Companies from Far East with a focus on low and zero carbon housing visit Yorkshire

Ben Still, managing director of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, was one of the participants in a UKReiif panel debate hosted by Turner & Townsend which had the theme: How is UK investment influenced by net-zero?.

Speaking afterwards, Mr Still told The Yorkshire Post: "We all need to be celebrating success where we achieve it, learning from each other about what works and what doesn't work and then trying to accelerate our progress towards net zero. We're always keen to attract people into Leeds and to West Yorkshire. What's been interesting for this UKReiif is that central Government has been bringing across delegations from overseas to showcase England and, of-course, we benefit from that. We met a delegation on Monday night just before the conference started from the Far East looking at investing, including companies that were interested in investing in low and zero carbon housing. It's about building relationships and building networks and then seeing what transpires."

Steve Lomas, managing director of the Leeds-based UK Infrastructure Bank, said the bank had grown from employing 10 staff in Leeds in 2021 to around 180 people today “and moving towards 280 is the ambition”.

"The projects we have been supporting have been across the country, and if I look forward, a lot of the carbon capture (projects) are either going to be in the North West or the North East because that's where the industrial heartlands have been historically and that's where a lot of these projects are going to be developed. You'll see the UK Infrastructure Bank doing a lot of work in the North of England but also in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well.”

Other participants in the panel event included Anna Strongman, Chief Executive Officer at Oxford University Development, Angela Barnicle, the Chief Officer for Asset Management and Regeneration at Leeds City Council and Ben Brinded, Head of Investment at The Crown Estate.