On this podcast recording of our recent Urbano speaker panel breakfast, you will hear from directors of member businesses from different sectors which do business internationally. On this pod, they share their experiences and offer advice on how to set up in Europe, including Ireland and Italy, the USA, Middle East and even Ukraine. They cover sectors including media, film & TV, construction and property related services, and cover issues such as regulations and taxation.

You will also hear about the power of an individual connection to create opportunities, which is the essence of what we help to facilitate at Urbano.

This event and podcast are sponsored by CAMA Assetstore, which provides sustainable storage solutions to film and TV production companies in the UK, USA and Europe. CAMA Director Michelle French opens with the news of CAMA receiving the King’s Award For Enterprise: Sustainable Business

To be part of our next event and to find out more about Urbano, please visit our website www.urbanonetwork.co.uk

At our most recent Urbano speaker panel event, we brought together a cross-section of member and other companies to look at how they can show their commitment beyond making a profit.

Most small business directors and owners share a belief that their companies should be kind to their employees, support their communities, and have the minimal impact on the environment. They are also generous supporters of charities and charitable projects. 

Without the resources that larger companies enjoy, demonstrating purpose can be costly and complex for SMEs. Social value - the measurement used by the government and its agencies to measure such activities for tenders - can appear onerous and dissuade smaller companies from tendering. Measuring sustainability can be challenging. B Corp certification divides many and is introducing new scoring that will stretch smaller businesses. CSR. ESG. EDI. The list goes on and on.

Our panel for this event was Michelle French - Director at CAMA AssetStore, who works with many leading production houses in film and TV, Steve Drury, Director at Rooff Construction, whose role includes leading on social value as part of the company's ethos and its tender submissions and Ben Schneider, Founder of IT Guys, a B Corp certified company. The discussion between the panellists and contributions from the audience was facilitated by Mark Herring, Urbano’s Connector-In-Chief.

This event was hosted at workplace designers SAGAL's showroom in Clerkenwell and sponsored by CAMA AssetStore. Urbano is supported by Stewart Title, which offers insurance solutions to the residential and commercial property sectors.

Our speakers for this event were Sofie Pelsmakers and Ming Hu. 

Sofie Pelsmakers first spoke at an Urbano Zero Carbon/Build & UWACTE event in 2013, following the publication of her book The Environmental Design Pocket (now on it's 2nd edition!). 

An expert in sustainable design and architecture, she is co-founder of Architecture for Change, a not-for-profit environmental building and research organisation, with the mission of challenging the way we design and build. 

She is now Assistant Professor of Sustainable Housing Design/Architecture at Tampere University in Finland and is co-author of the new book, Everything Needs to Change: Architecture and the Climate Emergency from RIBA Publishing. 

Joining Sofie on this special event was Ming Hu, Assistant Professor at School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, University of Maryland. 

Ming specialises in high-performance building design, parametric modelling, Life Cycle assessment and building performance measurement. Ming is author of Net Zero Energy Building: Predicted and Unintended Consequences. 

Ming & Sofie explored the theme of 'Zero Carbon in Architecture & Construction: Challenges and Unintended Consequences' and offer us a global perspective on how different countries address the need to meet Paris Agreement climate change commitments.

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Presenting this session, which examines newly opened The Spine building, is Robert Hopkins, Regional Director of AHR, the award-winning architecture and building consultancy practice - and Urbano Network members. 

Robert is design/project lead on The Spine, the new northern home for the Royal College of Physicians in Liverpool, which aims to be one of the healthiest workplace environments in the world when it opens its doors in May 2021. Biophilia is at the heart of AHR's approach to the design of The Spine and the building has been designed adhering to WELL Standard principles. 

Robert discusses how biophilia and other innvovations around workplace wellness and design have informed The Spine's design and construction. 

About our speaker 
Robert has over twenty years’ experience in the design of award winning buildings and delivery of several large and complex education projects in the UK and internationally. Robert is lead on the design of The Spine, the new £35m northern headquarters for the Royal College of Physicians in Liveropool which incorporates biophilic design features to create an inspirational workspace.

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London, perhaps more than any other of Britain, has seen the slowest rate of economic activity compared to 2019 and the City of London has not yet returned to previous levels of office-based working.

