MIPIM 2008

MIPIM 2007

MIPIM 2006

READING ON THE GLOBAL STAGE – MIPIM 2007

As a continuation of the Reading Conference joint initiative (between Hicks Baker, the City Centre Management Company and Reading Borough Council) a partnership of Reading stakeholders joined forces to promote Reading at MIPIM this year.

MIPIM is the international property market held at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, which this year attracted in excess of 26,000 delegates: from developers to property advisers; investment companies & banks to architects & designers; and from construction companies, lawyers and development corporations to local & regional authorities.

This is the second time that Reading has been positioned as an investment proposition on the international stage of MIPIM and this was in collaboration with AMEC Developments Ltd, Ridge Property & Construction Consultants, Peter Brett Associates, Southside (PruPIM & Thames Water Property), Sackville Properties, Strutt & Parker, Field Seymour Parkes, Reading Borough Council and Facilient.

With the support of these sponsors we were able to charter a luxury motor yacht similar to those used in previous years by England’s core cities, e.g. Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Nottingham, Liverpool, etc; and brand it the ‘Reading Boat’. This provided a superb platform from which to present our development and investment credentials, using different fora such as breakfasts, lunches, early evening receptions and formal dinners.

Our funding partners were also able to use the boat as a platform and venue for smaller, more intimate business meetings and, while the boat was branded predominantly ‘Reading’, this was complemented with a striking array of smaller but prominent partners’ logos, using the strap line “Multi-stories: hear them all in one place”.

The Partnership was also able to promote Reading as a Diamond for Investment & Growth along with the regional development agency. The Leader of Reading Borough Council and the chief executive of SEEDA spoke powerfully on Reading's role as a business ‘city’; its strategic location and its growth aspirations, at a dedicated event in central Cannes.

The ‘Reading Boat’ proved a highly successful means of raising Reading’s profile and each partnership event on board attracted a targeted audience from sectors such as development, investment, architecture and property. In all cases the invitees were introduced to Reading stakeholders, briefed on key aspects of its performance and potential and then shown a newly commissioned four minute DVD of Reading. This promotional tool was so well received that the government’s Director of Trade and Investment for the south east of England has requested that it be posted on the UKTI web site.

Another means of marketing Reading was a pocketbook version of the latest Development and Investment Review, which was launched at the 2005 Reading Conference. This was completely re-written for the event and ‘branded’ in a specifically designed logotype for ‘Reading, UK @ MIPIM’.