By Paul Norman
CoStar News
15 August 2023 | 14:37
Revo, retail real estate’s representative body, has dusted itself down after the shock of both the ecommerce boom and the pandemic and rebooted as a “new kind of industry body, run by the industry and for the industry”, it said.
The refresh comes three years into a rethink that began in December 2020 when the organisation, for most of its life known as the British Council of Shopping Centres, said it was reducing its remit to become an organisation run on a voluntary basis by its members.
Then-chair Tim Vallance at JLL told members the “unparalleled impact” of the pandemic on Revo’s revenues meant that it was no longer in a position to operate its previous, comprehensive agenda of conferences and events but would continue with a simplified programme.
As part of that, the British Property Federation created a new retail board within the BPF that focused on advocacy for the sector, particularly at government level.
With its previous heavy focus on lobbying put to one side, a much slimmer Revo has been reshaped to take in leisure and placemaking, and the team is ready to tell CoStar News how it works for the 400 organisations and 1,500 individuals across multiple property disciplines that it represents. Members include CBRE, British Land, TfL, McArthur Glen, architecture practices, research houses, marketeers and build consultants.