Opportunity to grab a brew, bacon barm, bap, or cob, dependent on what part of the country you have travelled from – and of course the chance to connect with likeminded senior decision makers from the property world.

Welcome from Downtown’s founder and CEO, Frank Mckenna outlining the format and content for the day.

To kick off the day, we will be joined by Tom Riordan and Pam Smith, CEOs at Leeds, and Newcastle City Council. Despite having to navigate numerous challengers over the past few years both city regions have plenty to shout about in which both will delve into during the session.

Panel:
Tom Riordan, Chief Executive Leeds City Council
Pam Smith, Chief Executive Newcastle City Council

In session two we will be hearing from Manchester, Salford, and Liverpool. This session will focus on the importance of public and private sector partnerships, collaboration between the three core cities in the Northwest and the importance of international brand to attract foreign direct investment.

Morning caffeine shot and a quick look around the exhibition stands.

In this session we will be in conversation with CEO of Wolverhampton City Council, Tim Johnson and Director of Property & investment at Birmingham City Council, Phillip Nell. On the back of hosting the Commonwealth Games, the region has seen a surge in international interest with India overtaking the USA as the West Midlands primary source of international investment. In this session they will discuss how they look to capitalise on this to boost trade, attract further investment, regeneration and development and connectivity.

Panel:
Tim Johnson, Chief Executive, City of Wolverhampton Council
Phillip Nell, Director of Property & Investment, Birmingham City Council

The mental health ambassador for Causeway Technologies, Trevor Steven, and public policy expert Jo Phillips discuss three changes they would like to see introduced to procurement processes to make the social value contribution more effective, whilst also explaining what they see as good Public/private sector partnership work.

Panel:
Jo Phillips, Public Policy Expert
Trevor Steven, Mental Health Ambassador, Causeway Technologies

Quick bite to eat, glance at the e-mails and opportunity for further networking to discuss the morning sessions.

Mel Wilson, partner in the Real Estate team at Deloitte will be presenting their newly launched annual crane survey. Construction can be a good indicator for the economic health of a city region, and we will be hearing how Manchester, Leeds, Belfast, and Birmingham are all faring in this session.

Downtown CEO, Frank Mckenna will be in conversation with Kenny Bruce. Kenny and his brother co-founded online estate agency, Purple Bricks in 2012 and quickly grew the company to being valued over £1bn – what happened next? Kenny will also be discussing the UK housing and mortgage market, how he would like to see our high streets regenerated, his views on business leadership, and how he believes technology will shape business in the future.

Quick caffeine fix before the final two sessions.

The penultimate session of the day will bring together two property pioneers. Phil Mayall, MD of Muse Developments and Jessica Bowles, Director of Strategy at Bruntwood SciTech who will be in the hot seat to give their thoughts on the current market, outlook on 2024, key drivers for UK plc and much much more.

Panel:
Jessica Bowles, Director of Strategy, Bruntwood SciTech
Phil Mayall, Managing Director, Muse

We will wrap the day up with Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin.

Just us at the bar for a beer, wine, or soft drink as we round off the day with a final opportunity to connect with industry leaders.