OnDemand: The Public Sector Estates Conference 2026
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You can watch all the insights, key sessions, and expert discussions from the Public Sector Estates Conference 2026 by purchasing our OnDemand Event. Access full recordings of every session, including presentations from leading industry speakers, and watch at your own pace.
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- Watch on your own schedule – no need to clear your calendar or worry about time zones
- Learn at your own pace – pause, rewind, and rewatch key moments to fully absorb the content
- Get instant access after purchase to expert insights and curated content, perfect for industry professionals who want high-value content OnDemand
2026 Overview
The UK public estate now comprises 203,300 assets across 159.5 million m², valued at £191.5 billion, a growing portfolio that must deliver more under rising cost pressures. With annual running costs now exceeding £25.6 billion, and increasing demand for flexible, efficient and sustainable infrastructure, public sector leaders face a critical challenge: how to reconfigure the estate to support service delivery, achieve net zero, and unlock long-term value.
2026 Strategic Partners
2026 Supporters Included
2026 Agenda
Registration
Chair’s Opening Remarks
Laura Boutle, Managing Director, Navigate Public Estate Consulting
Keynote: Public Estates with Purpose: Rethinking Value, Impact and Legacy
- Reframing public estates as enablers of service delivery, community value and national priorities, not just physical assets to be maintained
- Maximising value from existing assets through smarter use, reconfiguration and active portfolio management to support changing needs and deliver long-term public benefit
- Consolidating and rationalising estate portfolios to reduce costs, release surplus land, and improve outcomes while supporting regeneration and place-based goals
- Using data and digital tools to guide estate planning and track performance, enabling more informed decisions and better long-term investment
- Embedding climate resilience and net zero into all estate decisions to ensure public assets support sustainability targets and future-proof operations
- Driving a coordinated, cross-government property strategy by aligning central departments, agencies and local partners around shared goals and constraints
Dave Sweeney, Associate Director of Sustainability and Partnerships, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside
Keynote: Net Zero & Sustainable Estates by 2030: Climate Resilience and Energy Saving Across the Public Estate
- Assessing the scale of the challenge for decarbonising public buildings by 2030, including emissions targets, legacy estate constraints and regulatory demands
- Exploring retrofit strategies and funding options such as the Re:Fit 5 framework to upgrade energy performance at scale
- Examining the role of smart energy monitoring and digital tools in tracking progress, informing investment, and supporting real-time efficiency improvements
- Understanding compliance with updated UK government frameworks, including PAS 2038 and the Greening Government Commitments
- Showcasing how local authorities and departments are building climate resilience as part of whole-estate sustainability plans
- Reflecting on real-world delivery challenges, from inflation and rising operating costs to skills gaps and long-term planning uncertainty
Jon Rattenbury, Director Climate, Local Partnerships
Key Supporter Session
Speed Meets Security: The Power of Property Auctions
- Speed and security of sale
- Localised expertise
- Evolution of the industry
- Matching terms with circumstance
Oliver Prior, Managing Director, Auction House
Questions and Answers
Comfort Break
Case Study: Unlocking Value from Underused Assets
- Unlocking asset value through disposals and strategic rationalisation to reduce operating costs and generate capital receipts
- Repurposing underused properties to support modern service delivery and align estate use with evolving public needs
- Facilitating community asset transfers to empower local organisations and deliver place-based outcomes
- Releasing surplus land to enable housing development and regeneration that supports local economic growth
- Forming public-private partnerships (PPPs) and local development vehicles to unlock funding, expertise and delivery capacity
- Adopting innovative, forward-thinking estate strategies to improve efficiency, reduce costs and create long-term public value
Joe Garrod, Strategic Director of Place, London Borough of Waltham Forest
Key Supporter Session
From Spare Room to Income Stream: Activating Your Assets to Venue for Hire
- An overview of the current landscape for council owned community assets in the UK, including the scale and cost of underused spaces
- Why SpacetoCo chose to launch in the UK in 2025 and how the platform supports true activation of community venues
- What successful activation looks like in practice, from reducing customer service enquiries to increasing bookings, access and revenue
- A real world case study demonstrating impact, followed by Q&A and the opportunity to see the platform in action
Jessica Davies, UK Lead, SpacetoCo
Hannah Yorke, Business Development Manager, SpacetoCo
Questions and Answers
Lunch Break
Case Study: Creating Youth-First, Community-Rooted Spaces
- Overview of youth charity OnSide and the network of 18 state-of-the-art Youth Zones across the country
- OnSide’s approach to designing new Youth Zones and the relationship built over time with John Puttick Associates in delivering high quality youth facilities
- Impact created by Youth Zones with young people, the community and across towns/cities
- Case study of Horizon Youth Zone in Grimsby: developing local partnerships and embedding in the community to ensure the new Youth Zone is a success
Clare Kanakides, Director of Operations, OnSide
Case Study: Horizon Youth Zone
Set at the heart of Grimsby Town, a collection of Grade-II Listed Victorian warehouses facing the River Freshney have been refurbished to create a new Youth Zone for young people of the area.
