Vital that Liverpool is sold to the world

Mar 12 2008 by Alistair Houghton, Liverpool Daily Post

Alistair Houghton talks to members of the Liverpool delegation at the MIPIM international property festival, in Cannes

THEY'RE not the kind of hot leads you might expect to see at Cannes' most famous festival – but they could be vital for Liverpool.

Cannes may be best known for its film festival but, for a few days every March, the town floods with suited property professionals attending MIPIM, the world's largest property convention.

And every March, Liverpool’s property developers and regeneration officials also up sticks and head for the Riviera in search of investment.

The sun may beat down and the Mediterranean may glimmer, but MIPIM is far from a junket, according to those attending.

Every day passes by in a flurry of meetings and presentations, as cities bid to attract the attention of companies with money to invest.

Liverpool boasts a prominent stand overlooking Cannes’ famous beach, while the city also makes use of a yacht bobbing in the marina. Many leading property firms, from Downing to Merepark and the Maghull Group, sponsor Liverpool’s delegation while others such as Beetham and Iliad are keen to show their support.

Their attendance, says Mike Taylor, chief executive of BusinessLiverpool, shows the event is far from the public sector “jolly” some portray it as.

And it is vital, he said, that Liverpool has a strong presence here.

Speaking to the Daily Post on a yacht moored in Cannes, he said: “It would be quite exceptional if Liverpool, a city looking to regenerate, wasn't at the world's biggest property exhibition. It’s about selling our wares.

“We've got to compete with the likes of Cologne and Barcelona. We've got to be out here because there are potential investment opportunities here.

“From a BusinessLiverpool point of view, it’s vital that we're here supporting the private sector. It’s the private sector doing the business.

“When we first came, it was a public sector initiative, a public sector push. Now it's a private sector push. It's our role to facilitate that private sector attendance.

“The private sector, people like Ann Lodge, from Downing, are inward investment ambassadors.”

Success at MIPIM, said Taylor, is not just about these few sun-kissed days but involves months of preparation. He has been talking to several property, legal and financial firms about expanding their presence in the city.

“Over the last few months, we've been working with a number of companies. We've made contact prior to MIPIM and the relationships have started to develop.

“A number of companies have expressed an interest in opening an office in Liverpool. We have 20 hot leads. The hot leads are companies we've made contact with. We've helped them understand the Liverpool market and the opportunities it offers.

“There's now a bit of selling we need to do to get them to come to Liverpool and hopefully take offices here.”

Taylor added that the decisions by Ernst & Young and DTZ to open Liverpool offices both came about as a result of work carried out at Mipim.

“Last year, from the stand alone, we considered there to be around 20 serious inquiries,” he said. “About eight of those are continuing conversations about the potential the Liverpool marketplace holds. Three have made direct investments in the city.

“Some people may say that's not a great conversion rate. But this is not easy work. You need to kiss a lot of frogs before you find the one that turns into Prince Charming.”

Another key focus for Taylor and his team is attracting more legal firms to open offices in the city. “We have a number of firms who already get work from Liverpool,” he said. “We want to meet these people and encourage them to set up offices in Liverpool.

“They might have offices in Newcastle or Manchester and get work in Liverpool. There’s a growing sense they need to be in Liverpool to compete.”

Similarly, Taylor wants to meet representatives from financial and asset management firms.

“We want them not just to steal work from the Liverpool marketplace but create employment by opening offices in the city,” he said. “We have 2m sq ft of offices in the commercial district for them.”

MIPIM also attracts many companies, such as law firm DLA, which have strong presences in Liverpool but are not part of the official party.

Taylor said it was critical that those countries are also made to feel part of Liverpool's Mipim presence so they can also act as ambassadors for the city.

“We want to make sure those people are in contact with us and feel they are being supported by Liverpool,” he said.

“It's about continuing to build existing relationships as much as finding new ones.”

FOR Lesley Chalmers, chief executive of English Cities Fund (ECF), MIPIM offers her a great opportunity to meet investors and regeneration officials from across the country.

ECF is responsible for the St Paul’s Square development in Liverpool city centre which has created hundreds of thousands of sq ft of office space as well as new apartments. “I can see everyone I need to see in one place,” said Chalmers. “It’s five hours from Plymouth to Manchester. The travel is wearing.

“Coming to Cannes is an efficient use of my time. It’s far from being a holiday or junketing. It’s well worth Liverpool being here.”

Ann Lodge, chief executive of Liverpool’s biggest commercial property owner, Downing, said a visit to MIPIM was essential for her business. “When we've been out here in the past, it has helped us build relationships in the city and farther afield. We'll be looking to talk to funders and partners for larger developments, not just in Liverpool but in Newcastle and Leeds.

“It's hard to measure if you're successfully building relation- ships, but we always come away feeling we've done that. Networking and relationship building starts at the airport, and even on the plane. Whoever you sit next to on the plane coming over could have a connection you need in some way.”

Downing is one of the official sponsors of the Liverpool delegation and Lodge agrees it is essential the city pulls together to put on a good show at MIPIM.

“It’s a hard one to measure but we need to be here to be behind the city,” she said. “It’s only by working together that we're all going to prosper. Liverpool's presence at MIPIM has gone from strength to strength.

“The stand makes a great impact on people – there’s a sameness about the other stands. Those old negative perceptions of Liverpool, which I'm sick of talking about, are banished now.”

alistairhoughton