Editor’s comment – 11 October 2014
Flick through the prime minister and chancellor’s photo album – I feel sure that they share one – and staged snap after staged snap will reinforce the message that they both “get” business. There would be little there, or elsewhere for that matter, to convince you that either man gets property, but that could be about to change.
In the past four months alone, David Cameron has visited a furniture factory, a bed maker, a soft drinks warehouse and an aerospace and defence manufacturer. Over the same period George Osborne has confirmed his reputation as the “hard-hat minister”, photographed in yellow headwear more often than he is with a red box.
It’s calculated, and quite possibly effective. And as we enter an intensely political period – it’s less than seven months to a general election whose outcome appears far from certain – expect the business-friendly imagery and rhetoric to step up.
Flick through the prime minister and chancellor’s photo album – I feel sure that they share one – and staged snap after staged snap will reinforce the message that they both “get” business. There would be little there, or elsewhere for that matter, to convince you that either man gets property, but that could be about to change.
In the past four months alone, David Cameron has visited a furniture factory, a bed maker, a soft drinks warehouse and an aerospace and defence manufacturer. Over the same period George Osborne has confirmed his reputation as the “hard-hat minister”, photographed in yellow headwear more often than he is with a red box.
It’s calculated, and quite possibly effective. And as we enter an intensely political period – it’s less than seven months to a general election whose outcome appears far from certain – expect the business-friendly imagery and rhetoric to step up.
Now, writing in Estates Gazette this week ahead of next week’s MIPIM UK, Cameron has a message for the property industry. We’re on your side, he says, we value your contribution and this industry is one of the country’s most valuable assets.
It’s a welcome and overdue pat on the back.
Of course, politicians are too often better at delivering warm words than action. But let’s draw comfort nevertheless from the endorsements. “Britain’s bold claim to be property capital of the world is a message I am proud to endorse… our developers, advisers, architects, property lawyers and contractors are world leaders… I have great confidence in the UK property and construction industries’ power to keep improving Britain.”
Yes, he’s purring. But I can’t think that he has purred quite so enthusiastically about the property sector before.
The worst thing that this industry could do would be to bask in the words’ warm glow, wait for government to deliver the changes it craves and complain when they fail to materialise.
The sector has to be part of the solution, a point that wasn’t lost on the developers and advisers I spoke to at the recent Labour and Tory party conferences.
To use but one example, Cameron quotes statistics about the size of this industry that date back to 2012. If he cannot be furnished with up-to-date information about the scale and influence of the sector because it doesn’t exist, that’s property’s problem, not his. Property needs to get better at shouting, and with authority.
The PM’s missive is prompted by MIPIM UK, of course. Estates Gazette is supporting next week’s event (with daily editions and debates, read all about it at www.estatesgazette.com/mipim) because we believe the industry needs and deserves its own major event here in the UK. And with 4,000 visitors set to land on London Olympia, including a parade of government ministers, it should be seen as the beginning of a push for a higher profile in Westminster and Whitehall.
Now there is perhaps no one in the property industry who bears a greater responsibility for persuading ministers of its value and contribution than the chief executive of the British Property Federation. After a long and thorough search, the BPF has chosen Melanie Leech to succeed the outgoing and highly-regarded Liz Peace (p59 and p64). Leech, director general of the Food and Drink Federation, has a long and impressive CV, running a respected trade body for nearly a decade and striding the corridors of Whitehall for far longer than that. Capitalising on the attention that next week brings will be one of Leech’s most pressing tasks.
EG has been on the hunt all summer for property’s next big things. We are looking for the 15 rising stars under 35 to watch in 2015. Is it you – or is there someone you rate? Contact Emily Wright at emily.wright@estatesgazette.com or tweet your nominations to @EmilyW_9 before Friday 17 October.
damian.wild@estatesgazette.com
