CBRE’s Ashley Hancox emerged from a ten hour “power nap” especially – he went to his hotel on Wednesday night for 40 winks and failed to wake up until Thursday morning. Must be the Lee Evans-look-alike’s new job, as regional head of offices, taking its toll.

Tom Bloxham of Urban Splash turned up for pre-dinner drinks, but either didn’t like the seafood on offer or had a more pressing engagement, as he didn’t stay for lunch. Still, his suit left a lasting impression. One wag quipped it was from Stevie Wonder’s new clothing range.

Peter Crowther, of Bruntwood, was a popular attendee, as he has a war chest for acquiring office space in Birmingham. He said he loved coming to the city as it is “always sunny”.  Peter hails from Manchester, where, as we know, it’s always raining. Perhaps this is the elusive new marketing campaign Birmingham has been looking for. I can see it on a banner draping provocatively from the AWM apartment next year, right opposite the Manchester balcony: “Birmingham: it’s always sunny. Ha, ha”.

Mike Whitby’s speech was, as usual, passionate and upbeat. Though there was some concerns over the number of city transport projects in the pipeline. Apparently, on the Birmingham stand in the exhibition hall this morning he announced there were nine. By lunch this had reduced to eight. Let’s hope the New Street revamp is still on track.

Word has reached me of Birmingham’s Alternative MIPIM event, held yesterday at Anderson’s Bar and Grill. More than 100 attendees by all accounts, including Dom Stokes and Jon Andrews from Stoford, who flew back specially from MIPIM to do the double. And why not? Because as we all know, while it’s 19 Degrees in Cannes, it’s always sunny in Brum.

The very polished Nick Axford, head of the firm’s EMEA research team, said there is cause for optimism, as the investment market is picking up.

Apparently, retail property is being highly sought after across Europe, with shopping centres topping the list. Girls, just imagine hubby coming home and saying: “Darling, I’ve bought you a shopping centre”. Sigh.

Nick also said that sentiment at MIPIM this year had improved. Of course, that is anecdotal, rather than based on the in depth analysis and professional insight of CBRE’s research team, but it is a view I’ve found echoed elsewhere.

On the Malcolm Hollis yacht this evening, the building consultancy’s chairman John Woodman said much the same, as did their guests from Wardell Armstrong.

Things must be good in Nottingham too, judging by the size of their yacht in the next mooring.

Birmingham has come in for a lot of stick in the past for its MIPIM expenditure. Although admittedly I’ve not been in the bunker and seen our city’s stand at first hand, I have to say our presence seems low key in comparison to others.

While Manchester – with their brazen banner and balcony cafe overlooking the entrance to the exhibition – and Nottingham have gone for the “my marketing budget’s considerably bigger than yours” approach, others, like Coventry, have adopted guerrilla tactics, with posters outside their apartment and the Carlton hotel.

It’s hard to judge which strategy is best – and anyway, they say half of any marketing spend is wasted, you just don’t know which half.  Next year, maybe Birmingham should stop beating itself up, ditch that Quaker mentality and hire a yacht. Let’s get some of that swagger that Professor Parkinson said we lacked.

Ran into Gary Taylor of Argent (running late for the Leader’s dinner!) and Nick Payne of Masshouse fame on the Croisette. Before you get excited and smell a JV in the offing, they weren’t together.

Also caught a glimpse of Clive Dutton, still looking dapper.

Thursday’s big event, at least for the Brum contingent, is lunch on the beach. Apparently they’ve ditched the baltis this year. Read all about it tomorrow.

But no, as Gary Taylor of Argent helpfully pointed out, here on BMI Baby Flight WW6529 was the great and good of Birmingham’s property community.

And, as Glenn Howells, added: “If this plane crashed it would set Birmingham’s property sector back by, er, at least three weeks.”

Leading the contingent was the leader of Birmingham City Council, and his lovely wife Gaynor.

There were plenty of lawyers on the plane: Martineau had wheeled out no one less than their newly minted senior partner, the avuncular Andrew Whitehead. Alex Jones of Mills & Reeve was here for a few days, impressively with only hand luggage. While Anne O’Meara, of Hammonds, had brought along a female colleague to up the female quotient.

A trio of Barclays bankers, who apparently have money to lend (!), took up one row.

As well as Birmingham’s own Starchitect Glenn Howells, Gary Church of NewChurch Integrated Architecture and Engineering represented the design community. Apparently he does a nice line in sheds and, if you’re in the market for a new waste facility, he’s your man.

There were even a few developers here. As well as Taylor, representatives from Miller and Stoford have made the trip.

I shared a cab from the airport (just 140 Euro, gulp) with the lovely Lara Day of Want Space Got Space, but there was no time to lounge at my hotel as I was off to the jointly sponsored Martineau and Tuffin Ferraby Taylor party at Coventy City Council’s apartment. A very pleasant reception, spoiled only by the view of a crass Manchester banner draped across the exhibition centre opposite, proclaiming the northern city to be the nation’s “cultural beating heart”.  I went there once. I’d say they have slightly more culture than a yoghurt, so it’s not much of a boast.

