Bondholders get inside track on Cannes pitch

Over 100 Marketing Derby Bondholders gathered this week at Derby Museums‘ Museum of Making to hear from Team Derby and wider East Midlands representatives following MIPIM 2025.

MIPIM is the global real estate fair held in Cannes which last week attracted 25,000 people to see cities and regions from around 90 countries converge to pitch for investment.

Derby’s delegation was led by the city’s investment promotion agency, Marketing Derby, who were joined by Councillor Nadine Peatfield, leader of Derby City Council; Paul Simpson, chief executive at the Council and Andrew Bevan, director of estates at the University of Derby.

Bondholders heard from Amy Burton, inward investment executive at Marketing Derby how the city had backed the UK’s drive to attract more international investment, featuring in Estates Gazette’s UK Cities Playbook and being the only midlands city present in a major new exhibition space – the UK Hub.

Derby’s presence was alongside other cities such as Manchester, Newcastle, Cardiff and Liverpool.

Derby’s activity at MIPIM was supported for the first time by the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) and David Williams MBE, chair of EMCCA’s business board described the benefit of his presence along with that of Councillor Peatfield in her role as Deputy Mayor of EMCCA.

David said: ”I met with investors looking for their next significant investment opportunity who were keen to talk to EMCCA and make connections with people on the ground who they can work with at a regional level.”

John Forkin MBE, managing director of Marketing Director, told the audience about how Derby was pitched to a targeted international investor audience in a special MIPIM Embassy breakfast event.

“We root our pitch in the strengths of Derby’s economy – the recent £9bn nuclear deal between the MOD and Rolls-Royce and the decision by Great British Railways to locate its HQ here are part of a strong foundation on which to attract other investment.

“Opportunities such as the new East Midlands Investment Zone at Infinity Park, Rail Campus Derby and SmartParc were all part of our narrative.”

He reminded Bondholders of some of the city’s investment figures: £5.6bn invested since 2011; £1.9bn invested in the city centre in the last ten years and £722m of projects in the pipeline.

“The key is momentum,” John explained, “As the city develops, we are bringing more investment in as partners.”

The team in Cannes also promoted pipeline projects and opportunities anchored on living in, working in and visiting the city centre, with Steve Parry, managing director of ION Developments highlighting plans for the Assembly Rooms site and Atish Parmar, director of Cavendish & London demonstrating the opportunity for smaller, complementary developments amongst the city centre’s larger regeneration schemes.

And a new City Centre Office Prospectus was launched to spark the interest of funders and potential end-user occupiers.

Marketing Derby and its public-private partners are already following up on conversations held at MIPIM to progress investor interest in Derby and the EMCCA region.

Amy Burton said: “The follow-up is the critical bit, to continue the discussion started in the south of France back in the UK, and we aren’t wasting any time.”

As a first-time delegate at MIPIM and in the audience at the Bondholder event, Andrew Bevan of the University of Derby summed it up best, saying: “I was blown away by the work and energy that Marketing Derby puts into MIPIM, impressed by the genuine public-private partnership approach between city and region, and heartened that so many investors wanted to talk to us.”