Key themes include:
- Regenerating an important site at the heart of Grimsby, activating the town centre
- Creating activities for young people including social spaces, arts and maker workshops, performance and music spaces, as well as sports and fitness facilities
- A complex mix of restoration, re-building, and new buildings to celebrate the architectural heritage and bring exciting contemporary design to the site
- Improving the thermal performance of the existing structures, reducing embodied carbon in new construction and integrating renewables to achieve sustainability within cost constraints
John Puttick, Director, John Puttick Associates
Questions and Answers
Comfort Break
Keynote: Redesigning the Estate: Navigating Change, Cost and Complexity
- Navigating complexity by aligning estate planning with wider public service reform and regional devolution
- Rationalising and reconfiguring estate portfolios to reduce costs and improve operational efficiency
- Adapting estate strategy to hybrid working, changing user needs and new service delivery models
- Leveraging data, analytics and digital tools to drive better decision-making and asset performance to optimise occupancy, cut energy use, and identify opportunities for reinvestment
- Embedding sustainability, energy transition and safety into the core of estate transformation
- Building leadership capability and delivery confidence across the sector to manage complexity at pace
Matthew Dibben, Director of Regeneration, Growth and Investment, Lambeth Council
Case Study: Building the Future Estates Workforce: Skills, Leadership and Talent for a Changing Sector
- Upskilling estates professionals to meet the demands of net zero, digital transformation and modern construction methods
- Attracting and retaining talent by redefining public sector estates careers with clear progression, purpose and professional development
- Building leadership capability at all levels to deliver complex estate transformation in fast-changing policy and economic environments
- Expanding training, apprenticeships and entry routes to strengthen the pipeline of diverse, multidisciplinary talent
- Embedding diversity, equity and inclusion in estates recruitment and workforce development strategies across central and local government
- Fostering collaboration between departments, agencies and professional bodies to create a shared vision for estates workforce capability
Damian Cross, Director of Land and Property – GMCA, Greater Manchester Combined Authority
Questions and Answers
Chair’s Closing Remarks
Laura Boutle, Managing Director, Navigate Public Estate Consulting
Conference Close
Pricing Options
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2026 Speakers
Jon Rattenbury
Director Climate
Local Partnerships
Damian Cross
Director Land & Property
Greater Manchester Combined Authority
Clare Kanakides
Director of Operations
OnSide
John Puttick
Director
John Puttick Associates
Dave Sweeney
Associate Director of Sustainability and Partnerships
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside
Matthew Dibben
Director of Regeneration, Growth and Investment
Lambeth Council
Joe Garrod
Strategic Director of Place
London Borough of Waltham Forest
Oliver Prior
Managing Director
Auction House
Hannah Yorke
Business Development Manager
SpacetoCo
Jessica Davies
UK Lead
SpacetoCo
Laura Boutle
Managing Director
Navigate Public Estate Consulting Limited
Testimonials
‘Great event covering a broad range of Public Sector estates examples and focus, with good speakers with live examples showing learnings and outcomes’
‘Great event covering a broad range of Public Sector estates examples and focus, with good speakers with live examples showing learnings and outcomes’
‘Excellent overview of differing approaches taken to common problems’
‘Highly topical areas of discussion for Local Authorities and the wider Public Sector’
