Tomorrow’s Net Zero Conference

UK Green Building Council – Julie Hirigoyen, Chief Executive

Julie is the CEO of UK-GBC, the UK’s leading NGO campaigning for a sustainable built environment. UKGBC is a membership organisation with over 400 members spanning the entire built environment. Its work focuses on inspiring best practice and leadership, influencing government and policy, and impacting on its members’ sustainability performance. As the Chief Executive of UKGBC, Julie has ultimate responsibility for organisational strategy and execution and is focused on delivering lasting change within the industry by engaging with UKGBC members, regulators, and wider stakeholders and will join the conference to discuss the vital role the sector will play in helping the UK reach its net zero targets and the launch of their Whole Life Carbon Roadmap.

Peel L&P – Joanne Holden, Sustainability Director

Peel have several large-scale regeneration projects underway across the country bringing jobs, economic growth and ultimately long-term prosperity to the north west of England and beyond.  Developments in Merseyside, Manchester, Trafford, Glasgow and Kent are reinventing waterfronts in England and Scotland by creating thousands of new homes, commercial office and retail units and public green spaces to improve people’s health and wellbeing. MediaCity at Salford Quays has become an international hub for technology, innovation and creativity and exciting leisure and tourism attractions are bound for Liverpool Waters with plans for new cruise liner and ferry terminals and Everton Football Club’s new 52,000-seater stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock. As Sustainability Director at Peel L&P, Joanne will be well placed to discuss these significant projects and their role in creating tomorrow’s net zero communities in the UK.

Siemens PLC – Carl Ennis, Chief Executive Officer

Siemens are a world leader on technological and smart solutions with their UK operation focusing on industry, infrastructure, transport, and healthcare generating a revenue of £2.8 billion in 2021 and employing around 8,600 employees in the UK. From more resource-efficient factories, resilient supply chains, and smarter buildings and grids, to cleaner and more comfortable transportation as well as advanced healthcare, Siemens creates technology with purpose adding real value for customers and clients. By combining the real and the digital worlds, they empower the transformation of industries and markets, helping to transform the everyday for billions of people. As well as heading up Siemens’ UK operations he is also the chair of Net Zero North West and will join the conference to discuss the role Siemens will play in creating tomorrow’s net zero and the solutions they and other private sector organisations can offer to accelerate the transition towards net zero.

LGIM Real Assets – Shuen Chan, Head of ESG

With over 700 properties valued at more than £21bn, the UK real estate portfolio at Legal & General Investment Management is a critical segment of Legal and Genral’s path to being net zero by 2050. LGIM Real Assets is focusing on how to ensure not only that new projects are in line with the UK’s 2050 goal, but also that its existing offices, warehouses, shops and homes across the UK are part of their journey to net zero. With over 25 years’ experience in the sector, Shuen Chan LGIM Real Assets’ Head of ESG knows the challenges well – but also the possibilities and will join the conference to discuss LGIM’s approach, their future sustainable plans and the role they’ll play in tomorrow’s net zero United Kingdom.

Muse – Chris Scott, Development Director

Muse are one of the UK’s most prominent developers, delivering projects with sustainability at the heart of what they do. They are active across the country with £2.6 billion in the pipeline of sustainable and net zero residential and commercial development. Chris co-authored Muse’s latest sustainability development strategy, which sets out challenging mandatory targets for all of Muse’s new schemes, including in the areas of net zero, social value and biodiversity and will join the conference to delve into their approach to sustainable and net zero developments.

Assura – Tim Bell, Sustainability Lead

Assura are one of the UK’s leading healthcare investment, development and management companies with a portfolio of over 570 GP surgeries, primary care facilities and diagnostic and treatment centres. They have multiple projects in the pipeline and are working towards the UK’s first net-zero primary care facility. In 2021, they launched their first £300m Sustainability Bond to help them achieve their net zero targets and they’re among the signatories to the World Green Buildings Council’s net zero commitment. Tim will join the conference to discuss their plans and the role they’ll play in creating tomorrow’s net zero healthcare property and facilities.

EDF Sizewell C – Xanthe Kueppers, Head of Investor Relations

The £20bn Suffolk-based power plant has just received planning permission from the Government and is expected to be commenced before 2024, with construction predicted to take between nine and twelve years to complete. Sizewell C is projected to meet nearly 7% of the UK’s power demands when complete, enough to power approximately six million homes. Xanthe joins us to update on the progress of the development and to discuss nuclear energy’s role in creating tomorrow’s net zero Britain.