This event was a look at the future of London and the City with Catherine McGuinness, Chair of the Policy & Resources Committee of the Corporation of London.

Catherine shares the Corporation of London's and her personal vision for the City and London as part of a post-Brexit and post-Covid Britain. A unique chance to share, shape and align your company's future relationship with the financial heart of the UK with a key policy maker.

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"Thousands of small businesses to benefit from new government buying rules, boosting local jobs, growth and innovation"

This headline was published by the UK government to highlight its priorities for the new Procurement Act, including “driving economic growth and strengthening supply chains by giving SMEs.. a fair chance" of winning a larger share of direct tenders and places on project supply chains.

As Urbano Network, we have been helping bring SMEs into procurement by creating business communities to engage business owners and encourage collaboration, drive innovation and create real new business opportunities through training and explaining the benefits of becoming a supplier to the public sector.

This podcast is a recording of our recent Urbano speaker panel event, where  representatives from AECOM, Peabody, Mace, and Trowers & Hamlins and an audience of SMEs discuss the impact of the new rules and policies.

Please email feedback etc to [email protected]

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Urbano hosts regular speaker networking breakfasts on topics of interest to our SME membership and audience which we release as podcasts following each event.

In this episode,  Dr Armando Castro, Associate Professor at The Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, kicks off the session, along with Dr Kell Jones as they discuss the key findings of the newly released publication , ESG in the Real Estate Finance Industry.

The post presentation discussion features a cross section of the event's attendees and is facilitated by Urbano's Connector-In-Chief Mark Herring.

The event was hosted by Urbano Members Seddons and Urbano gratefully acknowledges the community support of Stewart Title, which offers insurance cover against losses arising from title related risks in property transactions.

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Talent Lab brought together three very knowledgeable and experienced bid professionals to share their experiences on working on mega and major client bids. The discussion led on to what would improve the process - and ultimately help create winning submissions, including whether the bid stages most companies follow are fit for purpose.

Panel:

• Caroline Brock, Director, Talent Lab
• Mike Raynor, Raynor Bid Consultancy
• Samantha Burns, Head of Bid Management and Direction, EiB

Facilitated by Mark Herring, Director, Talent Lab 
and Producer of the Urbano Network Only Connect Podcast

Also available as a video: https://vimeo.com/902956885

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Recording of Urbano Network speaker networking event with Will Hurst, Managing Editor of the Architects' Journal to discuss its Retrofirst campaign.  Following Will's presentation, various attendees - mostly professionals from across the built environment sectors - offered their own perspective and experiences on the challenges faced in prioritising retrofit over client's narrow, profit-first demands.

Chaired and facilitated by Mark Herring, Urbano's Connector-In-Chief.

Hosted by Trowers & Hamlins.  Urbano Network, The Sustainable Business Network,  is supported by Stewart Title, Rift R&D, & Talent Lab Ltd

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Since Urbano began in 2011, we have had a proud track record of championing opportunities for women, and our UWACTE (Urbano Women In Architecture, Construction, Technology & Engineering*) community helps women in Urbano member firms to develop and enhance their connections across our network

Joining Mark Herring, our Connector-In-Chief at Urbano is our guest speaker - Nicola Gillen - EMEA Lead, Total Workplace at Cushman & Wakefield.

GUEST SPEAKER & PRESENTATION

Nicola Gillen - EMEA Lead, Total Workplace at Cushman & Wakefield 

Nicola specialises in the relationship between design, people, behaviour and the built environment and is widely recognised within the industry as a leading authority on workplace strategy, design and behaviour change management.

Nicola has 25 years’ experience delivering workplace strategy and innovation internationally. An architect and author, she is lead author of RIBA's guide ‘Future Office’.

Nicola’s presentation will be drawn on the ‘Future Office’ and her work as co-author of another RIBA publication ‘ReThink Design Guide for a Post Pandemic world’ (published in January 2021), an innovative design guide with expert guidance on designing in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic.

Nicola will also share insights into how employees are coping right now through Cushman & Wakefield’s unrivaled bespoke Experience per Square Foot™ a data-driven initiative that captures information from thousands of respondents in over 100 countries designed to measure what matters most to employees. @CushWakeUK

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