THING OF THE MIPIM WEEK
FEARLESS SWIMS… Chilly weather did not deter JMW Solicitors’ Thomas Pearson from diving into the Bay of Cannes. We admit that when Pearson told us he planned on a morning swim while on the Place boat we thought he was joking. But true to his word, Pearson came aboard with swimming trunks in hand. In fact, the dip was so nice that he did it twice. Let this be a lesson learned, Pearson does not jest when swimming is involved.
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MISGUIDED MODELS… The North West was reduced to just the Beetham Tower on a model inside the UK Pavilion, which also seemed to forget that the East of England exists. When we asked Twitter what should have been included the responses were fast and furious, with netizens advocating for Blackpool Tower and Liverpool’s Three Graces to be included in the North West, as well as Humber Bridge in East Yorkshire.
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YEE-HAW… The United States pavilion earned approval from Place‘s resident American. The National Association of Realtors had recreated a quintessential tailgate, which, to translate the Americanese, is a party traditionally held in a stadium parking lot before a sports match. With corn hole and giant Jenga, the only things missing were a cooler of Bud Light, a speaker blasting Toby Keith’s “Red Solo Cup”, and hotdogs grilling. We’ll expect all those things next year.
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BROLLY FOLLY… We all love a smart solution, so how about this: brollies you rent. Brazilian umbrella service Rentbrella was spotted inside the Palais this week, a convenient solution if the rain ever began to fall in Cannes. Sadly, it didn’t. Perhaps the South of France is not the right market for this level of ingenuity. North West England on the other hand…
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THE GAFFER… Former football manager Dave Jones made an appearance at Taurus Security Group’s shindig on Tuesday night, which saw the company gather property professionals together at Ma Nolan’s to watch Manchester United play Atletico Madrid in the Champions League. A half-time Q+A led by Taurus’ group sales director Alan Townley gave those in attendance some insight into Jones’s career, including what it was like to work with the portly but extremely talented Matt Le Tissier, fallouts with various chairmen and tips on how to deal with big egos – “stroke them”. Safe to say the United contingent in Ma Nolan’s enjoyed the half time entertainment much more than the game itself.
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NAME GAME… A hot chocolate with DeTrafford’s chief executive Gary Jackson in Cannes revealed a heartwarming story behind his desire to buy the site of the company’s Transition development in Manchester. Jackson, whose middle name is Thomas, was driving past the site in his dad’s car as a child when he noticed the street sign reading: Gt Jackson Street. Much to Jackson’s delight, his dad said the road was named after him. Later in life, Jackson embarked on a laborious mission to assemble land on Great Jackson Street before finally taking control of a piece of the city that already had his name on it.
