Last week saw one of the most hotly anticipated events in the Built Environment Industry come to Leeds. Since it wrapped up, the response we’ve seen to UKREiiF has been extremely positive and our own Corstorphine & Wright delegation have echoed this reaction. From the guests and presenters to the organising staff, we felt it was a great success. A big thank you and congratulations to the UKREiiF team on a fantastic event.
Here is a brief wrap up of the event and what we’ve taken away:
1. In-Person Conversations & Connections
The diversity of events and attendees has been obvious and there’s been a wonderfully positive attitude from everyone we met. There have been opportunities to develop new relationships as well as see people that we’ve not connected with since before Covid. The attendance of high-profile figures within the industry and government ministers shows that partnerships between the public and private sectors are critical to maximising the wealth of opportunities in the UK.
There were also a variety of fringe events taking place that were a great opportunity to network in different types of environments. We were pleased to be able to attend these in parallel to the main programme.
2. Thought-Provoking Discussions
The blend of environmental, social, and financial discussion was both valuable and incredibly interesting. Karen Crowe, Head of ESG at Corstorphine & Wright, mentioned in particular: ‘Rebuild or Reuse’ which included a panel of developers, a commercial architect, and Leeds Council’s Chief Asset Manager who discussed the ‘trade offs’ you need to make to hit net-zero targets.
“This was full of practical ideas and solutions, emphasising how they appraise increased costs – both carbon and financial – against the whole life social sustainability of a project and still achieve financial viability.”
3. The Future
We’ve already got UKREiiF 2023 dates in the diary and are looking forward to returning to Leeds next year. With the combination of this and Leeds City of Culture in 2023, it’s going to be one not to miss.
