EDITOR’S COMMENT If the UK was a 12-year-old kid, at the moment it would totally be the scrawny, scruffy, awkward and maybe a touch smelly kid who always gets picked last.
We’ve gone from being the cool kid who everyone wants to be friends with, who everyone bends over backwards just to be close to, to the kid everyone points and stares at, who they snigger at, who no one wants to be friends with.
Now, I am not condoning this kind of behaviour among actual kids. This is bullying. And all children are precious, right? (Side note: I am not a parent and not the greatest fan of children, but I am very much against any form of bullying.) Anyway, I digress. Already.
Kids don’t deserve to be sidelined. We (the UK) probably do. Or at least we’ve done enough to ourselves to deserve being last to be picked.
It is no surprise that the UK is having to work a lot harder to sell itself to overseas investors, companies and talent. First Brexit, that period where The Thick of It was actually a documentary, and now the ensuing economic decline.
Grosvenor Property UK’s straight-talking James Raynor describes it best. “It’s almost a bit embarrassing right now to say I’m from England,” he tells EG this week as one of a collection of real estate leaders reflecting on the future of the market. “The general mood overseas is one of complete bemusement as to why and how we do things. That, for me, is very worrying in terms of UK plc branding.”
Raynor is not alone in this view – although he might voice it a bit more freely. Many conversations we’ve had with players in the market here at EG have been based around the UK being a really hard sell at the moment. So hard that there’s a general malaise. In fact, worse than that, there’s a feeling of it not being worth the effort to take UK opportunities to an investment committee. It’s too much hard work and there are better opportunities elsewhere.
It’s hard to hear, isn’t it? The UK is struggling with depression. The British Property Federation’s Property Leader Sentiment Report, released this week, showed almost two-thirds of the 100-plus owners, developers, funders and advisers surveyed were not confident about the performance of UK real estate this year.
Now, I love a bit of doom and gloom. As journalists, we thrive on sadness and distress – they always make for the juiciest stories. But, as EG, as your trusted tool to enable real estate to deliver on all those wonderful things I use this page to remind you that you have the power to do, I have to tell you to brighten up.
Yes, be realistic. Times are tough. Our market – our country – has had thrust upon it some decisions that have damaged us. But fundamentally this is still a country of great innovators, of smart and talented people, of opportunity. We need to start selling that image better, we need to start showcasing those opportunities more and how we will overcome the challenges we face. And how we will do that together.
That is exactly what EG will be doing at MIPIM this year.
For the first time, EG will have its own pavilion at MIPIM (in a prime position, right by registration – you cannot miss us) and will be using the unique power we have to showcase the value of the UK, to bring public and private sectors together and to highlight the numerous opportunities our cities offer for meaningful investment.
We – the real estate sector, our public sector leaders and us, EG – have a responsibility to that 12-year-old kid UK. We have to pick them first to be on our team. We have to lift them up and show all the other kids that they are the coolest, the smartest, and that the UK is most definitely the kid most likely to succeed.
To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@eg.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @EGPropertyNews
