If ever anyone needed a reminder that we – like all other cities and regions – are competing in a global market place then MIPIM certainly provides it.
For that reason it is important that we are out there making ourselves known and felt in the property development and investment field.
Part of that is ensuring that our reputation as an easy and accommodating place with which to do business is transmitted.
We have enough evidence, both proven and anecdotal, that we have helped developers and investors realise their plans, and realise them quickly.
That evidence is there to see in our city with the likes of Severn Trent, Cathedral Lanes and the ExtraCare scheme at the Butts – all successful developments where the developers have openly acknowledged that the pro-active attitude of the city has played a major part in their project being delivered.
Of course that is only one element of what helps attract development but it is key.
Jonathan Browning, the chair of the Coventry and Warwickshire LEP, has been responsible during his business career for opening major plants across the world, and he cites that a place’s willingness to do business is key in the decision making process.
So it was really pleasing to be able to see that attitude recognised by FDI magazine – the voice of foreign investment.
On behalf of the LEP I went today to collect an award after Coventry and Warwickshire was voted seventh in the Small European Cities of the Future 2016/17 for business friendliness, ninth for economic potential among Local Enterprise Partnerships of the Future 2016/17 and seventh in the top ten of Local Enterprise Partnerships of the Future 2016/17 for business friendliness.
There is always room for improvement and we know we can lift that standing still further, but we are certainly heading in the right direction, and at MIPIM we punch above our weight.
We are hosting a string of events looking at, amongst other things, the role of automotive in our regional economy and how our two award-winning universities are investing more than £1 billion over the next five years in our patch.
These are exciting times and we are working hard to make the most of them.