U and I : It's time to reimagine our High Streets

At U+I, we are great believers in partnership, and so we are delighted to be working with BPF Futures and the One Public Estate programme, led by the Office of Government Property and Local Government Association, to launch a new Challenge.

A Challenge that aims to put real estate's future leaders and the Public Sector's next generation of professionals at the heart of the issues facing our towns and cities. Visit the Challenge website here: https://futures-challenge.com/

We launched this Challenge last week at our offices and were delighted to host Oliver Dowden MP and panellists from a range of backgrounds for an opinionated and passionate debate on the health of our high streets and the challenges and opportunities our urban centres face.

Much of the renaissance we have seen in towns and cities across the UK in the last decade has been delivered by enlightened and genuine partnerships; the coming together of developer, the public sector and the local community with a shared vision and purpose. The power of this kind of collaboration was echoed by Janet Young, Government Chief Property Officer at the Cabinet Office, who reminded our audience of how the choices we make about public estate can be a catalyst for wider public benefit.

Matthew Weiner kicked off the day by focusing on the importance of partnerships.