Twice the size of the financial services sector and four times the size of the creative industries, the built environment sector in the UK is a power sector that’s been hiding in plain sight.

Working in partnership with GLA Economics, LSE and Polygon Place Strategy we’ve recently worked to understand who are the people shaping our city, what are the skills needed to shape the city of the future, and what actions need to be taken to ensure we have a diverse workforce in order to face the challenges facing the sector now and in the future.

In this first Coffee Conversation of the year, we will unpack these questions, and understand the role we each have to play in this ecosystem - from architects, engineers and students to those in construction, planning, real estate and more. We will kick off with a short overview of the topic before diving into a discussion.

Coffee Conversations are about demystifying the built environment sector, sparking conversation across ages and sectors, helping build soft skills, confidence, and new ways of seeing the city - without it feeling like a formal workshop or networking session. People will be able to select a sticker at the start which identifies the level to which they want to engage in the conversation, from sharing thoughts to being a listener in the conversation.