Western Gateway Economic Growth and Development Conference; in association with Hoare Lea

All Party Parliamentary Group for Western Gateway – Baroness Wilcox of Newport, Vice Chair

As Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Western Gateway and a respected member of local government in the South West of the UK for many years, Baroness Wilcox has been leading the charge to deliver the project for many years. As part of this event, the Baroness will talk in depth about how Western Gateway stakeholders have turned their attention to prioritising the building of healthier, smarter and more inclusive communities in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and how developers, investors and built environment supply chain can help.

The Bristol Port Company – David Brown, Chief Executive

The Bristol Port Company is a key driver of economic growth in the Western Gateway, enabling the import of 550,000 vehicles, 27% of the UK’s aviation fuel and 25% of animal feed annually. There are over 1,000 acres of development land in the vicinity of the port – the largest brownfield development site in Western Europe and David will discuss the port’s ongoing expansion plans.

Cardiff Metropolitan University – Professor Cara Aitchison, Vice Chancellor

Professor Cara Aitchison has been President and Vice-Chancellor of Cardiff Metropolitan University since 2016 where she is also Professor of Geography and Cultural Economy. With over 30 years’ experience in higher education Professor Aitchison has led significant growth and change management programmes developing universities’ reputations, finance, internationalisation and student experience. She is committed to values-driven leadership that integrates civic, economic and international agendas to widen participation in university education with the purpose of transforming lives, communities, economies and inter-cultural relations. Cara will join the session to talk about Cardiff Metropolitan University’s role in creating the jobs of tomorrow, attracting and retaining talent, how we design, build and deliver cutting edge facilities and supporting social mobility in the Western Gateway.

Bristol Airport – David Lees, Chief Executive

Bristol Airports are looking to increase its capacity from 10 million to 12 million passenger per with a raft of development including, extensions to the terminal building, including a new immigration hall, improvements to the A38 and the airport’s internal road layout, as part of a multi-million-pound transport improvement plan, construction of a new multi-storey car park and extension of the Silver Zone car parking and enhancement of airside infrastructure, including passenger walkways with travellators. David will give more intel on the expansion plan which is set to drive economic growth in Bristol, South Wales and the wider Western Gateway.

Wildfox Resorts – Claire Pearce, Director of Planning & Economic Development

Gravity is bringing forward fresh plans for a smart campus which will create 4,000 jobs and attract international investment into the UK. Claire, Gravity’s Director for Planning and Economic Development, is working with stakeholders to drive opportunities into the South West, and is re-imaging a new consent through a Local Development Order which is focused on economic transformation and clean growth. Clare will talk about how this campus fits into the Western Gateway vision.

University of the West of England – Professor Steven West, Vice Chancellor

Professor West has been Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West of England, Bristol since 2008. Professor West is Non-Executive Director for the Office for Students and Non-Executive Director on University Hospitals Bristol Foundation Trust Board. Professor West became Deputy Lieutenant for the county of Gloucestershire in 2012 and was awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the New Year’s Honours list 2017, for services to Higher Education.  Steven will discuss how the University of the West of England will create the jobs of tomorrow, attract and retain talent and how we design, build and deliver cutting edge facilities and support social mobility in the Western Gateway.

University of South Wales – Dr Louise Bright, Director of Research and Business Engagement

Dr Louise Bright is Director of Research and Business Engagement at the University of South Wales. She has held positions with the Welsh Government looking at ways to increase the level of research funding in Wales was the Associate Director of the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education with responsibility for Wales.  Louise will discuss the University of South Wales’ role in creating the jobs of tomorrow, attracting and retaining talent, how we design, build and deliver cutting edge facilities and supporting social mobility in the Western Gateway.

Cardiff University – Professor Colin Riordan, Vice Chancellor

Professor Colin Riordan took up the post of President and Vice-Chancellor on 1 September 2012. He has published widely on post-war German literature and culture with other research interests include the history of environmental ideas in German culture. He is responsible for promoting the University globally, nationally and locally. Colin will join the session to talk about Cardiff University’s role in creating the jobs of tomorrow, attracting and retaining talent, how we design, build and deliver cutting edge facilities and supporting social mobility in the Western Gateway.

Gloucestershire Airport – Karen Taylor, Managing Director

Gloucestershire Airport is UK’s busiest general aviation airport and is investing £8 million to upgrade the runways at Gloucestershire Airport, as a part of a £15 million in the Staverton site development. Karen – Managing director at Gloucestershire Airport and Non-Executive Director at Blackpool Airport will be joining the session to discuss new development, infrastructural regeneration, and economic growth in the region.

Legal and General Investment Management – Pete Gladwell, Social Impact and Investment Director

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.

FORE Partnerships – Sarah Trahair-Williams, Associate Director

Hill Group – Jamie Hunter, Development Director

Work has started on the McArthur’s yard job on the harbourside site in Bristol which has lain vacant for the last 20 years and was bought by Guinness Partnership three years ago. Hill will provide 142 new-build homes for market sale, shared ownership and social rent as well as commercial space on the ground floor. It is estimated the project could be worth up to £25m. Jamie will talk about this scheme and Hill’s plans to expand into the Western Gateway region and why they see it as an exciting region for their business’ growth.

Grainger PLC – Julia Bevan, Director

As the UK’s largest residential landlord Grainger and one of the biggest names in Build to Rent and have a long term pipeline of 9,000 BtR homes worth £2 billion. They are pushing ahead with a number of projects with Bristol being a key target city for Grainger. The latest project is the 231 unit scheme being developed by Cubex and Julia will give more intel on this scheme, Grainger’s future plans in Bristol and how they can help tackle the housing crisis in the wider Western Gateway.

