7 February 2023

MIPIM event programme to highlight £15bn of West Midlands investment opportunities

More than 30 events will showcase over £15 billion of investment opportunities in the West Midlands to a global investment audience

Representatives from across the West Midlands’ public, private and academic sectors will be promoting more than £15 billion of investment opportunities at MIPIM, the world’s leading real estate event, next month.

The West Midlands’ pavilion at the annual property conference will play host to a four-day programme of more than 30 events and showcase the region’s unique investment opportunities – which include Perry Barr, the area at the heart of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and Solihull’s HS2-linked Arden Cross development – to an audience of more than 20,000 property professionals and investors from around the world.

Organised by the West Midlands Growth Company (WMGC), the region’s official investment promotion agency, the itinerary includes a series of talks from high-profile regional leaders, including West Midlands Mayor Andy Street.

They will be joined by senior representatives from a number of the region’s leading real estate firms, including Arcadis, Arup, Hammerson, Lovell Homes, MEPC, Mott MacDonald Muse and Stoford, as well as top academics and leaders from Aston University, University of Birmingham and University of Wolverhampton.

Panel discussions will see the West Midlands’ experts convene to debate a range of topics relating to the region’s economic future, including:

  • Interconnected Innovation Districts – with the West Midlands home to the UK’s largest emerging tech innovation cluster, this panel will explore how the region is leading innovation, from battery research to immersive technology
  • Delivering West Midlands Housing for the future – as the region looks to deliver the 215,000 new homes needed by 2031, this panel will examine the region’s homes of the future and discuss the industry can balance affordability with green aspirations
  • HS2 Connected Interchanges: the UK’s Largest Investment Opportunity – with HS2 due to be delivered at the end of this decade, this panel will look into how the once-in-a-generation infrastructure project has created some of the country’s largest transport investment opportunities

The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games shone a spotlight on our region like never before and we want to maintain this momentum by continuing to attract global attention and international investment. I’m pleased to be fronting the West Midlands Growth Company delegation to MIPIM – an event with a unique concentration of major players – and look forward to striking deals that will change lives for the better right across our region in the months and years ahead.

Photograph of Neil Rami, CEO of West Midlands Growth Company

This is a special time for the West Midlands. Off the back of a successful Commonwealth Games, where our region was put on the international stage, and with nationally significant projects such as HS2 within touching distance, MIPIM provides a platform for us to tell our story to a global audience once again.

Last year, the West Midlands unveiled £15 billion of investment opportunities. Since then, we’ve made great strides in turning these opportunities into reality. We come to this year’s conference confident that the unique opportunities our region presents can attract even more investment – and create an even better place for people to live and work.

Multi-billion-pound regeneration is transforming our city and creating a wealth of attractive opportunities for developers and investors.

This is all underpinned by our commitment to a sustainable economy, becoming a net zero carbon city by 2041 and major investment in digital infrastructure to support business growth and deliver a ready-made, skilled workforce.

We are the City of Opportunity and we hope to make some important connections at MIPIM that will benefit Wolverhampton in the future.”

By working with the West Midlands Growth Company at MIPIM we want to bring our unique story to a global audience. The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games showcased a city transformed and revitalised, so we are better placed than ever before to engage and work with partners to deliver new homes, jobs and opportunities.

There has never been a better time to promote the city and region as a destination for international investment and MIPIM is an excellent platform to achieve that.

At MIPIM 2023, we will be showcasing our vision across the UK Central Solihull area, including exciting plans for Solihull town centre. Located at the heart of the UK’s transport network, our thriving town centre presents a range of commercial and residential development opportunities, aligned with the significant investments in public realm and transport infrastructure. Our bold new Town Centre Masterplan provides an ambitious blueprint for future investment and development, positioning the Solihull town centre as part of the engine room of the West Midlands.

Our ambition is to improve the economy for local people and there is so much work underway across Walsall to drive this. We’ve already seen remarkable change here but there is more to deliver. The next phase is even more exciting and will position Walsall as a major destination in the Black Country and an increasingly attractive place to live, work and invest.

Sandwell Council has secured major investment into the local area with key projects under construction such as the Enfinium waste from energy plant, the extension of the metro from Wednesbury to Dudley and the legacy build for the Sandwell Aquatics Centre.

The council is looking forward to engaging with investors and developers at MIPIM 2023, to explore new opportunities for investment to deliver further projects from its agreed Regeneration Pipeline, which will create new employment and housing opportunities for local residents in the future.

The West Midlands’ presence at MIPIM 2023 is part of the highly successful Business and Tourism Programme (BATP). The programme, sponsored by Airbnb, Dettol, Bruntwood, E.ON, Gowling WLG, University of Birmingham and Lendlease, aims to secure the legacy of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games by capitalising on the investment, trade and tourism opportunities it has created within the region.

The West Midlands pavilion can be found at stand C15.

To see the full programme of events taking place at the West Midlands pavilion during MIPIM 2023, click here.

MIPIM 2023 West Midlands Press Release

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