Fresh from successfully promoting the West Midlands to global investors at the recent Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, a regional delegation used LREF as a platform to secure future investment, maximise awareness and highlight the latest thinking on themes including innovation and sustainability.
The West Midlands’ tech sector, the UK’s largest outside of London, takes centre stage on day one with a headline panel session exploring the region’s strengths in life sciences, sustainable construction, aerospace and next-generation battery technology. The panel discussion of regional experts will demonstrate how the West Midlands’ strengths in innovation and the high knowledge sector is driving new brownfield real estate needs, opening up opportunities for investment and collaboration.
The panel session will be followed by a roundtable dinner, hosted by international scholar and commentator Professor Greg Clark CBE. The evening event – featuring West Midlands business leaders and speakers from the afternoon’s panel discussion – will give delegates a further opportunity to examine the plurality of West Midlands innovation.
Sustainability will also be a key focus for the region at LREF, with the City of Wolverhampton Council leading a roundtable on sustainable construction, having this week revealed Legal & General Modular Homes as its preferred developer to build around 400 new homes at its major residential Canalside South scheme.
Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, said:
“The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games this summer gave the West Midlands a global promotional opportunity to pitch to potential investors and it’s great to continue that momentum and engagement at the London Real Estate Forum – showcasing our region’s considerable investment prospects and track record with tens of millions of pounds invested by the West Midlands Combined Authority in schemes creating more than 8,000 new homes as well as 3.8 million sq ft of new commercial floorspace.
“With sustainability a key Forum theme, I’m pleased that the West Midlands is leading the way in this regard as a region – with our rock-solid commitment to brownfield first regeneration and our pioneering Net Zero Neighbourhoods initiative on which there will be more news coming soon.”
The event also saw the launch of a new report The West Midlands: at the centre of innovation in the UK – please see here. Produced by urban intelligence firm The Business of Cities, the report shines a light on the opportunities that the West Midlands presents for developers and investors of real estate, places and ecosystems.
Andrew Dunbar, Head of Capital Investment at the West Midlands Growth Company, the region’s official investment promotion agency, said:
“The London Real Estate Forum provides us with a platform to showcase the many strengths and opportunities of the West Midlands’ offer to investors.
“The region is quite rightly renowned as a substantial force in advanced manufacturing, but we will be speaking to event delegates to promote our large and growing innovation sector, which outranks Berlin and Amsterdam for its potential.
“By working closely with investors and developers, we plan to deliver innovation-led real estate and regeneration projects, which – coupled with the region’s new low-tax investment zones announced by government – will help the West Midlands to be the spearhead for levelling up and accelerating sustainable growth.”
Created by New London Architecture (NLA), the two-day LREF at London’s Barbican Centre unites more than 2,600 decision makers from the business and property investment community.
For more information about the West Midlands’ investment credentials, visit https://www.investwestmidlands.com/.