UKREiiF 2024 Partner reflections
In 2024, the West Midlands presented as a region in the West Midlands Pavilion. Eight local authorities and 17 private sector partners joined us to make it an unforgettable event where we showcased the transformative power of the West Midlands.
Our partners were able to elevate their announcements to make national news, create meaningful connections with guests and speakers, and showcase their expertise across our 20 well-attended events and 3,000 visitors to the West Midlands Pavilion.
You can register your interest to join them next time or read on to see how important and impactful this event was for them.
James Dickens, Managing Director said:
"We were thrilled to be part of Team Wolves and Invest West Midlands at UKREiiF 2024. We felt well supported by Invest Wolverhampton, the West Midlands Growth Company, and City of Wolverhampton's Officers and Councillors. The effective teamwork enabled our Wolverhampton Canalside South announcement to be one of UKREiiF’s most high profile national news stories.
“We look forward to continuing to work collaboratively to spread the word about the opportunities our collection of major city centre regeneration sites will bring to the West Midlands region."
"At UKREiiF, the cities and towns of the West Midlands came together for the first time to showcase real estate and regeneration opportunities worth more than £20 billion, with exciting announcements made for the transformation of town centres in Solihull and Wolverhampton.
"The region has been hugely successful in securing government funding, which is helping to tackle viability challenges and de-risk transformative regeneration projects. However, investment is still a key barrier to property development in less central areas and on brownfield or heritage sites, where more infrastructural challenges lie.
"The revitalisation of these areas to provide housing is crucial to the future development of Birmingham. Cordia UK is on a mission to transform the city’s underutilised areas into thriving neighbourhoods, providing a mix of residential uses, commercial hubs and public realms that retain their original character."
"The WSP team thoroughly enjoyed their time in Leeds supporting the West Midlands delegation at UKREiiF 2024. The opportunity to spend quality time with a huge range of key stakeholders from the region, to enjoy the company of co-professionals, to make new connections with carefully curated guests and panellists, and to hear from some of the leading lights of West Midlands built environment activity was definitely not to be missed.
"In particular, WSP was proud to chair the 'A Sporting Chance? Football as a Driver for Urban Regeneration' panel and we look forward to continuing this collaboration as we play a key role in the development of some exciting new projects across the region. A big thank you to everyone at the WMGC for their enthusiasm, support and for providing the opportunity to be part of such a successful event."
Cem Budak, Midlands Leader for Arup said:
"We were pleased to see sustainability was the golden thread underpinning this year’s conference. Many of the events were pivoted around urgent topics, namely tackling climate, decarbonisation, and biodiversity crises. Talks were insightful and provided open and honest discussions within the spirit of collaboration and change making.
"Arup was present in many guises at the conference, including activity out of our new office in Leeds city centre and as a partner of West Midlands Growth Company on the largest Pavilion at the conference.
"Our Global lead in Cities, Planning and Design, Vicky Evans was delighted to join the West Midlands delegation as part of an esteemed panel to discuss the nurturing of creative clusters in the region. Vicky shared Arup’s insights on creating sustainable film studios and our work in developing the West Midlands Combined Authority Repurposing framework as well as presenting the economic case for culture.
"We look forward to following up on the many pertinent conversations from contacts made throughout the conference."
Vicky Evans, RUKIMEA Cities, Planning and Design Leader, speaks in the West Midlands Pavilion at UKREiiF 2024
Simon Wingate, Regional Partnerships Director, said:
"Lovell has a long history of supporting local authorities at key events. Combined with our ongoing work alongside the West Midlands Growth Company to promote the growth opportunities in the West Midlands, UKREiiF was a great way of shouting about how our expertise as partners, and mixed tenure offering, can unlock and regenerate regional sites."
Stuart Penn, Regional Managing Director of Lovell Partnerships, speaks in the West Midlands Pavilion at UKREiiF 2024
"Over its three days, we found UKREiif to be a well-organised, well-attended event. It was great to see attendees from all parts of the property sector and there was representation from local authorities and government. It was great to be on The West Midlands Growth Company pavilion, which had some insightful and well-attended thought leadership and panel discussions – we were glad to be part of it. Nimbus was born out of the West Midlands as a Warwick University incubator, and we want to continue to scale up out of Birmingham, and the wider area.
"The recently released SuperTech report regarding tech startups in the West Midlands reveals there’s been a 540% increase in proptech startups in the region since 2020, reflecting that it’s full of opportunity. We want to remain a leading part of that ecosystem and continue to boost the West Midlands area."
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