A three-day speed dating session for investors and developers is one wayof describing an annual event which brings councils and collaborators together.
16,000 delegates and 1,750 investors attended UKREiiF – the Real Estate investment and infrastructure Forum in Leeds – held at the city’s Royal Armouries.
With regions battling for attention, Business Crack’s Nigel Thompson was there to see how Cumbria fared.
As a first-time visitor to the event I was impressed by the scale of it; from the electrically powered courtesy bus to the messages of welcome in shops and arcades in the city centre. Every other person it seemed was wearing a lanyard with their name showing where they had come from which, as a nosey journalist, began a day of induced squinting.
Cumbria was well represented. The newly formed Combined Authority alongside Cumberland Council, Westmorland and Furness Council, Enterprising Cumbria and Team Barrow occupied a prime-site, a pavilion close to one of the main entrances.
“More visited us on the first day of the event than in the three days last year,” David Beeby, Enterprising Cumbria’s Growth Board Chair, told me. Close proximity to a deep looking dock may have been one reason but Cumbria has a good story to tell.
Key schemes being promoted included St Cuthbert’s Garden Village in Carlisle, the £200 million Barrow Rising regeneration programme along with opportunities in energy, ports and strategic transport connectivity.
So with so much already committed in Cumbria, why come to an event like this?
“It’s important in the economy at the moment, everyone’s fighting to try and get investment,” Mr Beeby added. “We’re a huge geography, we’re roughly half the land mass of the north-west of England, but we’re only 7% of the population. When people are dishing out money, they do it around the population, and yet we have all sorts of things that we have to deal with that are not related to our population, so we need to be getting more than our fair share, and I’m not convinced we’re getting our fair share.”
One area of Cumbria to be highlighted to potential partners is Barrow.
Lord Case, the chair of Team Barrow, was among speakers taking part in a panel which highlighted an issue that is unusual; while there are highly skilled, well-paid jobs on offer in the town which are guaranteed for 30 years the infrastructure to support existing and new Barrovians is lacking.
“We’re looking to create a world-class environment for world-class skills,” he said.
Aiming squarely at any developers in the audience panellist and chief executive of Westmorland and Furness Council Miranda Cannon added that while 800 homes were planned for the town’s Marina Village, 7,500 is the target.
Among those whose ears did prick up was the managing editor of The Architects’ Journal Will Hurst.
“We know that there are many coastal towns are in need of regeneration and it sounds that with BAE Systems and other employers there is perhaps more opportunity with Barrow than other coastal communities,” he said. “I came along because I heard it was an interesting place. We’ve been to other areas like Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester and I’m thinking of arranging a study trip in the next few months to Barrow.”
As well as editing the journal he also has supported a campaign by architects to encourage the use of existing buildings rather than raze properties to the ground and start again. A study, The Reuse Dividend; unlocking economic growth from Britain’s Existing Buildings, has been presented to MPs.
Hearing from the council chief executive that winning the ‘hearts and minds’ of Barrovians about redevelopment was still a work in progress he urged planners and developers to consider if buildings could be repurposed.
“Obviously there are occasions when a building is beyond repair and can’t be saved but a lot of times, with the right skills, it can be. To be within our carbon targets as a country we need to be doing this and not building 1.5 million new homes but actually adapting our existing building stock.”
As well as existing projects, eyes and ears are on 2027.
This time next year we’ll be counting down to the arrival of the Tour de France in Carlisle and Keswick.
Yorkshire hosted the Grand Départ in 2014 and the event is said to have generated more than £100 million for the regional economy as well as attracting over 113,000 international visitors and roadside crowds of nearly five million.
The presence of Sir Bradley Wiggins brought a measure of stardust to what could have been a sober suited business forum.
An exclusive Sir Bradley Wiggins x Cumbria 2027 Pro Cycle Experience, sponsored by a construction company allowed Lycra-clad investors, developers and partners to get together with the Olympian.
Prof Phil Leigh, the University of Cumbria’s senior knowledge exchange manager and highly experienced cyclist and team manager, was part of the group and spoke highly of the impact Sir Brad’s presence had on the exhibition.
“I think the opportunity for Cumbria is phenomenal – this is the road to 2027.”
The Olympian himself was at pains to emphasise what effect le tour will have, long after the peloton has gone.
“It is a once in a lifetime opportunity – you only see if for 3 or 4 seconds but hat had a huge impact on me and from that point of view the power is huge,” Sir Bradley said. “If it changes one child’s life, it goes through quite a few deprived areas of Cumbria, this has the power to regenerate and change a generations’ lives.”
In a moving moment Sir Bradley recalled looking at the place in Paris where he first witnessed the tour’s climax as a child as he tasted victory in the gruelling event.
Another race which is quietly underway is the bid to become the first mayor of Cumbria.
Walking around the exhibition site Manchester, Liverpool and the rest were showcasing the kind of clout which next year Cumbria could have.
Tracey Brabin, the Mayor of West Yorkshire, visited the Cumbrian pavilion on Tuesday and her profile and the authority she leads was on show across the event.
Felix Kumi-Ampofo, Director of Strategy, Communications and Intelligence for the West Yorkshire Combined Authority had these words of advice.
“I think this is a really golden opportunity for any area setting up a combined authority to use this time to bring the key players together to agree why they need it, what role they want to play and how they will each then work with the new entity to make it function because in the end it exists for their collective good.”
Back in the Cumbrian camp and there was a constant stream of passersby as well as those attending the presentations on tourism, AI and a wide range of other subjects.
Taking stock the leader of Westmorland and Furness Council Jonathan Brook told me that the third year in attendance meant Cumbria was able to demonstrate ‘a drumbeat’ of activity to developers and investors.
“Having set up a combined authority that amplifies the voice of Cumbria in a way that hasn’t been possible previously. I’m picking up a sense of positivity. Yes there are difficulties but we have something that people do want to be part of.”
It was a sentiment echoed by Coun Denise Rollo, Cumberland Council’s executive member for sustainable, resilient and connected places.
“There is a positive buzz around the place and we need to share these conversations to do better.”
We may never know for definite what impact attending this kind UKREiiF brings directly for Cumbria.
But for David Beeby, FOMO, a fear of missing out, is something he and others worry about more than the time and expense of attending events like this.
“Some of these things you’re never quite sure how they’re going to work out but what you do know is you won’t get the attention if you don’t come. People say you can do a year’s worth of meetings in three days. We’ve met some interesting investors already and we were talking to an investor last year who we asked ‘why are you interested in Cumbria this year?’ and it was because of a session they attended last year.You can never tell what’s going to attract people in, but if you’re not there and you’re not putting out what we’ve got to offer, you certainly won’t get it.”
Hear more from UKREiiF in the latest edition of the Northern Lights podcast.
