Partners together promote City and County
Public and private partners joined the annual UKREiiF event in Leeds to promote the opportunities in commercial property development in Warwickshire and Coventry. Warwickshire County Council's Inward Investment Specialist, Ian Flynn, part of the Council's team at the event, reports.
The UK Real Estate Infrastructure and Investment Forum (UKREiiF) in Leeds, in its fourth year, attracted a record 16,000 delegates. Exhibitors and delegates include national, regional and local Government, commercial and residential developers, investors and a range of agents and intermediaries.
Warwickshire County Council and Invest Warwickshire returned with the ‘Warwickshire Creating Places’ panel session in the Midlands Engine Pavilion. Warwickshire County Council's arms-length property company Warwickshire Property & Development Group (WPDG), private sector partners and a local university discussed the role of partnership and sustainability in successful development.
Our panel ‘Sustainability in Development’ considered that multi-faceted subject with a broad panel including Molly Turpie (Marriott Hotels), Peter Vale (Severn Trent), Ned Williams (Evans Randall) and Kate Howe (Tritax Big Box). The second panel ‘Partnerships in Development’ comprised Jo Russell (Stoford Developments Ltd), Jane Coleman (University of Warwick), Stuart Buckley (Warwickshire Property and Development Group) and David Smith (IM Properties) and looked at how stronger partnerships deliver better development.
Later with Coventry City Council in the West Midlands Pavilion, city and county partners looked at the role of innovation and clusters in supporting development in ‘Maxisimising Clusters – Innovation Driving Development in Coventry & Warwickshire’. The panel comprised Complex Development Projects and University of Warwick Science Park, major local developers of space for companies active in tech, engineering and software and video game development, Severn Trent, as well as city and county reps. It was an opportunity to champion the Coventry & Warwick Gigapark Investment Zone and Greenpower Park, MIRA Technology Park and the University of Warwick Innovation Campus at Wellesbourne, as well as innovative funding partnerships like Coventry & Warwickshire Launchpad, supporting the digital creative sector. For the county, it was also a good opportunity to promote and celebrate innovative solutions to the shortage of SME space, through the delivery of space through WPDG, and the funding for new space from the Warwickshire Property Infrastructure Fund (PIF), part of the Warwickshire Investment Fund.
On the first day, the PIF was also in focus as the county council reps joined the CBRE facilitated round table ‘Unlocking UK Growth: Harnessing Impact Investing to Drive Economic Transformation’, hosted in the UK Government Investment Hub, which included a presentation from Jamie Broderick of the Impact Investing Institute.
Invest Coventry & Warwickshire used the UKREiiF event to launch an updated ‘Coventry & Warwickshire Investment Prospectus’ featuring the major developments MIRA Technology Park South Site, Transforming Nuneaton, Coventry & Warwick Giga Park, Greenpower Park, Rugby Town, Creative Quarter Royal Leamington Spa, University of Warwick Innovation Campus and Stratford-upon-Avon and other schemes, including a new Mountpark development near Nuneaton, and the Panattoni development on the Bedworth/ Coventry border. The updated prospectus includes over 3m sqft of new industrial space across the city and county, and 69,000sqft of new SME space, and the overall quantum of existing and new space in development underlines ongoing confidence in the area.
Three main sponsors joined our ‘Developer Showcase’ session. IM properties celebrated 40 years of development along the M42 corridor, Tritax Big Box talked about the 1m sqft of space over three units speculatively developed on the edge of Rugby town centre and Stoford Properties talked about the importance of bringing forward sufficient employment land to facilitate the delivery of more SME space, including the use of grey-belt land. Elsewhere in the programme, WPDG appeared on the main stage in the Bury Theatre talking about the delivery of new homes. WPDG is delivering 2,500 new homes and has a 250,000sqft pipeline of light industrial space.
The city and county continue to be a leading destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) - the area welcomed 54 Foreign Direct Investment projects into the city and county for 2024-25, and the Invest Coventry & Warwickshire area was named third region for 'Foreign Direct Investment Strategy' by FDI Intelligence Magazine/ Financial Times (2024). Other powerful messages to the market included local success in securing the Creative & Immersive Launchpad, which has allocated £3,885,395 from the Innovate UK Creative & Immersive Launchpad programme to 30 businesses, and a high number of King’s Awards for Enterprise recipients in Warwickshire – 8 successful companies in 2024. The county can also point to a comprehensive level of support to businesses around skills and careers, with over 900 businesses gaining skills support, over £1.4m of Apprenticeships supported by WCC Levy Funds and 99 apprenticeships supported, ranging from levels 2-6.
Mark Ryder, executive director for communities at Warwickshire County Council, said: "Warwickshire is one of the most dynamic economic locations in the Midlands and the UK. The county is a popular destination for both UK and foreign direct investment, and the area is home to some of the most important commercial property developments such as Coventry & Warwick Giga Park, one of the eight UK Investment Zones, MIRA Technology Park South Site and major town centre opportunities like Transforming Nuneaton, Creative Quarter Leamington Spa and Rugby Town Centre.
“UKREiiF is a great opportunity for us to promote our partner organisation, Warwickshire Property Development Group and the new homes and SME commercial space being developed by them in the county, and Warwickshire County Council's Property Infrastructure Fund, which can lend up to £10m to bring forward commercial development projects in support of growth and jobs’.
David Smith, Director of Planning and Communities at IM Properties, said: ‘We welcome the opportunity to partner with Invest Warwickshire on our continued journey of investment in the West Midlands. From our beginnings nearly 40 years ago at Haseley Manor, we have grown to become one of the largest investors along the M42 corridor and within the region, bringing forward close to 14 million sq ft of commercial space and supporting over 14,000 jobs, with a further 8,000 jobs in the pipeline.”
Stoford Planning Director Jo Russell said: “There is a significant window of opportunity for developing land within the Grey Belt, capitalising on the Government's clear intentions to deliver growth in areas that do not contribute strongly to the purposes of Green Belt and /or are previously developed. In addition, with the NPPF now in place, and an opportunity through devolution in the next few years, closer working between the Coventry and Warwickshire authorities and the private sector can focus on how economic growth can go hand in hand with locations well served by public transport/rail infrastructure and thereby assist local people in accessing employment."
Joseph Skinner, Development Director at Tritax Big Box, said: “Iron Mountain chose Symmetry Park Rugby for its excellent connectivity and the ready supply of skills that exist locally, but also because they bought into its environment-friendly fabric. We expect further interest in phase three from other forward-thinking organisations seeking to harness the advantages of this site on their journeys to greener, leaner expansion.”
“This joined-up approach ensures that when we come to the planning application everyone is clear on what our objectives are, clear on who TBB is and what we actually do.And, by developing this site together, we’re helping to attract quality investment into the UK, bringing jobs and new skills opportunities for the region’s residents and businesses."
For more information on the Property Infrastructure Fund, visit: https://warwickshireinvestmentfund.co.uk/property-infrastructure
To download a copy of the updated Coventry & Warwickshire Investment Prospectus, visit: https://investcw.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/CW-Investment-prospectus-2025-LR.pdf