University of Gloucestershire – Dr Matthew Andrews, Director Secretary and Registrar

The iconic Debenhams building in Gloucester city centre is set to become a new campus for teaching, learning and community partnerships after it was bought by the University of Gloucestershire. The university intends to fully refurbish the 1930s Art Deco building, offering about 215,000 sq ft of space on five floors. This will create modern spaces for teaching and learning for students and staff, accommodating the university’s plans to expand the scale and range of its higher education programmes. Matthew will be on hand to give more intel about this scheme and discuss the University’s role in attracting and attaining talent in the region.

Natural Resources Wales – Clare Pillman, CEO

Clare returned to Wales to join NRW as its Chief Executive in February 2018. Prior to this Clare was Director of Culture, Tourism and Sport at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. In this role she led the work on the Cultural Olympiad and oversaw a major change programme within the Department. She led work to develop new strategies for Sport, Tourism and Culture, oversaw the delivery of events such as the Rugby World Cup and the World Athletics Championships, developed and led the programme to commemorate the Centenary of the First World War and created new models of governance and financing for organisations such as Historic England, English Heritage, the Royal Parks and Visit Britain. Clare will join the session to speak about the important environmental work NRW do and their role in the place-shaping agenda in Southern Wales.

Bristol City Council – Stephen Peacock, Executive Director for Growth and Regeneration

Stephen will join the conference to update on the progress on one of the UK’s largest regeneration projects, ‘Temple Quarter’, which has the vision of transforming over 130 hectares of brownfield land over the next 25 years into a thriving, well-connected mixed-use community. The regeneration will create 10,000 new homes, 22,000 new jobs and bring £1.6bn annual income to the city economy. The latest round of plans saw L&G invest in the Temple Island site and Stephen will reveal more intel on these schemes as well as the council’s investment in infrastructure in the city.

Pobl Homes – Solitaire Pritchard, Director of Regeneration

Pobl Homes have major housing development plans for the current decade with ambitions which include investing in 10,000 new homes by 2030. This comes off the back of Pobl recently exceeding its target of creating 3,000 much needed new homes in the five years to 2021. Pobl have also just been announced as a JV partner on the £750 million ‘Shaping Swansea’ regeneration scheme. Solitaire will join the session to give more intel on Pobl’s extensive housing development plans across Wales and the Western Gateway.

Cyber Central Garden Village – Tim Atkins, Managing Director of Place and Growth

One of the masterminds behind the 3000 home Cyber Central Garden Village and business park project, Tim will join the session to talk about the challenges and opportunities that face his team as they aim to deliver two million square feet of office space alongside a major residential area. Golden Valley- as it is to be called upon completion- recently finished its public consultation stage and are now working with a number of developers to kick start development on site.

First Base – Lucinda Mitchell, Project Director

First Base are the developers behind the £175m Soapworks project which currently consists of 165,000 sq ft of existing buildings within a 2.25-acre site and is located on the edge of Bristol city centre, close to Bristol Temple Meads station. The proposal is to deliver a mixed use development that will celebrate Bristol’s past and as part of this session Lucinda will be delivering an update on project timelines, its projected social value contribution to the south west and actively engaging with our audience.

Specialist Risk Group – Michael Grimwood, Business Development Manager UK

CLS are an innovative insurance MGA in the UK & Europe. They are insurance veterans, unlocking real estate developments & transaction with the use of Data & Capacity Strength. Their tools increase the bankability of an asset and protect those known and unknown legal and planning risks at every stage of the property life cycle.

Hoare Lea – Greg Jones, Director

Greg is a Director at Hoare Lea and West of England & Wales regional lead for the sustainability group. Greg is a Chartered Engineer and Environmentalist has 14 years’ experience during which time he has led major projects across the UK and internationally. Greg is a member of the British Property Federation Sustainability Committee and co-chair of the Sustainable Planning Group at the Bristol Green Capital Partnership. Greg has also been a key contributor to the UK Green Building Council Advancing Net Zero Carbon programme, inputting into the Framework Definition for Net Zero Carbon, Building the Case for Net Zero Caron and is currently on the peer review group for the Net Zero Carbon Masterplanning Study.

Hoare Lea – Phil Grew, Director

A senior partner at Hoare Lea, Phil has been actively engaged in the built environment sector for over 30 years.  Proud to have be part the urban regeneration agenda; reinventing places for people to live, work, shop and relax, Phil has a strong background in mixed use developments covering most sectors.  Currently leading the direction of Hoare Lea in large scale masterplan projects, with a focus on urban regeneration, Phil is engaged with landmark project work such as the Earls Court Masterplan which demand a deep understanding of the challenges around enabling sustainable development in complex environments.  As the sustainability agenda moves rapidly towards people centred solutions and energy strategies lead net zero initiatives through an all-electric future, well-engineered, holistic solutions are essential in meeting the aspirations of our future generations.

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.

LA Architects – Mike Lawless, Director

Mike is a highly experienced and innovative designer. Awarded as an RIBA Architect of the Year, he has been responsible for some of the most successful public buildings in the UK. His career has included tutoring at Cardiff School of Architecture, being an RIBA awards judge, NED for RIBA Enterprises and an advisor to UK and European Sports Governing bodies and Olympic Authorities.
His work spans from China to Scandinavia and across the UK and throughout the process of designing and building his approach is always to challenge the normal, seek better and perhaps innovative solutions and respect everyone.