Review by Sean Beech, Liverpool Office Senior Partner at Deloitte LLP.
“Doubling the size of the Team Liverpool delegation at MIPIM 2015 is just one indicator of the renewed sense of optimism about the UK economy, and the overall mood at Europe’s leading property conference held last week in Cannes reinforced this – attendance levels were well up on prior years and there was a real buzz throughout the four days. Last year, Liverpool returned to MIPIM with a private sector led delegation of 14 partners, and this was increased to 30, joint second highest of all the UK cities. Major partners included Arup, Bruntwood, Downing, Grosvenor, Peel, Redrow, and local lawyers Brabners.
Across the four days, more than 1,000 people visited the Liverpool stand, and following the success of having the BAC Mono sports car as our stand magnet last year, we were delighted to have THE ‘stand out’ venue of the conference, with our real wood table and décor providing a customary Liverpool welcome for our visitors – special thanks to the creativity of Colin Sinclair at Bruntwood for pushing forward this concept. Visitors included the Mayors of Oslo and Cologne who held meetings with Mayor Joe Anderson, and it is important that the city continues to build these overseas links, in particular in advance of the International Waterfront Cities Forum which is being held in Liverpool next year.For the first time, we held a number of stand presentations and these generated huge interest, more so thanks to the live animation of the discussion by Virtual Minutes. Peel made major announcements about Liverpool Waters; the topical PRS (the Private Rented Sector) was advanced by Glenbook and City Residential; and Michele Steel from Deloitte Real Estate advised the audience that international investment into the North West was up 75% in 2014. Team Liverpool also continued the theme of collaboration with Manchester, with a lively debate between Mayor Anderson and Sir Howard Bernstein on the Tuesday morning, and this was furthered with additional debates about the Northern Powerhouse, including a ‘five cities’ discussions including Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield featuring forceful contributions from Liverpool Council Chief Executive Ged Fitzgerald.
However, the undoubted highlight of the week was the Liverpool Investment dinner on the Tuesday night which was attended by over 60 guests of the Team Liverpool delegation, and which truly positioned Liverpool as a major player at MIPIM. Gary Hodgson of Peel Ports delivered a strong address on the logic of Liverpool Two, the new facility at the Port of Liverpool which will enable the world’s largest ships to deliver their container cargoes into the heartland of the UK rather than to the southern ports for onward road transportation to the north; this will be a key differentiator for Liverpool in the years to come and is certain to increase inward investment and jobs in the city region.
Although we have only been back for a few days, planning is already afoot for MIPIM 2016, when Team Liverpool expects to capitalise further on our international positioning – we should not lose sight of the fact that, on the global stage, the brand of Liverpool sits at the top of the UK cities list alongside Manchester and second only to London which simply operates at a different level to any other European city.”
Sean
Sean Beech
Liverpool Office Senior Partner
Deloitte LLP
Sean is a Tax Partner and heads the Deloitte Liverpool office. Sean qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1989, and he has been advising on taxation matters since 1991, with a specific focus on the property and consumer business sectors. As NW Private Client Services lead partner, Sean advises a number of high net worth individuals, entrepreneurs and professional partnerships on their taxation affairs. Sean also leads the Deloitte Real Estate industry team for the UK regions.
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