MIPIM (Le Marché International des Professionnels de L’immobilier) is one of the world’s leading real estate expositions attended by people from across the globe.
Normally held every March in Cannes, the event has been put on pause for the last two years due to the pandemic. This year, it is back on in full force for the first time since 2019 and Leicester and Leicestershire’s contingent is gearing up to attend.
The Team Leicester is a public / private partnership made up of organisations who have joined together to collectively champion Leicester and Leicestershire’s property and construction sector, inward investment message and to showcase the exciting range of projects and opportunities in the area.
Rob McGuinn from property consultants MDA is chair of the Team Leicester. He said, “Although the pandemic has caused the industry to slow down on a global scale, Leicester and Leicestershire have in fact, weathered the storm well. Our businesses are resilient; our people are tough; and consequently, our region has emerged with a degree of optimism – and this resonates in the continuation of the large volume of new developments that are there for all to see.”
Matthew Wallace, Director of Estates and Building Services at Leicester City Council. He said, “MIPIM brings about the chance to have meaningful conversations away from the day-to-day environment – people attend because they want to return with tangible and realistic outcomes.
“Leicester City Council has many sites and locations in our portfolio, and we have recently received substantial funding to progress many new projects such as Pilot House and Leicester Railway Station to name but two. We are particularly interested in speaking to housing developers, investors, corporate real estate occupiers and the supply chain who can help to deliver on these projects.
“We are not just flying the flag as a public sector body. We are also championing private sector developments from the likes of our university partners, our Space Park, the Science Park at Loughborough and Charnwood campus – all of which also have developmental propositions and add greatly to the team spirit and focus that we will be going to MIPIM with.
Jon Bennett, Head of Strategic Property Services at Leicestershire County Council added, “Leicestershire has some very exciting prospects, including plans for the East Midlands Freeport. The only inland freeport, it is set to deliver over 61,000 jobs for the region and an extra £8.9bn for the local economy over the next 30 years.
“The County Council is also leading on an extensive carbon reduction programme and we are very interested in, for example, low carbon housing developments and new ideas such as renewable energy projects that can be applied to our estates to help offset our carbon usage. So collectively, we are heading to MIPIM to seek suitable partners on a very diverse range of potential opportunities.”
McGuinn added, “Our theme, ‘Tackling Challenges and Converting Opportunities’ perfectly sums up the resilience and positivity of Leicester/shire and we are very much looking forward to collectively showcasing our region to the world at MIPIM.”
