The MIPIM Blog 2011

Vincent Tchenguiz's hugely anticipated MIPIM party aboard his yacht Veni, Vidi, Vici went ahead last night. 

The champagne flowed for the 70 or so guests aboard. The host himself, however, was absent.  His spokesman Seán Bellew joked: "He is like the Great Gatsby - he never appears at his own parties."

Given the intense media interest in the brothers' arrest, it was little surprise that as the party kicked off at 8pm most of the guests present were from the fourth estate. "I never knew there were so many property journalists," said one "proper" guest.

"I've never been papped before," said one of the journalists present, pointing to the photographers on the quayside snapping guests as they arrived.

Those who think MIPIM is a jolly in the sun will be heartened to know that yesterday was truly cold. Apparently, the conference has been moved a week earlier to accommodate the Porn Industry Festival. I will not attempt to find a common link... though several come to mind!

From its roots as an event focused on Europe, delegates can now see Brazil, Korea and Bahrain, among others, promoting themselves. Is this a sign of a genuine expectation of doing business; the increasing globalisation of the market; or clever opportunism by the promoters of the event?

The single biggest reason to be here remains the volume of people it is possible to meet in a short space of time. Organising diaries for such meetings back in the UK would be logistically challenging. Chance meetings and impromptu coffee or drinks are delightfully beneficial.

Without doubt this has, for me, been one of the most positive MIPIMs. The BS monitor has been evident by its absence and replaced by a serious can-do attitude and determination to prevail and succeed.

Ken Bishop is director, office agency, for DTZ and is based in Manchester

The Manchester Stand has continued to pull in the crowds over the last two days with presentations building on Manchester's focus on science, technology and innovation. There has been a proud showcasing of the varied work undertaken by The University of Manchester in the IVF and Graphene (world's thinnest material - don't worry, I didn't know either) fields by Robert G Edwards; and Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov respectively for which each were awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and Physics - not a lot of people know that.

Siemens' Industry Finance Director, Robin Phillips, was joined in one of the sessions by Bruntwood's Chris Ogelsby to again highlight the city's "science powerhouse" with glowing endorsements of the potential for a bespoke real estate offer and collaborative approach between the knowledge based industries, universities and property sector.

My personal MIPIM highlight, for which I and others have painstakingly worked for more than three years, was the launch by Martyn Hulme and David Pringle of the Co-operative Estates of NOMA - Manchester's new £1bn, 4m sq ft, 10-year-plus developments for the Northern Gateway to the city. NOMA simply has it all: an approved masterplan for 1.5m sq ft of new offices, 1.3m sq ft of business and retail space, 10 listed buildings, 900 residential units together with hotels and lifestyle space; all to be set within the new public realm of international standard. NOMA will reinforce Manchester's position in the hierarchy of top European cities. It's so exciting to be part of such an enthusiastic team in bringing NOMA to life. The important next stage is today's NOMA lunch which I must dash for...

Bob Dyson is Development Director/Chairman North West at Jones Lang LaSalle

There's a more serious tone to the postings that have emerged in the past 12 hours. As Jackie Sadek notes, MIPIM feel like hard work this year, and people are buckling down to getting the most from the show.

The official MIPIM blog rounds up the highlights from yesterday.

Tim Garrat from Nottingham is continuing to chronicle his meetings and experiences at the show, as are the Capita Symonds team. Meanwhile the CIJ blog notes that this might be a worse year for the bankers than the property folks.

Europroperty's Bert Erik ten Cate interviewed Olivier Piani of Allianz Real Estate:

And Everything Birmingham interviewed Mike Whitby, leader of Birmingham City Council:

I'm delighted that the prevalent view among people I've talked to during my whirlwind tour of MIPIM is one that recognises that London and the UK are at the heart of the international property world.



Of course, we're not perfect, and the key issue that comes up time and time again is infrastructure. In many ways, we're victims of our own success. We have a world-class system but our continuing growth places strain on a design first formulated by the Victorians - or indeed, in some cases, the Romans.


Improvements such as Crossrail (pictured) will be vital in helping us to deliver the capacity needed over the coming years. Infrastructure pays for itself, so we should be counter-cyclical and put in the investment now, before our rivals close the gap. In fact, £1 spent on construction brings £2.84 back into the economy.


Of course, opportunities in this area don't come much bigger than the Olympic Games. London 2012 will showcase us to billions of people across the world and, hopefully, deliver a sustainable legacy for us all.



