D2: Ready for MIPIM

Next month, the investment, property and regeneration world gathers under the (usually) benign skies of Cannes on the French Cote d’Azur for MIPIM.

Branding itself as the ‘world’s leading property market’ – evidenced by its sheer scale with 28,000 attendees, 3,000 exhibitors and over 400 speakers – MIPIM is an annual, multi-faceted festival of networking, pitching, posing, wheeling and dealing.

It’s a terrific place to get a sense of global investment trends, to weigh up regional and city ambitions, as well as observe political chutzpah – real and imagined – all in an intense environment that can be exhilarating and disorientating for first-timers, but probably bears a faded élan for tired ‘many-timers’.

The UK is prettily heavily represented, with at least 5,000 official delegates expected to cross over from Blighty into the EU, for the first time since Brexit.

You can usually spot the Brits, desperately trying to look as cool as their European counterparts, but usually failing. Some even refuse to buy official tickets and so end up nibbling around the compound edges, hanging out in overpriced cafes and bars.

The UK is very well represented in the official exhibition, from the always chaotic London mega-pavilion, to the odd loner city, slunk in a small box, cruelly located deep in the Palais des Nations bunker.

This year, the UK Government is upping its investment – all part of its post-Brexit global Britain ambition – by renting a 2-tier marquee on the Croisette, next door to our own Midlands UK Pavilion.

Marketing Derby is a MIPIM regular.

2020 will be our twelfth visit and we will be joining colleagues from Leicester and Nottingham – exhibiting as part of the Midlands Pavilion – as well as holding our own locally-focused events, our now famous Wednesday breakfast Embassy.

For us, MIPIM provides two pretty unique opportunities; first, a platform in which we can showcase our investment ambitions, and second, a space in which to meet investors and influencers on a one-to-one basis.

This is why we bring out a strong public-private team to represent the interests of Derby and Derbyshire – for the sake of brevity we call this Team D2 – which includes senior representatives from the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, the City and County Councils, many business sponsors, and, of course, Marketing Derby itself.

Having this high profile event each March provides an annual focus that heightens project milestones and deadlines as we try to identify the key messages and asks that we intend to make.

For 2020 this includes a focus on the Heart of the City, the South Derby Growth Zone and many sites across the county.

The heart of the city ask brings together many of the outstanding masterplan themes into an overarching £3.5billion investment plan, creating 4,000 jobs and 3,000 new homes in the city centre.

The MIPIM market is not especially impressed with grand sweeping visions, what actually floats its boat is tangible year-on-year progress and concrete investable next-step projects.

For example, last year we talked up the likelihood of progress on the long-awaited DRI site, earmarked for residential use following a 10-year hiatus.

The fact that this year, we can say that West Midlands-based developer Wavensmere has achieved planning permission, secured £42.9m of funding and is now on site in construction phase for 474 city centre homes in the new Nightingale Quarter, is a perfect example of that year-on-year progress.

This year, we will also be able to talk up the likelihood of another longstanding regeneration eyesore, that of Becket Well – a 30+ year hiatus – as Leeds-based developer, St James Securities, has been working closely with Derby City Council, supported by D2N2, to progress through planning, to funding and later onto construction of 224 new homes in phase one.

Becket Well is a great example of an investable next-step project that will act as a catalyst in that part of the city.

The heart of the city ask sets a context for much of this and it will feature as part of the UK government’s investment prospectus for the Midlands which will be launched at MIPIM.

In addition, Derby City Council will be outlining new initiatives such as the £45m Enterprise and Innovation Partnership with the University of Derby to support the new University Quarter and the £36m Riverside Heritage Park at our (already fully booked) MIPIM Embassy.

The South Derby Growth Zone totals £1.8billion of investment to create 9,000 jobs and 5,800 new homes to be located in the area between the city’s southern edge and the A50 corridor.

At its heart is Infinity Park, but the ask also includes a new £37m junction onto the A50 and the development of both the Infinity and Boulton Moor Garden villages.

A question I’m often asked is, does this make any difference, is MIPIM just a jolly or does it actually have impact?

I’ll deal with the ‘jolly’ aspect first.

I admit, it feels good each March to be headed down to Cannes but I can honestly say it is the most exhausting week of the year. My counter shows I did 60,000 steps in four days last year. Thus, my main piece of advice to any first timer is ‘bring comfortable shoes’.

In terms of impact, our key success criteria is that of positive connections made with potential investors that eventually lead to interest and visits to D2. On this metric, last year was our best yet, with over £200m of investment influenced from MIPIM meetings, including some current planning applications.

Historically, this has always been the case, a great example being Friar Gate Square – the so-called Copper Building, now the University of Derby Law School – the enquiry for which originated at our MIPIM Embassy event, resulting in a visit to Derby and the eventual investment being made now acting as a catalyst for the development of a broader University Quarter. Without MIPIM none of this would have happened.

Marketing Derby’s core values are to be pro-active, make a difference and think Derby and Derbyhsire first. MIPIM provides an opportunity to activate this philosophy.

For us at D2, MIPIM works because we know how to make it work.