The BCO Conference in Edinburgh was full of energy and enthusiasm this year, reflecting on a positive past 6 months in the Workplace sector in a thriving capital city.

It started with a superb party at our Edinburgh studio courtyard, with over 200 guests and the Hawkins\Brown team having a fantastic night with lots of food, drink and buzzy vibes.

Once the conference got started, I really enjoyed some great thought leadership and debate, including workshops led by Nick Gaskell on ‘Unlikely Bedfellows’ unlocking development opportunities. Great discussion on many levels – I took away how important the UAL was to the success of the Kings Cross regeneration.

I was also invited by our client at Mission Street to join a panel looking at workplace design in the science and technology sector titled “What’s The Big Idea?” with colleagues from Mission Street, Hoare Lea, Bulb, and the Life Sciences Scotland Industrial Leadership Group. Science and Workplace have always been fascinating to me as a combination, as is the way we are now seeing the celebration of such innovation in far more visible and inner city buildings.

Given the pivotal political shifts taking place in the UK this week, it was great to hear Professor Sir John Curtice of the University of Strathclyde giving his breakdown on political economics, plus viewpoints from BCO President Helen Hare, head of Scotland for JLL Cameron Stott, Mission Street development director Colin Brown and many others.

I’m always grateful to have met many new people and caught up with industry friends at the social events and networking opportunities. The conversation was upbeat and positive; it’s a tight industry network that really can celebrate the great work we all do together.

Congratulations to Andy McBain, in full flow in his role as Conference Chair. It takes a huge amount of work to make these events happen, and Andy really has set a great standard for Paris to follow next year.

Thank you to the BCO for a fantastic week of being together as an industry.