Manchester Retrofit Summit

You are here: News > Manchester Retrofit Summit

Delivering retrofit at-scale

Tuesday, 22 March 2022 – Thursday, 24 March 2022
Online Sessions: daily 08:45 -to 12:00 hours

With a target of becoming zero carbon by 2038 in Greater Manchester, housing retrofit is key to achieving that ambition. Join the Low Carbon Homes retrofit event over the mornings of 22–24 March 2022 for daily online sessions and hear from Manchester’s and the UK’s low carbon leaders to discover how the city is planning to lead the way.

You’ll be able to see examples of completed retrofit projects and hear about scalable approaches in the social housing and private sectors.  Learn more about the plans to meet the skills, supply chain and financial challenges we all currently face, and the innovative solutions being developed in the market to meet those challenges.

Daily sessions are held online each morning between 08:45 to 12:00 hrs and are free to attend. At the sessions, expect to:

  • Hear focused talks from some of the city’s and UK’s leading retrofit experts and practitioners
  • Get the latest on retrofit best-practice, research and case-studies, local policy and future projects
  • Network with attendees and local stakeholders
  • Join live discussions and Q&As with speakers

Speakers include:

  • Councillor Tracey Rawlins, Executive Member for Environment, Manchester City Council
  • Michael Wilton, Chair, Manchester Climate Change Partnership
  • Oliver Baker, CEO, Ambion Heating
  • Simon Brown, Heat Pump Specialist, Panasonic
  • Judy Noah, Interim Director of Development, One Manchester
  • Jonathan Atkinson, Director, People Powered Retrofit
  • Todd Holden, Energy Policy and Programmes Lead, GMCA
  • Councillor Gavin White, Executive Member for Housing and Employment, Manchester City Council
  • Chris Hawker, Co-Director, Hawkland Ecological Construction
  • Jenny Osborne, CEO, TPAS
  • Lewis Aird, Specification BDM, Stelrad Radiator Group
  • Iain Carr, Area Sales Manager, Kensa Contracting
  • Joe Crolla, Skills Intelligence Lead, GMCA
  • Tricia Allen, Work and Skills Specialist, Manchester City Council
  • Chris Wright, Assistant Principal: Curriculum, The Manchester College
  • Jeff Bowcock, Green Employment & Skills Partnerships, One Manchester
  • Andy Burnham, Mayor, Greater Manchester Combined Authority
  • Marissa Looby, Home Energy Lead (Local Energy North West Hub), Liverpool City Region CA
  • Matt Harrison, Programme Director, Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, BEIS
  • Adam Whitworth, Supply Chain Officer, People Powered Retrofit
  • Marcos Navarro, Director, Sustainability Lead, NatWest Group
  • Emma Lower, CEO, Lendology

Registration

Registration for this event is now open and will close at 4pm, Monday 21st March.

Find out more

Take action…

To make a big change, we must all take small actions. Becoming greener and making an impact is easier than you might think. We have put together a range of blogs, articles, toolkits and checklists to help you make a start.

Explore resources

Although we set out with a simple mission to reduce plastic waste, we’ve quickly realised that it’s just one piece in the sustainability puzzle. One of the biggest, but most easily attainable actions we can achieve is to look at where our goods come from and reduce the carbon footprint needed to get a product from manufacturer to consumer. Many of the products we stock are made by local, independent manufactures, who provide us with a wide range of things from reusable face wipes, wax food wraps, face coverings, soap bars, plant pots, kitchen cloths/sponges and butty bags.

Carl from Lentils and Lather

Our aim is to start changing the habits of families in Greater Manchester by getting them to ‘borrow’ rather than ‘buy’ brand new toys. We’re making sure that toys can be reused again and again by children who need and want them – and they are not just sitting in a cupboard or under someone’s bed.

