Diary: Around the world in 800 euros

After the harshest of winters, it was always going to be interesting to see what sort of face the North West property community showed the world at the 21st MIPIM.

The crowds were thinner and the Cannes sunshine was a bit like the hoped-for economic recovery: tentative and not quite a restorative tonic.

The luminaries attended in reasonable force, led by Sir Howard Bernstein, chief executive of Manchester City Council, and Lindsey Ashworth, director of Peel Holdings.

One can only wonder at the tensions and complexities of the relationship between the organisations they represent, but Manchester and Peel did not speak with one voice during the biggest announcement of MIPIM week, which came not from the Côte d'Azur but a business park on the outskirts of Warrington.

The North West Development Agency launched the consultation of the Atlantic Gateway blueprint that could create 400,000 homes and 250,000 jobs in the North West. Peel's £50bn plans to develop sites along the River Mersey and Manchester Ship Canal could hardly be more integral or profoundly ambitious. Yet Manchester retained all the haughty disdain of a French waitress confronted by yet another Anglaise struggling with the language.

The city appeared to take the view that the evidence gathered by the NWDA fails to proves the Gateway case. It thinks the Manchester-Leeds-Lancashire link is as important as that between Liverpool and Manchester. If any old foes were trying to be friends in Cannes, it was Manchester and Leeds.

Indeed, as schedules would have it, Sir Howard and Jean Dent, director of development at Leeds City Council spoke at a breakfast seminar about the virtues of working together just hours after the NWDA announcement.

MONDAY

A few good-natured quips about the Manchester delegation flying out of Liverpool - gateway to MIPIM. No Speedy Boarders, either, so budgets really must be tight.

By late afternoon La Croisette is chilly and less garish than usual, apart from dreadful Krasnador banners. A stand preview reveals the Manchester vibe to be sleek and digital. Liverpool plays its sporting colours, cultural heritage and internationalism. Pete Postlewaite looms large from one wall. A cityscape linking Liverpool with Shanghai is resplendent across another.

So to informal drinks on the Liverpool yacht. Much of the pre-show chat is about MIPIM recovering from the nadir of 2007, when some 30,000 delegates combined with a vast influx of Eastern European marketing cash, making the event more hassle than all but the most over-exposed, deal-making wannabe could stand.

"Last year was all about serious dialogue," reflects Jim Gill, Vision's outgoing chief executive. "We did a lot of talking about the final phase of St Paul's Square, for instance, and met the German fund which bought Mann Island. I can't claim these deals wouldn't have happened without MIPIM but it does help build rapport and relationships when you can meet in more relaxed circumstances.

"MIPIM should be about cities and municipality. It had become something that the people who serve the property industry used to reward their clients."

TUESDAY

Marketing Manchester mogul Drew Stokes is awaiting the first of the week's six stand presentations, which come complete with live Twitter and You Tube postings.

With 37 private sector partners, Stokes is pleased with the level of support. Manchester has ditched the yacht but does have an apartment. "We need another space for sponsor events," he explains.

A decent turnout for Chris Farrow of Central Salford URC and Manchester's creative director Peter Saville - who update on all things digital and media. Outside, the crowds in the exhibition bunker and on the main drag are fairly light.

Saville tells of a Manchester cabbie who gave up on a career in film, unable to find a way into the industry. The £6.3m cash injection the NWDA gives to the Sharp Project, a digital media hub and studio being established on the Oldham Road, should help such dreams come true.

Farrow talks about BBC decision-making being made in Manchester - some 35% of its budget. By the autumn, Salford will boast a new area of public realm twice the size of Trafalgar Square. Studio space, the University of Salford and a Holiday Inn will all be handed over by early next year.

Have to miss the Bloxham/ Stokes afternoon cultural Manchester presentation but do catch the debut of the former's giant plaid suit, complete with trilby. The outfit turns heads all week and somehow gets the mood right. The Urban Splash honcho jokes: "It's the largest check I've seen this year."

The Liverpool stand hears of up to 1,000 jobs being created by logistical hubs. Yet this is nowhere near as compelling as Bruntwood boss Chris Oglesby's bullish address. He highlights Liverpool's role as the largest centre for wealth management outside London. Then we fly through Liverpool's galaxy of new infrastructure, including ACC Liverpool with its 'dramatic Waterfront location' and Liverpool One. He applauds the city's decision to go to the World Expo in Shanghai. "Liverpool has rediscovered what made it great in the first place."

