BE News' editor-in-chief Liz Hamson, together with Davitt Jones Bould (DJB), brought together a panel of leading regeneration experts, from both the public and private sector, at last week’s UKREiiF conference to discuss how to win the town centre regeneration game. Read the edited highlights of what was a lively, wide-ranging debate here.
DJB Partner Stephen Chalcraft shared his views on how the UK's towns and cities can turn their fortunes around: "In Manchester, we’ve been very successful in terms of physical regeneration, but we’ve actually not created the better lifestyles or wellness that we need to actually create social impact."
DJB construction partner, Matthew Needham-Laing, raised the danger of ending up with "a massively bifurcated market where you’ve got some very energy-efficient, carbon-neutral buildings which are attractive to occupiers, and you have an increasingly large stock of secondary properties which are not energy efficient and are expensive to maintain."
ABOUT DJB: DJB is a national law firm that specialises entirely in real estate. The firm has offices in London, Manchester, and Birmingham ensuring truly national coverage.
The firm is renowned for its high quality legal work and service.
We only recruit experienced lawyers with excellent calibre. As a result, our legal team of around 50 lawyers have an average post-qualification experience that exceeds 20 years. Most have joined us from other City firms, in-house departments and/or senior roles. Our lawyers have advised some of the UK’s most significant land owners including Barclays Bank, HSBC, Credit Suisse, Rolls Royce, The Royal Parks, The Cabinet Office and The Crown Estate. This focus on quality only has led to a 50% male and female Partner rate.
All of our clients are provided with a dedicated client care professional at no extra charge, which ensures that they receive the highest standard of service at all times. DJB is regularly selected to advise on high profile projects such as the hosting of the London 2012 Olympic Games by The Royal Parks and the first Sukuk Bond to be entered into by a Western Government on behalf of HM Treasury. Based in London at The Shard and also Manchester, Birmingham and Taunton, DJB has a national presence.
The firm enjoys top tier rankings in all of the main directories, as well as receiving many awards.