SOG Group boss John Lewis MBE has been invited to take part in a panel discussion on how investment opportunities will deliver Net Zero targets that will be staged in the Department for International Trade’s Pavilion at next week’s inaugural UK Real Estate Investment & Infrastructure Forum.
Mr Lewis, the inspiration behind the visionary Heath Park scheme to meet the challenges of Climate Change through the creation of a 21st century version of Port Sunlight at The Heath Business and Technical Park in Runcorn, will take part in the debate and Question & Answers session on Tuesday, May 17th.
The three-day UKREiiF event being staged in Leeds aims to accelerate the Government’s Levelling Up Agenda and unlock sustainable and transformational investment across the nation. It will bring together the public sector – with every core UK city and region – alongside Government, investors, funders, developers, housebuilders and other key players. It’s anticipated that over 5,000 people will attend the Forum with over 200 local authorities being represented, more than 300 developers and 500 investor organisations.
UKREiiF, which is to be staged annually, is seen as a vital platform to showcase investment opportunities in Britain to a global audience. One of the key themes for the 2022 event is the UK’s Net Zero objective which is why Mr Lewis has been invited to speak to highlight his proposals to transform The Heath into a Net Zero location ahead of the Government targets.
Mr Lewis will be joined on the panel by Nick Searl, Joint Managing Partner of property developers Argent, and Aldred Drummond, Chief Executive of Fawley Waterside which is spearheading a massive development in the New Forest. The session will be chaired by Pat Ritchie CBE, Chair of the Government Property Agency, and will address building a levelled-up Britain that is fit for a Net Zero future.
The vision for Heath Park evolved from a global competition challenging architects, designers, planners and forward thinkers to create a sustainable futuristic environment, powered by renewable energy, where people can live, work and play. Heath Park has been adopted as a Liverpool City Region ‘Beacon Project and is one of 35 ethical schemes promoted in the UK Government’s Global Investment Atlas.
The Heath is already an established and thriving centre that is currently home to 120 businesses supporting 2,000 jobs. The vision for Heath Park is to create a Net Zero carbon environment of residential, commercial and retail space to complement the existing Park. There’s also a ground-breaking Vertical Farm, powered by renewable energy, that is focal to the scheme along with plans to introduce the UK’s first Vertical Farming Centre of Excellence.
About SOG Group
SOG Group is one of the UK’s top independent operators of business and science parks and are renowned site regeneration specialists. SOG own The Heath Business and Technical Park in Runcorn, Cheshire, which is home to over 120 individual businesses that between them support the employment of around 2,000 people. Using The Heath business model, SOG created a consultancy operation under the name of ‘Fusion’. SOG’s Fusion team spearheaded the regeneration of a massive site in east London, formerly home to a global pharmaceutical company, where it created Londoneast-uk Business and Technical Park. Until February 2019, SOG operated Londoneast-uk as a sister Park to The Heath before selling it to a company owned by the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham. Through its Fusion concept, SOG helped to generate over £2 billion of inward investment to the Dagenham site regeneration programme.
SOG’s Runcorn operation is a unique example of how a successful science and technology park should operate. Many of the organisations located in the facilities are at the very cutting-edge of scientific R&D, with firms specialising from nanotechnology to carbon emissions research and from pioneering work on hip and knee joint replacements to water and waste-water treatment technology.
As The Heath site has reached full capacity, SOG has embarked on a new build-programme which allows existing fast-growing resident businesses to move out of multi-occupancy units into their own exclusive bespoke buildings, designed and built by SOG’s team. SOG is currently working on the vision to transform The Heath into a Net Zero carbon environment over the next decade through the creation of Heath Park.
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E-mail: paul@paulsmithassociates.co.uk