Competitors step up as UK hangs in limbo
COMMENT No deal and no deals. That is the theme of the week. The continuing uncertainty and relentless voting around Brexit as we near (or maybe don’t) our exit from the European Union has left UK investment at a standstill. Everyone is sitting on their hands and waiting. While the country is stuck in this limbo the UK has become almost uninvestable.
And it was definitely noticeable at MIPIM this week. Of course there were plenty of rumours about acquisitions, but the shenanigans going on back home in parliament meant that few were willing to put their money exactly where their mouth was.
And while the UK remains in this constant state of high alert, the rest of Europe at least has started to take advantage.
COMMENT No deal and no deals. That is the theme of the week. The continuing uncertainty and relentless voting around Brexit as we near (or maybe don’t) our exit from the European Union has left UK investment at a standstill. Everyone is sitting on their hands and waiting. While the country is stuck in this limbo the UK has become almost uninvestable.
And it was definitely noticeable at MIPIM this week. Of course there were plenty of rumours about acquisitions, but the shenanigans going on back home in parliament meant that few were willing to put their money exactly where their mouth was.
And while the UK remains in this constant state of high alert, the rest of Europe at least has started to take advantage.
There was a noticeable increase in German voices at MIPIM this year and, from France, the Paris region was working particularly hard – and collaboratively – to showcase the French capital as the place to be, with several at the show telling me that the Paris stand was outshining London by some measure. The wooing of investors and occupiers by France and Germany had definitely stepped up a notch on previous years.
The rise of resi
Also notable at this MIPIM was how much the conversation had changed. This is a show that has been focused on commercial property over the past 30 years, with major office deals and regeneration plans being announced.
But this year offices were so passé. All anyone wanted to talk about was the living sector. Everything from student accommodation to PRS and co-living through to retirement living.
How we live has become a much bigger part of the commercial conversations in Cannes than it has ever been before. There is a weight of money looking to invest across the living sector and a huge appetite for information on it. Certainly expect to see more from us at EG on the evolution of living space, from student to retiree, and what the UK needs to do to catch up with the likes of the US in terms of its provision of living spaces for the next generation and beyond.
Property’s image problem
What hasn’t changed at MIPIM, yet, is the sea of blue suits. There are definitely more women, there are still the pink elephants (I’ve been proudly wearing mine), and there are a few more relaxed outfits – and Steve Edge, of course – but it is still a decidedly male atmosphere and still a rosé and champagne-fuelled event.
MIPIM remains a place to meet – where else could you see all the major cities and their mayors or council leaders in the space of a day or two? Where else could you serendipitously bump into partners, clients and contacts and in the space of five minutes come up with ideas or solutions that could have taken weeks to facilitate back in the UK?
It has to be celebrated for that. But, and don’t get me wrong, I love a glass of the pink and the bubbly stuff, for an outsider looking in at our industry, is this really the image we want to portray? Our reputation as an industry has to be better than that, we have to think about the make up of the people we send to represent our industry and make sure they understand their purpose in the sector, especially at a time when our reputation as a country is on such fragile ground.
