News & Insight

RICS brings built environment voices to Enterprise Forum Scottish Business Reception

30 October 2026

RICS joined 11 other business partners at the Enterprise Forum Scottish Business Reception at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh, bringing together business leaders and policymakers to celebrate the contribution of Scotland’s business community and explore opportunities to support economic growth.

RICS President Nick Maclean OBE attended the reception, along with Scotland Board Chair Norman McLennan and other representatives from RICS, engaging with senior political representatives, including Stephen Flynn MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Tourism and Transport, Paul Sweeney MSP and Alex Kerr MSP.

Recognising the importance of ensuring the built environment has a strong voice in discussions on Scotland’s economic future, RICS also invited representatives from across the sector to attend, including the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS), the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) and SELECT.

RICS President Nick Maclean OBE in conversation

In his address, Stephen Flynn highlighted the breadth of businesses represented at the event and the importance of supporting growth across Scotland’s economy. With the UK Budget falling the day after the event, he reflected on the opportunities and challenges ahead, emphasising that a prosperous business community is essential to generating the revenue needed to fund Scotland’s vital public services.

The reception provided an opportunity for the 12 business partners to share sector-specific challenges and opportunities with the Cabinet Secretary. Ahead of the event, each organisation submitted a briefing outlining its sector’s current position, key challenges and proposed solutions. The RICS submission focused on the skills crisis, housing delivery and energy efficiency, linking to our RICS Scotland Manifesto 2026 - Surveying Scotland.

With a range of members from across the profession in attendance, the event was an opportunity for RICS to highlight the contribution of the surveying profession and the wider built environment to Scotland’s economy – from supporting housing and infrastructure delivery to developing the skills needed for a sustainable future. Bringing together representatives from across the sector also reinforced the value of collaboration between professional bodies, industry and government in addressing shared challenges.

The reception underlined the importance of continued engagement between policymakers and the business community to create the conditions for investment, growth and a thriving built environment across Scotland.

You may also be interested in

Survey of the Profession now live October-November 2026

The second edition of our biannual global Survey of the Profession for 2026 is open until 27 November and we’d like to hear from you.

UK Budget 2026: Breathing space for housing and high streets despite headwinds

Today’s Budget carries more political significance than most. It is John Healey’s first as Chancellor since succeeding Rachel Reeves in July, and the first fiscal event of Andy Burnham’s premiership, coming shortly after his first 100 days in office.

Nature-positive infrastructure: reimagining sustainability in data centre development

As global data consumption continues to surge, driven by cloud computing, digital services and the rapid expansion and use of artificial intelligence (AI), data centres have become one of the fastest-growing asset classes in the world.

RICS Property Investment Forum

The RICS Property Investment Forum was set up in response to the global financial crisis and convenes up to four times a year.

Surveying skills report 2026: investigating the skills gap

Based on responses from RICS members around the world, this year's surveying skills report explores the skills shortages affecting the profession.

What does CLEAR mean for the built environment in practice?

CLEAR: helping organisations to make better, more efficient decisions on carbon.

Detailed design begins for the future journey to becoming a surveyor

An update on the Qualifications and Professional Development (QPD) programme.

Home survey standard 2nd edition – September 2026 update

Since our last update in April, the Expert Group has kept up a steady pace working through the consultation responses.

Update from Justin Young, RICS CEO - September 2026

Recently I have been reflecting on relevance. It is a word I hear often when talking about surveying, whether in conversations about the skills needed to deliver more homes, the way we connect with students considering their future careers, or how surveying adapts to technological change and reform.

The journey to becoming a surveyor

We’re building a new journey to become a surveyor, and we want to keep you updated.

Survey of the Profession Highlights August 2026

Our latest Survey of the Profession shares insights from across RICS' global membership.

Housing market edges towards stability as rent expectations rise

The housing market showed further signs of stabilisation in August, with buyer demand and agreed sales moving away from recent lows. However, both indicators remained negative, whilst interest rate uncertainty continued to weigh on prospects of recovery.