I was delighted to welcome Jon Lovell, former head of our global real estate sustainability practice, to our recent Deloitte Midlands Real Estate Dinner. Alongside more than 30 of the region's leading figures in the sector, Jon and the guests discussed a variety of topics from urban futures, sustainable development and responsible business, to the slightly more surprising (and yet informative) topic of West Midlands heavy metal bands.

As the evening progressed, one point I found particularly interesting during the discussions was how for some, the volume of rhetoric around innovation in the property sector doesn't yet seem to equate with actual change. One attendee added that "Industry, despite its intentions, still isn't reacting quickly or strongly enough to the risks and opportunities of environmental, technological and societal change".

And as Jon himself said on the evening; "I have yet to come across a client that doesn't demand that their project team drive down development cost; it's more or less synonymous with the culture of the industry. Could you imagine if as much gusto was given to demanding better performance and impact from the supply chain too."

One area that is clearly changing, and at speed, is the development of and commitment to, greener, healthier and more agile workplaces – especially relevant for us in Birmingham as the City and the wider region continues to attract major relocations. We polled our audience at the event, which included banks, investors and developers, and an overwhelming response (95%) said they expect to see more significant moves from London to Birmingham in the next 12 months. This follows the much publicised announcement by HSBC to relocate its UK retail headquarters here by 2018.

Relocations such as this were also reflected in the region's property industry leaders' support of the Government's plans to devolve more power to English cities. A topic that I'm sure will play a major part in our next annual dinner, and in many events and discussions over the coming months.  More so than Black Sabbath perhaps?

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