Doncaster Chamber to spotlight Gateway East, aviation and energy at UKREiiF 2026

Doncaster Chamber Chief Executive Dan Fell MBE will attend UKREiiF 2026 in Leeds this week, reinforcing the Chamber’s position in national conversations on investment, infrastructure, energy and inclusive growth across Doncaster and South Yorkshire. 

UKREiiF brings together more than 16,000 leaders from government, development, infrastructure and investment to explore how places can unlock sustainable economic growth. 

Dan Fell will take part in three high-profile UKREiiF 2026 panels, contributing to national discussions on development, investment and energy, and Doncaster and South Yorkshire’s role in driving future economic growth. 

Fell comments:  

“UKREiiF is one of the most significant inward investment platforms in the UK, and it is encouraging to see South Yorkshire engaging with it in a meaningful and visible way. However, it continues to prompt reflection on how we, as a region, choose to present ourselves to the outside world, and whether we are always doing so in a way that reflects the true interdependence of our economies and assets.” 

His focus at the event includes aviation-led regeneration, major development opportunities such as Gateway East, capital flows into UK regions, and the role of clean energy and infrastructure capacity in supporting future growth. 

He will use the platform to position Doncaster at the centre of national discussions on investment, infrastructure and regional growth, with a particular emphasis on how clean energy and energy infrastructure capacity are increasingly critical to enabling large-scale regeneration and development. 

Across the three-day event, Dan will contribute to discussions on Gateway East and Doncaster’s wider investment proposition, highlighting the role of aviation-led regeneration, infrastructure and inward investment in driving regional growth. He will also chair a fireside conversation with SSE focused on business energy costs, electrification and the importance of energy infrastructure and affordability in supporting long-term economic competitiveness. 

Dan Fell said the sessions reflect the key drivers shaping the region’s economy, including the need to unlock investment-ready sites, strengthen infrastructure capacity, and address the cost and security of energy for business. 

He said: 

“There is no question that places

like Doncaster, Sheffield, Rotherham and Barnsley each have distinct strengths and investment propositions in their own right. But increasingly, the opportunity lies in how those strengths come together, particularly around areas such as airports, infrastructure and inward investment. 

That naturally raises questions about how we organise ourselves behind those assets, how we reduce unnecessary duplication across different tiers of delivery. 

None of this is straightforward, and it requires a degree of institutional discipline. There is always a risk that events like UKREiiF become comfortable spaces where we largely speak to ourselves in well-appointed settings, rather than genuinely shifting external perception. The real prize, however, lies in what happens beyond that” 

If we can continue to move in that direction, there is a real opportunity to present South Yorkshire at places like UKREiiF not just as a collection of places, but as a more integrated economic geography with the scale and clarity that modern investment markets respond to.”