Grosvenor – James Manning, Social Impact Lead

Peel NRE – Jane Gaston, Development Director

Peel Environmental are behind the 54-hectare Protos development near Ellesmere Port which clusters together innovative technologies in energy generation and resource management alongside energy-intensive businesses. Protos will generate low carbon energy that, in the future, could be supplied directly to industrial and domestic customers. As Development Director for the scheme, Jane will be well placed to discuss this scheme and Peel’s future plans to build low carbon energy generating plants in the UK.

Cabinet Office – Richard Emmens, Head of Strategic Planning

Richard is one of the leaders behind the programme of work to support government departments and Estate Delivery Organisations in their objective to achieve a well maintained net-zero carbon estate by 2050. With more than 700,000 square metres of the Government’s office portfolio alone to account for, this offers a huge opportunity to maximise the use of sustainable, clean technologies and low and zero carbon energy wherever possible as well as future government property developments and Richard will be on hand to discuss their strategy, future plans and the vast opportunities to help the Cabinet Office achieve their ambitions.

UK Green Building Council – Yetunde Abdul, Head of Climate Action

Yetunde is Head of Climate Change at the UK Green Building Council, the UK’s leading NGO campaigning for a sustainable built environment. UKGBC is a membership organisation with over 400 members spanning the entire built environment. Its work focuses on inspiring best practice and leadership, influencing government and policy, and impacting on its members’ sustainability performance. They’re is focused on delivering lasting change within the industry by engaging with UKGBC members, regulators, and wider stakeholders and will join the conference to discuss the vital role the sector will play in helping the UK reach its net zero targets and the launch of their Whole Life Carbon Roadmap.

HS2 – Andrew Cubitt, Procurement & Supply Chain Director

HS2 is being designed and built to be the most sustainable high-speed rail network in the world. Cutting carbon emissions informs their work as they build a climate-resilient railway that will transform long distance, intercity travel and rebalance the UK economy – with billions of pounds worth of opportunities for the sector in the pipeline. Andrew is a passionate leader of change and specialist in commercial & procurement, operational logistics and supply chain enhancements having led programmes to drive business improvements across the Public and Private sector and will be on hand to discuss billions of pounds worth of opportunities for the supply chain to aid HS2 in creating Tomorrow’s Net Zero journeys.

Scottish Government – Claire Jones, Head of Onshore Electricity Policy

The Scottish Government’s infrastructure investment programme is focussed on transitioning to net zero emissions, driving inclusive economic growth and building resilient and sustainable places. The latest Infrastructure Plan for Scotland set out a long term vision for infrastructure and included details on over £26 billion of major projects and large programmes. Claire is part of the team leading on the Scottish Government’s Onshore Wind output and will join the conference to discuss their future plans to increase their wind energy production output and how they will build upon their already UK leading wind energy production sector.  

Harworth Group – Peter Henry, Director of Sustainability

Earlier this year Harworth Group appointed Peter Henry to the newly created role of Director of Sustainability at the developer having been integral to forming many of Harworth’s key driving principles for sustainable regeneration and placemaking since he joined the business. Peter will join the conference to discuss Harworth’s sustainable and net zero strategy including their recently announced plans to bring forward over 1,200 sustainable BTR homes across 10 sites and how they will increase sustainability in their future developments which include c.10,000 homes and 7.3m sq ft of commercial space currently going through planning.

Notting Hill Genesis – Laura Shellard, Head of Sustainability

Notting Hill Genesis are one of the largest housing associations in London and the South East with a significant task on to meet net zero targets on their new developments and across their portfolio of affordable homes. As Head of Sustainability Laura Shellard is well placed to talk about NHG’s plans on shaping the homes of the future and getting to net-carbon zero across their portfolio of 66,000 homes.

The Crown Estate – Will Apps, Head of Marine Development

The Crown Estate are one of the leading organisations in wind energy generation in the UK, with a portfolio totalling 80GW. The Crown Estate’s UK offshore wind generated enough electricity in 2021 to supply the needs of 33% (9.3m) of UK homes – up from 4% in 2011 and they have extensive plans to develop more offshore wind schemes. Will joins the conference to reveal more intel on the 3000+ wind turbines in development and the Crown Estates’ role in generating the power to fuel tomorrow’s net zero Britain.

