West Midlands has attractive portfolio of ‘phenomenal’ assets
The West Midlands presents a “credible” option to large investors because of the strengths of its assets and investor-ready propositions, a leading member of the region’s MIPIM delegation has said.
Martin Reeves, chief executive of West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) and Coventry City Council, believes the £8bn portfolio of “phenomenal” assets which was officially launched by the Department for International Trade at MIPIM today provides the scale to attract bigger investors.
“MIPIM is about equity players and big investors,” he said. “Therefore we, through the Midlands Engine and the WMCA, have to be comfortable selling the portfolio together.
“Across the WMCA there are three specific city regeneration projects – Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Coventry. In portfolio terms they are of interest to the big players.”
This year, the Midlands authorities have joined together at the property exhibition in Cannes, France, to present a united front.
Reeves is convinced that it is critically important to have a presence at the event and to take the region’s message to the international property sector.
He said: “In terms of this incredibly tougher world of selling your cities and city regions, what would it say to investors and developers if Coventry and Warwickshire or the West Midlands did not have a presence here? That would be an absolute disaster in a very competitive environment.”
Although the schedule is built around presentations, Reeves places aprticular value on the one-to-one conversations with “CEO, COO, development director-level” people to gauge their interest.
“The set pieces are important to get core messages across but the real value is when you start to speak to specific, targeted investors,” he said.
“We will talk to those who have particular appetite in PRS or long-term returns, for example pension funds.”
