MIPIM | Q&A with Anne Handley 

From a yacht marina in Bridlington and major docklands regeneration in Hull to the urgent need for better transport, the leader of East Yorkshire and head of investment for HEYCA has come to Cannes to set out her ambitions for the county and promote the region’s investment opportunities.

What are you promoting at MIPIM, and what is your main aim for being here?

My main aim is to network and hopefully encourage people to come to East Yorkshire and look at investment opportunities. That’s really the key purpose of being here.

I’m promoting a range of projects, from a proposed yacht marina in Bridlington to a completely new generation of the Boston Docklands in Hull, along with various other developments in between. These include ideas such as a hotel, and several other opportunities.

Do you have your eye on any specific companies or countries that you want to target for investment while you’re here?

I believe there’s a lot of investment capital in Europe, so I’d certainly be interested in speaking to people from countries like Germany, France, or Spain. However, I’m also particularly interested in the UAE because of the yacht marina proposal in Bridlington.

They’ve done a fantastic job in Dubai with waterfront development and how they’ve worked with water, so I think there could be some valuable insights or opportunities there.

Infrastructure investment, such as transport or digital connectivity, often unlocks development. What are your key priorities in terms of infrastructure that you’re pushing for with the government at the moment?

One of our biggest priorities is improving transport across the whole of East Riding of Yorkshire, which covers around 1,000 square miles. To give you an idea of the challenge, travelling from our coast to Beverley and back by public transport can take longer than flying to New York. That shows how far behind we are when it comes to transport infrastructure investment. I’d like to see that addressed.

Unfortunately, it feels like we were completely missed out when it came to Northern Powerhouse Rail, so securing investment in transport is right at the top of my list.

What do you see as East Yorkshire’s biggest challenges in terms of construction and development?

One of the biggest challenges right now – both for East Yorkshire and the UK more broadly – is power supply. We can have investors ready and waiting with money, but if we can’t get sufficient power to development sites, that becomes a major barrier.

Delays in energy connections are a big issue and are holding projects back. Alongside that, transport infrastructure remains another major challenge, because moving people around efficiently is essential for development.

On a more positive note, what are the region’s biggest selling points and opportunities?

One of our biggest strengths is that we are home to the largest port by tonnage in the UK, contributing just over £86bn to the UK economy. We also have an incredibly diverse region: we have coastline, rural areas, a city, and market towns.

There’s a huge amount happening. We also have a significant amount of development land available across the East Riding. I’ve just been speaking with Caddick about that, and we’re planning to arrange a meeting.

And of course, I have to mention what’s become a bit of a strapline for us: we are the lobster capital of Europe. If you’re eating lobster today in Cannes, Spain, or elsewhere in Europe, there’s a good chance it came from Bridlington in East Yorkshire.

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