£40,000 cost of councils’ trip to major property conference

MORE than £40,000 of taxpayers’ cash was spent promoting Yorkshire at a major property conference in the French Riviera, it was revealed yesterday.

Marketing Leeds has revealed that it cost the public purse £38,400 to cover the expense of erecting an exhibition stand and sending officials from Leeds City Council, Bradford City Council and Leeds Local Enterprise Partnership to this year’s four-day MIPIM conference in Cannes. Sheffield City Council also paid £3,360 to send four staff to MIPIM, which was held earlier this month.

More than 19,400 property leaders go to MIPIM each year to view projects, assess profitable ventures, strike deals and seek market information.

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A spokesman for Marketing Leeds, the destination marketing agency, said yesterday: “MIPIM is the world’s largest commercial property event. The attendance at MIPIM is part of a strategic programme to raise the profile of the city region internationally and to promote its assets and opportunities for investment.

“MIPIM allows us to engage directly with a significant number of key investors and demonstrate the strength of the Leeds City Region’s offering

“Many other cities across Europe and the world attend including Frankfurt, Milan, Munich and Lyon. Other UK cities such as Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Edinburgh also have stands at the event.”

The private sector led the Leeds City Region delegation to MIPIM, with two ambassadors from law firms Irwin Mitchell and Addleshaw Goddard funding their own travel and accommodation. Neil McLean, the chairman of the Local Enterprise Partnership also attended.

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Two representatives from Marketing Leeds attended the event as well as six officers from Leeds and Bradford councils.

The Marketing Leeds spokesman added: “The delegation took part in a full programme over the three-day conference and used a series of developer and investor forums, small private dinners and the keynote breakfast briefing to promote the city region internationally and to engage with investors.

“An exhibition stand, manned by representatives from the Leeds City Region delegation, also enabled conference delegates to find out more about investment opportunities, particularly those presented by the Aire Valley Leeds enterprise zone and Bradford’s city centre ‘growth zone’.”

The exhibition also promoted the landmark £350m Trinity Leeds development. When Trinity Leeds opens in spring 2013, it will propel Leeds into fourth place in the UK retail city rankings.

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Visitors also heard about the Leeds Arena. Construction work on the £60m arena got under way last May, with the council-backed scheme due for completion in 2013.

Experts say the 13,500-seater facility will generate more than £25m per year for the local economy.

Mr McLean also took part in an Investment for Growth seminar at MIPIM, where he joined senior representatives from London, Manchester and Birmingham and a mayor’s think tank event, both of which positioned the Leeds city region as a place for investment, the Marketing Leeds spokesman said.

The costs of travel and accommodation to each of the Marketing Leeds and public sector delegates was £1,200 per representative.

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The Leeds City Region’s presence at MIPIM was mainly funded by the private sector with the LEP, Leeds City Council and Bradford City Council each contributing £10,000 to fund the exhibition stand in the main hall.

The spokesman added: “Evans of Leeds and Muse developments funded the costs associated with the keynote briefing, which focused on attracting investment to the Aire Valley Enterprise zone.”