East of England Economic Growth & Development Conference; Sponsored by BDB Pitmans

Godwin Developments – James Mulcare, Head of Residential Capital Markets

Godwin Developments are actively looking for land within 15 miles of Cambridgeshire so they can develop more high quality residential options for the people of the region. They join the conference to update delegates on their ongoing schemes across the East of England and to talk about collaboration potential.

South Cambridgeshire District Council – Liz Watts, Chief Executive

South Cambridgeshire District Council are investing £340 million in real estate over the next 5 years, transforming a plethora of disused space and land into viable commercial and residential property. Liz will talk about the nuances behind their plans and identify key priority areas in the district that will be brought forward.

Norwich City Council – Graham Nelson, Executive Director, Development and City Services

Norwich City council are working on a major masterplan for the East of the city on the site of the former food manufacturing facility famous for the global export of Colemans Mustard; they are hoping it will unlock the delivery of 4000 new homes. The council have also won £25m from the Towns Fund which will go towards property projects on its high street. Graham will be on hand to talk about all of the aforementioned and more and is keen to meet all areas of the built environment supply chain to discuss the future of Norwich.

Urban & Civic – Caroline Foster, Project Director

Urban & Civic are one of the most active and respected master developers in the East of England and are developing numerous large scale regeneration schemes across the region. Their Waterbeach Barracks scheme is the region’s most significant project of its kind for a generation and will see 6,500 new homes, 4 new schools and large amounts of public and mixed use space on 716 acres of Defence Infrastructure Organisation land. They have also recently announced an agreement to develop 3,300 new homes alongside Hertfordshire County Council.

All Parliamentary Group for East of England – Peter Aldous MP, Co-Chair

The APPG are pushing for the East of England to be recognised as an engine for UK growth and in early March 2020 submitted evidence of how it’s towns and cities present the ideal location for investment of the same level that is to be seen in the Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine. In particular, the group are campaigning for regional funding to support regeneration in its coastal communities, develop better physical and digital infrastructure- particularly on the West Anglian mainline and help generating and retaining high level skills in the realm of STEM to prevent brain drain.

The Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor – Linn Clabburn, Programme Director

The Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor is one of Europe’s most exciting growth opportunities. Home to the people and businesses tackling the grand challenges facing humanity and shaping the future of food, energy, medicine and mobility. Linking two of the UK’s fastest-growing cities and world-leading research centres in Norwich and Cambridge, the Tech Corridor connects a network of development clusters and communities into a truly unique knowledge ecosystem. Linn will talk about how her organisation will be at the forefront of regeneration in the coming decade.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority – Roger Thompson, Director of Housing and Development

The Combined Authority has set out three innovative home-grown approaches to deliver affordable housing within the region which Roger will delve into. The flagship £100,000 home scheme delivering one-bedroom homes to people living and working in the region for £100,000. Community Land Trusts (CLTs) which give local communities a say in housing and development plans and through the trust the control the affordable housing in their villages and communities. And the Revolving Fund – loaning money to developers to enable the start of construction on sites with affordable housing. The approaches play a crucial role in the CPCA’s bid to boost the number of homes across the region with a key focus on affordable housing.

East of England Local Government Association – Cheryl Davenport, Managing Director

The East of England LGA is a politically-led, cross party organisation which works on behalf of the 50 local councils in the East of England to support them “to be the best that they can be for their communities”. Securing investment to unlock major regeneration projects is a number one priority in 2021 and Cheryl will give delegates a peek behind the curtain on what initiatives they are keen to promote first.

Eastlight Community Homes – Andrew Hull, Development Director

Eastlight Community Homes are a new social housing provider providing 12,000 homes for their residents in Essex and Suffolk formed through the merging of Colne Housing and Greenfields Community Housing. Their vision is for a bigger, better, bolder partnership approach to help solve the long term housing challenges and unlock potential for residents and communities in the East. The merger has allowed them to be more ambitious and there are plans to build an extra 3,800 homes across the region in the next 5 years as well as a £130 million investment in their existing homes. They are the largest Community Gateway Association in the country which ensures their residents can choose to become shareholders and make key decisions about their homes, services and communities. Andrew will discuss their development plans, and the areas in which they are hoping to construct new homes.

BDB Pitmans – Katy Klingopulos, Legal Director

Based in the firm’s Cambridge office, Katy specialises in real estate development and has worked on residential schemes across East Anglia, London and the South East.  She advises developers on a wide variety of schemes, including large mixed use developments, extra care developments and zero carbon affordable housing

Vistry Group – Andrew Taylor, Group Planning and Communities Director

With last year’s acquisition of Countryside Properties, Vistry have increased their already huge pipeline of homes to be delivered across Garden Communities in the UK becoming one of the most prominent investors in these visions. Having become Visty’s Group Planning Director, Andrew will be well placed to discuss their plans which include 5,000 homes in Sherford near Plymouth, the 10,000-home Chelmsford Garden Community, 3,000 homes as part of the new Ashmere community in the Ebbsfleet Garden City masterplan, and around 1300 homes at Alphington, Exeter.

Babergh & Mid Suffolk District Councils – Fiona Duhamel, Assistant Director, Economic Development & Regeneration

Babergh and Mid Suffolk Councils are collaborating to combine their resources and drive game changing inclusive development and regeneration. Fiona will discuss their recently released local plan which sets out proposals for the development of 17,000 new houses as well as significant investment and regeneration.

BDB Pitmans – James Ross, Partner

James is a partner in BDB Pitmans’ real estate department. He has particular expertise in large scale development projects, having acted for investors, property companies, developers, banks and funds in connection with their acquisitions, disposals and development of all real estate classes.

Ensors Chartered Accountants – Ann Minson, Corporate Tax Director

Ann qualified as a chartered accountant in 1994.

As a Director within the Ensors’ Corporate Tax team Ann provides advice and support to a wide range of clients, ranging from small start-ups to publicly quoted corporations, conglomerates and in-bound investors. Her specific sector focus covers LATCOs, technology and property.

Ann enjoys the personal interaction of a customer-facing role and is committed to building close and productive relationships with her client base.

Broadland and South Norfolk District Council – Trevor Holden, Managing Director

With four key sites being brought forward for growth in Broadland and South Norfolk including the Hethel Engineering Centre, Norwich Research Park, the Food Enterprise Park and Lotus’ HQ, Trevor and his team are on a mission to raise the district’s profile to developers, investors and the built environment supply chain. As part of the conference, he will talk about the big part his council plays in driving inclusive economic development in the East of England.

Built Environment Networking – Amanda Griffiths, Director

Amanda is one of the Co-Founder’s of Built Environment Networking – formed almost 10 years ago.

She’ll be hosting throughout the day, running the days proceedings and managing the interaction between our delegates and the speakers.

Sizewell C / EDF Energy – Tom McGarry, Head of Regional External Affairs and Development

The £20bn Suffolk-based power plant has just received a £679 million funding deal to back the Sizewell C project.  The plan is projected to meet nearly 7% of the UK’s power demands when complete, enough to power approximately six million homes and 10,000 jobs for the community.  Tom joins us to update on the progress of the development and to discuss nuclear energy’s role in creating tomorrow’s net zero Britain.

Suffolk Chamber of Commerce – Ashley Shorey-Mills, Head of Sizewell C Supply Chain Engagement

More information to follow.