UKREiiF departure: real estate event shows Leeds is ready to host major political conference

UKREiiF organisers have announced that next year will be the last to be held in Leeds, with the conference moving to Liverpool from 2028.

The success of UKREiiF in Leeds has shown that the city is ready to host a major party conference in the coming years, business leaders have said, despite the real estate event’s departure to Liverpool from 2028.

The UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum has been based at the Royal Armouries since it launched four years ago.

It has grown from some 2,000 attendees at the start to 16,000 in May, with then-Chancellor Rachel Reeves addressing the conference.

However, the organisers have announced that next year will be the last to be held in Leeds, with the conference moving to Liverpool from 2028.

The organisers have said that “without the region and the people within it the event wouldn’t have been as successful”.

While the departure is undoubtedly an economic blow to the city, Mark Casci, of the West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, has said it has shown that Leeds is ready to host even bigger events like the major political parties’ conferences.

The Royal Armouries is currently undergoing a £100m redevelopment project that would more than double the museum's existing conference and events facilities.

Mr Casci said: “Leeds has been a brilliant host city for UKREiiF and really shown the city can handle massive events like this with five figures worth of people.

“I don’t think it was ever intended to stay here permanently.”

He said the expansion of the Royal Armouries as a conference centre would be a “game changer” for the region.

“Being able to stage something like a party political conference would be far more valuable than UKREiiF was, and it raises the prospect that it could come back at some point.”

One of the real estate forum’s original founders, Keith Griffiths is bringing The Entrepreneurship Festival to the Royal Armouries from next year, which he believes has the potential to grow even larger the UKREiiF.

However, the move is a blow to mayor Tracy Brabin’s plans to introduce a tourism tax in West Yorkshire.

She has repeatedly cited UKREiiF as a reason to bring in a European-style overnight visitor levy.

Ms Brabin recently told The Yorkshire Post: “Just think about those hundreds of thousands of people over the last few years.

“They're being paid by their business to come - they could afford for a fiver.”

Speaking about the announcement, Ms Brabin said: ““We have loved having UKREiiF in Leeds, it was born here, and I hope it comes back home soon.”