EVENTS
Delegates- This Is Tees Valley business development manager Julie Leonard( right) with K2 Construction’ s James Grant and Rachel Massey.
FLYING THE
FLAG
Members of This Is Tees Valley’ s team proudly flew the flag for the Tees region when they attended UKREiiF – The UK’ s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum – at the Royal Armouries in Leeds.
Dave Allan, a director of This Is Tees Valley publisher Resolution Media and Publishing, was joined by the company’ s business development manager Julie Leonard among thousands of delegates attending the major national event, which is focused on unlocking investment and driving regeneration opportunities across the UK.
This year’ s UKREiiF attracted more than 16,000 people across three days, bringing together developers, investors, local authorities, businesses, government representatives and infrastructure leaders from across the country.
And there was a real buzz surrounding the Tees Valley section throughout the event.
Dave and Julie attended to promote This Is Tees Valley, showcasing some of the region’ s biggest success stories, investment opportunities, projects and businesses to audiences across the UK and beyond.
They also spent time meeting business leaders, strengthening relationships and promoting the Tees region more generally as a growing and ambitious place to invest, work and do business.
Delegates also heard keynote talks and panel discussions involving
Middlesbrough Council representatives, while Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen took part in discussions alongside CBI chief executive Rain Newton-Smith. Tees Valley Combined Authority exhibited throughout all three days of the event, helping showcase the region to hundreds of delegates and potential investors from across the UK.
Dave Allan said attending UKREiiF was an important opportunity not only to promote This Is Tees Valley, but also to champion the wider Tees region on a national stage.
He said:“ UKREiiF has become one of the biggest and most influential business and investment events in the UK, so it’ s incredibly important for the Tees Valley to have a strong presence there.
“ There was a fantastic atmosphere around the Tees Valley section throughout the event and it was brilliant to see so many conversations taking place around investment, regeneration and future opportunities in our region.”
Speaking to visitors to the Tees Valley zone from across the UK, mayor Houchen said:“ Over the last 10 years, compared to most regions, I think we’ ve made the most progress.
“ We’ ve definitely got a reputation as an area that has a can-do attitude – that doesn’ t say no to things but finds ways through things.”
Middlesbrough muses – the panel believes the town can follow in Salford’ s footsteps.
‘ A real moment is happening’
Middlesbrough’ s ambitious vision for the future became the big talking point at the UK’ s premier property event, securing recordbreaking interest during a headline panel discussion that showcased the town’ s massive ongoing transformation.
One of the dedicated sessions was titled“ Middlesbrough: Built for What’ s Next”, with a highprofile panel featuring the town’ s elected mayor Chris Cooke, cofounder of social impact developer Capital & Centric Tim Heatley, Behaviour UK general manager Bob Makin and Debbie Ingoldsby, strategic business growth manager for Middlesbrough Council.
Together, they laid out a case for why the Teesside town is one of the most exciting investment prospects in the UK.
Capital & Centric is collaborating with Middlesbrough Council on a transformative partnership to deliver up to 3,400 homes, alongside new leisure and retail attractions, centred around the historic Old Town Hall and the waterfront at Middlehaven Dock.
Tim told the packed audience:“ It feels like a real moment is happening. Middlesbrough has a great sense of where it wants to go. This opportunity feels like Manchester or Salford 20 years ago and look how that has transformed itself.
“ We believe the fundamentals of Middlesbrough are just going to get better and better.”
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