Midlands Connect – Karen Heppenstall, Head of Rail

Midlands Connect are one of the organisations leading the charge on creating a sustainable transport and infrastructure in the Midlands with one of their flagship schemes being the £3.5bn Midlands Engine Rail programme. Karen joined Midlands Connect as Head of Rail in April 2021 and has already influenced the shape of the Strategy Refresh published in late in 2021 and is working closely with senior colleagues at Network Rail and DfT to address current challenges in the region and will join the conference to discuss their role in creating tomorrow’s net zero Midlands.

Nottinghamshire County Council – Wayne Bexton, Director of Green Growth, Investment and Assets

Birmingham City Council – Ellie Horwitch-Smith, Assistant Director – Route to Net Zero

With the city looking to make the most of the legacy of this summer’s Commonwealth Games and an ambitious target of being net-zero by 2030, Birmingham is set to see major investment into sustainable and net zero development over the coming decade. Ellie will join the conference to discuss how the council is working to achieve this as well as updating on the progress of flagship development and regeneration schemes in the city such as the £1.9bn Smithfields scheme and the £1.2bn Paradise project.

Pocket Living – Alex Shillito, Senior Development Manager

Pocket Living is an innovative property developer, delivering intermediate affordable housing in London. They build homes for the people who contribute economically, socially and culturally to London but who earn too much for social housing and don’t earn enough to buy into the private market. They have an extensive development pipeline, including a 210 home scheme in Leyton, a 149 home scheme in Harrow and further schemes in Barnet and Waltham Forest. A recent funding deal with Barclays and Housing Growth Partnership will allow them to significantly increase their development pipeline and Alex will discuss their mission to allow those on lower incomes a way to get their foot on the housing ladder with innovative and sustainable homes and the role of BTR in creating tomorrow’s net zero communities.

Federated Hermes – Rhianydd Griffith, Senior Vice President, Infrastructure

Federated Hermes are significant investors in the UK Real Estate and Infrastructure market with over 19 million sq ft of development in the pipeline totalling £13 billion and renowned examples of their previous work including King Cross, NOMA in Manchester, Wellington Place in Leeds and Paradise in Birmingham. Rhianydd will join the conference to discuss their approach to sustainable and net zero placemaking whilst touching on their future UK investment plans.

MAG Group – Adam Freeman, Head of Environmental Strategy and ESG

MAG Group owns and operates 3 major UK airports – Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports – which service over 60 million passengers per year with a catchment area serving 75% of the UK population. MAG is proud that all of its airports are carbon neutral which has been achieved through their long-term focus on the energy efficiency of our buildings, the purchase of low carbon electricity, and addressing residual emissions through high quality ‘Gold Standard’ carbon offsets. MAG’s headline commitment is to achieve ‘net zero carbon’ by 2038 at the latest by cutting remaining carbon emissions to zero and removing the need for carbon offsets with Adam being one of the leaders aiming to achieve this goal and will join the conference to reveal the groups future plans to achieve net zero across their portfolio and their role in tomorrow’s net zero Britain.

Barings – Kristina Arsenievich, Director, European Real Estate ESG

Barings is a $382+ billion global investment manager building long-term portfolios across public and private fixed income, real estate and specialist equity markets. They have a significant presence in the UK across several asset classes and recently secured a mandate to invest £250 million in UK real estate debt. Kristina was recently appointed as ESG Director and will lead the ESG strategy for European Real Estate and launch carbon neutral and climate resilience policies that will aid the delivery of Barings Net Zero Carbon ambition. She has over 10 years of experience in sustainability leadership and was previously in charge of sustainability for Canary Wharf Group.

Nuclear Industry Association – Dr Tim Stone, Chair

The Nuclear Industry Association is the trade association for the civil nuclear industry in the UK that represents more than 250 companies across the UK’s nuclear supply chain. As chair, Tim is well placed to discuss why nuclear energy is essential to meeting the UK’s future energy needs and how it will be essential in helping us reach Tomorrow’s Net Zero.

Kent and Medway NHS & Social Care Partnership Trust – Sirina Blankson, Sustainability Lead

The Trust has recently released their ‘Green Plan’ through to 2026 where making current estates assets more sustainable as well as their future capital projects prominently feature. Developing the Trust’s estate must consider the future needs and pressures faced by the organisation. The plan aims to improve the environmental and social impact of Trust’s estates by encompassing sustainable concepts in the development and construction of buildings. Sirina is leading on the Trust’s future estates development plans as well as increasing sustainability in their current assets and will join the conference to discuss their future plans which are set to run into the hundreds of millions of pounds worth of opportunities.

