Reflecting back over MIPIM week, Manchester has again excelled itself in its positioning on an international stage. The stand and presentation content, team Manchester (in which I include all of us in attendance from the city), the additional activity outside of the Palais des Festival and the overall upbeat feeling that abounds today reflects a successful week.
Overall the show continues to be quieter than in its boom years however Manchester’s activity has been reflective of its ambitions as a city. The expertly designed and managed stand changed colour daily and was again open and welcoming with lots of meetings on-stand; the branded ‘Manchester’ bar near to the exhibition centre continues to be a popular feature and the addition of a well-located apartment for events replace the once glitzy dinner and the Manchester yacht. Focused, tight and I suspect more cost effective than previous years, the city’s presence reflected the times but was as ‘in your face’ as ever.
Tom Bloxham’s presentation on Cultural Manchester was first up and the content, I’m happy to report, wasn’t overshadowed by his striking suit! Day two provided detail of the city’s transportation plans and explanation of ‘Corridor Manchester’, the Oxford Road knowledge corridor and Mike Oglesby (MIDAS/Bruntwood) and Paul Lakin’s (NWDA) presentation on how the Manchester’s regeneration has positively impacted the city region and the North West. These presentations flanked the city’s appearance alongside Barcelona, Hamburg and Amsterdam where civic leaders and private sector partners from each city were given a ‘grilling’ – Manchester stood out as being more clearly focused on the people of the city and those it might attract rather than just cold physical regeneration.
Thursday’s activity was kicked off with a presentation by quartet Sir Howard Bernstein, Ian Simpson (Ian Simpson Architects), Roger Stephenson (Stephenson Bell) and David Partridge (Argent) about exciting plans for the Civic Centre including the redevelopment of St Peter’s Square and town hall buildings – a quick scoot over to the Hotel Gray d’Albion where Nick Johnson (Urban Splash) expertly managed an esteemed city panel of representatives covering trade and investment, sport, culture, connectivity under the heading Manchester International. The debate underlined the city’s cohesion of all these elements to provide the Manchester package being sold on a world stage. Sir Howard Bernstein, always looking to the next challenge, highlighted the city’s need to better support indigenous businesses in their international aspirations and promised future improvements. Finally, the moment everyone was waiting for was the city’s announcement of further detail of the much speculated tie-up with MCFC –confirmation that the deal will be done was provided and that Chief Executive, Gary Cooke, couldn’t join the MIPIM team as he was busy discussing plans with ministers in the UK….the city’s dedicated journalists will have to wait a little longer…
With the advent of social media, droves of MIPIM stories were issued from Cannes and the city embraced the mood of the times by having a live Twitter feed #MIPIM on stand which at times made for very interesting reading!
The serious stuff well and truly sown up, everyone headed down to the Ear to the Ground ‘Hang the DJ’ party for a ‘right old knees up’ and I’d award prizes to David Partridge (Argent) for the most enthusiastic dancer and the most appreciated ‘set’ to Tom Bloxham who couldn’t fail with a bit of Manchester’s own Joy Division and Love Will Tear Us Apart…….or bring us together……whatever your view of MIPIM, it certainly solidifies that cocky ‘can do’ attitude and I for one hope to be back next year to support the city!
http://www.manchesteratmipim.com/
