UKREiiF: Leeds, Liverpool And Sunshine
The first two days of this huge infrastructure and real estate conference in Leeds has been basked in sunshine, and incredible optimism, hope and joy.
The headlines might be bad around the world, but here at the Royal Armouries there is a feel good air.
As seminars dominate with titles penned on growth, value and opportunities there is the inevitable dark clouds of challenges waiting in the wings.
This time last year the then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stood in a biblical downpour announcing his call for a general election, champagne corks had been fired.
Angela Rayner MP, The Deputy Prime Minister launched the show with a line we've heard too much.
"Now we need you to build, build, build."
And as the team wake up to the final day of conference, we get the feeling Angela might have misdirected her enthusiasm. Because the emphasis from many of the interviewees we met was, rebuild, reuse, recycle.
Energy Efficiency vs. The Brown Discount
During two days of intense talks and one on one meetings with individuals in Leeds corridors, cafes and casinos - there is a theme running through much of what is being discussed.
UKREiiF is a concentration of High Net Worth (HNW) individuals and family money, as well as institutional investment, banking and real estate super powers.
This is the place where ink is dotted on thousands of units, acres of land and regeneration deals transforming the built environment.
With benchmarks for building performance rising, and the accelerated transition required to achieve the governments ambitious targets - there are some leaders and some lackeys.
If you have assets which are at risk of becoming uninhabitable.
Buildings which are not going to be able to be repurposed for other uses.
You are at risk of falling prey to risks such as demolition moratoriums. You are at risk of devaluing the lived experience of people who need to use your buildings, which will incur reduced incomes or just straight up vacancies.
If you're not harnessing technology, solutions which are novel and older proven solutions. Then you are definitely heading towards the possibility of stranded assets. Or at the very least, suffering from the danger of exposing yourself to the danger of the 'brown discount'.
We know that there are solutions to informing your people about what can be done to avoid this risk. We interviewed one solution provider, Nick Taylor, a former Google star, who is leading the start up Building Atlas. Using the power of AI to determine at speed retrofit and refurbishment options for building stock, this information offers sustainable, affordable plans to building and land owners.
And information does seem to be the key issue. As leading Estate Management experts JLL talked to us (formerly Jones Lang and LeSalle) they are at the forefront of working with clients and investors who want to plan, action and drive themselves out of an information vacuum and into profitable, responsible and actionable change in estate and building management.
Exemplars in Action - Liverpool
They're good at many things the Liverpudlians. Self deprecating humour (they seem to be toughest on their own), the football, a bit of singing here and there. But the 'Pool is fast becoming a dynamo in the world of retrofit.
This team effort has many contributors but one of which is the ongoing study into the effectiveness in terms of cost and outcomes of estate wide retrofittting in residential property.
We're 6 months in to a brilliant evaluation project that sees the combination of deep research into health outcomes from residents who are participating in home retrofit.
In December 2025 we'll find out the results of this study.
So it was timely that none other than the Mayor of Liverpool City Region - Andy Rotheram spared us some time on his busy UKREiiF schedule to talk through some dynamic steps the City is taking to harness the cash injection from central government. Activity that is transforming the Scouse landscape from borough to borough. With opportunities, optimism and action.
The Sun Is Shining - Adaptive ReUse
If we're honest, the term retrofit is pretty naff. It's in our name, but the response of non believers is usually "retro what?". Retrofit fit sounds like a neon legging inspired, early morning dance movement.
That vibe might have informed the interview we got from the leading construction voice of Andrew Geldard at Willmott Dixon. Fresh off the success of the Bristol Beacon project - Andrew stepped out from his UKREiiF seminar roles to open up about the wildly successful project with Waltham Forest Council, and the superb retrofit worked on with the FORE Partnership at London TBC, headed by the inimitable Basil Demeroutis.
Materials tracking, reuse on an industrial scale and incredible tech advances in the construction planning, process and delivery show that large scale, ambitious remodelling of our existing built environment is not only achievable, but happening. Time and time again.
This sort of activity, demonstrated by a construction power house, is going to influence the construction sector. We know the story well.
Look how quickly machinery in construction adopted technology like the OilQuick system. Insulation products. Planning analysis and delivery. All the phases, all the aspects are adapting to meet the demands of our Net Zero, we're becoming more efficient, faster, more strategic and that means that not just profit, but the ultimate bottom line, the Planet will come out on the upside.
A word from our co sponsors. We are incredibly luck to be supported on this trip by two ground breaking organisations.
ThermaCote UK are bringing a proven insulation products from Europe and the Americas to the British built environment. You can visit their purpose built demonstration house in Leeds during UKREiiF and until the end of this week.
Protect yourself form stranded assets and retrofit failures with their insulation products.
The National Retrofit Hub is a centre of excellence for advice, resources and actionable guidance on retrofit at scale. They are at the forefront of making buildings better for people, their places and the planet. Made up of a support network of thousands of sustainability professionals with real world experience - it is the best place to get informed, expert solutions to your retrofit enquiries.