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority – Martin Land, Project Director, Mersey Tidal Power

The Mersey Power Tidal Project is a £3.5bn scheme to generate emissions-free electricity using the River Mersey that, when complete, is predicted to last for 100 years and has the potential to power one million homes or 500 football stadiums. Whilst the project is still in its early stages of development, the River Mersey can theoretically provide between 1 to 5 GW, approximately 20% of the regional demand of the North West. The scheme could also create thousands of local jobs and contribute to a cleaner, greener, and healthier city region and Martin will be on hand to reveal more intel on the progress of the scheme.

National Grid – Clara Semal, Head of Corporate Strategy

With the advent of developing smarter and more sustainable cities and the exponential regeneration activities being led by public and private sector organisations in the UK, the National Grid is under more pressure than ever. Over the next 10 years, they will be spending over £1bn per year on maintenance, upgrades and substation capacity to meet the rising sustainability demands of cities and towns across the country. Clara will detail how these projects will roll out and what sustainable development the investment will help unlock as Britain aims to ‘build back better’ and will talk about National Grid’s role in creating tomorrow’s net zero Britain.

The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust – Peter Leighton-Jones, Head of Sustainability

The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust is committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2040 as part of the wider Greener NHS programme with Peter leading on the trust’s implementation of this. The role of making their estates and facilities net zero will play a key role in the trust achieving their targets and Peter will be well placed to discuss their plans to retrofit their current estates as well as how their future hospital development will achieve these net zero ambitions.

Government Property Agency – Louisa LeRoux, Net Carbon Zero Programme Manager

Louisa looks at maximising energy efficiencies and reducing carbon emissions across property portfolios. The Government has updated plans to achieve Net Zero by 2050 with the UK setting the world’s most ambitious climate change target. In June 2021, the new target was published in law that would reduce Scope 1 emissions by 78 percent which means that the UK will be more than three quarters of the way to Net Zero by 2035. As the delivery body for the Government’s office and warehouse portfolio strategies, we have committed to reaching the same target for Government buildings – the ones that we manage – by 2032, three years ahead of the Government’s target.

South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership – Michelle Sacks, Deputy Chief Executive (Growth)

The councils that make up the South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership look set to benefit greatly from the government’s levelling up agenda having won several bids to bring forward priority schemes but part of their strategy for levelling up includes sustainable and net zero energy production – with the region’s first hydrogen facility set to be developed in the coming years. Michelle will join the conference to reveal more details about this hydrogen energy production scheme as well as the South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership’s plans to further increase its net zero energy generation output.

National Police Estates Group – Sallie Blanks-Nash, National Co-ordinator

As the national co-ordinator and voice of the National Police Estates Group, Sallie has tremendous influence over policy, procurement strategy, collective innovation and shaping trends. As part of this session she will be in a position to update delegates on NPEG strategy for sustainability and net zero going forward while commenting on how police estates groups across the country will achieve this and the role police estates will play in Tomorrow’s Net Zero Britain.

Progressive Energy – Chris Manson-Whitton, Director

A respected industry leader and low carbon energy expert, focussed on taking innovative technologies from concept to deployment, achieved through whole system thinking and building consortia for delivery. Instrumental in the inception and development of HyNet, the UK’s leading Industrial Decarbonisation Cluster which will deliver 10 million tpa of CO₂ storage this decade. Formed Vertex Hydrogen, developing the UK’s most advanced large scale low carbon hydrogen facility. With Cadent conceived, developed and overseeing management of HyDeploy, the world-leading hydrogen to grid project, which has delivered a blend of hydrogen to 650 homes on the public gas network, safely clearing regulatory barriers, engaging with consumers, and installing equipment on the ground. A long track record in renewables, particularly biomass and waste derived biofuels, unlocking GGR projects being delivered in HyNet. He is Chair of the Supergen Bioenergy Hub Advisory Board and is a respected advisor on a number of expert groups and panels, holds a number of patents and is author of scientific and technical papers.

Ikigai Capital – Helena Anderson, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer

Ikigai Capital is part of a consortium of companies, which has formed a partnership with the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to deliver the  ‘Invest Net Zero Cheshire’ roadmap with an investment blueprint developed which will see £1 billion spent on low carbon projects in Cheshire over the next few years with nearly 3 million tonnes of CO₂ saved by 2030. The consortium has identified a portfolio of opportunities across renewable generation, hydrogen, carbon capture, energy storage and smart grids which offer long-term, sustainable investment opportunities in net zero and Helena will be on hand to discuss these opportunities and Ikigal’s role in creating tomorrow’s net-zero Britain.

