MIPIM 2011: Science key to growth, says Bernstein
MANCHESTER City Council leader Sir Howard Bernstein has said that the cities which continue to grow in the midst of the current funding crisis are those that place “science and innovation at the heart of their agenda”.
Speaking at a presentation at the MIPIM property conference in Cannes, Bernstein said that cities also need to develop new investment models to replace the Gap funding from grants that many developments have relied upon in previous years.
Mike Emmerich, chief executive of New Economy Manchester, said that the recent award of a Nobel Prize for Physics for two University of Manchester scientists, Andre Geim and Professor Konstantin Novoselov, for their work in the discovery and development of Graphene was a symbol of Manchester’s “global leadership in science and technology”.
He argued that the recent cuts provided an opportunity for Manchester to “reposition its offering”.
“In a lot of cities they’re cutting back on economic development. Our approach is different.”
He said that the city can take advantage of opportunities emanating from its universities and to invest in viable projects that will drive innovation and growth forwards.
Sarah Whitney, a director of CBRE, gave an overview of the new Evergreen Fund being managed by the City Council which provides mezzanine funding to help kickstart stalled schemes.
She said that the £30m fund, which has already invested in the Soapworks scheme where Nikal Investments is redeveloping the former Colgate factory at Salford into office space, had been matched with investment from local councils, the Greater Manchester Pension Fund and from Barclays Bank.
She added that it remained in talks with other potential private sector partners, and if a large enough pot is generated it could “make a huge difference in terms of the Manchester economy”.
Sir Howard added that if its bid for £85m of funding from the initial Regional Growth Fund round was successful, it would give the council and its partners the additional capacity to take equity stakes alongside the mezzanine funding provided through the Evergreen Fund.
“With that we will be able to significantly increase the financial reach of that fund,” he said.
He also urged businesses in Greater Manchester to submit their own bids for project funding as part of the second round of Regional Growth Fund applications, which open on April 12.
“What we need are more projects which are capable of being put forwards quickly, which are going to which will attract the right kind of finance and by doing that not only helping themselves but also helping Manchester and Greater Manchester in driving ourselves forward.
