This year’s UKREiiF provided a powerful platform for dialogue, collaboration, and inspiration across the public and private sectors, highlighting the critical role of partnership in shaping the future of our places. The week closely followed the themes introduced on the first day, with a strong emphasis on collaboration between the public and private sectors. These partnerships are paving the way for long-term, meaningful change within communities—working together to deliver neighbourhoods, town centres, and destinations that meet a diverse range of local needs and functions.

Innovative partnerships are bringing under-utilised assets back into productive use, while also exploring new opportunities made possible by devolution and the Government’s Industrial Strategy. It was a pleasure to connect with a range of Creative Estuary’s partners throughout the week, including Paul Augarde (Augarde and Partners), Mark Davey (Future City), TEGB, Paul Cowell (Medway Council), Kent County Council and Essex County Council—each playing a vital role in supporting and enabling place-based development in the Estuary.

It was encouraging to see other real-world examples of such collaboration, including insights from Battersea Power Station and Argent on their work in London, as well as Historic England and Matlock Council’s initiatives in Derbyshire. Tandem Property Asset Management and Cube Re also shared their experience revitalising shopping centres. Our Property Pipeline, which showcases investment and development ready sites and opportunities across the region, is a key tool for supporting investment, unlocking potential, and connecting partners across the public and private sectors.

We also heard about the role of the National Wealth Fund in bridging investment gaps and supporting initiatives that benefit local communities. The launch of Historic England’s new investment prospectus parallels highlighted the pioneering work being led by Creative Estuary in Kent and Essex —enabling the development and transformation of places and spaces for the future. These efforts exemplify how public–private partnerships provide the expertise and insights necessary to create viable opportunities where communities and creativity can thrive, and where important local assets can be brought back into use. Our Northfleet Place Partnership is another example of this kind of work. We recently announced that sixteen local creatives and organisations have been awarded funding to develop their work and contribute to Northfleet’s growing creative scene, this investment sits alongside the unseen work we’re undertaking to bring a building back into use in the locality.

Concept Culture, 2-3 Degrees, and Connected Places Catapult each demonstrated how the built environment sector is democratising the future. The inclusion of diverse voices in placemaking and highlighting the vital role that the UK’s diverse histories, cultures, and creativity play in shaping our future. Their work showcases the importance of including diverse voices in placemaking, and the vital role that history, culture, and creativity play in shaping our future. Creative Estuary continues to champion this approach— placing culture at the heart of regeneration and demonstrating the value of creative collaboration in unlocking the full potential of our places.

As UKREiiF 2025 drew to a close, it was clear that the momentum behind cross-sector collaboration, creativity, and place-based investment continues to build—laying the foundations for more inclusive, resilient, and vibrant communities across the UK.