Curzon Masterplan and UK Central see potential investors flock to Greater Birmingham stand at MIPIM
THIS year’s MIPIM property exhibition has been hailed as “the most positive in years” by members of Greater Birmingham’s delegation.
The city’s stand at the event attracted a larger audience of potential investors than ever before – all keen to see the range of large scale development projects.
These included the plan to transform 141 hectares of the city centre with the Birmingham Curzon HS2 masterplan and the unique concentration of assets on offer at UK Central in Solihull.
The announcement of charter flights from Birmingham to China following the extension of the runway at Birmingham Airport was used to showcase the region as an area with clear and ambitious plans for growth, backed by strong investor support.
In total, 20,500 delegates from 93 countries attended this year’s exhibition. Greater Birmingham took the opportunity to talk to the visitors about its developments and future plans.
Inward investment body, Marketing Birmingham, said the interest saw the value of positive media coverage for Greater Birmingham top £810,000, up 50% from last year. Meanwhile the area’s use of social media helped its message reach more than 800,000 accounts over the event. Visits to the inward investment website – businessbirmingham.com – were up by nearly 40% as a result of Twitter activity and over 120% from LinkedIn posts, compared to 2013.
The Greater Birmingham delegation staged or participated in 17 events, directly highlighting the region’s investment opportunities and credentials. These included two events on the main MIPIM conference programme. Birmingham City Council leader Sir Albert Bore joined other regional city heads to discuss how they were attracting investment in their respective knowledge economies and the potential of HS2 to transform the regions and rebalance the UK economy.
Sir Albert said: “It was a good MIPIM for Greater Birmingham. We had a lot of developer interest – in our housing projects, the office market and in what we had to say. There’s a lot to follow up.
“We had much to talk about this year. By showcasing our plans for large development sites like those at the former Selly Oak Hospital, Icknield Port Loop, UK Central and Paradise Circus, we were able to show that we have ambition and momentum in Greater Birmingham. Investors are taking notice.”
The Greater Birmingham delegation at MIPIM 2014 included a record 27 partners from across the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), as well as the Black Country LEP – a 58% increase on last year.
Wayne Langford, Head of Investment, Programmes and Development at Invest Black Country, said: “MIPIM undoubtedly provides a unique opportunity to access decision makers, influencers and investors on a scale that cannot be achieved easily elsewhere.
“By joining forces with Birmingham and Solihull, we were able to play an active role in promoting our part of the world to this audience to great effect. Leveraging the optimism created by the area’s major developments and ambitious plans, we were able to raise awareness and understanding of the Black Country’s offering and build relationships that we will develop in the months to come.”
Anne Brereton, Director for Places at Solihull Council, added that interest in the UK Central plan and other schemes suggested that Solihull was ripe for future international investment.
Greater Birmingham picked up eight FDI Intelligence awards during the event. Birmingham was ranked in the top 20 European Cities of the Future 2014/15 and in the top three for the foreign direct investment (FDI) strategies of large cities, the only English city to do so. In a further boost, Walsall was recognised in the Top 10 for Business Friendliness in the European Small Cities category and the Black Country featured in the Top 10 in the UK LEP category for FDI strategy.
