought forward.
High Praise
The sudden emergence of UKREiiF as Europe’s fastest-growing real estate and built environment event comes with much high praise from senior figures in the industry:
President of international investors Amro Partners said: “UKREiiF tells me that the UK is open to business, and as an investor, that is a fantastic message. The event brings together government ministers and officials, people from Whitehall, local authorities, investors, and developers; it’s a phenomenal representation of the real estate sector.”
Alan Denby, Director of Pride in Place at Torbay Council, added: “Being at UKREiiF has enabled Torbay to have discussions with investors, developers, and occupiers, and from these discussions we’ve announced the preferred development partner to work with us on four key development sites worth over £100m to the local community, and that investment is a direct result of being involved in UKREiiF.”
Alastair Campbell, Former Director of Communications for No. 10 Downing Street, said: “UKREiiF brings together all the different parts of the equation that are needed to regenerate regions and the economy successfully. And it’s changing people’s views of the industry world.”
Greg Ward, Principal Regeneration Office for Economic Development at North Northamptonshire Council: “I was unsure of the opportunities UKREiiF would bring, but I decided to attend, and our council was pleasantly surprised. There were a lot of learnings to have, but the dedicated investment and development facilitation sessions were excellent, in which we had five prospects come from this, which has led to follow-up meetings in North Northamptonshire.”
International Delegates
Around 1,500 delegates are expected from overseas, including a trade delegation from Asia headed up by the Department for Business and Trade. European capital investors and developers will be in attendance, attracted by the strength of the UK’s market, especially in new and emerging sectors such as Agri-Tech, Life Sciences, Aerospace, EV and Data Centres.
International cities and regions are also signed up, with those registering early including Illinois State, New York Economic Development Corporation, Choose Paris, Business Iceland, and the Municipality of Genoa, with many more set to announce their attendance as they look to share best practices amongst UK regions while sharing their own case studies and success stories.
To find out more, visit www.ukreiif.com
