Urbano Networking Podcast

We were delighted to welcome Penny Gowler, Director and Head of Sustainability at Elliott Wood to act as our guide to offer illumination and clarity on some key questions: What do we mean by net-zero carbon, carbon-neutral, embedded carbon, the life cycle of a building, carbon footprint, sustainability, retrofit, circular economy and reuse vs recycling? Can you compare and measure different materi...

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 Lo...

Simon is a founding director of global architecture practice, Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) where he leads a design studio of 200 architects. Simon is a frequent writer, critic and advisor, a visiting professor at Harvard, a trustee of the London School of Architecture and the Chickenshed Theatres Trust. In 2020, Simon was elected the next president of the Royal Institute of British Architec...

https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/news/greening-historic-homes/ Using the report as a starting point, we look at the specific challenges around retrofitting in historic and listed buildings, and traditional homes - especially those in conservation areas - where owners are looking to install heating and power systems in line with government targets to reduce zero carbon emissions. About our...

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 w...

Urbano has championed green and sustainable business practices since 2002 in Shoreditch where we created our first networking community. To achieve the targets in the Paris Agreement will involve more collaboration, more engagement, and a different way of measuring profitability.  Urbano has highlighted and supported environmental awareness in business since 2002 and support organisations like the...

Following the recent next step of the road map to the end of lockdown, hospitality venues have been allowed to serve people outdoors and subject to other Covid measures, including social distancing. This Wednesday, we will bring together those who manage and market venues to look ahead to get a picture of what the summer will look like. Leading our speaker panel will be Katie Avon, Director of Mar...

The Government has published the draft guidance which accompanies the January 2021 consultation on the Future Buildings Standard, Part L and Part F of the Building Regulations and how amendments to regulations and documents will affect new commercial and existing residential property, including refurbishments and extensions.  Our guest for this session was Owen Edwards, Technical and Training Dire...

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 rese...

This event examines changes to the Future Homes Standard, including Approved Documents for Part F, L and guidance on overheating in residential buildings (new and existing).  This presentation also looked at how the changes to Building Regulations will address the next stages in the promised journey towards zero carbon in construction. The guest for this session was Geoff Wilkinson , Managing Dire...

In 2021, two important changes are set to advance the opportunities for smaller companies to win work through public sector tenders. The first is the Social Value Framework which went live on January 1st, and other is the Green Paper on Transforming Public Procurement out for consultation until March 10th. Our panellists are Ben Carpenter, Chief Executive of Social Value UK, the professional body...

As President Biden takes his oath of office on this day, we would like to use such an event to bring together different US and British companies to hear from someone at the sharp edge of future planning a city and to see what issues are shared with London. There will also be facilitated networking and plenty of chance to chat and connect. Joy Sinderbrand, the Vice President for NYCHA's Recove...

For this free event, Mark will is joined by a panel of Urbano Member architects to discuss the outlook for architecture in 2021, including industry trends, their approach to sustainability, both in terms of the economy and commitments to zero carbon, and the Built Environment as a whole.  In a lively session, all sizes and practice specialities of architect practices are represented on the panel:...

Facilitated by Mark Herring , Urbano's Connector-In-Chief, our Urbano Engage Speaker Panel events use an interactive format to examine key themes of interest to business. For this event, we are pleased to partner with Cityzenith to look at Digital Twins, a market set to be worth $50Bn by 2026,  and how smart technology that connects areas and systems like maintenance, energy consumption, spac...

Facilitated by Mark Herring , Urbano's Connector-In-Chief, our Urbano Engage Speaker Panel events use an interactive format to examine key themes of interest to business. For this event, we are partnering with Urbano Members , Sakura Business Solutions and its Founder/Managing Director, Damian Connolly . With offices in London and Dublin, Sakura and Damian are ideally positioned to both under...

For this event, Mark Herring, Urbano's Connector-In-Chief is joined by  Robert Kelly, Commercial Business Development Manager at Stewart Title UK , a leading provider of title insurance & real estate services. Robert kicks off this panel event by examining regulatory changes on permitted development and other factors that will affect housing and analysis of markets following previous stam...

Aitch Group was founded by Hackney born Henry Smith in 1995, and in those 25 years has developed a reputation as a leading property developer in London. Built upon strong values, Aitch Group has an unwavering commitment to developing stylish and innovative spaces that allow people and communities to thrive. Our speaker, Laurence Quail, a Property & Planning Expert, leads us through the history...

This event with EQ Investors is timed for the publication of the 2020 edition of their annual review of Impact Investing and how it has benefitted in key areas like waste reduction, zero carbon technology, alternative energy, access to mobile technology, healthcare and elsewhere. The event features guest speakers, Louisiana Salge, EQ's resident Impact Specialist and Dale Scorer, a Chartered F...

As Covid sees a lot of people appraise what they want from their working lives - or have had this decision forced up them - we want to help those starting their own companies to learn from the experiences of a wide range of Urbano Members who founded and now own succesful companies from across all sectors. Mark Herring, Urbano's Connector-In-Chief, will be asking each of them to share the key...

SPEAKERS Debra Spurway – HR Dept Debra is a Director at The HR Dept London City & Central and Somerset leading a team providing employment law and human resources support to small and medium sized companies. An Associate CIPD with over 20 years' experience, Debra provides advice on employment contracts, HR policies and procedures, offsite advice and on site assistance with Disciplinary &a...

On Sunday May 10th, the UK Prime Minister laid out the government's plan and timetable for putting the country back to work whilst still fighting the effects of the Covid-19 virus on the country. This event looked at how the new regulations/advisory elements will need to be addressed by employers with workforces in office environments. Our speaker panel line-up featured office/workplace desig...

Deborah's presentation with Urbano Network examined the performance of different materials from an environmental/zero carbon perspective alongside other elements of process and production affecting sustainability across construction. Support the show

Our speaker, Laurence Quail, a Property & Planning Expert, leads an audience of companies from across the Build sectors through the background and approach of Aitch Group with particular focus on how 2020 planning proposals will affect London residential development and  sustainability in construction. Hosted and facilitated by Mark Herring, Urbano's Connector-In-Chief. For more informati...

Urbano Zero Carbon Programme online speaker breakfast with Emily Hamilton, Associate Director - Sustainability at Grosvenor Group - May 2020. Support the show

What is R&D Tax Relief? This online event was held in August 2020 and features Julie Barry, Head of Business Development at Rift R&D talking what kind of business activities qualify under R&D tax relief and what costs can be recovered.  After Julie's presentation, there is a panel discussion with two companies who have used Rift to make a successful claim and then some questions f...