The event doesn't officially kick off until Tuesday but 'advance' parties are already here sweating their way through a warm Sunday to prepare stands, cafes, restaurants, meeting rooms and apartments where countries, regions, cities and even some towns from all over Europe will try to persuade investors and developers to come and do the bricks and mortar thing.
Nottingham is among them, and while the banner is out above its headquarters (a small, but very well-placed cafe) it doesn't formally launch its programme until Tuesday morning with a day-long programme which takes in national media, private meetings, formal events and a dinner for invited guests.
That's just day one.
Even though day one is two days hence, I've already seen several people from city businesses trying to get meetings fixed up.
That is what MIPIM is really about. It's the largest gathering of the most influential investors, developers and property and construction professionals in Europe and the object is to simply get in front of them and persuade them yours is the place where they can best turn a profit.
Some of these people are extremely wealthy - the high net worth individuals of the world, and they'll be flying in by private jet (I was on a rammed easyjet flight, thanks). Some of them are professionals and directors from comparatvely small architecture, building engineering, consultancy and development businesses who need to make this event pay its way because they foot their own bills.
While they are weary of the booze-and-bling image associated with a conference next to the Med, they take the hgh-life accusations with a pinch of salt. The business opportunities here are too good to pass up.
It's harder for councillors and council officials, who are spending public money being here. Their presence is usually fleeting, on a budget and the fear of being seen within 50 feet of a Bentley or a boat haunts every photo opportunity.
In Nottingham's case, they've reached the conclusion that envious mudslinging is something they'll have to live with. The city's just had a fortune spend on infrastructure, some serious money is about to be spent on its two main shopping centres, and it has ambitions to get sites which stalled when the credit crunch hit back up and running.
The property industry is now back at the start of an investment cycle, and the consensus is that a wall of foreign money has made it too expensive for UK-based property investors to make money in London.
Hence the regions are now trying hard to persuade these investors - be they professional property investors or pension funds - that provincial cities are the next best bet.
Plenty of other UK towns and cities are here. For Nottingham - with an infrastructre some choked cities would die for - giving MIPIM a miss makes no sense.
No comments:
Post a Comment