MIPIM 2011 update: Monday

Capita Symonds' Andrew Pryke reports back from MIPIM 2011

An early 5.30am start from home on Monday commences my 2011 MIPIM. A 30 minute journey to Luton Airport in sub zero temperatures - am greeted with a crowded terminal full of familiar faces. Amongst the five or six Capita Symonds co-MiPIMiers, the Aecom engineers are amongst the many queues.

A 1 hour 50 minute flight to Nice sees a change in temperature and a bright sunny day.

More queues for the bus to Cannes reminds me that people don't queue here and it's every man and woman for himself to attempt to get that precious double seat and space for themselves. I get a call from David Matthews from Building magazine, he is flying in tonight and would like to meet up. I will try and get him on the number of lunches and dinners Capita Symonds is hosting. Fingers crossed, we are already over subscribed!

However the journey is quick and painless.

A quick check in at my hotel, and change and out for lunch at a Beach Bistro with my Capita Symonds colleagues. There is much calm before the storm, with the Croisette virtually empty. The locals enjoying a day amongst one of two weeks in the year when an event is not happening in Cannes.

Walking to Cafe Roma, the much frequented cafe/ bar opposite the conference centre, is quiet. Not the place it will be from tomorrow onward.

Work is going on in the conference centre. This will go on through the night to prepare Cannes for its busiest week of the year. It is rumoured that more champagne is drunk (to secure deals!) at MIPIM than at any other time. I believe that this is the myth of better times long time gone.



Registration is painless and after dealing with e-mails the evening beckons.

Cafe Roma is the central meeting place for the number of Capita Symonds architects, structural engineers, services and agents to meet. MIPIM is very much a place for chance meetings. Exquisite collisions with key industry leaders that could never happen back in the UK. People are more relaxed at MIPIM and that person you have been trying to meet for months suddenly has time to talk.

Today is no exception for chance meetings. I bump into two architects from my Stirling Wilford days, whom I haven't seen for about ten years - Chris Dyson and Iain Clavedetcher. Both with their own practices and still surviving.

Dinner is with Capita Symonds. A small restaurant in the old town. As the restaurant begins to fill up, there is much anticipation this year. The commercial market appears to be optimistic. All delegates appear to be going through their rehearsals for the oncoming event. Like Olympic athletes, they are limbering up and going through their last minute routines before the race for that crucial deal, the win that will make their 2011 season.

Returning to the hotel I am grabbed by Richard Payne with his Turner and Townsend colleagues who accuses me of stalking them! Very rich as everywhere I have been they seem to follow later! They offer a drink and a review of their campaign.

Things are looking good for the forthcoming week...

Property efficiency? This time it's for real

Mark Norris, Executive Director, Capita Symonds comments on the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) / Capita Symonds survey on public sector estates rationalisation.

"The results of today’s LGC/Capita Symonds survey are fascinating. Although the progress is limited, there is clearly a serious drive from local authority chief executives to unlock the savings available from their property estates and services. More importantly, there is also a greater willingness to work with the private sector in developing new property solutions in innovative partnerships.

Our survey shows that the top three issues in terms of property are serious ones: that buildings are not suited to modern service delivery, they are costly to maintain and cannot meet sustainability targets.

Surprisingly, given the unprecedented level of public sector debt, more than half of respondents indicated that their estate remained largely unchanged from that analysed in the most recent Audit Commission report on local authority property in 2009.

There also appears to be a mismatch in the available resources for the rationalisation of property portfolios (approximately 70% of chiefs indicated that the required strategies, finance, and expertise exist in-house) and the progress made to date.

Nevertheless, the tightening of central government funding has undoubtedly brought the capital that is tied up in local authority assets into sharp relief. For example, 84% of respondents said estate rationalisation was vital, and all respondents were looking to find ways of reducing the operational cost of the estate.
But how can efficiencies be realised? Most chiefs indicated that the key lies in relocating out of redundant space and consolidating into modern and efficient property while introducing new ways of working (with potential savings of up to 40%). As a result, a willingness to ‘de-silo-ise’ historically separate organisations is increasing – 73% of local authority respondents indicated that public service convergence and co-location was on their immediate agenda.

The survey also reiterates that effective estates rationalisation using new delivery models is key – stand-alone sale and leaseback of assets by local authorities is not considered a viable solution under the current local government funding regime, whereas the release and sale of surplus nonoperational assets in combination with property services outsourcing certainly is.
Overall, it looks as though, after umpteen reports on public sector property efficiency, this time it’s for real."
This survey was carried out by LGC and was commissioned and sponsored by Capita Symonds. The report on the results was independently written by LGC and published on 08 July 2010. Visit the LGC website here.