IHBC warmly welcomes PCO approval to Petition for Charter

Posted on 16/12/2025 by IHBC

The Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) has warmly welcomed the approval from the Privy Council Office (PCO) for the submission of a Petition for Charter following its review of our Memorandum.

Continue reading →
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on IHBC warmly welcomes PCO approval to Petition for Charter

IHBC’s ‘Professional’ Signpost: How to get started in sharing knowledge and expertise on Designing Buildings

Posted on 16/12/2025 by IHBC

image for illustration: see below for video link

If you want to share your knowledge you can check out the host platform to the IHBC’s Conservation Wiki, Designing Buildings (DB) and its 2-minute tutorial to help you get started.

Continue reading →
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on IHBC’s ‘Professional’ Signpost: How to get started in sharing knowledge and expertise on Designing Buildings

IHBC features ‘Heritage from the doorstep’: Hotspur Press will rise from the ashes as developers issue promise for fire-ravaged mill

Posted on 16/12/2025 by IHBC

image for illustration: Hotspur Press on Fire by Jotaht, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The developer indicates ‘We will ensure that The Hotspur Press building lives on as a major landmark in the city’, reports The Manchester Evening News.

Continue reading →
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on IHBC features ‘Heritage from the doorstep’: Hotspur Press will rise from the ashes as developers issue promise for fire-ravaged mill

Videogame to help protect Nottingham Cathedral and other heritage buildings: ‘Pugin’s Revival’ despite ‘structural ‘monsters’’

Posted on 16/12/2025 by IHBC

Nottingham Cathedral and Nottingham Trent University (NTU) have created a videogame to educate young people about conservation challenges facing historic buildings, as ‘players save the Grade II* listed building from ruin at the hands of structural ‘monsters’’.

Continue reading →
Posted in Sector NewsBlog | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Videogame to help protect Nottingham Cathedral and other heritage buildings: ‘Pugin’s Revival’ despite ‘structural ‘monsters’’

UK Heritage Pulse Spotlight: Operational use of Artificial Intelligence

Posted on 16/12/2025 by IHBC

The latest UK Heritage Pulse survey reveals a growing confidence in artificial intelligence (AI) across the UK heritage sector. While challenges remain – particularly around training and ethics – more organisations are now seeing AI as a practical tool rather than a distant concept.

Continue reading →
Posted in Sector NewsBlog | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on UK Heritage Pulse Spotlight: Operational use of Artificial Intelligence

Public appointment: Members appointed to Historic Environment Scotland

Posted on 16/12/2025 by IHBC

Public appointments news release published on 7 November announced appointments to historic Environment Scotland on an interim basis.

Continue reading →
Posted in Sector NewsBlog | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Public appointment: Members appointed to Historic Environment Scotland

HHBT to continue its work in the Highlands as part of SHBT

Posted on 16/12/2025 by IHBC

Highland Historic Buildings Trust to continue its work in the highlands as part of Scottish Historic Buildings Trust(SHBT)’.

Continue reading →
Posted in Sector NewsBlog | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on HHBT to continue its work in the Highlands as part of SHBT

RIBA responds to Environmental Audit Committee report on sustainable housing growth

Posted on 16/12/2025 by IHBC

The Environmental Audit Committee report on environmental sustainability and housing growth response by the Royal Institute of British Architects(RIBA) urges the government to accelerate action on embodied carbon and skills.

Continue reading →
Posted in Sector NewsBlog | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on RIBA responds to Environmental Audit Committee report on sustainable housing growth

IHBC features ‘Heritage from the global doorstep’– WMF & EH receive grant for next phase of Coastal Connections Programme

Posted on 16/12/2025 by IHBC

image for illustration: Hurst Castle by Oast House Archive, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Established in 2023 as a joint initiative with English Heritage (with EH), Lloyd’s Register Foundation has granted £509,300 for the expansion of the World Monuments Fund (WMF) network of coastal heritage sites.

Continue reading →
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on IHBC features ‘Heritage from the global doorstep’– WMF & EH receive grant for next phase of Coastal Connections Programme

IHBC issues formal notice to all IHBC Members for 2026 AGM, online on 7 January 2026, from 5.30pm (with special presentation!) for 6pm start

Posted on 13/12/2025 by IHBC

IHBC AGM WEDNESDAY 7 JANUARY 2026 ONLINE:
Presentation from 5.30pm and AGM from 6.00pm
AGM FOR IHBC MEMBERS ONLY

Continue reading →
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on IHBC issues formal notice to all IHBC Members for 2026 AGM, online on 7 January 2026, from 5.30pm (with special presentation!) for 6pm start

IHBC welcomes Vice President Torsten Haak as Guest Judge for 2025 Student Award: Selecting next ‘Gus Astley’ winner, to receive £500 + Newcastle School place, 18-20 June 2026

Posted on 13/12/2025 by IHBC

The IHBC is delighted to welcome Torsten Haak, Executive Director of the Iona Community and IHBC’s Vice President as our guest judge for IHBC’s 2025 Gus Astley Student Award, supporting our student awards programme of certificates, cash prizes & free places at IHBC’s 2026 Annual School – #IHBCNewcastle2026 – 18-20 June.

Continue reading →
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog | Comments Off on IHBC welcomes Vice President Torsten Haak as Guest Judge for 2025 Student Award: Selecting next ‘Gus Astley’ winner, to receive £500 + Newcastle School place, 18-20 June 2026

IHBC Toolbox’s latest Guidance Note update now out: ‘Local Planning Authorities in England on Consulting the National Amenity Societies’

Posted on 13/12/2025 by IHBC

The IHBC’s Toolbox resource has had its latest Guidance Note update, on ‘Local Planning Authorities in England on Consulting the National Amenity Societies’, issued as a reminder to ‘local planning authorities of their statutory duty under the 2015 Direction’.

Continue reading →
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on IHBC Toolbox’s latest Guidance Note update now out: ‘Local Planning Authorities in England on Consulting the National Amenity Societies’

IHBC Signpost: DB the Construction Wiki Temporary Structures

Posted on 13/12/2025 by IHBC

image for illustration: Hyde Park : temporary pavilion, Serpentine Gallery photo by Jim Osley, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Designing Buildings (DB), host platform to the IHBC’s Conservation Wiki, features ‘Temporary Structures’ in its Wiki-based resources.

Continue reading →
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on IHBC Signpost: DB the Construction Wiki Temporary Structures

IHBC features ‘Heritage from the doorstep’: AI-powered nimbyism could grind UK planning system to a halt

Posted on 13/12/2025 by IHBC

Tools that help people scan applications and find grounds for objection have potential to hit government’s housebuilding plans, warns The Guardian.

Continue reading →
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on IHBC features ‘Heritage from the doorstep’: AI-powered nimbyism could grind UK planning system to a halt

Government launches call for submissions to UK’s first national inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) – ‘living Heritage – open to 27/03

Posted on 13/12/2025 by IHBC

The Government has launched a call for submissions to the UK’s first-ever national inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) – living heritage –  on foot of the UK’s ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, open to 27 March 2026.

Continue reading →
Posted in Sector NewsBlog | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Government launches call for submissions to UK’s first national inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) – ‘living Heritage – open to 27/03

UK Heritage Pulse: Spotlight on Heritage Crime

Posted on 13/12/2025 by IHBC

Pulse Monitor is the monthly health check on the heritage sector from the Heritage Fund, which measures its resilience, confidence and ambition, and there are some exceptional results from October that are out of step with recent trends.

Continue reading →
Posted in Sector NewsBlog | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on UK Heritage Pulse: Spotlight on Heritage Crime

UK State of the Trades: a Report on the current UK Trade Landscape

Posted on 13/12/2025 by IHBC

The UK State of the Trades report 2026 has been issued, commissioned by Jackson Woodturners.

Continue reading →
Posted in Sector NewsBlog | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on UK State of the Trades: a Report on the current UK Trade Landscape

RIBA Business Benchmarking Report 2025 issued

Posted on 13/12/2025 by IHBC

RIBA Business Benchmarking Report 2025 published: The annual RIBA Business Benchmarking survey provides vital business knowledge about how your practice compares to others.

Continue reading →
Posted in Sector NewsBlog | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on RIBA Business Benchmarking Report 2025 issued

IHBC features ‘Heritage from the global doorstep 2: ‘Europa?Nostra on new Culture Compass for Europe – ‘When Culture wins, Europe wins’

Posted on 13/12/2025 by IHBC

Europa?Nostra, the pan-European Voice of Civil Society committed to Cultural Heritage, also in its role as Leader of the European Heritage Hub, welcomes and strongly endorses the Culture?Compass for Europe.

Continue reading →
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on IHBC features ‘Heritage from the global doorstep 2: ‘Europa?Nostra on new Culture Compass for Europe – ‘When Culture wins, Europe wins’

IHBC’s Context 185 under the spotlight: Accessible CPD for Conservation Professionals, featuring Morwenna Slade IHBC on ‘Successful solar generation in the historic environment’

Posted on 09/12/2025 by IHBC

IHBC’s new edition of its members’ journal Context is out – No. 185 – and our first spotlight for NewsBlog readers features Morwenna Slade on ‘Successful solar generation in the historic environment’.

Continue reading →
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on IHBC’s Context 185 under the spotlight: Accessible CPD for Conservation Professionals, featuring Morwenna Slade IHBC on ‘Successful solar generation in the historic environment’

IHBC Supporter Surgery for aspiring Affiliates: Have you registered yet? 11 December, 1pm (IHBC CPD too!)

Posted on 09/12/2025 by IHBC

As part of the IHBC’s suite of resources and guidance designed to make it  easier for our Supporter members to advance to the Affiliate member category, we are delighted to announce our next Supporter Surgery, to take place on 11 December, from 1pm.

Continue reading →
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on IHBC Supporter Surgery for aspiring Affiliates: Have you registered yet? 11 December, 1pm (IHBC CPD too!)

Career conscious & in conservation? IHBC’s ‘Jobs etc.’ services spans disciplines, levels & sectors, linked by interdisciplinary conservation practice standards delivering public benefit

Posted on 09/12/2025 by IHBC

To connect employers’ needs and practitioners’ skills, the IHBC regularly updates our NewsBlog readers on the wide-ranging opportunities on the ‘IHBC Jobs etc.’ service, so sign up for free alerts and tell your boss or team how our low-cost service helps them and brings public benefits too!

Continue reading →
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Career conscious & in conservation? IHBC’s ‘Jobs etc.’ services spans disciplines, levels & sectors, linked by interdisciplinary conservation practice standards delivering public benefit

IHBC’s 2025 Parliamentary Briefing launches research-led ‘5 Commitments to Help Heritage Skills in Conservation’… From Crafts in Crisis to Rubbish in Retrofit

Posted on 09/12/2025 by IHBC

Image Credits: S O’Reilly IHBC & F Newton IHBC

On 18 November the IHBC hosted the 2025 Westminster launch of its new ‘5 Commitments to Help Heritage Skills in Conservation’, informed by cross-cutting research into challenges across the full landscape of IHBC’s heritage skills interests… ‘From Crafts in Crisis to Rubbish in Retrofit’.

Images:

  • The Earl of Devon, Parliamentary sponsor for the IHBC’s Briefing, introducing the background to the IHBC’s ‘5 Commitments to Help Heritage Skills in Conservation’
  • Linsey Farnsworth MP for Amber Valley, offering a personal perspective on the importance and potential of Heritage Skills in Conservation
  • IHBC President Rebecca Thompson IHBC, Director of Property at St Paul’s Cathedral, launching the IHBC’s ‘5 Commitments to Help Heritage Skills in Conservation’
  • Research report author Jonathan Taylor IHBC, introducing the new research commissioned by the IHBC
  • General View of the Briefing
  • IHBC Officers returning after a busy evening in Westminster and the House of Commons
Continue reading →
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on IHBC’s 2025 Parliamentary Briefing launches research-led ‘5 Commitments to Help Heritage Skills in Conservation’… From Crafts in Crisis to Rubbish in Retrofit

IHBC HESPR’s ‘News from the Sector’: DB on IHBC’s ‘… From Crafts in crisis to rubbish in retrofit’… ‘5 commitments to help heritage skills in conservation’

Posted on 09/12/2025 by IHBC

IHBC’s heritage business register HESPR – our Historic Environment Service Providers Recognition quality assurance scheme for heritage services – emails members weekly ‘News and Tender Alerts’, and this week features Designing Buildings on the IHBC’s own‘‘5 commitments to help heritage skills in conservation’.

Continue reading →
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on IHBC HESPR’s ‘News from the Sector’: DB on IHBC’s ‘… From Crafts in crisis to rubbish in retrofit’… ‘5 commitments to help heritage skills in conservation’

IHBC features ‘Heritage from the doorstep’: Three reasons not to demolish Edinburgh’s Argyle House – by architect Malcolm Fraser

Posted on 09/12/2025 by IHBC

image for illustration: Argyle House, Edinburgh by Magnus Hagdorn from UK, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Although it’s described as ‘Edinburgh’s ugliest building’ by some, a new plan to replace Argyle House with a hotel and flats is ‘madness, given the Climate Emergency’ according to one of the city’s most influential architects Malcolm Fraser, as reported by The Edinburgh Minute.

Continue reading →
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on IHBC features ‘Heritage from the doorstep’: Three reasons not to demolish Edinburgh’s Argyle House – by architect Malcolm Fraser