UK Atomic Energy Authority – Paul Methven, STEP Director

Paul lead on the bid to bring the first nuclear fusion power plant in the world to the West of England, potentially creating thousands of jobs in the region. Some £220m of government money is going into a national selection process to find an appropriate site for the prototype fusion plant, which potentially could be operational by 2040. Organisers of bid have said that if successful the project has the potential to secure billions of pounds of investment into the region, with much of the supporting business ‘eco-system’ of the proposed plant being developed over the next two to 10 years. Paul will discuss this scheme and the role that nuclear fusion will play in powering Tomorrow’s Net Zero Britain.

Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment – Sarah Mukherjee MBE, Chief Executive Officer

IEMA (Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment) is the professional body for everyone working, studying or interested in environment and sustainability. They provide resources, tools, knowledge and research sharing to meet the real world needs of members.

Sarah Mukherjee is the CEO of IEMA.  She was the BBC’s Environment Correspondent for many years, presenting on national and international BBC radio and television news, working – and winning awards – across the world. Since leaving the Corporation, she has had leadership roles in utilities and agriculture. She was a panel member for the National Parks Review and sat on the National Food Strategy Advisory Panel.  She is a Non-Executive Director on the Board of the Environment Agency. Sarah was awarded an MBE for her services to agriculture and farmer well-being in 2021.

DST Innovation – Joanna Pontin, Executive Vice President

DST’s £1.7 billion Blue Eden Project is the ground-breaking scheme proposed for Swansea’s waterfront which will include a newly-designed tidal lagoon, featuring state-of-the-art underwater turbines generating 320 megawatts of renewable energy from the 9.5km structure. All the project’s buildings and facilities, including the eco-homes, will be situated alongside the lagoon and will utilise and enhance the existing land in the area. Blue Eden will create over 2,500 permanent jobs and support a further 16,000 jobs across Wales and the UK, while creating additional jobs during its construction and Joanna will join the conference to reveal more intel on their plans for this scheme and its role in creating tomorrow’s net zero Wales.

Fulcrum BioEnergy – Jeff Ovens, Managing Director UK & Europe

Fulcrum is a US based pioneer in the conversion of non-recyclable residual wastes into sustainable fuels who will create the UK’s first biorefinery. The new £600 million biorefinery, Fulcrum NorthPoint, is part of wider plans to establish the North West as the leading producer of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in the UK. The facility is planned to be operational by 2026, creating more than 800 direct and indirect jobs during the design, build and commissioning process, and approximately 100 permanent jobs during its operation with Manchester Airport set to become the first in the UK to have a direct feed of SAF, thanks to a partnership between Manchester Airports Group (MAG) and Fulcrum BioEnergy Limited UK. Jeff is Fulcrum’s UK lead and will be well placed to reveal their future plans in the UK as well as discussing their role in creating tomorrow’s net zero Britain.

Octopus Energy Generation – Zoisa North-Bond, Chief Executive Officer

Octopus Energy Generation are one of Europe’s largest investors in renewables – operating £4 billion worth of green energy generators across 7 countries. In the UK Octopus have just entered the offshore wind energy market in the UK with a multi-million pound investment in one of Orsted’s wind farms. Elsewhere Octopus are investing £3 billion in green hydrogen in the UK and as CEO Zoisa will be well placed to discuss their significant renewable energy generation investments and the role they will play in generating tomorrow’s net zero energy to power UK PLC.

Shaftesbury – Matt Smith, Head of Sustainability

Shaftesbury, the West End based REIT has a portfolio worth £3.1bn, and comprising 1.9m sq ft of space spanning food and leisure, retail, offices and residential. Matt has an extensive background in real estate sustainability, having previously been Head of Sustainability (Real Estate) at The Crown Estate and a sustainability manager at Lendlease. He has been tasked with leading the development and implementation of Shaftesbury’s sustainability strategy, with the business having set itself the target of becoming a net zero carbon business by 2030 and being carbon neutral for their own operations by 2025.

