News - Midlands
As the property world flew out to the French Riviera for its annual MIPIM shindig last month, a rather timely report landed on the desks of many attendees back home in the UK. Whether they had time to read it before packing their Blackberrys is debatable, but the themes running through the State of the English Cities study - commissioned by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and written by the European Institute of Urban Affairs at Liverpool John Moores University - would have been well known to them.
Namely: GDP growth of UK cities still lagging behind European counterparts; centralisation stifling innovation and growth; a widening economic gap between north and south. And, surprise, the top-performing European cities were mostly German - Frankfurt, Munich and Stuttgart.
Helping address such imbalances is one of the central planks of what MIPIM is about.
Giving cities across Europe - and increasingly further field too - the chance to shout about their strengths as investment locations.
Until recently Midlands cities pretty much ignored this global shop window, which has been running since 1990, sitting back and allowing the likes of Manchester and London to steal a march.
But, given the conference attracts 21,000 delegates from 74 countries, they can ignore it no longer.
The Midlands has finally woken up to the importance of MIPIM.
The true value of a presence at Cannes is often difficult to quantify.
It may lead to deals two, five or 10 years down the line. But without a presence those deals may not happen at all.
This year will be seen as the one when Birmingham put itself on the map.
Instead of being subsumed within the presence of regional development agency Advantage West Midlands (AWM), Birmingham branched out on its own and got developers to reach into their pockets and sponsor a much greater profile for the city.
The change was driven by Clive Dutton, the city's director of planning, who was so appalled at last year's presence that he ensured there would be major changes this time around.
The changes were notable on many levels, from a greater presence on the AWM stand (including a new giant model of Birmingham) through to a gala dinner for investors at the Carlton Hotel.
That event also marked the premiere of a £390,000 three-minute film, commissioned by Marketing Birmingham, to explode myths about the city among investors.
The film, with thumping, guitar-laden soundtrack, was produced by CAN Communicate, the company behind the film which helped swing London's 2012 Olympic bid. Birmingham council leader Mike Whitby was distinctly underwhelmed by the city's presence last year.
He believes this time around people will wake up to Birmingham's offer. "After last year I vowed that I'd lead the best delegation this time and I strongly believe we've delivered that.
Developers have got behind us in a meaningful way and we've raised getting on for £3250,000 sponsorship.
If you come here you have to do it right." Speaking to Insider at the end of MIPIM week, Whitby said significant sponsorship had already been pledged for 2007: "Developers are not a sentimental bunch and they'll only put money in if they see real value.
I've already had people saying "can I be part of Birmingham's presence next year?'" Whitby added that, during the week, he also had meetings with significant international developers interested in coming to Birmingham. "When it comes to development you have to have momentum and there's momentum now within Birmingham.
Last year I had to work hard at MIPIM to meet people.
This year I've been sought after. That says it all really." Back on the AWM stand the highlight of this year was a presentation by Ken Shuttleworth, the legendary Brummie architect who made his name with London's Swiss Re Gherkin building.
Now heading up the MAKE architectural practice, Shuttleworth's firm is involved in a string of schemes in his home city, most notably The Cube development behind the Mailbox.
Shuttleworth said Birmingham's two distinct characteristics were reflected in the building: "Birmingham has its heavy metal industry heritage and also a capacity to make smaller scale things epitomised by its Jewellery Quarter. The former is represented in the outside of the Cube, the latter inside." Other presentations on the stand came from Birmingham sponsors with schemes to sell.
They included Mark Glatman from Abstract Land, which is making strong headway on the site of the former Post & Mail with its Colmore Plaza development.
Glatman told Insider that the scheme would be finished by the end of next year. Glatman had no news to report on tenants, nor did Targetfollow on its refurbishment of Baskerville House.
That scheme is due to finish in just four months but Targetfollow director Ian Fox is unconcerned that no-one has signed up yet. "We're confident that once people see what we've done to this building they will sign up." The strong focus on Birmingham this year inevitably detracted from developments elsewhere in the West Midlands.
The likes of Stoke-on-Trent, Coventry, Warwickshire and Walsall were considerably sidelined, so much so that Walsall took it upon itself to host its own luncheon for investors on the beach. Over in the East a better balance seemed to have been struck between the presence of regional development agency East Midlands Development Agency (Emda) and chief regional city Nottingham.
