Cratus at UKREiiF 2023
Over the past three days the property and investment sector from across the UK converged in Leeds for what is fast becoming the networking event of the year. The Cratus team were there to help our current clients and pick up news from around the country.
The programme for the three days was packed with great speakers and a brilliant variety of fringe events. Kier Group’s sessions on the future of urban centres were particularly interesting and drew in big crowds showing that the future of our high streets and town and city centres is, quite rightly, a very high priority for all of us working in the property and construction sectors.
As well as all the big names in the property and investment industry local authorities were well represented. It’s a fantastic chance for councils and LEPs to showcase the investment opportunities in their areas. Representatives from Birmingham City Council launched their Future City Plan showing England’s second city is well set for more growth and improvement over the next decade. Many towns and cities around the country will have put themselves on the radar of investors and maybe even sealed deals that will benefit their places and residents for years to come.
There were notable absentees though. While all other regions were well represented the greater southeast outside of London was not. Honourable mentions go to Berkshire and Hertfordshire whose LEPs and councils were on hand to fly the flag for their places, employers and residents. Next year the other LEPs and councils (particularly the county councils) from the southeast will have to raise their collective game or they’ll continue to look a gift horse in the mouth at the cost of their local economies and the people who vote for them and fund them.
The organisers of UKREiiF deserve credit for having grown this event so quickly. It’s no mean feat to have scaled the event up to its current size and enabled over seven thousand delegates to attend. I expect there will more again next year and it’s great news for Leeds for the Royal Armouries Museum to have been selected to host the conference in 2024. Next year delegates will be hoping for some shorter queues for food and drink, a regular grumble this year, if the organisers don’t want to slay the goose that lays the golden egg.
As exhausted delegates head back to their different corners of the country we can reflect on a very successful event, with information relating to next year’s event now available below.
Next stop for the Cratus team is Footprint+ in Brighton from 5th to 8th June and then the LGA conference in the first week of July.
23rd May 2023