Frasers Property UK – Amira Hashemi, Head of Sustainability

Frasers Property own, develop and manage property in Europe, China, Southeast Asia, Singapore and Australia and reported a revenue of $3.7bn for 2021. In the UK they create vibrant living and business environments across the country, with a focus on providing sustainable developments that create and enhance communities. Amira has been the driving force for Fraser Property’s sustainability credentials, aiding in the release of the company’s net zero roadmap back in 2021, which set out the company’s aims to achieve net zero across its portfolio by 2050, net zero carbon across operational areas by 2030, to certify 80% of its portfolio with green building certifications by 2024, and to finance most of its portfolio with green and sustainable financing. An example of her work is the securing of a £110m 5-year bilateral sustainability linked loan for Hillington Park, the company’s business park in Scotland. This is in addition to a huge $6bn+ in sustainability linked loans company-wide.

Leeds City Council – Polly Cook, Chief Officer Sustainability, Energy and Air Quality

In 2021, Leeds City Council published their Net Zero Carbon Roadmap laying out their ambitious drive to becoming a net zero city by 2030. Ranging from investing heavily in reducing scope 3 emissions around construction waste to decarbonising all council owned property, the council are delivering a new district heating network and aiming to deliver more energy from waste. Polly joins the event to detail all of their schemes in detail while also setting out the expectations from the council on developers, investors and built environment supply chain for when working within the city.

Lendlease – Chris Botten, Head of Sustainability, Urban Regeneration

Lendlease are involved in some of the most expansive developments in the UK and Europe with nearly £28 billion worth of investment in the pipeline, which will see thousands of homes built and millions of sq ft of commercial development delivered. Chris is one of the team tasked with making Lendlease zero net zero and she will reveal more details about how they will achieve this goal and the role the company will play in delivering tomorrow’s net zero Britain.

The Association for Decentralised Energy – Lily Frencham, Chief Executive Officer

The ADE is the voice for a cost effective efficient, low carbon, user-led energy system; a market in which decentralised energy can flourish. With over 100 members we bring together interested parties from across the sector to develop a strong, dynamic and sustainable environment for a range of technologies including combined heat and power, district heating networks and demand side energy services, including demand response. Lily heads up the organisation and will be well placed to discuss the next generation of heat network projects in England with the launch of the government’s £288 million green energy scheme ‘the Green Heat Network Fund’ which will support low carbon technologies, such as heat pumps, and deliver emissions savings equivalent to taking 5.6 million cars off the road for a year.

The Crown Estate – Rachael Sherratt, Net Zero Programme Director

The Crown Estate have a huge property portfolio totalling £15.6bn across the UK encompassing some of London’s best places to work, shop and experience, regional retail and leisure destinations, and a substantial rural portfolio. Rachael is part of the team tasked with making their current portfolio net zero as well as making sure their future developments are net zero and highly sustainable and will join the conference to reveal details on their future plans, including retrofitting their current portfolio.

St. Modwen Homes – Chris Bailey, Head of Technical (South)

St. Modwen’s dedicated housebuilding business plans to double in size over the next five years as it brings together internal capabilities in land buying, planning, pre-construction, and customer delivery. Their approach has already seen St. Modwen Homes achieve an award-winning track record in health and safety, and a progressive and sustainable approach to housebuilding. Chris is one the leaders in their sustainability drive and will be on hand to discuss their plans to double their current 1200 per year output having recently announced 5 new projects which will deliver 1,100 homes in Lancashire, Kent, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and London.

UK Green Building Council – Louise Hutchins, Head of Policy and Public Affairs

Louise is the Head of Policy at the UK Green Building Council, the UK’s leading NGO campaigning for a sustainable built environment. UKGBC is a membership organisation with over 400 members spanning the entire built environment. Its work focuses on inspiring best practice and leadership, influencing government and policy, and impacting on its members’ sustainability performance. They’re is focused on delivering lasting change within the industry by engaging with UKGBC members, regulators, and wider stakeholders and will join the conference to discuss the vital role the sector will play in helping the UK reach its net zero targets and the launch of their Whole Life Carbon Roadmap.

Sustrans – Clare Maltby, Director: England Midlands and East

Sustrans are one of the UK’s leading organisations on developing green infrastructure with an extensive track record of delivering schemes across the UK. Clare will be on hand to discuss how they are collaborating with a number of top level developers and local authorities across the UK to ensure green walking and cycling infrastructure features heavily in transformational developments – while unveiling her organisation’s future strategy and their essential role in achieving net zero in the UK.

