As the former Head of the UK Civil Service, I know all too well the challenges that come with dealing with a crisis when you are at the top of Government.

At a time of crisis, people look more than ever to state institutions for leadership – be that economic leadership, political leadership, or even sometimes, moral leadership. You only need to think back to last March to see how, when the chips were down, it was the daily Government press conferences that became society’s common point of reference, with words and phrases like social distancing, flattening the curve and the R Number entering the popular lexicon over a matter of days.

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Whatever people think about every policy the Government adopted to combat the coronavirus crisis, I am absolutely certain about one thing – having lived and breathed the machinery of local and national government for most of my professional career, I have nothing but admiration for the herculean efforts so many ex-colleagues across the civil service have made over the last fifteen or so months to get us through the first stage of the Coronavirus pandemic.

I use the term ‘first stage’ very deliberately, though. Despite the fact that I write this just after the Prime Minister announced a one-month delay to the lifting of final coronavirus restrictions, I remain relatively optimistic that the tremendous successes of the vaccine programme mean we are past the worst of the pandemic. That is both a relief, but also causes me to increasingly ask the next big question: What happens next?

To offer a reminder, as it is easy to forget what is ahead of us, earlier in my career I was involved in navigating what felt like a financial crisis of almost immeasurable severity – the 2008 / 09 credit crunch and recession. The worst quarter of that recession, Q4 of 2008, saw the UK’s economy shrink by 2.2%. Q2 of 2020 saw a 14.5% shrinkage, according to the Office for National Statistics. 14.5% – an almost inconceivable number. The loss of economic output the UK saw in Q1 and Q2 of 2020 was the biggest percentage decline in GDP since 1709 – a year when a frost plagued Europe and caused widespread crop failures, leading to general starvation and death. That crisis, the Great Frost of 1709, is the best comparator to the economic situation we now find ourselves in – and should offer a stark warning to the challenges ahead.

That isn’t to be unnecessarily gloomy, of course. Unlike in that tragedy of 310 years ago, states across the developed world have had the capacity to insulate their populations from the worst of the economic turmoil, in the UK through schemes like furlough and the business grants and loans offered by the Government. However the reality of economics mean that state support at the scale it currently is at cannot continue in perpetuity. As we move away from the health emergency, which the state has led, it is my belief that the private sector will increasingly have to do more to support the economic recovery.

It is that belief that led me to becoming the Chair of the Advisory Group of the UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum, or UKREiiF.

When I first heard about UKREiiF earlier this year, I was immediately intrigued. An entirely new, private-sector led, concept, UKREiiF is all about providing a new forum for investors, developers and the public sector to collaborate and drive growth. It harnesses a core belief of mine – that with more and better cooperation between everyone in the property sector, we can collectively drive growth, improve diversity and inclusion in our industry, and support the laudable ambition to ‘Build Back Better’.

We are still in the process of launching some of the aspects the forum, but already I am thrilled at the level of public and private sector interest and participation. We count amongst forum members and observers senior members of Government departments, key leaders of our great northern cities, major private sector developers and, increasingly, parliamentarians from all sides of the Houses of Parliament.

UKREiiF is, in some ways, a movement to do property better – with a focus on diversity, inclusion and bringing real social value to the fore of the property sector.

It will culminate in a three-day event in Leeds next spring (17 – 19 May), where thousands of attendees from local, regional and national government, the investor market, developers and consultants will have a chance to come together, find opportunities and really kickstart what I hope will be a decade of growth.

The 2020s might have started in the most appalling way, but with a strong public sector working hand-in-hand with a vibrant and dynamic private sector, the 2020s can become a decade of growth and improvement across every region in the UK. It is my belief that UKREiiF can help deliver that decade of growth, ensuring the 2020s aren’t just about health and economic recovery, but about building a more inclusive, diverse and fair economy. I hope to see many of you get involved.

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