The IHBC’s 2026 Yearbook is out, our essential sector guide, reference and review for 2026-27, with features showcasing our 2026 Newcastle School theme and IHBC officers’ updates that include a ‘Welcome’ from Rebecca Thompson that ‘highlights a year that is transformational for IHBC’.
Rebecca Thompson, IHBC President, writes:
This edition of the IHBC Yearbook highlights a year that is transformational for IHBC. It is a great time to be a member and to be a part of the exciting changes and investment in our membership. We have important updates to share regarding the Petition for Royal Charter, the All Party Parliamentary Group developments and our annual school, all addressed in our Chair’s report.
The IHBC is the only UK professional body dedicated to supporting all individuals working in historic and built environment conservation. We are a diverse group of heritage professionals with a wide range of skills and unlimited passion for our built and cultural heritage. We develop, encourage and maintain the highest standards of conservation practice, supporting the protection and enhancement of the historic built environment.
An important aspect of this is our work in nurturing and supporting successive waves of professionals entering our field. This work is now more important than ever before as we have identified a skills gap that is only set to increase as the majority of conservation professionals are reaching retirement age. We need to improve access to conservation careers and we should all be reaching out to the next generation of potential heritage professionals to highlight the merits of working in the heritage sector: there are so many viable and joyous career opportunities that we need to draw attention to. This aligns with our corporate objective and the educational role of IHBC, and we need your support as members and as conservation professionals to achieve it.
We look forward to celebrating our conservation learning and education with our Gus Astley Annual Student Award, and we look forward to seeing you at one of our many events organised by our regional branches or centrally, including our Summer School in June.
Thank you all for your support.
Rebecca Thompson
See the Yearbook ‘Welcome’ by Rebecca Thompson, IHBC President
IHBCs Yearbook: A note from 2026 for 2027
Since its launch in 2001, the IHBC Yearbook has grown from an 80-page publication to one of 120 pages today – our largest ever. Each edition includes a selection of articles supporting the theme of the Annual School, and the 2026 topic, the adaptive reuse of historic buildings, was ‘a particularly interesting one’, says co-editor Jonathan Taylor: ‘the topic raises a host of challenging issues, from sustainability and retrofit to the threat of redundancy, and this year we were delighted to welcome articles on a diverse range of topics from adapting churches in Wales to area-wide regeneration initiatives across the UK.’
On next year’s school topic, climate change and significance, Taylor finds himself working closely with his colleagues in IHBC’s South-West branch, as the 2027 event is to be held in Bath and Bristol, with a pre-school conference in Plymouth. ‘We all need to keep abreast of current developments in this fast-evolving field’ says Taylor… Alongside an exciting range of presentations and site visits, many of the most important issues will be explored in webinars and, of course, in the 2027 edition of the IHBC Yearbook itself.
2026 YEARBOOK CONTENTS
Structure and Membership
- What is the IHBC?
- Structure of the IHBC
- Elected and appointed officers
- Branch areas
- Membership of the IHBC
Review and Analysis
- Foreword – Jan Bessell – President of the Royal Town Planning Institute
- Welcome – Rebecca Thompson, IHBC President
- Chairs’s Review – God is in the detail – David McDonald, IHBC Chair
- Director’s Update – Empowering Volunteers, Empowered by Volunteers – Sean O’Reilly, IHBC Director
Overview – Adaption and Change
- Sustainable Retrofit – Steve Berry
- Why All Regeneration Should be Heritage Led – Owen Barton
- Adapting Our Churches for Continued and Future Use – Martyn Jones
- Victorian Prisons – The Challenge of Adaption – Jonathan Taylor
- Adaptive Change and Transformation in Edinburgh – Terry Levinthal
Directory
- HESPR companies
- IHBC promotions and publications
- Directory of members
Useful Information
- IHBC-recognised courses
- RICHeS, Meggen Gondek
- National organisations
- Local authority contacts
- Products and services
- Specialist suppliers index
See the IHBC 2026 Yearbook HERE
See Yearbook Articles
See more on the IHBC’s Yearbook publications
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