Liverpool city region sends delegation to MIPIM property expo in Cannes to showcase £11bn of projects to global investors holding £4 trillion – and one business leader says it was the best mission for years. Tony McDonough reports
Downtown in Business chief executive Frank McKenna claims Liverpool city region’s delegation to MIPIM was one of its best trade missions in years.
Liverpool, and latterly Liverpool city region, has been sending delegations to the four-day event for more than a quarter of a century. This year the event in Cannes on the French Riviera attracted 20,000 delegates from 90 countries.
Among them were investors managing some £4 trillion in funds with Liverpool city region showcasing £11bn worth of projects. This mission saw both city region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram and Liverpool Council leader Liam Robinson in attendance.
Liverpool BID Company, Starship, Sutcliffe, Nugent, Steven Hunt Associates, ION, Avison Young, Morgan Sindall, Gleeds, Atkins Realis and Jayne Moore Media were among the partners from the business community.
Each year questions are asked, particularly from those who don’t attend, whether MIPIM is a worthwhile endeavour – or just jolly and a ‘p*ss up’ in the spring Mediterranean sunshine.
It can be difficult to measure or quantify. Those in favour say relationships made in Cannes may turn into tangible deals further down the line. It is also fair to say those attending do get to have a few drinks although this year sunshine was in short supply.
Frank McKenna is in no doubt of the success of this year’s mission. Downtown, a well established lobbying and networking group, was there and Frank insists it was “comfortably Liverpool’s best MIPIM for some considerable time”.
He added that its success was “in no small part due to the tremendous efforts of the Mayor Steve Rotheram, and the leader of Liverpool City Council, Cllr Liam Robinson – a dynamic duo for sure.”
He went on: “Every time I spotted them, they were presenting on exhibition stands, at lunches, dinners, and talking to key global investors. It really was an impressive performance from the pair of them.”
Among the plans presented at MIPIM were the North Liverpool New Town proposal, the additional regeneration opportunities in the Knowledge Quarter, and housing ambitions across the city region. Frank believes real deals will materialise as a result.
“The interest that Liverpool attracted this year was significant, and I am sure some genuine deals will result on the back of the conversations that happened in Cannes last week.
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“It was great to see Steve and Liam spearheading the Liverpool MIPIM delegation so impressively, ably supported by Nuala Gallagher from the city council, and Katherine Fairclough and Gavin Quinn from the Combined Authority.
“It was also great to see so much private sector support for the city region.”
Dave Dargan, director of Wirral-based modular building specialist Starship, talked about the value of being on the mission. He said: “Liverpool city region presented some unbelievable opportunities to the market, many of which were unrivalled across the UK and Europe.
“We have some of the best regeneration projects in Europe so I think it is really important that we were here and we had that voice.”
