Money well spent?
As the weary hordes head home from MIPIM, talk has turned to the costs of sending all those regional council delegates to the Cannes networking event. Property Week points out that the UK had more local authorities represented at MIPIM 2010 than any of the other 76 countries at the conference – a total of 95 of the UK’s 434 councils sent a delegation, although this figure was down 10% on last year.
The costs of attending vary, of course, depending on the numbers of people involved and the size of the authorities’ budgets – PW says the regional development agency Advantage West Midlands spent £200,000 on its Team West Midlands attendance, while Liverpool’s delegation cost £176,000, more than two-thirds of which was government funded. Advantage West Midlands development director Stuart Kirkwood says MIPIM is “a once-a-year opportunity to meet with key global players to sell the West Midlands”.
But PW also quotes Westminster city council’s strategic director of built environment, Rosemarie MacQueen, as saying that MIPIM is just a “jolly to Cannes” – Westminster council has never sent a delegation to MIPIM and it doesn’t look like it’s about to start planning one for next year.
The businessdesk.com blog, which covers Yorkshire business news, today points out that while large delegations cost plenty of money, a major presence at an event such as MIPIM is the clearest way to say “We’re open for business” and asks whether, with confidence returning to the property market, there will be a bigger presence from Yorkshire at MIPIM next year.