University of Lancaster – Professor Jessica Davies, Director, Centre for Global Eco-Innovation

Jessica is an engineer and environmental scientist interested in the role of creating a sustainable future. Working across a wide range of settings she is focused on solutions, and in her role as Director of the Centre for Global Eco-Innovation at the University of Lancaster, she helps bring together people across disciplines and sectors to work on solutions that can help ecosystems, communities and economies to thrive together. Jessica will join the conference to discuss the role of skills, green jobs and education in tomorrow’s net zero economy.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy – Florian Wagner, Nuclear Strategy Lead

As announced in the British Energy Security Strategy published in April of this year, the Government’s long-term ambition is to increase its plans for the deployment of civil nuclear power up to 24GW by 2050. The Government will set up a new flagship ‘Great British Nuclear’, a body tasked with developing a resilient pipeline of new build projects set to run into billions of pounds worth of investment. Florian leads the scoping phase of the Great British Nuclear and led the development of the nuclear policies announced in the British Energy Security Strategy and will join the conference to share intel on the government’s plans.

Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy – Jessica Skilbeck, Director, Energy Efficiency, Net Zero Buildings & Industry

Jessica is the lead Director for driving the energy efficiency and net zero building strategy at BEIS. Responsible for industry engagement to encourage adaptation of policy and acting as a connector between the property and infrastructure sector and government.

Orbit Group – David March, Head of Environmental Sustainability

Orbit Homes are one of the largest housing groups in the country and the UK’s leading developer of new homes for affordable and social rent, with a growing property portfolio of over 45,000 homes spanning the Midlands, east and south. Over the next 10 years they aim to build 20,000 homes of which 65% will be affordable. We build homes across all tenures and are a market leader in the delivery of shared ownership. They have identified a three stage process that will need to be carried out across their housing stock as they work towards net zero. This will involve fabric improvements, replacement of fossil fuel powered heating systems and the introduction of renewable technologies. David will discuss the significant investment which is being put into this process and how they are working to create a long-term roadmap for the business to help tackle its own carbon footprint.

TTL Properties – Lucy Atlee, Senior Quality & Design Manager

TFL have been working for over two years on their Sustainable Development Framework and have used the framework to drive sustainability performance across more than 20 major property development projects. The SDF is unique in the sector for its holistic view, robust methodology, and site-specific approach which has delivered results on the ground – using the framework TFL have achieved a 56% reduction in carbon emissions, an average of 4.4 Stars under Home Quality Mark, and were recently recognised by GRESB as the most sustainable diversified developer in Europe with a score of 97/100! TFL are also implementing their new net zero pathway which will see them become carbon neutral across the entire business by 2030 and in certain divisions (property development) potentially by 2025. Lucy will be on hand to discuss these plans in more detail.

National Ambulance Estates Group – Neil Maher, Chair

Neil Maher chairs the National Ambulance Group which is a national group of Estates leaders that share best practice and co-ordinate their activities. Achieving net-zero and making their estates more sustainable has been high on their agenda and Neil will join the conference to discuss the plans that are being put in place across Ambulance Estates in the UK. Neil is also the Assistant Director Estates, Facilities & Fleet at North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust and will update on their plans to decarbonise.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy – Steph Hurst, Deputy Director Home Decarbonization Policy & Strategy

The Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund is the Government’s 10-year £3.5 billion scheme with the aim of upgrading a significant amount of the social housing stock currently below Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) C up to that standard. It will support the installation of energy performance measures in social homes in England, and help deliver warm, energy-efficient homes, reduce carbon emissions, tackle fuel poverty, support green jobs, develop the retrofit sector and improve the comfort, health and well-being of social housing tenants. Steph will join the conference to talk about the second wave of funding and how social housing organisations can get involved.

Fiera Real Estate – Frankie Demetriades, Associate Director – ESG

Fiera Real Estate is a leading investment management company with offices in North America and Europe and over £4.9 of AUM, part of the wider Fiera Capital which has over £115billion AUM. Through partnerships with firms such as Packaged Living in the UK they contribute to regeneration and the provision of high quality accommodation. This year Fiera announced an ambitious 2035 net-zero target and the pathway to achieving this in a cost effective and economically viable way. This commitment is especially significant as it demonstrates to the market that the challenge of long income fund emissions can be tackled.

HAYS – Paul Gosling, National Director – Sustainability

Paul is a specialist recruiter in the environment and sustainability sector with over 25 years’ experience. Paul joined Hays in 2021 and leads a team of industry experts across the UK who specialise in sustainability recruitment within the emerging areas of sustainable buildings, the circular economy, environmental roles, and corporate sustainability.

Paul started recruiting into the sector in 1995 after finishing his BSc in Environmental Science and over the last 20+ years has worked with thousands of individuals and hundreds of companies to support their growth and development in this vibrant, dynamic and important sector. During this time, Paul has built a wealth of knowledge and experience and have become recognised as a leading expert on overcoming the recruitment challenges facing the environment and sustainability sector.

