Agenda item

The Committee considered the following report:

 

“1.0      Purpose of Report/Summary of Main Issues

 

1.1       To report on the outcomes of Belfast at MIPIM 2019 and seek approval to attend MIPIM 2020.

 

2.0       Recommendations

 

2.1       The Committee is requested to:

 

                                          i.          note the update from Belfast at MIPIM 2019, including the programme of events, meetings and media coverage, and to note that a number of follow up visits and meetings are planned in the near future as a direct result of this;

 

                                         ii.          note that planning for MIPIM 2020 needs to commence immediately and Members are requested to approve attendance by the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the Committee, or their nominated representatives, along with senior officers, as appropriate, this will include travel and accommodation;

 

                                       iii.          approve funding of £80,000, as part of the overall public private sector sponsorship fund, in line with the Council’s sponsorship amount in 2019. This will be met from within the existing City Regeneration and Development departmental budget;

 

                                       iv.          approve the appointment of external consultancy support for programming, event management, communications and design for MIPIM 2020. The cost of this will be met from the overall private public sector sponsorship fund;

 

                                         v.          approve the Council entering into a Memorandum of Understanding with the European Waterfront Cities Network, as outlined below; and

                                       vi.          approve officer attendance at EXPO Real in October 2019, as outlined below.

 

3.0       Main Report

 

3.1       The Committee will recall that, at its meeting in April 2018, it approved attendance at MIPIM 2019. MIPIM is the premier event in the European real estate calendar where many of the world’s investors, developers, funders, from both the private and public sector gather to showcase cities and investment and regeneration opportunities. Almost 27,000 people attended the 30th MIPIM Edition 2019. This is the fourth consecutive year that the Council have led the Belfast delegation to MIPIM. 

 

            Belfast at MIPIM Delegation

 

3.2       A record number of 100 delegates attended MIPIM as part of the Belfast delegation. This was made up of 43 supporting private and public-sector organisations. Organisations supporting Belfast at MIPIM 2019 included: Belfast Region City Deal partner Councils, Belfast Harbour Commissioners, Queens University Belfast, Tourism NI, Translink, Visit Belfast, Ulster University together with a number of developers, professional and financial consultancy organisations.

 

            Belfast at MIPIM Programme

 

3.3       The 3-day event conference involved a concentrated programme of events, meetings and engagements which provided a key opportunity to promote and showcase Belfast as an attractive location for investment and development. It should be noted that the major UK and European cities and regions are all represented at MIPIM. It is considered critical that Belfast is represented on this global platform as a place to invest in alongside other key cities and regions.

 

3.4       The Belfast at MIPIM 2019 Programme included 15 unique events organised by Belfast at MIPIM, with each event designed to highlight a range of key strengths that underpin Belfast’s strong investment proposition. This included the Belfast Region City Deal, connectivity, technology and innovation, waterfront regeneration, fast growth sectors, track record for FDI and quality of life. This year the programme included a focus on housing including housing in the context of mixed use developments, increased city centre living and inclusive growth across the city.

 

3.5       Programme topics covered included:

 

o   Belfast Region City Deal focused events

o   City Centre Living

o   Masterclass with Daniel Libeskind (an internationally and globally acclaimed figure in architecture and urban design, including the iconic design of the rebuilding of the World Trade Centre)

o   The life and work of Peter Rice: An Engineer Imagines

o   Screen City Tourism: Belfast creative industries driving growth in tourism

o   Connectivity Driving Growth for International Belfast

o   Waterfront City: Belfast’s Major Regeneration Projects

o   Region of Innovation: Scaling Ambition to Create Belfast’s First Innovation District

o   Real estate investor showcases included landmark Belfast developments including The Sixth (JV BCC and McAleer & Rushe) and Giant’s Park.