Unlike AWM, which centred its events around its stand which became a de facto Birmingham stand, Emda's centred its presence around an apartment while Nottingham did its own thing by hiring a yacht for the first time - again thanks to support from developers. Gerry Emmerson, of Vision Nottingham, said: "The yacht really worked for us this time.
It also allowed us to run events alongside Emda's without conflicting with them." Nottingham's marketing chiefly surrounded its three major regeneration zones - Eastside, Waterside and Southside.
Between them the sites provide about £32.5bn of development opportunities and have the potential to lift Nottingham into a different league.
Which brings us back to that league of European cities.
The State of Cities found that the towns and cities that have made the big economic strides over the past decade were those with strong universities and booming airports - which augurs well for the likes of Nottingham.
And what of centralisation stifling economic growth? The Treasury recently announced plans to give cities greater control over education, skills and economic development, but does this go far enough? Another recent report, this time from the Centre for Cities think tank, concluded not.
It believed a city like Birmingham should head a wider West Midlands city region under the leadership of a directly elected mayor. The greater Birmingham authority would run economic development, regeneration, transport and skills and would be able to raise a levy on business rates to fund major projects.
Only by devolving power to local government would key infrastructure schemes be delivered, it said.
Such reasoning will resonate with those trying to take forward key projects like the redevelopment of Birmingham New Street Station and extensions to both the city's light rail system and the airport's runway.
Most controversially of all, a greater Birmingham authority would take over the duties of AWM, says the report, which went on to criticise the clutter of West Midlands quangos and institutions created by the government to co-ordinate spending programmes and to promote regeneration. However the likelihood of Gordon Brown getting rid of RDAs when he gets to Number 10 is virtually zero.
After nearly 10 years going in one direction, he is unlikely to turn the ship around. Perhaps Brown should visit MIPIM to see how other cities organise themselves.
City wide regional plans are far more common on the continent, and more to the point, the focus on city regions in countries like Germany seems to be far more successful. Peter Cromar, chief executive of Walsall Regeneration company, took part in a key debate on regional planning during MIPIM and touched on precisely these themes.
As he adds: "The State of Cities report recognised that cities are part of the solution and not the problem.
But only three cities in the UK are in the top 50 performing cities in Europe.
We have a long way to go"
Cannes-do spirit
As the property world flew out to the French Riviera for its annual MIPIM shindig last month, a rather timely report landed on the desks of many attendees back home in the UK. Whether they had time to read it before packing their Blackberrys is debatable, but the themes running through the State of the English Cities study - commissioned by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and written by the European Institute of Urban Affairs at Liverpool John Moores University - would have been well known to them.
Namely: GDP growth of UK cities still lagging behind European counterparts; centralisation stifling innovation and growth; a widening economic gap between north and south. And, surprise, the top-performing European cities were mostly German - Frankfurt, Munich and Stuttgart.
Helping address such imbalances is one of the central planks of what MIPIM is about.
Giving cities across Europe - and increasingly further field too - the chance to shout about their strengths as investment locations.
Until recently Midlands cities pretty much ignored this global shop window, which has been running since 1990, sitting back and allowing the likes of Manchester and London to steal a march.
But, given the conference attracts 21,000 delegates from 74 countries, they can ignore it no longer.
The Midlands has finally woken up to the importance of MIPIM.
The true value of a presence at Cannes is often difficult to quantify.
It may lead to deals two, five or 10 years down the line. But without a presence those deals may not happen at all.
This year will be seen as the one when Birmingham put itself on the map.
Instead of being subsumed within the presence of regional development agency Advantage West Midlands (AWM), Birmingham branched out on its own and got developers to reach into their pockets and sponsor a much greater profile for the city.
The change was driven by Clive Dutton, the city's director of planning, who was so appalled at last year's presence that he ensured there would be major changes this time around.
The changes were notable on many levels, from a greater presence on the AWM stand (including a new giant model of Birmingham) through to a gala dinner for investors at the Carlton Hotel.
That event also marked the premiere of a £390,000 three-minute film, commissioned by Marketing Birmingham, to explode myths about the city among investors.
The film, with thumping, guitar-laden soundtrack, was produced by CAN Communicate, the company behind the film which helped swing London's 2012 Olympic bid. Birmingham council leader Mike Whitby was distinctly underwhelmed by the city's presence last year.
He believes this time around people will wake up to Birmingham's offer. "After last year I vowed that I'd lead the best delegation this time and I strongly believe we've delivered that.
