Last week, Downtown in Business took a delegation of leading businesses and organisations from across the North and Midlands to MIPIM, the urban development conference in Cannes, France.
Meetings with elected leaders and civic executives were arranged and connections were forged across the cities and regions represented. New relationships with Dublin and Belfast were secured.
Birmingham was there in force, championing their city centre regeneration projects including the ‘Birmingham Central Heart’ scheme, which promises 8000 jobs, 5000 new homes and 400,000 sq. ft. of commercial space.
Liverpool announced the launch of a £2billion investment fund to kick start new schemes and unlock difficult sites ,and celebrated the announcement of the new Kings project including the tallest skyscrapers the city has ever seen.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority promoted their Good Growth Fund to help priority schemes flourish, and dazzled with investment-seeking contributions from Salford, Stockport and across the region.
Newcastle, Wolverhampton and Blackpool also made their presence felt with strong delegation representation including council leaders and private sector organisations championing Business Improvement Districts and town centre regeneration plans.
Sadly, some of our big regions and cities were missing. Leeds once again chose not to attend, and for the two newest emerging regional Combined Authorities of Lancashire, and Cheshire and Warrington perhaps it was too early, but their presence will be required next year if they are to compete and punch their weight in the search and securing of the billions of pounds of investment made available through MIPIM.
Cities and regions are now in direct competition with each other for funds. It is not an option to sit it out or not put your schemes and opportunities in the shop window. For Downtown in Business, the planning for MIPIM 2027 has already begun.
