O Festival Anual de Propriedades do MIPIM, que ocorre em Cannes a cada ano, atrai mais de 20.000 delegados de todo o mundo. Desafiado, é fácil ver por que a ótica de levar uma delegação ao sul da França pode não ser uma proposta atraente para os líderes e prefeitos do conselho, como foi nos anos anteriores. Concursos de eleições ao prefeito em West Yorkshire e no West Midlands (não esquecendo os problemas financeiros de Birmingham naquela parte do mundo também), sem dúvida terão participado da decisão de Leeds e Birmingham não tendo presença no Mipim, o festas deste ano. "Sim"-e mais importante, talvez, seus parceiros do setor privado também concordem de todo o coração com eles. Promovendo -se nesse estágio o mais difícil possível. Birmingham e o West Midlands também serão grandes lá. Mas, por mais que Ukreiif seja uma oportunidade útil para se conectar com desenvolvedores do Reino Unido e um pequeno número de investidores, não é uma opção 'em vez' de mipim. out.
Many of those who attend are investors, others are from the property and construction sectors – and then there are countries, regions, and cities in abundance, marketing the investable opportunities they have in their places.
At a time when many local authorities in the UK are financially challenged, it is easy to see why the optics of taking a delegation to the South of France may not be as an attractive proposition to council leaders and mayors as it has been in previous years. Mayoral election contests in West Yorkshire, and the West Midlands (not forgetting Birmingham’s financial woes in that part of the world too), will no doubt have played a part in the decision of Leeds and Birmingham not having a presence at MIPIM this year.
However, ask anyone from Belfast, Liverpool, Manchester, and Newcastle if it was worth the investment they made to the festival, and they will reply emphatically ‘Yes’ – and more importantly perhaps, their private sector partners will wholeheartedly agree with them too.
For all the potential brickbats that can be thrown the way of local government officials and politicians who do attend what some will always cynically suggest is a ‘jolly’, the fact that MIPIM is possibly the biggest shop window a city has to show off to international investors surely means that – particularly post-Brexit – our cities need to be promoting themselves on this stage as hard as they can.
Leeds will claim that being the host city to UKREiiF offers them a credible alternative platform. Birmingham and the West Midlands will go big there too. But, as much as UKREiiF is a useful opportunity to connect with UK developers and a small number of investors, it is not an ‘instead’ of MIPIM option.
Hats off to those places who were prepared to step up and take any stick that may have come their way for attending MIPIM 2024. I hope those who dipped out this year will reconsider in 2025. Their cities are, without a doubt, missing out.
