You are here: MCD Property > Press Releases > Co-operation key to realising true potential MCD Press:Birmingham Post Co-operation key to realising true potential Coventry plans to make a big impact at MIPIM with its largest ever delegation.

Partnership working has long been a token industry phrase-but when Coventry has its largest ever presence at Mipim it will be proof that when it comes to regeneration it is more than mere commercial talk.

Coventry was the first English city to travel to the show when it ventured south 16 years ago.
In those days, it was very much on its own, acting independently to the show when it ventured south 16 year ago.

In those days, it was very much on its own, acting in isolation to spread the word that it was a place of great potential.

Forward to 2008 and things-on several fronts- look entirely different.

Coventry will be there along with 15 partners supporting, and large degree financing, the citys presence among the movers and the shakers- and has the results to show the promotion has been worthwhile.

Around 8.5 billion is being invested in the city and with big hitters such as Severn Trent and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority choosing to relocate to the city, Coventry is very much on the rise again.

The city council took the decision to create Team Coventry last year, in a simple bid to pool resources and link property professionals for their good and the good of the city.
John McGuigan, director of the city development, has been one of the driving forces behind the effort and is convinced that it is the way forward for other cities.

We have always been convinced that the presence at Mipim is crucial for any city of potential. He says.

For many, it is a sign of intent and ambition to be out there with the big hitters of the commercial property world. In a sense, you have to etch yourself on to the consciousness of the delegates.

We very much have something to shout about and can show that we can deliver major projects and we wanted others also responsible to be a part of that process.

Regeneration on the scale we now see in Coventry is a very bumpy ride-along which is vital that all parties can work together. The Team Coventry approach for Mipim has allowed all parties to get to know each other that much better, and that can only be a good thing.

Initially, some thought that we would not get developers and agents- some of whom are in direct competition- to sit around the same table but the cooperation has been superb, which is why the team has grown this year.

Canon Kirk, Deeley Properties, Cassidy Group, Yorkshire Bank, Shortland Horne, Goodman International, MCD Developments, Howard Holdings, D&PHolt, Oakmoor Estates, Stoford Developments, Modus, Brandon Planning and Design, Cala Homes and Jaguar Cars have all contributed to make sure that Coventry can punch its weight and more.

The planning process for Mipim has proved, for many, almost as useful as the show itself.

Michael Broughton, chief executive of Cannon Kirk- the company behind the massive Friargate scheme planned for the railway station area of the city- is a firm believer that the partnership approach has worked.

The inward investment team of the council has held a series of Mipim planning meetings and those have been invaluable. You get to sit around a table with senior council officials, leading local property agents and other developers,he says.

When you are developing on the scale we and others are doing, you cannot work in isolation. Each project will impact on another and to meet and get to know these people behind all the schemes has proved a very useful exercise.

We all have a vested interest in the success of the city because we are committing massive funds to its future, but life is so much easier if there is understanding and cooperation and the Mipim effort has certainly helped engender that.

We committed to the first year because we felt it was important to back the council we have committed this year because we are now well aware of its value.

The partners, who each commit into a financial pot, help shape the programme for the next five days of the show.

They range from a formal city dinner to an informal get-together when partners can invite guests. Partners can arrange meetings and seminars in the city apartment or host their own private functions.

The city council makes the partners aware of other useful networking events going on during the show and looks after all administration, including the booking of accommodation and travel.
Birmingham-based developer Stoford has attended Mipim for five years, but this is its first time truly under the Coventry flag.

Its St Johns development, which will be the home of Severn Trent, is one of the success stories of 2007. It will bring 1,700 jobs to the centre of Coventry, helping the council achieve its aim of growing employment in the heart of the city.

Director David Brown believes that Coventrys approach to Mipim is one that should be adopted by others.

Cities often link in with developers but not, to my experience, to this level, he says.

This is not a case of us merely wanting to be associated with Coventry or the city trying to ride on the back of successful regeneration schemes- it is genuinely a joint effort.

We have made a big commitment to the city and our scheme has certainly made people sit up and take notice of what is happening in Coventry. It therefore makes perfect sense that we work closer together for what is the common good. All too often, people talk the partnership talk, but when it comes to meaningful action are not quite as forthcoming. I have sensed at the planning meetings that there is a very genuine wish from all parties for the city to be promoted properly.

A perfect example is the city branding for the event. There is the opportunity to hang banners from the balcony of the apartment which will be in full view of every delegate leaving the main show hall.

We could have easily have had our own company logos included, but all partners voted against that so that the word Coventry would be bigger and more prominent. I know many, many cities where that degree of co-operation would simply not exist.