Representing the Western Gateway on the global stage

March was a busy month for the Western Gateway. In addition to our first conference (see my earlier blog!), it was the Partnership’s first presence on the global stage. Specifically, at MIPIM.

 

What is MIPIM?

MIPIM (Marché International des Professionnels d'Immobilier) is described as the world’s largest real estate market event. It brings together investors, developers, and professional service providers with countries and city regions that have investor ready assets and projects.

The Partnership’s Chair, Katherine Bennett, and I were joined at the event by Board Members Cllr Toby Savage and Richard Bonner with Cllr Huw Thomas welcoming visitors in a virtual address.

Our shared mission - making strides in ensuring that the opportunities and strengths that exist across the Western Gateway are 'known' internationally as well as nationally.

 

What happened?

Countries represented at this year’s MIPIM included Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Egypt, Germany, USA … you get the picture.

The UK too was present – hosting a Pavilion for events that showcased investment opportunities and strengths for investors around the world. Our Chair took centre stage here, championing the Partnership’s places, businesses, and sectoral clusters in a discussion on “Infrastructure: Building a Levelled-Up Britain fit for a net zero future”. One of the messages I took away from this discussion was that areas across the UK need to champion their complementary strengths on the global stage.

Our area’s very own Invest Bristol and Bath (IBB) and Invest in Cardiff/Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) hosted their own events. These showcased the wealth of investment opportunities we have in the Western Gateway – from the exciting redevelopment of Atlantic Wharf in Cardiff, the transformation of Newport’s Northern Gateway and at the innovative Bristol and Bath Science Park to name but a very, very few.

The IBB and CCR pavilions were also home to vibrant discussions led by leaders from across the public and private sector. ‘Team Western Gateway’ took part in many of these. All of them explored and showcased the skills, supply chains and innovation strengths that our area is home to; from creative industries to green energy and advanced manufacturing to cyber and fintech.

I was pleased these strengths were not lost on the Minister of State for Housing, the Rt Hon Stuart Andrew MP, when he visited both Pavilions after giving his keynote speech.

 

Summary

In reflecting on the event, I was struck that one of the over-riding themes was not simply the benefits to be had by investing in a place. But rather the benefits to be had by investing in place-making. With the importance of co-creation between communities and developers, opportunity to create pride in place and need to take account of sustainability and net zero ambitions at the their heart of conversation.

So, a huge thank you to everyone that supported and hosted the Western Gateway team this year. I know from the contacts made, energy in the room and continuing conversations that it paid dividends. In spades.

In terms of what comes next. Our mission to ensure the partnership is known to investors continues as we to UKREiiF in May. We hope to see you there…