Yesterday MIPIM felt a bit like its old self. There was a marked rise in the density of men in suits hurrying around, scanning their Blackberries instead of scanning for the faces they had come to see. The main halls felt full. The sun shone. The Cafe's were packed at lunchtime. There were plenty of nice dinners to attend in the evening. (Thank you Palmer Capital) But the anxiety about UK market mentioned yesterday still persists.
It won't be helped by news in the Guardian today that 650 landlord's of Blockbusters could go, well, bust. But perhaps the news in the Telegraph this morning that Derwent London's wise boss John Burns has set aside £260m for development will settle nerves here today. But maybe not: wise developers always get going when the going is still tough.
There are two views on what might of course just turn out to be a wobble in confidence. First, prices have come down far enough over the past six months, thank you very much. The election is only a few weeks away. Let's just wait and see. But I am sure it will be OK. Second, in the real, rent-paying, Blockbuster-and bust-bank-loan world there is still much blood and trouble to come. Let's hunker down.
Who knows? But to end on a more positive note, those who work for the big firms of agents will be pleased to known their bosses seem pretty confident that the blood and trouble of last year is now behind them. A chat with a few of them in the EG tent yesterday morning found most of them pretty chipper. Your chances of being made redundant have almost gone away, they say. In fact one of them wants to double the number of staff employed in the UK. Those feeling restless and want to know where to apply can turn to the EG column on Saturday.
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