Then it's the development opportunity for three plots at Pall Mall. The massive site could work as the Whitehall of the North and rivals the Manchester Mayfield proposals for a civil service campus for up to 5,000 workers behind Piccadilly Station.

The thought of 5,000 civil servants creating a new rush hour is something to conjure with - a rush hour that starts at 4.30pm.

Tuesday closes with Boris Johnson in hilarious form for 10 minutes on the London stand.

Later, the Morrison hotel is rammed for Chelsea's removal from the Champions League. Cockney piss-taking and tour humour abound. I'm told that the official delegate bag includes a Norwegian business magazine called Nordicum, which attracts an inordinate amount of laughter. It's also said that the marketing potential of Wirral is undermined by the fact that Chinese people struggle to pronounce Wirral. Oh dear, MIPIM is starting to feel like its old self.

WEDNESDAY

A media breakfast on the Liverpool yacht to discuss city branding. The panel includes Robert Gordon-Clarke, managing director of the London Communications Agency, who reminds Richard Arman of Intercontinental Hotels that city brands are much harder to manage than consumer brands - especially hotels, where you can control everything down to the colour of towels. The horror stories include Tube strikes thwarting good news stories, and of the fight for Wembley to be the new national stadium. Without the united backing of all 34 London council leaders, Gordon-Clarke had to take on the likes of Sir Howard in that national debate, which puts North West factions in context.

Exhibition halls are now busy and later arrivals include Colin Hilton, chief executive of Liverpool City Council, and Matt Crompton of Muse Developments. A gloomy Savills report showing that Britain is being saved by Germany when it comes to property lending is not much of a welcome.

Back to the Liverpool stand for Lindsey Ashworth's keynote address about Ocean Gateway. No time wasted nailing his colours to the mast. Manchester has "exhausted its economic potential" and Liverpool's natural resources make it the place to go for growth. Blimey. The planning system gets another hammering.

Peel's terraforming is the ultimate expression of both confidence in Liverpool and globalisation. But is the Peel plan too big?

"It has to be that size and scale to have impact globally," Ashworth shrugs.

What about his own confidence? "Well it helps that I've been with Peel for 20 years. The trouble with the development industry is that people move every five years. You need to stick around to see if what you did works."

Colin Hilton, John Kelly and Mike Taylor take questions about Liverpool's future, including one about how the election might influence the city's plans. John Kelly says: "Governments don't always know what's best to do. Cities are well placed to advise them."

Hilton nods and says that every contingency is being planned for - a red, blue or hung Parliament.

It's St Patrick's Day and the Morrison Hotel and locals and leprechaun hats eclipse the MIPIM crowd.

Over beers architect Maggie Mullan of Austin-Smith:Lord debates who the Liverpool consulting engineer Frank Mallon most resembles - Paulie Walnuts from The Sopranos or is it Frank Carson? It was that kind of night.

THURSDAY

Manchester rolls out the big guns one more time with Sir Howard, supported by architect Ian Simpson and David Partridge of Argent. The New East Manchester presentation survives without Manchester City FC's involvement.

Three presentations on the Liverpool stand. What can entrepreneurs learn from The Beatles by FT columnist Mike Southon proves a big draw. No rocket science here, but entertaining and thought-provoking.

Gill McGreevy, a London-based lawyer from Lovells LLP, who heralds from Formby, comments approvingly on a constructive week. "All the better for not having to see surveyors vomiting in the street," she adds.

The last night parties are low budget, bring-your-own-wallet affairs, a refreshing riposte to corporate pomposity and a marina full of billionaire yachts. Liverpool delegates head for an Irish boozer, The Quays. Rob, its manager, estimates his takings are down 30% across all the big exhibitions, and fears the same will be true of the Cannes Porn Festival, due in town the following week.

Manchester's Hang The DJ party, which sees various property stars on the turntables, is even more fun. Nick Johnson of Splash, Bloxham and Simpson are among those who take to the turntables. A good night and a decent finish to the week.

Chris Hulme, PR director of Paver Smith, spent a week in Cannes, working with Liverpool Vision's communications team.