Last week I was in Manchester to progress another exciting Il Salotto On The Road panel with a few of my contacts there. One of them was Caroline Baker, Managing Partner of Cushman & Wakefield’s North West region.

Tim Heatley didn’t set out to be “just another developer.” He grew up in rural Salford, watching his social worker parents take in vulnerable adults with learning difficulties, even when times got tough. Those early lessons stuck: buildings aren’t just bricks and mortar, they’re the backdrop for people’s lives, a chance to lift communities up rather than line pockets.

At Il Salotto, host Sara Serravalli brought together three expert voices—Anthony Newman (MLA), Anna Christabel (Page & Park), and Rob Morrison (BEST/VEST)—to unpack the complex, urgent, and often misunderstood topic of retrofitting. What followed was a rich, candid discussion on the challenges, misconceptions, and opportunities that retrofitting presents for cities like Glasgow and beyond.

Sara Seravalli, one of Scotland’s most influential property design curators, has announced that she will launch ‘Il Salotto’, a creative pro