The extravagance associated with the MIPIMs of five or six years ago is long gone and the focus now is very much on doing business.
So what can people expect from this year’s event at the Palais des Festivals, Cannes, between 6 and 9 March?
For a start, organisation has been left a lot later than usual.
Anyone who has attended in the past will know how early in January the e-mails about events and receptions normally start pinging into the inbox. But these have started arriving much later this year, presumably because attendees are taking a more considered and strategic view of what they want to host.
Coventry has been represented at the show for the past 19 years, and Martin Reeves, chief executive of Coventry city council, believes that this year’s event will put more emphasis on the public and private sectors pooling resources.
Reeves says: “In the UK, the advent of LEPs (local enterprise partnerships) has made that happen – or at least put the issue on the agenda – since the last MIPIM. No longer is it a case of never the twain shall meet. We need each other, and MIPIM will show that this year more than ever before.”
Jones Lang LaSalle is another long-term MIPIM attendee and Damian Corbett, the agency’s head of London capital markets, says that this year’s event will be more subdued than usual, but also more focused.
Corbett is expecting a high proportion of senior decision-makers to attend. “If you are going and have development finance to offer, make sure you bring plenty of business cards,” he advises.
With funding so scarce, attendees with money to offer will almost certainly have their pick of dinners and events to go to because there will be plenty of people on the lookout for backers of development proposals.
For this reason, Robert Lee, chief executive of Bahrain Bay, believes MIPIM will provide an essential opportunity for developers and investors to meet.
However, he adds: “The widespread uncertainly [in the eurozone] will mean that delegates who have traditionally focused on Europe will be looking further afield to other regions with strategic potential. And we are well placed to capture this attention.”
Team goes a’tweeting
Estate Gazette’s team will be travelling to MIPIM en masse to report from the event, and will be tweeting and blogging throughout:
Damian Wild @DamianWild
Samantha McClary @samanthamcclary
Stacey Meadwell @EGStaceyM
Bridget O’Connell @EGBridgetO
Noella Pio Kivlehan @NoellaPKivlehan
Joanna Bourke @EG_JoBourke
Nathan Cross @EGNathanCross