Dinner with Martin Field of the Urban Land Institute was entertaining. He confirmed that global property giant Hines has signed a memorandum of association with Hammerson, Henderson and the Australian Future Fund and that the powerful four are looking at “opportunities south of the Bullring”. I hope that Birmingham City Council can rope them in soon, so they don’t go too far south.

So what of today?

The grandly titled “Leader’s Dinner”, hosted by Mike Whitby, is being held this evening. Sponsors of Birmingham’s MIPIM presence are required to attend this invitation only soiree, and are briefed to bring along a guest from outside the city.

None of them, from what I can gather, has any one lined up yet.  

One, who shall remain nameless, asked me what I was doing tonight. Strictly speaking, as I was born in the Black Country, I do qualify to attend the dinner. Unfortunately, I am otherwise engaged. I suspect the sponsors will be trawling the Croisette tomorrow for contenders.

So far, the big questions for the week have remained unanswered. Is Birmingham going to announce the name of its new Strategic Development Director (the job Clive Dutton wanted, but never quite got – he’s here, representing Newham, by the way)? Word is the City had more than 50 applicants, and have short-listed, but no names yet.

Or is Birmingham Development Company going to unveil it’s new-look for the Post & Mail building? Since Alan Chatham and Mark Billingham are no-shows, I somehow doubt it.

But the burning question, the one that has keep my phone and in-box buzzing all day, is has Mike Loftus been reunited with his underpants?

I have to say, when I arrived in Cannes, there was a faint aroma of camembert. Even though I am in France, for a minute I was concerned it might be Mike Loftus and his cheesy feet.

But apparently not, “the Walrus”, as he is affectionately known in Birmingham, emailed to say: “Mon valise est trouve et arrive”. 

Now, it’s a while since I did O Level French – two decades, and the rest – but I think he was trying to say: my suitcase has been found, and has arrived.

However, as this blog is for an austere organ like the Birmingham Post, I didn’t want to take any chances, so I checked on babelfish (the translation web site). Apparently, the literal translation is: “My bag east finds and arrives”.  Let’s hope there aren’t any French property investors looking to come to Brum this week.

Marketing Birmingham, which is charged with promoting the city as a visitor destination, hired Hatch to carry out a 12-month campaign to maximise its sponsorship of local Premiership football clubs Aston Villa and Birmingham City.

So, that’s a Leeds-based firm, which has no connection to Birmingham, working with local football teams to help promote the city? Cue the backlash from Birmingham’s PR and marketing sector.

The decision to appoint an ‘outside’ agency was branded as “ludicrous”, “totally ridiculous” and a “slap in the face for Birmingham’s creative industries sector” by some of the more vociferous members of the sector.

And the reason for hiring Hatch, you might ask? Well, apparently they had experience of working with football clubs, which none of the local agencies could demonstrate. Surely that can’t be right, can it? I thought not, but when asked to name a Birmingham/West Midlands agency with specialist sports experience I drew a blank.

If this is really the case then clearly there is a gap in the market for such an agency that can offer the required specialist sports PR services. Should this gap be filled, maybe organisations like Marketing Birmingham wouldn’t have to look elsewhere.

Whilst I firmly believe that you should always try to support local businesses, to be fair to Marketing Birmingham, you can’t expect them to appoint an agency just because they are based in the city/ region. They had to choose the best people for the job, which on this occasion happened to be Hatch Communications.

Of course, it’s not just Marketing Birmingham that is guilty – rightly or wrongly – of buying in PR services from outside the region. I know there are countless other examples of local companies using agencies that are based elsewhere in the country – but I won’t name and shame them here. 

The question is why go elsewhere when Birmingham is home to a plethora of PR and marketing agencies, from small niche independent consultants to large national full service firms, offering a variety of services and expertise, from media relations to online communications strategies?

If you can’t find what you’re looking for in Birmingham, you’re unlikely to find it anywhere else – unless it relates to football, in which case you’d better go to Leeds.

ENDS

According to legal publisher Sweet & Maxwell, in the last 12 months the number of reported defamation cases has risen by 32 per cent and one fifth of those actions have been brought by companies.

This is no surprise as the treacherous economic climate means businesses will fight tooth and nail to protect their reputations, particularly where untruthful and dangerous suggestions of insolvency are concerned.

The immediacy of new media also means that these sorts of rumours are more prevalent and able to spread more quickly than in the past.

But is legal action the best response to defamation and libel, and is it the most effective way to repair the damage done to a company’s reputation?

Even where the case is apparently clear-cut, litigation can be a slow and expensive process and will not deliver immediate results, but a well-executed PR strategy can restore a company’s reputation with the same immediacy with which it was damaged.

In the aftermath of a libel incident it is essential not only to correct inaccuracies but to make people aware of the truth and beyond that, to start circulating positive stories about the company, communicating more buoyant messages and supporting its overall aims.

If a company’s reputation has been damaged unfairly there is still legitimate recourse to take legal action but a two-pronged approach combining this with a proactive PR campaign will be more successful in repairing the damage quickly.

ENDS