Kim from That Toy Thing

The best part of upcycling is that old furniture is often better made than the equivalent flat-packed furniture we get today and with a little bit of time, love and care, you can create a completely unique piece of furniture for your home that no one else will have. I also love that these pieces of furniture have a history of their own and through transforming and updating them we can breathe a new lease of life into them.

Hannah from Tread Softly

The Green Recovery Challenge Fund is providing a further boost to the ambitions of the Great Manchester Wetlands Partnership to create a thriving, inspirational and connected landscape. It supports the recovery of wildlife through habitat creation and improvement as well as community recovery through providing opportunities for local people to develop skills, knowledge and beneficial connections to their local natural environment.

Jo Kennedy, Coordinator of the Great Manchester Wetlands Partnership

The reason I signed up to the Green Homes Grant scheme was two-fold, selfishly the measures will add value to the properties and make them more valuable in the future. But more importantly it benefits the tenants, keeping them warmer and prevents problems like damp and condensation. Ultimately measures like external wall insulations should keep tenants happier and ensure they remain in the house for longer.

Neil, Rochdale property owner

We used to think we didn’t have enough time to shop on our local market because we were working; how wrong we were?  We discovered it is an amazing place to shop for plastic free. We swapped tea bags for tea leaves and coffee jars for beans which we buy from The Market Grounds on Ashton Market – well worth a visit as the homemade cakes are delicious. All the stall holders have been amazing, not one of them minds us taking our containers to be filled with meat from the butchers. We get our bread, cheese, fruit and veg from the market too.

Julie from Ashton-under-Lyne

Kat Mulhall, Events Manager at Victoria Baths Trust in Manchester

Although becoming carbon neutral is important to our organisation, it’s a lot of work for a small team to put the measures into place. The Journey to Net Zero course has given me practical, step-by-step advice that has made it easy for me to lay the foundations for our organisation to be able to take action and achieve our goal of becoming carbon neutral.

Kat Mulhall, Events Manager at Victoria Baths Trust in Manchester

Kat Mulhall, Events Manager at Victoria Baths Trust in Manchester

The Business Growth Hub has given us focus and extra knowledge. They’ve helped us form the base to grow sustainably and work efficiently as a team while making us conscious of our environmental impact as a business.

 

Ollie Birchall, Founder of Nutri Bar

I’ve not really been a cyclist throughout my life, more of a runner to be honest. And certainly not commuted. But I just thought if I’m going to change, surely now is the moment to change. I’m feeling the personal benefits of doing it. You just feel better when you come into work. It clears your head. There are benefits of cutting congestion, cleaning up the air. Everyone benefits when people cycle.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester

We think our water fountain is INCREDIBLE, it’s the perfect place for people to ‘refill’ and help themselves to any of the free edibles we’ve got growing in Market Place. We’re so grateful to all the organisations that helped make this happen. Alongside the plastic free motion that was passed by council and helped us achieve our first Surfers Against Sewage objective and in turn our Plastic Free Community status, it shows real commitment in reducing plastic waste and supporting our community.

 

Pete Fillery, Plastic Free Rammy and Incredible Edible Ramsbottom

I guess I’ve always been what you would call a conscious consumer. I’ve always detested plastic bags, all of my skin care products at home are plastic-free, vegan, and sustainable. My toothbrush is made of bamboo, there’s no plastic anywhere in the house. Everything in the salon has to be vegan – that was the first rule for me. We started with one brand of haircare products that was vegan, organic, and Fairtrade, but the distributor in the UK was wrapping all of the deliveries in plastic, and it felt really needless, so we ditched them.

 

Rachael, Gronn eco-salon in Bury

Although becoming carbon neutral is important to our organisation, it’s a lot of work for a small team to put the measures into place. The Journey to Net Zero course has given me practical, step-by-step advice that has made it easy for me to lay the foundations for our organisation to be able to take action and achieve our goal of becoming carbon neutral.

 

Kat Mulhall, Victoria Baths Trust, Manchester

GM Green City Logo