UKREiiF 2024: UK investment opportunities worth £150bn set to be discussed in Leeds as more speakers confirmed for industry-leading event

Over 700 speakers will take part during the event. The Rest Is Politics stars Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart, and the Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Kerry McCarthy will be among them.

Mr Campbell, former director of communications for No. 10 Downing Street, said: “UKREiiF brings together all the different parts of the equation that are needed to regenerate regions and the economy successfully. And it’s changing people’s views of the industry world.”

Mayors from devolved authorities have already announced they’ll be attending, including Mayor Tracy Brabin of West Yorkshire, Mayor Oliver Coppard of South Yorkshire, and Nik Johnson of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

Over 30 stages will bring together a mixture of content, activity, and fringe events to help make connections, tackle challenges in the sector, and create investment opportunities to drive inclusive and sustainable prosperity across the UK.

Launched in 2022, the event is held over three days and brings together the public and private sectors, with all of the UK’s cities and regions represented alongside the UK Government and the numerous governmental departments.

Having grown from 3,500 attendees in 2022 to 7,500 in 2023, the event in 2024 is set to attract over 12,000 to Leeds.

The event is set to attract a further 3,000 people to the city to enjoy the fringe events, with £20m set to be generated for the local Leeds community. The event generated £2.25m in social impact in 2023 for the local economy.

The event has already been lauded across the UK by many cities and regions, with Torbay Council recently confirming a major £100m investment into the seaside destination, which is set to create jobs, homes, and revitalise the leisure offering in the region, all happening directly because of the event.

Alan Denby, director of Pride in Place at Torbay Council, said: “Being at UKREiiF has enabled Torbay to have discussions with investors, developers, and occupiers, and from these discussions we’ve announced the preferred development partner to work with us on four key development sites worth over £100m to the local community, and that investment is a direct result of being involved in UKREiiF.”

In addition to this, there are several other schemes totalling over £500m of investment known to be in the pipeline across other cities following direct facilitation and introductions at the event.

During UKREiiF, international and domestic investors, developers, and occupiers will be invited to meet representatives from UK cities and regions.

President of international investors Amro Partners said: “UKREiiF tells me that the UK is open to business, and as an investor, that is a fantastic message.”