Is UKREiiF planning to leave Leeds?
While the 2024 edition will be held in Yorkshire for the third consecutive year, organisers have confirmed that the annual property conference could be moved to Manchester, Liverpool, or Birmingham from 2025.
Built Environment Networking, the company behind UKREiiF, has not ruled out keeping the event at Leeds Dock and Royal Armouries beyond 2024, but acknowledges the growth of the conference since its launch in 2022 might prompt the need for a larger venue.
A report by Arup found that Leeds’ hotels were completely full during this year’s three-day event, a statistic that is likely to raise eyebrows ahead of the 2024 edition.
UKREiiF attracted 9,500 official and fringe delegates in 2023 and BEN expects this to increase to 15,000 in 2024.
As a result, 18 additional pavilions and several new buildings are planned, according to the event’s operations director Louise Eyre.
“The event’s footprint is set to double for 2024,” she said.
“We have ambitious plans to expand our audience and the activities at UKREiiF. Hence, we are aiming to future-proof the event by choosing a venue and city that align with our growth expectations.”
Attendees at this year’s UKREiiF that Place North West spoke to suggested that the event was outgrowing its current venue.
As well as the scarcity and cost of hotel rooms, queues for the food trucks were often long and many of the panel discussions were impossible to get into unless you arrived half an hour early.
There were also concerns that, if the weather were to turn, there would be a shortage of places to find shelter as much of the current UKREiiF set-up is outdoor.
It seems that BEN has taken all of this into account, announcing today that four cities – Leeds, Birmingham, Manchester, and Liverpool – have been shortlisted to host the event in 2025, 2026, and 2027.
“The rapid growth of UKREiiF has fast-tracked our plans,” said UKREiiF founder and chief executive Keith Griffiths.
“We’re now exploring options to future-proof the event, prompting our review of the venue and host city. While Leeds remains a contender for 2025 and beyond, and the feedback about the city has been stellar, we’ve been equally impressed by other cities we’ve visited. The potential venues and the teams we might collaborate with make the decision challenging.”
Dino Moutsopoulos, managing partner at Place North, the official media partner for UKREiiF, said: “Over the last two years, UKREiiF has really managed to grab the attention of the property market.
“As a Northern business focused on supporting the Northern property sector for over 16 years, we would be very keen to see the event remain in the North. Liverpool, Leeds, and all have excellent facilities to host medium and large events.”
He added: “UKREiiF has grown both in number and cost in a short time, so keeping the event financially viable for all will be key as it looks to scale. It will be equally interesting to see what the various cities do to try and secure this exciting event.”
Moutsopoulos also suggested Manchester might have an ace up its sleeve when it comes to getting the nod to host UKREiiF, by way of its recently introduced tourist tax. Money generated through this tax could be used to subsidise ticket prices, he said.
UKREiiF 2024 will be held at Leeds Dock from 21 to 23 May.
