Member Article

Liverpool and Manchester unite to champion property investment projects at MIPIM UK

Representatives from Liverpool and Manchester have joined together to showcase major property developments and opportunities to invest in both cities and their environs at MIPIM UK – the first property trade show of its kind to take place in London

It is based on the internationally-renowned property fair held annually in Cannes, France.

Liverpool and Manchester - working alongside other cities - want to grow the UK market by exploiting the opportunities of a ‘Northern Powerhouse’ to complement London.

An improved east - west transport solution would link the cities’ economies and transform the opportunities to collaborate, enhance the skills capacity of their markets and provide a stronger platform for business growth both for domestic and international trade.

With this aim, Liverpool and Manchester are exhibiting together (stand F-21; G-20) to showcase a range of projects from across the M62 corridor to an audience of investors, developers, occupiers, hotel groups, agents and business service providers at the inaugural event.

The two North West cities are backed by 26 sponsors and partners including Peel, Deloitte, Morecrofts, the Liverpool BID Company, City Residential, Homes and Communities Agency, Active Profile, Capital and Centric, Bruntwood, Neptune, Sigma, Countryside, Harcourt, St Modwen, Innov8, Ryder Architecture, The Chrysalis Fund, Sutcliffe, Wates, Arup, Bolton Council, Cheshire West and Chester, Manchester City Council, MIDAS – Greater Manchester’s inward investment agency, Stockport Council and Virgin Trains.

Manchester’s involvement in the exhibition comes during a significant rise in development activity for the Greater Manchester region, which will support the forecast additional 40,000 jobs within the city centre in the next decade alone, and GVA increasing by over £5.5bn by 2023, to a total of almost £20bn.

Additional infrastructure is also planned to support the city’s growth proposals. The city’s Victoria station is currently undergoing a £44m redevelopment to provide space for millions more passengers a year, with additional redevelopments planned for Oxford Road and Piccadilly stations as part of the proposed Northern Hub.

Manchester is looking to communicate this message of development at MIPIM UK as well as future plans around east- west connectivity investment of the One North proposals.

Sir Howard Bernstein, chief executive of Manchester City Council, said: “We’re delighted to have this opportunity to showcase Manchester’s strengths alongside the city of Liverpool at MIPIM UK.

“While many investors are beginning to find themselves priced out of London, they are looking elsewhere in the country, and recognising the burgeoning opportunities available in the North West.

“Both Manchester and Liverpool need more powers to shape our cities that attract quality investment to help pump the heart of the North to complement London so that we can compete with the biggest cities in the world, supporting strengths like cutting-edge research as well as more traditional investment in sectors such as housing and commercial development.

“This strategy is already bearing fruits. For example, the Beijing Construction Engineering Group is playing a key role in the development of the £800m Airport City project, and the city’s constructive relationship with Abu Dhabi United Group, the privately-owned investment company which also owns Manchester City FC, has seen the announcement of a major new partnership to regenerate two east Manchester neighbourhoods.”

Liverpool presents itself as being in the process of radically changing the way that the future development of the city is determined, financed and delivered.

The city is witnessing the greatest increase in construction activity seen in nearly a decade with £1.81billion currently on-site, including the eagerly awaited £69million Exhibition Centre Liverpool, almost £200m being invested in building new or refurbishing existing homes and a further £745million in healthcare improvements including the rebuilding of two of the city’s major hospitals.

Mayor Joe Anderson, said: “Liverpool successfully returned to MIPIM Cannes in 2014, where we joined Manchester in promoting our cities and the North West as great investment locations and it is sensible with shared agendas to work closely again at MIPIM UK.

“MIPIM UK provides the opportunity for Liverpool and the whole of the North to champion better connectivity and devolution of powers to cities.

“As Liverpool starts to prepare for the International Festival for Business 2016, and has seen the start of work on multiple key investment development sites over the last 12 months, the city is now more than ever advancing its credentials as a top class business city.”

Sean Beech, Chair of the steering committee for Liverpool at MIPIM, said: “MIPIM enables the private sector to drive forward discussions around investment and positioning working with the city’s leadership and public sector.

“We are at MIPIM UK as a private sector collective with the support of Mayor Joe Anderson to further showcase the opportunities that exist for investment and look forward to the success of the event.”

Liverpool’s delegation to MIPIM UK is being project managed by Marketing Liverpool for MIPIM.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .