The UK national council of The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has added five new members to its Midlands committee.
The committee was established in 2011 and was the first to be set up by ULI, the global research and education institute dedicated to responsible land use and the creation of sustainable communities, outside London.
The latest round of recruits includes Tony Hyde, managing director of Thomas Vale, part of Bouygues Construction Group and former chair of the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP); Simon Marks, partner at built asset consultancy EC Harris; Laura Shoaf, head of strategic planning and implementation at the Black Country Consortium, which represents four Black Country authorities and the area’s LEP; Chris Sinclair, director of surveyors Innes England, which has offices in Nottingham, Derby and Leicester and Simon Samuels, a partner at property investor and Mailbox owner Brockton Capital.
The committee now comprises 16* specialists from the worlds of property, finance, urban regeneration, construction and the public sector. Its aim is to bring local industry leaders together through regular events to share best practice, examine challenges and explore opportunities.
Committee members also meet to analyse and develop policy on issues facing Birmingham and the wider region, including transport, housing, inward investment and socio-economic growth.
Adrian Bland, partner at Wragge & Co. and chairman of the committee, said: “Our new recruits are all ‘big hitters’ in the Midlands’ property and construction markets.
“Aside from their experience and contacts, they also widen the committee’s reach, ensuring we are truly representative of the Midlands as a whole.”
Marc Mogull, founder and managing partner of Benson Elliot and chair of the ULI UK National Council since 2010 said: “I am delighted to see our Midlands committee continue its evolution into a strong local leadership group. One of my primary goals in taking on the chairmanship of ULI UK was to strengthen our membership activity in the UK regions.
“ULI offers its members a neutral forum to debate critical local issues whilst offering the insights of a global, multidisciplinary organisation. I look forward to seeing other UK regions follow the Midlands’ lead.”
Recent ULI Midlands events include a breakfast briefing hosted by PwC on the ULI / PwC Emerging Trends in Real Estate report and a policy supper at Wragge & Co. to discuss proposals for a new Museum of Contemporary Art in Birmingham’s Eastside.
In April the ULI Midlands council will run a one-day national conference in partnership with the European Investment Bank (EIB) entitled: “Delivering Growth: Bridging the Funding Gap.” The “Delivering Growth: Bridging the Funding Gap’ event is on 17 April at Wragge & Co and will focus on access to EIB funding, other sources of funding and emerging finance models for development and regeneration.
The Urban Land Institute is a non-profit research and education organisation supported by its members. Founded in Chicago in 1936, the institute now has over 30,000 members in 95 countries worldwide, representing the entire spectrum of land use and real estate development disciplines, working in private enterprise and public service. In Europe, ULI has approximately 2,000 members in fourteen countries including UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands.