Engineering Edinburgh’s hospitality future: Reflections from AHC 2025
“As we look ahead to 2026, the message is clear: now is the time to invest in the kind of engineering that enables growth, safeguards heritage and supports the city’s evolving hospitality needs.”
Stuart Fleming is Director, Will Rudd, Edinburgh
Returning from the Annual Hospitality Conference in Manchester earlier this month, I was reminded why the sector continues to inspire me. It’s the people, the passion and the shared ambition to create great places for people to experience, in an ever-changing world.
With over 1,100 delegates and $111bn in assets represented, this year’s AHC was the largest yet and a clear signal of the sector’s enduring relevance. This year’s event was more reflective than celebratory, with industry leaders acknowledging the headwinds: economic uncertainty, planning delays and competitive pressure from other parts of the world, including Southern Europe. Yet beneath the caution was a quiet confidence. As one speaker put it, “The best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago. The second-best time is now.”
Despite concerns around government policy and profitability, investors remain confident in the UK’s liquidity and long-term demand, even amid global uncertainty. That sentiment resonates deeply in Edinburgh, where the hospitality sector is not just recovering, it’s evolving. Having spent my career in this city, I’ve seen first-hand how its hotel industry has bounced back from major challenges like the economic downturn and then the pandemic, positioning itself as one of the UK’s most resilient and dynamic markets. Occupancy rates remain strong, and the city’s ability to host world-class events, from the Fringe to Six Nations Rugby, depends on the quality and capacity of its hotel infrastructure.
At Will Rudd, we’re proud to play a role in shaping that infrastructure. Our work goes beyond structural integrity. It’s about unlocking potential. Whether it’s navigating steeply terraced and heavily constrained gap sites, as we did with the celebrated Market Street Hotel, or supporting adaptive reuse of heritage buildings, like the quirky Destiny Apartments at No. 17 George IV Bridge, our engineering expertise is rooted in commercial awareness and design cohesion. We embed ourselves early in the process to clarify risk help streamline planning and maximise asset value.
The growth of independent hotels and apart-hotels, along with the introduction of midscale and conversion brands like IHG’s Garner and VOCO, is opening new doors for Edinburgh. These brands embrace the quirks of historic buildings, allowing for creative reuse and sustainable development for buildings perhaps not traditionally built for use as a hotel. For a city defined by its skyline and layered history, this flexibility is transformative. It means more opportunities to convert underused spaces into vibrant hospitality destinations, without compromising on character or quality.
Yet challenges do ultimately remain for hotel developments in the city. Planning delays are testing patience across the sector. Delays in obtaining consents are off-putting to developers, investors and the supply chain that follows, when confidence and momentum are crucial.
The complexities of heavily constrained sites and capacity issues in aging infrastructure mean that the risks and opportunities for development are often obscured. That’s where lean design and structural modelling come into play. Our teams are helping clients navigate these complexities with precision and pragmatism, ensuring that bold visions can be delivered on time and on budget.
What struck me most at AHC 2025 was the sector’s apparent alertness. This isn’t blind optimism, it’s informed ambition. Competition is collaborative, not cutthroat. There appears to be a shared understanding that success depends on smart partnerships, strategic investment and futureproofed design.
As we look ahead to 2026, the message is clear: now is the time to invest in the kind of engineering that enables growth, safeguards heritage and supports the city’s evolving hospitality needs. Edinburgh’s hotel boom is far from over, it’s entering an exciting new phase, and at Will Rudd, we’re committed to helping shape this new chapter.
Stuart Fleming is Director at Will Rudd, Edinburgh