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MIPIM 2010

Fresh back from real estate event MIPIM, Retail Property Analyst editor Mark Faithfull picks out ten key retail themes for 2010 a

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Just back from the sunny Riviera and the 15th MAPIC event - the biggest European retail property show of the year.

Not quite as big as previously though, with 6,700 at the event, off about 30% on last year. That seems to be the magic attendance decrease rate for all the events I've been to so far this year.

MAPIC 08 caught an industry still trapped in the headlights of recession and unable to move. There was a more resilient feel to this year and while optimism would perhaps be pushing it ther… Continue

Once upon a time the annual conference and exhibition for UK shopping centre organisation BCSC - the British bit of the ICSC - was a dash of champagne networking with a bit of a conference thrown in to give it a worthy enough hook. Britain's retail property sector has never been afraid to do business over something cold and fizzy and the shindig moved around the mainly northern reaches of the country annually for a fun-packed three days in its merry old way.

Fast forward to day one proper 2009… Continue

Next week's BCSC conference in Manchester could hardly come at a more opportune time, with the UK retail property market at a crossroads. Some have warned of a bloodbath for the high street if Xmas retail sales do not stack up, while others point to the slowdown in the real estate delivery pipeline biting as retailers search for the right space.

The UK has been mired in a suffocating retail recession which has seen household names go to the wall, big name retailers wobble on the brink and a num… Continue

I increasingly chair and speak at events on a global platform - an indication of the industry's world view rather than mine I should hasten to add.

But yesterday I chaired a couple of sessions at a very location specific event - Place West London. Its remit encompassed six London boroughs in what is, in fairness, still a sizable chunk of the capital with an economy on a par with Frankfurt apparently. Venue was the hallowed Stamford Bridge, home of the globe's finest football team - Chelsea.

Wh… Continue