UKREiiF – Levelling Up In his first speech as Prime Minister, Boris Johnson spoke of a need to “level up across Britain” and “answer the plea of the forgotten people and the left behind towns”, unleashing the “the productive power” of every corner of the country.” And the Institute of Fiscal Studies recently sought to identify what made an area in need of levelling up, concluding: A ‘left-behind’ area, in need of ‘levelling up’, is characterised by broad economic underperformance, which manifests itself in low pay and employment, leading to lower living standards in that area. Behind these factors lie other considerations such as poor productivity, which in turn may be associated with a low skill base. The health of the population may also be relatively poor: in some cases, this could be a legacy of deindustrialisation or long-term unemployment, as well as deep-rooted socio-economic issues. Therefore it is crucial that UKREiiF tackles these key topics – harvesting growth for the economy, enhancing living standards, improving communities, boosting productivity and transforming the performance of towns, cities and regions in need of ‘levelling up’ through the built environment industry. The Government has defined its ‘Levelling Up’ agenda to focus on these key areas Investing in places – Government are changing how the benefit of investment is calculated to prioritise projects with big regional impacts. The Levelling Up Fund has seen over £5bn of applications, with winning bids enabling local authorities to invest in infrastructure such as town centres and local transport. An addition £1bn will be divided through the Towns Fund. More control over investment decisions – 22,000 civil servants will be based outside London by the end of the decade to help “move away from the idea that Whitehall knows best”. Relocation to the likes of Stoke-on-Trent and Darlington are creating hundreds of jobs, in addition to the UK Infrastructure Bank in Leeds. And devolution will also play a crucial role. Levelling up skills – incentives are being brought in to increase apprenticeships, with a further £111m to fund work placements and training too. The Lifetime Skills Guarantee was recently revealed to help people gain the skills they need to progress in work at any stage of their lives, whilst the National Skills Fund plays a role through a £375m investment. Creating Freeports – up to 10 Freeports will be created in the UK – with eight of these already announced. These will provide “an unprecedented economic boost across the UK” according to the Chancellor. A key ambition of UKREiiF is to support the levelling up agenda. Our approach – connecting investors and developers with the public sector – was explicitly designed to support the ambition to address the historic underperformance of some parts of the United Kingdom, ensuring that areas which sometimes struggle to have their voices heard are finally given a seat at the table of growth and investment. UKREiiF is set to truly kickstart the Levelling Up agenda The UK needs to bring together influencers, decision makers and policy shapers into one location to truly enable collaboration between the public and private sector. UKREiiF will provide the ultimate platform to do just that. Every corner of the UK is set to be showcased. Every inch of the UK has accessibility to be involved. The inclusive nature of UKREiiF allows councils and businesses of all sizes, and individuals of all seniority to be in attendance, and our on-stage conversations and 365-approach will further enhance this. Accessible to the UK – every inch of the UK will be showcased and involved Collaboration is key to the Levelling Up agenda – our event enables facilitation all year round An open platform to enable discussions on key topics crucial to the Levelling Up agenda Measuring the true impact – we will be monitoring the huge economic and social value UKREiiF unlocks The UK’s Real Estate Investment & Infrastructure Forum Annual Event 3-Day Event – 3,000+ Attendees – 250+ Speakers – 100+ Exhibitors – 50+ Fringe Events The UKREiiF movement will culminate in an annual event – the first of which will be held in the city of Leeds during May 2022. This event will take over the city, creating a vibrant festival feel across the whole of Leeds with inspirational talks, high level speakers and influential attendees. The event will help enable the UK’s bid to Build Back Better – directly connecting investors, developers, the public sector, funders and end-users to inward investment, creating new relationships and unlocking inclusive economic growth. The UK needs a platform for the public sector to showcase the scale of development progress and the profile future investment opportunities to investors, developers and occupiers from around the globe that is right here in the UK – and that is the platform UKREiiF provides. Some of those who’ve already confirmed their involvement: Become a Partner > Exhibit at UKREiiF > Register to Attend >