 

3.6       In addition, Council officers also presented and attended events organised by other cities or partner organisations including:

 

o   Housing Forum; local authorities delivering more

o   Destination Building: Culture, Leisure and Tourism

o   Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: Opportunities and potential for growth (Department for International Trade)

o   Inclusive waterfronts - how to keep them affordable and open

o   Capital to Country: Strengthening the Spokes for UK Investment (Department for International Trade)

o   UK Cities: Partnership Power with Estates Gazette

o   UK Post BREXIT Investment Strategies

o   Waterfront Regeneration

 

3.7       In addition there were a number of one-to-one focused meetings between officers, developers and investors interested in Belfast. A number of these were pre-arranged in the run up to MIPIM although there was also a notable increase in interest from developers and investors who visited the Belfast pavilion on an impromptu basis. It is worth highlighting the significant interest this year from a residential development perspective.  Given the level of interest from this particular sector thought is being given to how best to take advantage of this for the benefit of the city in terms of follow up actions and meetings.

 

3.8       FDI Awards

 

            The annual FDI awards organised by the FDI Magazine were held during MIPIM. Belfast was exceptionally successful at the awards ceremony in receiving 8 awards. The Chair of City Growth and Regeneration Committee received these awards on behalf of the city. A stand out accolade for the City was being ranked number one for business friendliness and second globally to Hong Kong for FDI Strategy. Other awards include being ranked within the overall top 10 for mid and small sized cities, economic potential, human capital and lifestyle, cost effectiveness, connectivity and within the top 25 emerging and developing global markets.

 

3.9       Belfast at MIPIM Pavilion

 

            The Belfast at MIPIM pavilion incorporated the City brand and included touch screen digital displays including VU.CITY and the Belfast Region interactive map. The front of the pavilion incorporated two large screens which played the Belfast marketing video showcasing the City’s investment and regeneration opportunities as well as our key growth sectors and reasons to invest in the city.  The pavilion incorporated authentic Game of Thrones costumes from the touring exhibition.

 

3.10      Figures on footfall to the pavilion are currently being collated. There was, however, a significant increase in activity at the Belfast pavilion, indicating that Belfast is continuing to attract interest regionally and internationally.

 

3.11      A dedicated Belfast at MIPIM investment guide was produced which highlighted Belfast’s proposition to potential investors. It included an overview of key sectors, investment opportunities, property market outlook and profile of the Belfast at MIPIM sponsors. This was available for potential investors and developers on the pavilion or download from the Council dedicated website www.investinbelfast.com.

 

3.12      Media Coverage

 

            Eight media releases were issued during MIPIM 2019. These included press releases around Belfast’s success at FDI Awards, Daniel Libeskind at MIPIM, and details of Belfast’s development opportunities. These generated significant interest from print, broadcast, trade and online media. Of particular significance are two interviews which took place during MIPIM; a radio interview from Mr. Daniel Libeskind and an online Property Week interview with a leading developer within the city promoting Belfast.

 

3.13      A final number on total media coverage is currently being collated. At the time of writing information to date indicates that Belfast MIPIM 2019 secured significant high quality coverage in a range of publications including international, property and trade, alongside regional and national coverage. Social media activity for Belfast MIPIM 2019 was greatly increased.  The @BelfastMIPIM Twitter account issued almost 300 tweets an increase of over 20% compared to 2018 and generated 8.8 million impressions. The messaging via Twitter reached 1.2 million twitter accounts.

 

3.14      Marketing and Engagement Opportunities

 

            Part of the Belfast MIPIM 2019 programme included two European Waterfront Cities Network (EWCN) organised events on waterfront regeneration and how to keep them open and affordable. The objective of the network is for waterfront cities to share best practice, identify funding opportunities and to collaborate on optimal development of respective waterfronts. The EWCN is an excellent example of collaborative working and invaluable access to regional and European contacts.  The EWCN comprises of; Amsterdam, Cardiff, Copenhagen, Gdynia, Glasgow, Gothenburg, Hafen City, Lisbon South Bay, Liverpool, Rotterdam, Stockholm and Tallinn (Estonia).

