The announcement
Liverpool Experience Campus (LEX) announced on 1 October 2026 that it will become the home of UKREiiF from 2028 under a multi-year agreement. The release describes UKREiiF as the UK’s largest real estate, investment and infrastructure event. It says the event launched in 2022, now attracts more than 17,000 delegates a year and has helped facilitate more than £4 billion of investment discussions and regeneration opportunities.
The bid was developed by LEX with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Liverpool City Council and Liverpool BID Company. Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, thanked Leeds and West Yorkshire for hosting the event and building it into what it is today.
Why the venue says it fits
LEX points to the combination of indoor event space and outdoor waterfront space on one interconnected campus, which includes a convention centre, an exhibition centre, an auditorium and the M&S Bank Arena. It presents that flexibility as room for the event to keep growing. The release does not publish a floor plan or say how the event will use the campus.
The campus has recent experience of running a single event across every building. LEX says the 2026 Labour Party Conference took over the entire waterfront campus and that the party will return in 2027 for a sixth consecutive year.
What changes for regular attendees
A move of city is a bigger change than a move of hall. Delegates who have built a routine around one city need new travel and accommodation plans. Exhibitors need to check whether their usual stand builders and logistics suppliers work in Liverpool, and at what cost. Fringe events that grew up around the host city will have to find new venues or decide whether to follow at all.
For anyone budgeting for the event, two figures matter most: hotel rates during event week and the cost of stand build and logistics in the new city. The release gives neither. It says the event is expected to bring significant economic benefit to the city region, which is a forecast for the destination, not a measure of value for participants.
What is still unknown
- The 2028 dates and how the event will be laid out across the campus.
- Where the 2027 edition will be held; the release does not say.
- How much of the programme will use the outdoor waterfront space, and what the plan is in bad weather.
Our desk assessment of Liverpool Experience Campus sets out the questions for an event that needs the whole site, and our analysis of recent UK bid wins looks at the partnerships behind moves like this one. The venue is profiled at Liverpool Experience Campus.
Sources
- Liverpool Experience Campus: new home of UKREiiF in landmark multi-year agreement, 1 October 2026
- Liverpool Experience Campus: sixth consecutive Labour Party Conference, 1 October 2026
Sources read on 19 October 2026. Delegate and investment figures are those given in the venue’s release.
