May 27th 2021
Delivering Major Regeneration – Lessons from the Frontline
Public and Private collaboration has always been critical to the delivery of major regeneration projects. As we get back to business to rebuild the economy, collaboration will be fundamentally important to driving good growth, opening up opportunities for investment, improving efficiency and meeting the needs of communities. And mission critical to housing delivery!
We have assembled what can only be described as a stellar, panel of seasoned contributors all of whom have vast experience in delivering major regeneration both from Public and Private sector perspectives. Sir Howard Bernstein led the regeneration and renaissance of Manchester, driving growth and investment. Waheed Nazir the architect of the Birmingham ‘Big City Plan’ a 20-year vision and transformation of the City. Fiona Fletcher-Smith now Chief Exec at L&Q Group formerly the Executive Director for Development, Enterprise and Environment at the GLA and was responsible for overseeing the delivery and implementation of the London Plan and the Economic Development Strategy. And finally, Richard Upton Chief Executive of U+I has masterminded the regeneration of massive inner City sites and has a reputation for transforming places with vision and authenticity.
Chaired by Faraz Baber, Director of Terence O’Rourke, this will be an opportunity to listen to a highly experienced panel, who will share their ‘lessons from the front line’. And your chance to ask questions and learn from the leaders in their fields.
EVENT SPEAKERS
Waheed Nazir
Chairman
Arden Cross
Waheed has over 20 years of experience in planning, development and regeneration. He has held senior positions at Birmingham City Council, and more recently was appointed as the Non-Executive Chairman of Arden Cross Limited. He also advises public and private sector clients on regeneration and development projects across the UK.
He is a visiting Professor at Birmingham City University and in 2017 was awarded an honorary Doctorate by Aston University. In October 2020, Waheed was awarded a Fellowship from the Academy of Social Sciences and in November 2020 was announced as the Property Personality of the Year for the Midlands.
In 2019, he wrote and edited a book titled Regenerating Cities, which explores how leadership, vision and partnership working has shaped the development of UK cities over the last 30 years. Through this book he brought together some of the UK’s leading figures in the development sector, each providing their own unique and personal insight into their journeys and roles in leading some of the country’s biggest projects, including London 2012, the development of King’s Cross, estate renewal in London, and the rise of Manchester and Birmingham.
He is passionate about helping young people grow and develop to unlock their potential. This has included establishing a number of programmes to provide mentoring, bursary initiatives, internships and graduate programmes in the built environment profession.
Fiona Fletcher-Smith
Chief Executive
L&Q
Fiona was appointed as L&Q’s Chief Executive in September 2020. A chartered surveyor, with almost 30 years of experience in the housing sector, Fiona has worked in a variety of voluntary and public sector roles including advising homeless people in Dublin, housing management, development and regeneration, strategy and policy development.
Fiona was previously L&Q’s Director of Development and Sales, spearheading a £5.1 billion development programme. Whilst in this role, Fiona led our development and strategic land programmes, including landmark projects such as the 10,800-home Barking Riverside development. She also oversaw the group’s expansion beyond the South East and delivered change programmes to improve both the efficiency and diversity of our Development and Sales function.
Prior to joining L&Q, Fiona was Executive Director for Development, Enterprise and Environment at the Greater London Authority (GLA). As part of their senior management team, Fiona was responsible for overseeing the delivery and implementation of key strategies such as the London Plan and overseeing the operation of the Mayor’s powers in relation to significant planning applications in the capital.
Fiona is the current chair of trustees at the Centre for London, helping the capital’s think tank to meet their charitable objectives.
Sir Howard Bernstein
Former Chief Executive
Manchester City Council
Sir Howard Bernstein is the former Chief Executive of Manchester City Council (1998-2017) and former Head of Paid Service for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (2011-2017). A strong believer in the transformative power of cities and one of the chief architects of Manchester’s well-documented urban, social and economic resurgence over the last four decades, Sir Howard now serves as a strategic advisor to several public, private and academic institutions in the UK and internationally.
Over a distinguished career in public service, Sir Howard was instrumental in a range of projects and initiatives benefitting Manchester, Greater Manchester and the United Kingdom. This has included significant improvements in transport and other infrastructure across Greater Manchester, the long-term regeneration of disadvantaged parts of Manchester in partnership with government, the private sector and local communities, and cementing Manchester’s status as a thriving hub for sports, culture, media and creativity and an active player in promising fields such as advanced materials, life sciences, informatics and translational medicine.
Sir Howard is widely recognised for his pioneering use of innovative financial instruments, planning mechanisms, governance arrangements and public-private partnerships to attract investment, accelerate development and deliver marked improvements in social and economic outcomes for people and businesses in Greater Manchester. This assertive approach has also been evident in the devolution of significant responsibilities for transport, planning, housing, skills, health and social care services from the UK Government to local authorities in Greater Manchester in recent years, including the piloting of ground-breaking new models for the delivery of health, social care and early intervention services at the neighbourhood level.
Following his retirement from the Council in 2017, Sir Howard was appointed as an Honorary Professor of Politics and a strategic advisor to the University of Manchester. He is also a strategic advisor to Deloitte, an Honorary President of Manchester City FC and President of Lancashire County Cricket Club.
Sir Howard was knighted for his services to Manchester in 2003.
Richard Upton
Chief Executive
U+I
Richard is a creative entrepreneur and patron of the arts, who is passionate about quality of place, architecture, heritage and provenance. Over the course of his career, he has established, built and sold four property investment and professional companies and developed more than six million square feet of mixed-use real estate.
Pioneering Mount Anvil in 1991, Richard delivered 5,000 student bedrooms and regenerated several award-wining social housing projects. In 1998 he co-founded Cathedral Healthcare and Cathedral Group PLC, nurturing the latter to become a market-leader in public-private partnership developments and building a pipeline of over £2bn.
In 2014, Cathedral merged with Development Securities, which ultimately became U+I in 2015. U+I is a listed public company with a development pipeline of >£11.5bn. Together with U+I’s Chief Executive Matthew Weiner, Richard is a driving force behind the strategic direction of the company, whose vision is to create long-lasting social and economic change for communities and sustainable value for shareholders.
Faraz Baber
Operations Director - Midlands & South East
RPS
Faraz Baber is the Operations Director for Planning at RPS Group covering London, South East, Midlands and the North of England. RPS was founded in 1970 and is a leading global professional services firm which employs c. 5,500 staff. Faraz is a dual qualified chartered town planner and chartered surveyor; he currently serves as a member of the British Property Federation’s Planning Committee and, as the former chair of the RICS Planning Policy Panel, he also advises RICS on current planning policy issues. His specific areas of planning reform interest and expertise include the evolution of Community Infrastructure Levy and more recently helping to provide technical input into the proposals for an Infrastructure Levy.
Faraz provides both strategic and technical expertise to planning projects and over the duration of his career, he has successfully worked on a wide and varied caseload of large and complex schemes across England.