Business

Private and public sectors must work together to attract MIPIM investment

Cannes will play host this week to MIPIM, the world's biggest property exhibition
Cannes will play host this week to MIPIM, the world's biggest property exhibition Cannes will play host this week to MIPIM, the world's biggest property exhibition

As 23,000 participants from 90 countries prepare to take over 19,000 sq metres of exhibition space at MIPIM, the largest property event in the world, Stephen Blaney, design director at Coogan & Co Architects, explains why a strong delegation from Belfast needs to be there.

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I'VE always found that stepping back from your day to day activity and listening to the feedback from your key stakeholders can be one of the most valuable ways to learn and adapt. This can apply to you as an individual, to your business and, in the case of Belfast at MIPIM, as a city.

Last year Belfast went to Cannes with the sole objective of attracting investment from the real estate sector. We recently saw luxury hotel developer Lawrence Kenwright committing to the development of two new city centre hotels in 2017 because he was impressed by what he saw at MIPIM. He, along with others, recognised that Belfast is in an exciting stage of its development and likely to flourish in the coming years.

While this is excellent news, the delegation and the city benefited in many other ‘below the radar’ ways simply by listening.

MIPIM presents Belfast with an opportunity to showcase what it has to offer on a European stage, but it also allows us to gather feedback on how the city is perceived by others and to compare the projects we are bringing to market with those achieved in other UK cities.

We left the exhibition last year realising that there is no reason for Belfast to have an inferiority complex about the quality of the work taking place here. We will be approaching this year’s event with greater confidence in our plans for the future and an assurance about the direction the city is going in.

One of the main sentiments fed back in the weeks following MIPIM 2016 was the sense of unity in the city. Investors could see that private sector companies are working alongside Belfast City Council to encourage development and build a thriving city. This delivered a strong message in itself – that Belfast is pro-development, pro-investment and pro-growth.

Since this event developers and investors have formed partnerships not just as a result of the projects exhibited, but also fundamentally because of the positive message that came from Belfast City Council.

Private development companies expressed their wish for more speed and certainty in the delivery of planning permissions at MIPIM 2016. Coogan & Co presented four major office developments and one hotel project at last year’s event. By October all five had been approved by council. In the last six months we have also negotiated more than 650,000 sq ft of grade A office space with Belfast City Council.

The council’s team have worked hard to provide an open door and clear communications process which will give private sector companies confidence. Investors will consider Belfast when they see certainty. Certainty comes when communications are clear, when a council gets a reputation for doing what it says it will do and even in the last year we have seen that confidence grow.

A lot has been achieved in the last year by listening and by taking action. Belfast will be using MIPIM 2017 to build on the relationships we have made already with a clear message that the City Council and the private sector are working together to encourage investment, development and growth.

Belfast will be there to demonstrate that we have our sleeves rolled up and we are only getting started.