Unlocking Real Estate Investment in the UK at UKREiiF
Over 8,000 delegates have already registered to attend UKREiiF (The UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum) in May – with 12,000 official attendees and 3,000 unofficial fringe attendees expected to visit the city during the 3-day event.
The event, which brings UK cities and regions together to highlight investment and regeneration opportunities to investors and developers, saw 7,500 attendees in 2023 which has been surpassed already. Many Big Hitters from the Transport Sector have committed heavily to the event, with a high quantity of ‘clients’ including developers, local authorities, investors and occupiers set to be in attendance.
Over 700 speakers will take to the stage, whilst many other conversations, roundtables, workshops and networking events will take place over 40-activation zones at the event. The latest confirmed include:
- Ibrahim Mohamed, Associate Director for Freeports @ Connected Places Catapult
- Matt Nice, Executive Director @ Lotus
- Tom McGarry, Deputy Director @ National Grid
- Richard May, Chief Executive @ Plymouth and South Devon Freeport
- Ian Henderson, Head of Property @ Associated British Ports
- Helen Murphy, Managing Director for Rail @ Arcadis
- Sahan Abeln, Head of EV Solutions @ JLL
- Clive Higgins, CEO @ Leonardo UK
- Mark Osborne, Regional Growth Director @ Avanti West Coast
- Pálmi Freyr Randversson, Managing Director @ Kadeco – Keflavik Airport Development Company
- Helen Thomas, Head of Property in Wales and Short Sea Ports @ Associated British Ports
Speaking of the growth Director of UKREiiF Nathan Spencer, said: “It’s amazing to see the growth from our inaugural event in 2022 but it goes to show the value this event is creating for the UK economy – attracting investment and creating regeneration across towns and cities up and down the UK. With 19 new activation zones in 2024 the site has grown naturally to ensure the delegate experience is a fantastic one, and we’re working closely with partners with the Royal Armouries, Leeds City Council, West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Leeds BID to ensure that the city region can maximise the opportunities UKREiiF brings to the local economy whilst also enhancing the experience delegates have in Leeds.”
The event is expected to generate £20m for the local West Yorkshire economy – whilst generating around £3m in social value for the local community.
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 £20m set to be generated for the local Leeds community. The event generated £2.25m in social impact in 2023 for the local economy.
The event has already been lauded across the UK by many cities and regions, with Torbay Council recently confirming a major £100m 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 £500m 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.
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.”
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 New York Economic Development Corporation, Choose Paris, Business Iceland, Embassy of Saudi and the Municipality of Genoa, with many more set to announce their attendance as they look to share best practice amongst UK regions while sharing their own case studies and success stories.
