This was my 18th Mipim. I have officially reached the age of Mipim majority. When I first strolled the Croisette, my oldest son could fit into a 20cm giraffe-print Babygro. Now he’s over 6ft tall and doesn’t even fit on the sofa.
I’m at Mipim Asia in Paris’s Asian investor presentation. The cross-channel competition for Asian capital is roughing up as the Paris panel carves up ‘les rosbifs’.
In Sichuan they call snogging “chewing rabbits heads”. (I know – you’ve been doing it wrong).
It is a big casserole (French marmite – check out your Marmite jar!) of a conference.
“Here is something that would never happen in London. A major law firm’s lease comes to an end; the landlord doesn’t appoint lawyers or surveyors.”
When footballers get poor, you know things are bad. Premier League players say anything less than £55,000 a week is “disrespectful”! They should spare a thought for their colleagues in Cyprus.
When you land at Paphos airport, the first thing you see is a golden advert for Russian Commercial Bank. The second thing you see is a silver advert for Russian Standard Vodka.
As my TGV rolls out of a distinctly chilly Cannes and along the shores of an iron grey sea (it’s not all lemon blossom and almond cakes down here!), what did this MIPIM’s runes say about the market’s future:
Against the odds, this is an optimistic MIPIM. Everyone I meet wants to do deals-all actively looking to buy or fund.
Travelling to MIPIM is a pleasurable, annual ritual: some cycle, others motor in vintage Alfa Romeos. It’s surely only a matter of time before we have “MIPIM Iron Man”. Hundreds of surveyors running to Cannes across the French countryside, sporting macho, Maori tattoos.
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