BE DESIGN – Charlotte Booth, Associate Director of ESG, Sustainability & Wellbeing

Charlotte is a Chartered Environmentalist with 14 years consulting experience driving sustainable design in the built environment. Charlotte heads up the ESG, Sustainability Wellbeing team at BE Design, supporting clients from the industrial and logistics, retail, commercial and residential sectors achieve their Net Zero ambitions. BE Design is a vibrant and enthusiastic multi-disciplinary design consultancy delivering integrated sustainable solutions; shaping today, tomorrow and the future.

Buro Happold – Smith Mordak, Director of Sustainability & Physics

Director of Sustainability and Physics at Buro Happold, Smith is an award-winning architect, engineer and writer working across disciplines to realise a regenerative economy and built environment. In their role, Smith works with a broad range of built environment organisations to develop and implement strategies for the transition to a fair and sustainable built environment. Smith’s leads Buro Happold’s work with C40, a deep dive collaborations with cities around the world. Our team are exploring the diverse social, economic and environmental shifts needed to deliver high-quality, affordable housing, transparent and inclusive governance structures, safe and healthy urban spaces, flourishing industries and protected local environments.

Schneider Electric – Chair: Kasim Mohammed, Vice President of Digital Energy, UK & Ireland

Schneider’s purpose is to empower all to make the most of our energy and resources, bridging progress and sustainability for all. We call this Life Is On.

Our mission is to be your digital partner for Sustainability and Efficiency.

We drive digital transformation by integrating world-leading process and energy technologies, end-point to cloud connecting products, controls, software and services, across the entire lifecycle, enabling integrated company management, for homes, buildings, data centres, infrastructure and industries.

We are the most local of global companies. We are advocates of open standards and partnership ecosystems that are passionate about our shared Meaningful Purpose, Inclusive and Empowered values.

Willmott Dixon – Jo Mills, Head of Decarbonisation Service

Willmott Dixon’s Decarbonisation Service offers practical support at every stage of the pathway to Net Zero Carbon.  This may range from a strategic review of assets, through producing decarbonisation plans for buildings and estates, identifying funding solutions, designing and delivering capital programmes and thereafter providing a full monitoring and review service.

The Decarbonisation Team brings together expertise from across Willmott Dixon business to ensure customers can benefit from the latest technology to deliver robust solutions, with a whole building approach covering fabric, heating and cooling systems plus renewable energy. Current customers include police and other emergency services.

Costain – Jamie Colquhoun, Transport Energy and Clean Mobility Adviser

Costain are one of the leading firms in supporting the UK’s commitment to the net zero carbon agenda – championing a mix of clean energy including nuclear, hydrogen and renewables.

Their expertise will therefore be crucial in chairing the discussion about the transition to cleaner and greener transport and infrastructure – as we delve into topics around clean mobility infrastructure sectors, transport decarbonisation stratgies, funding solutions and modelling and much more.

Openreach – Abby Chicken, Head of Sustainability

Openreach Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of BT Group. We look after the copper wires and fibre cables that connect homes and businesses to phone and broadband. Our customers are the 690+ communications providers who sell phone and broadband services to these households and businesses. So when one of our engineers comes to your address to install or repair something, they’re working on behalf of the company that supplies your phone or broadband.

ABB – Sekhar Chakraborty, Market Development Manager, Digital

ABB’s Electrification Business Area is a global leader in electrical products and solutions, operating in more than 100 countries, with over 200 manufacturing sites. 50,000+ employees are dedicated to transforming how people live, connect and work by delivering safe, smart and sustainable electrification solutions. They are shaping the future trends of electrification, differentiating through technological and digital innovation while delivering an outstanding experience through operational excellence for our customers across utilities, industry, buildings, infrastructure and mobility. During his more than 20 years with ABB, Sekhar has had a diverse international career.  He currently leads the digital solutions of ABB AbilityTM Electrification business in the UK with responsibility to take ABB’s pioneering digital solutions to the next level.

Kensa Contracting – Stuart Gadsden, Commercial Director

A former installer customer of Kensa’s, Stuart joined the business in 2015, bringing a wealth of renewables experience both in academia and practice. Stuart is a long-standing member of MCS and industry stakeholder working groups.

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.

Plentific – Nik Flytzanis, Head of Supply Chain, Europe

More information to follow.