 

3.15      The EWCN is keen for Belfast to formally form part of their network. The network is of particular importance to Belfast considering the regeneration around our waterfront with the Waterside, Titanic Quarter, Giants Park, and Belfast Harbour City Quays. It is proposed that the Council, like the other cities will formalise their relationship with this network through a Memorandum of Understanding for a period until July 2020.

 

3.16      The Council has also been invited to attend EXPO Real between 7th and 9th October 2019, to participate in discussions with the European Waterfront Cities Network. This follows participation at EXPO Real in 2017.  EXPO Real is Europe’s largest property and investment trade fair, providing access to central and eastern European investors. There are a number of events planned over the two-day conference, including open and private events.  In addition to the EWCN invite, EXPO Real have been in touch with the Council to be part of the UK and Partners stand at the trade fair. A number of other UK cities including Glasgow and Manchester attend. Members are being requested to authorise officer attendance only noting that costs will be accounted for through the existing departmental marketing budget. Further updates to be brought to Committee.

 

3.17      Future Focus

 

            Officers are currently following up on a number of leads generated at MIPIM and it is worth noting that they hosted a visit to the City just last week for an investment company as a direct result of a meeting at MIPIM. Further follow ups with potential investors and developers are underway. There are more planned visits over the coming weeks, with the objective of translating this pipeline into tangible investment opportunities for the city. 

 

3.18      As noted above, this is the fourth consecutive year that the Council has led the Belfast delegation to MIPIM. In 2016, the City had a target to attract £1bn of investment. Taking into account development that has already been completed or in progress, together with major regeneration schemes that are being promoted, the value currently runs to approximately £2bn. It is essential that the city keep this momentum going into 2020. The growing ambitions for 2020 underpins the requirement to start planning as soon as possible for MIPIM 2020 to ensure we can continue to deliver a programme that effectively markets Belfast as a location for investment.  

 

3.19      In development terms, it is worth highlighting that within the last two weeks the city has welcomed positive news on the planning for the Transport Hub, the proposed Cruise Terminal, the Belfast Energy Plant and the signing of the Heads of Terms for the Belfast Region City Deal. These positive development and regeneration news stories were topics of conversations with international audiences at MIPIM. It is fitting that their announcements come on the back of a successful Belfast at MIPIM 2019.

 

3.20      Equality and Good Relations Implications

 

            None associated with this report.

 

3.21      Finance and Resource Implications

 

            Members are asked to note that an overall sponsorship fund for Belfast at MIPIM 2019 was £426,730, over 80% of which was raised from the private and other public sector bodies. The Committee previously approved Council expenditure of £80,000.

 

3.22      Effectively delivering a project on the scale of MIPIM is a very resource intensive activity. Belfast at MIPIM was delivered by Council officers, the Belfast at MIPIM Taskforce and Lanyon Communications, a consultancy agency appointed in June 2018 to assist with event management, PR, marketing and communication, sponsorship and pavilion design for MIPIM 2019. Members are asked to approve the appointment of external support to assist with the delivery of MIPIM 2020. Subject to approval from Members, this will be funded through the public-private budget approach as outline above, with £80,000 investment from Council in line with the amount approved for Belfast MIPIM 2019. This will be met from within the City Regeneration and Development departmental budget.

 

3.23      The costs associated with the Memorandum of Understanding with the European Waterfront Cities Network is an annual amount of approximately £3,000. The cost of participating at the UK and Partners stand at EXPO Real is estimated at approximately £10,000 depending on level of participation which is currently being explored. These costs can be met from within the departmental budget.”

 

The Committee adopted the recommendations and agreed, in response to concerns which had been raised by several Members around the ongoing costs associated with MIPIM, that a report be submitted to a future meeting outlining the benefits for the City resulting from the Council’s participation in the event.