Contributors
WBD is proud to have supported the Government Property Conference 2019 (14 February) which took place in the QEII Centre, Westminster.
The conference focused on an overall theme of the transformation of the public estate and allowed for the exploration of creative and innovative ideas, whilst ensuring that delegates received insight into the current trajectory of Government Property as part of the Government Estate Strategy 2018.
The conference brought together more than 300 senior figures from across all parts of the public and private sectors and unpicked the key trends that will affect the property industry over the next 10 years. WBD's real estate partner, Jonathan Bower, chaired a session on how the public estate is evolving and developing a culture of innovation to meet the challenges it will undoubtedly face.
The plenary session featured senior, high profile, property strategists and practitioners. A series of informative breakout sessions also took place, each of which provided an opportunity to dig deeper into different areas, themes and types of estate, and explored how delegates and their organisations might respond to the challenges and opportunities. The sessions were led by a mix of public and private sector representatives which boosted engagement and interaction.
Jonathan Bower, comments:
"I was delighted to chair a session at this year's Government Property Conference which provided insight into developing a culture of innovation in the public sector. WBD has a strong track record advising Central and Local Government bodies, and other public sector organisations. We have a deep understanding of the governance and scrutiny requirements that clients must comply with, and the challenges they face against ever increasing constraints on budget and resource. This was a great opportunity for us to share our expertise and experience with the onboarding of the Ministry of Justice shared estates services contract."
Casey Whitehorn, Project Manager at WBD, comments
"We have developed a technologically led solution on a single platform driving efficiency and value for the government departments. Our investment in the onboarding of the relationship using market leading software has transformed our service delivery and the experience for Ministry of Justice on a strategically important mandate."
Ranking in the UK's top 20 law firms, WBD provides legal expertise from across eight offices in the UK, including London and 19 offices in the US. The firm has a wealth of experience in the public sector and is a legal adviser to the UK Government's Crown Commercial Service (CCS) for Central Government Departments, Agencies and Arms' Length Bodies and for the wider public sector.
