MIPIM 2018: Around 6,500 UK delegates will attend MIPIM this year – a 10% increase on 2017 – although the UK’s largest real estate lender Royal Bank of Scotland and its private wealth division Coutts will not now be among them.
The bank, which is still 72.9% owned by the public sector, has been reconsidering its expenditure in attending conferences overseas and assessing its return on investment in such events.
An RBS spokesman said: “Following a re-assessment of attendance at overseas events, the bank has taken the decision that we will not attend MIPIM this year.”
The decision was made by the bank in the past fortnight. Only three Coutts delegates were registered, and none from RBS, though the bank has historically sent around a dozen delegates split roughly equally between the businesses.
Coutts’ longstanding annual champagne cocktail reception next Thursday at the Hotel Barrière Le Majestic held in partnership with property advisor James Andrew International will still go ahead without the bank’s branding.
With London’s local elections taking place in May, local authorities in the capital have also scaled back their representation this year. The GLA will send nine delegates, with 13 representatives from London local authorities attending.
However many regions are strengthening their presence. The UK government pavilion will be back for a second year and metro mayors from the West Midlands, Liverpool, Cambridgeshire & Peterborough and the West of England will lead delegations.
More than 25,000 delegates are expected to attend the event in Cannes which begins on Tuesday. Savills, BNP Paribas Real Estate, CBRE and JLL have each registered more than 200 delegates. However, French construction group Bouygues will send the largest delegation with almost 300 registered.
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