TWO of Yorkshire’s city regions, Leeds and Sheffield, have been working together to promote 20 “oven-ready” investment opportunities, and the longer-term opportunities within Yorkshire and the north, at a major property event in London this week.
The local enterprise partnerships have again joined together at property exhibition MIPIM UK to showcase the regeneration and development opportunities within West and South Yorkshire. Projects including Thorpe Park in east Leeds and Sheffield Digital Campus have featured prominently, alongside industrial and leisure schemes in Rotherham, Huddersfield and elsewhere.
They have welcomed a Chinese delegation to the stand and held presentations both in partnership with other northern cities and with UK Trade and Investment to set out the potential within their city regions. This has been combined with a busy schedule of meetings to start and develop relationships.
Ben Still, chief executive of Sheffield City Region LEP, said: “We are at MIPIM UK for three key reasons – we have 20 large-scale investable sites between us, we have a particular story to tell around advanced manufacturing, and we are here as part of the Northern Powerhouse to demonstrate our collective strength.”
Leeds City Region LEP chairman Roger Marsh added: “There is no better way to showcase what we have on offer.
“With 20 ‘oven-ready’ opportunities, this is a way to get the message out.”
Both city regions stressed the benefits of partnership, allied to a keen, healthy competition, as Yorkshire’s cities seek to leverage the momentum behind the Northern Powerhouse to attract investment.
“There’s a need to be here and a need to do this in concert and to do this together,” said Mr Marsh. “Let’s not forget, if it was a country on its own the north would be the 20th-largest country economically.
MIPIM UK is the younger sibling of the international property exhibition held in Cannes, which attracts investors and developers from around the world to the south of France each year.
Mr Still said: “MIPIM UK has got a bit more focus on site selection agents and investors. MIPIM in France has got more emphasis on positioning and presence, but they are essentially the same.
“MIPIM is not the place where deals get done, it’s where relationships develop.”
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