Developers have got behind us in a meaningful way and we've raised getting on for £3250,000 sponsorship.
If you come here you have to do it right." Speaking to Insider at the end of MIPIM week, Whitby said significant sponsorship had already been pledged for 2007: "Developers are not a sentimental bunch and they'll only put money in if they see real value.
I've already had people saying "can I be part of Birmingham's presence next year?'" Whitby added that, during the week, he also had meetings with significant international developers interested in coming to Birmingham. "When it comes to development you have to have momentum and there's momentum now within Birmingham.
Last year I had to work hard at MIPIM to meet people.
This year I've been sought after. That says it all really." Back on the AWM stand the highlight of this year was a presentation by Ken Shuttleworth, the legendary Brummie architect who made his name with London's Swiss Re Gherkin building.
Now heading up the MAKE architectural practice, Shuttleworth's firm is involved in a string of schemes in his home city, most notably The Cube development behind the Mailbox.
Shuttleworth said Birmingham's two distinct characteristics were reflected in the building: "Birmingham has its heavy metal industry heritage and also a capacity to make smaller scale things epitomised by its Jewellery Quarter. The former is represented in the outside of the Cube, the latter inside." Other presentations on the stand came from Birmingham sponsors with schemes to sell.
They included Mark Glatman from Abstract Land, which is making strong headway on the site of the former Post & Mail with its Colmore Plaza development.
Glatman told Insider that the scheme would be finished by the end of next year. Glatman had no news to report on tenants, nor did Targetfollow on its refurbishment of Baskerville House.
That scheme is due to finish in just four months but Targetfollow director Ian Fox is unconcerned that no-one has signed up yet. "We're confident that once people see what we've done to this building they will sign up." The strong focus on Birmingham this year inevitably detracted from developments elsewhere in the West Midlands.
The likes of Stoke-on-Trent, Coventry, Warwickshire and Walsall were considerably sidelined, so much so that Walsall took it upon itself to host its own luncheon for investors on the beach. Over in the East a better balance seemed to have been struck between the presence of regional development agency East Midlands Development Agency (Emda) and chief regional city Nottingham.
Unlike AWM, which centred its events around its stand which became a de facto Birmingham stand, Emda's centred its presence around an apartment while Nottingham did its own thing by hiring a yacht for the first time - again thanks to support from developers. Gerry Emmerson, of Vision Nottingham, said: "The yacht really worked for us this time.
It also allowed us to run events alongside Emda's without conflicting with them." Nottingham's marketing chiefly surrounded its three major regeneration zones - Eastside, Waterside and Southside.
Between them the sites provide about £32.5bn of development opportunities and have the potential to lift Nottingham into a different league.
Which brings us back to that league of European cities.
The State of Cities found that the towns and cities that have made the big economic strides over the past decade were those with strong universities and booming airports - which augurs well for the likes of Nottingham.
And what of centralisation stifling economic growth? The Treasury recently announced plans to give cities greater control over education, skills and economic development, but does this go far enough? Another recent report, this time from the Centre for Cities think tank, concluded not.
It believed a city like Birmingham should head a wider West Midlands city region under the leadership of a directly elected mayor. The greater Birmingham authority would run economic development, regeneration, transport and skills and would be able to raise a levy on business rates to fund major projects.
Only by devolving power to local government would key infrastructure schemes be delivered, it said.
Such reasoning will resonate with those trying to take forward key projects like the redevelopment of Birmingham New Street Station and extensions to both the city's light rail system and the airport's runway.
Most controversially of all, a greater Birmingham authority would take over the duties of AWM, says the report, which went on to criticise the clutter of West Midlands quangos and institutions created by the government to co-ordinate spending programmes and to promote regeneration. However the likelihood of Gordon Brown getting rid of RDAs when he gets to Number 10 is virtually zero.
After nearly 10 years going in one direction, he is unlikely to turn the ship around. Perhaps Brown should visit MIPIM to see how other cities organise themselves.
City wide regional plans are far more common on the continent, and more to the point, the focus on city regions in countries like Germany seems to be far more successful. Peter Cromar, chief executive of Walsall Regeneration company, took part in a key debate on regional planning during MIPIM and touched on precisely these themes.
As he adds: "The State of Cities report recognised that cities are part of the solution and not the problem.
But only three cities in the UK are in the top 50 performing cities in Europe.
We have a long way to go"