MIPIM | THING OF THE WEEK

DJ… By day Richard Beasley is chief executive and founder of property marketing consultancy BWP. By early evening at MIPIM, he can be found indulging in his other pastime – spinning the decks on the Newcastle Stand. Beasley provided the vibey back drop to an equally atmospheric reception to close out Tuesday. Luke Una who?

Are we being punished for Brexit? Credit: Ethan Williamson via Unsplash

QUEUE BRITANNIA… The 90-minute queue for passport control on the way into France was not what passengers on the 6:20 EasyJet flight from Manchester needed when they arrived in Nice. Thank God for the fruit pastilles provided by Close Brothers’ Joanne Parr, which kept glucose and morale levels off the floor.

If nothing else, the experience was a demonstration that, while we may have lost certain privileges as a result of Brexit, we will never lose our flair for queuing with good grace. It was more than a little demoralising to trudge repeatedly past some perfectly serviceable e-gates that, presumably, don’t accept British passports. More than one queuer observed that it felt like we were being punished. One declared that his passport had expired between the plane and the border.

Rosie hard at work. Credit: Hope Architects

DOG DAY AFTERNOON… One of the trickiest things about MIPIM is trying to juggle what is going on back at the ranch between meetings, events, and networking functions.

Phil Cooper, director at Hope Architects, had a novel idea to address this this week: he handed over the keys to the office to his dog. While Cooper was hard at work in Cannes, Rosie the bulldog was keeping things ticking over back home, conducting site visits in the Hope Valley and York, while taking the Land Rover out for a spin from time to time.

Guy Butler pointing to the offending toe. Credit: PNW

TOE… Breaking your toe mere days before a half marathon is sub optimal prep. But that is exactly what has happened to Glenbrook’s Guy Butler at MIPIM. Stepping into the bath for a shower, Butler smashed an already delicate toe into the side of the tub and immediately knew it was bad. Not to be deterred, he is planning to strap it up and do the run anyway, eager as he is to not let anyone who has helped to raised close to £10,000 down. What a Guy.

Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham embrace at MIPIM. Credit: LCRCA

BROMANCE… Liverpool City Region won the week as far as announcements go. A £2bn investment fund and a 70-storey tower, by far the city’s tallest, were among the headlines from the city region this week. Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram was delighted to learn his fiscal war chest is a full £1bn bigger than Greater Manchester’s Good Growth Fund, announced last year. “It’s because we’re twice as good” he (half) joked. But not even a 10-figure disparity in financial firepower could pour cold water on the raging inferno that is the bromance between Rotheram and his Greater Manchester counterpart Andy Burnham, as the image above, and video on LCRCA’s LinkedIn, illustrates.

Leader Cllr Anne Handley, right, and Invest East Yorkshire’s Bekki Banks, left, celebrated a MIPIM well spent sharing the good word of Hull and East Yorkshire. Credit: Place North

Lobsters… Steve Coogan may be a Hollywood celebrity, but East Riding of Yorkshire Council Leader Anne Handley was the star of MIPIM in our book. She came out swinging, advocating on the global stage for her community and the North as a whole. She left quite the impression as anyone who saw her during MIPIM can attest – and one memorable fact: most of Europe’s lobsters come from Bridlington. Anne, whenever we eat our lobsters going forward, we’ll think of you.

JOURNEY… Not all journeys from the UK to Cannes are made equal. Just ask Paul Dodsworth, at Caddick Construction. After his flight from Teesside was cancelled while passengers took their seats on the plane, Dodsworth got in a taxi to Newcastle Airport for a flight to Heathrow and then on to Nice. A full 18 hours of travel. Ouch. Cannes anyone beat that?

A town with heart – and a strange name. Credit: Place North

Towny McTownface… Cavendish’s Sean Fielding was the man responsible for hijacking our How to Build a New Town session with a name harkening back to the great trolling event of 2016 (long live Boaty McBoatface). While it may have started as a joke, as our panel and audience discussed how to transform Towny McTownface into a proper place – embracing nature and history, factoring in transport and affordability at the start, and making it a great place to be born, live, and die. At the end of the day, Towny McTownface may have had a silly name, but it had a lot of heart. Vive la Towny McTownface!