The real estate and infrastructure practice of Shepherd and Wedderburn has agreed with Homes for Scotland to sponsor its annual conference.

Now in its fifth year, the one day event taking place in Edinburgh on November 2 will be attended by over 100 delegates including housebuilders, registered social landlords, local authorities, councillors and other associated professions.

The conference programme incorporates specialist workshop sessions and themes including: land use and assembly; proposed legislative planning developments; and working with utility companies.

Ewan MacLeod, partner, planning & environment group at Shepherd and Wedderburn, and a conference speaker, said: “This conference comes at a critical time for the housebuilding industry following the Independent Review of the planning system and the widely acknowledged need for changes to deliver more housing. The event provides a fantastic opportunity to meet with leading figures from Government and Industry to discuss what the future of the housebuilding sector in Scotland looks like and how we can all contribute to making it a success.”

In addition to Ewan, other members of Shepherd and Wedderburn’s 29 partner real estate and infrastructure team will be present at the event, which comes just over a week before the firm hosts Property 2016, regarded as the premier gathering for property developers, investors, occupiers, lenders and service providers in Scotland.

Meanwhile Shepherd and Wedderburn has this week relocated its Glasgow teams to new city centre premises following a three-month fit-out period.

The firm is the latest business to move into the brand new Grade A eleven storey building, 1 West Regent Street, an M&G Real Estate development. The entire third floor of the building provides Shepherd and Wedderburn’s 90 Glasgow staff and partners with a bright open plan environment in which to work, essential for collaborative working and communication amongst and between the firm’s multi-disciplinary teams. The new offices also have ample accommodation for client meetings.

Stephen Gibb, Shepherd and Wedderburn chief executive, said: “Up until now, we have been pretty creative at finding ways to accommodate staff and partners in our West George Street office, but the extent to which the business is growing means that we were fast running out of space. The additional headcount from Tods Murray, which we acquired in October 2014, and other senior hires, including a recent three-partner insolvency team from HBJ, and more recently the appointment of Jamie Grant to the firm’s top-ranked real estate and infrastructure practice meant that staying put wasn’t an option for us.

“1 West Regent Street creates room for us to grow, right in the heart of Glasgow’s business district.”