Infrastructure and real estate go hand-in-hand. When I'm involved in big infrastructure projects or buildings, we use insurers, bankers, hedging, swaps and so on. There's not a single instrument of trade and finance that we don't use.


So, as a lord mayor from the demand side of financial services - a client - I'll be challenging the City to work closely with the property industry for our mutual benefit.


Michael Bear is Lord Mayor of the City of London

Not for the first time, carefully planned launches and meetings at MIPIM were overshadowed by unconnected events.

The arrest of Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz as part of an investigation into the collapse of Icelandic investment bank Kaupthing was being talked about long into the night. As I strolled home along Le Croisette in the early hours of this morning I lost count of the number of times I heard their names being mentioned in late-night, champagne-fuelled conversations.

To read the rest of Damian Wild's take on the unfolding story read our digital magazine MIPIM Today on estatesgazette.com, available this afternoon.

First up, check out the Estates Gazette digital daily, which is now up on the site.

The other estatesgazette.com blogs have been busy today. Lisa Pilkington has been in a photoblogging frenzy on the Midlands Property blog, from temporary offices to a packed Shedmasters do. Stacey Meadwell has been busy, too, finding evidence of an austerity MIPIM and, well, Russian ladies and a 1950s petrol pump. Not to get too meta, but this is one EG blog linking to another, which is talking about a third EG blogger, Jackie Sadek. Blog will eat itself.

Oh, and this picture really makes me wish I was in Cannes.

Back at base, Daniel Cunnigham has rounded up some regional material about MIPIM on the web, Christian Metcalfe points out that the Tchenguiz arrests are likely to blow any news from MIPIM away, and Paul Norman refuses the cynical view of Boris Johnson's activities in France.

Elsewhere, is Easyjet taking advantage of late-booking MIPIM delegates? Can mezzanine be a confusing word in property? And will Edinburgh benefit from calling Stacey lovely?

Oh, OK. All anyone cares about is the yacht. Here's Damian talking about it:

 

It is often said that London and New York are the only truly global financial centres in the world. They set the standard the rest of the world aspires to.

Of course, there are other centres that operate on a global scale in certain sectors but nowhere else offers the breadth and depth of world-class services that London and New York do.

As such, it is naturally assumed that these two cities are fierce competitors and, in the sense that every financial centre has to operate in an increasingly competitive global marketplace, this is true.

However, the relationship between London and New York is also one of shared interests and mutual co-dependence.

It is not an either-or situation, firms do not want to be based in one or the other; they want access to both.

In addition to political pressures borne out of the recent financial crisis, there is one overriding concern that unites both London and New York - the shift of the global marketplace towards the East.

Financial centres in Asia are growing rapidly and are desperate to attract the top global firms that have traditionally been based in London and-or New York.

These centres have many advantages, not least with regards to property, planning and infrastructure.

It is much easier to meet the needs of the international business community - be it for a million square feet of office space or for an efficient, high-capacity transport system - in a brand-new business environment than it is to fit such projects around a medieval street network.

One of the key messages to come out of today's panel discussion, "London, New York: two cities joined by a common vision", in the London Pavilion was that both London and New York need continued investment in property and infrastructure to compete in the global marketplace in the years to come.

We can only succeed in achieving our shared ambitions if we continue to work together, drawing on the experience that makes these two cities the world's leading financial centres.

Stuart Fraser is the policy chairman at the City of London

The halfway point has been reached. Everyone has arrived at MIPIM and the numbers of delegates are noticeably down from the peak of a few years ago. The benefit is a noticeably less frenetic, more business-like approach. "Manageable" is the expression most in use.

The general atmosphere, judging from the majority of people I have spoken to, is that the market is in for a long haul towards recovery. No one is suggesting any quick fixes. The mood is more of pragmatic acceptance and a desire to find creative solutions to development.

There is good news though. Enquiries from inward investors are picking up and this will provide a much-needed boost to the office market once they have been converted. Some interest is also being seen from offshore call centres returning to the UK.

The highlight on the Manchester stand was the launch of The Co-operative Group's masterplan for its ownership around Miller Street. The area has been branded NOMA (pictured). In total, the proposed development comprises 4m sq ft, with both new and refurbished accommodation, retail, office and residential uses.

Coupled with the plans for the regeneration of Victoria station, with the commercial quarter to be developed by Muse, this area of the city is set for an interesting and exciting rebirth.

Ken Bishop is director, office agency, for DTZ and is based in Manchester