Connected economies

1.5 million new homes in the next five years. Net zero by 2050.
How can stakeholders work together to achieve these ambitious targets in a challenging economic landscape, while creating commercially attractive opportunities for developers and investors?

As part of UKREiiF 2025, Connected Economies brought together industry experts to explore how integrated transport, housing and infrastructure can drive regeneration and unlock sustainable, inclusive growth.

The session offered a fresh take on event formats, using fast-paced, PechaKucha-style presentations to deliver bold thinking, practical insights and real-world examples in a dynamic and engaging way.

Speakers joined us from:

• Rochdale Development Agency (formerly Homes England)
• West Yorkshire Combined Authority
• Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
• Cushman & Wakefield
• Amberside Advisors
• Steer

Who this session was for:

• Developers – Insights on integrated planning and transit-linked development to support approvals and long-term returns.
• Investors – Practical ideas to de-risk projects, identify regeneration opportunities and maximise land value.
• Government organisations – Strategic approaches to aligning spatial planning, transport, and investment frameworks to attract private capital and deliver growth.

Whether you joined us live or couldn’t make it on the day, this is your opportunity to access the conversation shaping the future of connected, sustainable development in the UK.

Meet the speakers

Steph Everett, Head of Regeneration and Development, Rochdale Development Agency (formerly Homes England)

Steph is a passionate planning, regeneration and development leader with over 25 years’ experience in driving forward and unlocking complex growth, renewal and place-shaping in neighbourhoods and town centres. Most recently, she was appointed as a national Design Council Expert, Groundwork Greater Manchester Board Trustee, Future of Greater Manchester Steering Group and Places Matter! Design Review Panel Member, as well as the Chair of the Homes England Shadow Leadership Board.

Stacey White, Head of Place and Consent - Mass Transit Programme, West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA)

Stacey is a qualified Town Planner with 20 years' of industry experience across planning, regeneration, economic development and infrastructure delivery.  Stacey's role in Mass Transit includes leading activities relating to the consenting of the scheme, development of future phase activity, environmental assessment and land and property matters.  Stacey is keen to ensure that West Yorkshire Mass Transit is viewed as a Place proposition that seeks to enable and stimulate economic growth and delivers place-based benefits for the communities that the scheme will serve.

Paul Buntin, Head of Development, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority

Paul took up his current post in April 2024, having previously led transport and housing development at the Combined Authority from 2020. As Head of Development, his role involves strategic engagement and close working with the City Region’s six Local Authorities, national government, partners in business, civic institutions, and the wider community. He is responsible for all housing functions at the Combined Authority, as part of the Strategic Investment and Delivery function. Paul joined the CA from Merseytravel from its inception. Prior to this, he held a number of senior posts at Knowsley Borough Council. He has a proven track record in leading spending review negotiations and was the architect of the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements for the combined authority. He is also developing the housing function to respond to the devolution changes recently announced. 

Ben Pretty, Partner - National Development & Strategic Advisory Team, Cushman & Wakefield

Based in Leeds but operating nationally, Ben has worked within the property, regeneration and economic development sphere since 2007, joining DTZ (now C&W) from a niche economic consultancy practice and before then, he commenced his career at Deloitte. He is a chartered surveyor and a board director of the Institute of Economic Development, and he has an MSc in urban regeneration. Ben leads C&W’s Economic Development & Appraisal practice area nationally and C&W’s work with public and private sector clients in the development and delivery of projects with an economic development focus.  He has undertaken a significant amount of Green Book business case development and appraisal work across all sectors and regularly takes business cases through the MHCLG and HM Treasury decision-making processes. He leads C&W’s role on the Homes England Strategic Research, Economics and Evaluation Framework and is a retained advisor to a number of Mayoral Combined Authorities on devolved funding programmes across housing, regeneration and transport.

Neil Rutledge, Director, Amberside Advisors

Neil has over 25 years of experience in corporate and project finance across various professional services firms. As a trained chartered accountant, he led the financial modelling function in each of those firms, developing a variety of tools to support infrastructure transactions. He spent 6 years delivering regeneration projects with KPMG, before becoming a partner with Grant Thornton’s Government & Infrastructure Advisory team and eventually a Director of Amberside Advisors. Neil’s experience with Amberside Advisors covers advising on over 200 PFI projects, providing financial advice to contracting authorities, project sponsors and lenders. He has helped clients to enter, review, optimise, restructure, refinance and exit PFI and PPP projects across a range of sectors. Neil is also well-versed in SOPC4, Green Book VFM methodologies, and contracting and governance arrangements between public and private sectors. Neil is experienced in supporting investors and public sector agencies to deploy funding at both portfolio and asset levels, for net zero and other infrastructure projects.

Hosted by Nicola Kane, Director, Steer

Nicola has particular expertise in strategic planning, including the development of transport strategies and plans, major scheme business cases, and the integration of land use and transport planning. She is used to working in complex stakeholder and political environments and has recently been appointed to DfT’s Capital Review Panel, advising the Transport Secretary of State on capital investment priorities. Nicola joined Steer in 2022 from Transport for Greater Manchester, where she was Head of Strategic Planning, Insight and Innovation. She led the development of Greater Manchester's fourth local transport plan: Greater Manchester Transport Strategy for 2040 and a supporting Five-year Transport Delivery Plan, which formed the basis of the city region's recent £1bn+ City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement. She also led the development of new policy agendas, including the Streets for All Strategy, a new City Centre Transport Strategy, and Greater Manchester's approach to new and shared mobility and transport decarbonisation.

She is a member of the Institute of Transport Studies (University of Leeds) Advisory Board, the CIHT Professional Skills Committee, and the CIHT Future Transport Visions Steering Group. She previously held roles on the POLIS management committee and the Manchester Climate Change Partnership Board.