It has been a ferociously busy quarter one for the Downtown business team, with two national conferences, a gala awards dinner, and a Leaders Lunch at the property festival MIPIM in Cannes among the twenty-four events that we hosted in the first three-months of the year.
Engaging with key decision-makers at local, regional, and national level is a key objective of DIB, and we have continued to attract some of the most influential voices from across the country to our events.
The parliamentarians who joined us this quarter were Education Minister Gillian Keegan MP, Shadow Health Minister Wes Streeting MP, Shadow Business Minister Bill Esterson MP, and Lord Michael Heseltine.
From local government, we were delighted to hear from the chief executive of Manchester City Council Joanne Roney, the chief executive of Leeds City Council Tom Riordan, the new leader of the Liverpool City Council Labour group, Cllr Liam Robinson, and the Director of Place for Newcastle City Council Michelle Percy.
The metro mayors from the West Midlands and the Liverpool City Region, Andy Street and Steve Rotheram, also addressed Downtown audiences, as did the CEOs of the West Midlands and Liverpool City Region Growth Companies, Neil Rami and Mark Basnett.
To see a review of all of our 2023 events so far click here – and to see what’s next for DIB, please click here.
And don’t forget, we also recorded a new season of the Downtown Den podcast, focussing on ‘Winning Women’, which you can listen to here.
Among the highlights for DIBs Q2 will be a forum with the leaders of Manchester and Liverpool City Councils, a Leaders Lunch with Birmingham City Council planning boss Paul Kitson, conversations with Visitor Economy executives from Lancashire, Manchester, and Liverpool, and an exclusive pre conference UKREIF dinner where the guestlist includes the chief executive of Birmingham City Council Deborah Cadman, the chief executive of the City of Wolverhampton Council Tim Johnson, and the chief executive of Newcastle City Council Pam Smith.
The full list of DIB Q2 events can be viewed here.
