MIPIM 2009 was decidedly different. Depending who you believe, attendance was down between 30-50% with less than 7,000 passes sold for ‘The Bunker’. On the plus side, decision-makers were unusually in evidence as the emphasis was, even more so this year, on trying to do business.

Many events that have become part of the traditional MIPIM calendar had simply fallen by the wayside. Numbers at those that went ahead were much reduced and admittance tightly policed to keep costs down.

The APB’s own Drinks Party was only one of many events to draw a smaller than customary crowd. A senior representative of a certain German bank spent so long at the Savills’ Café that he appeared to be using the venue as his personal office. No amount of hinting made any difference and a discussion was held about whether rent should be charged.

Needless to say, not everyone behaved. Claiming concern for the health of a fellow banker, one diner at Addleshaw Goddard’s gastronomic feast chucked a glass of water out of the upstairs window - over KevinHarmer having a fag in the street. The dazzling repartee for which Deutsche Postbank’s team is renowned came up trumps yet again when a pigeon sitting on Suzanne Wadsworth’s foot fell asleep.

Ian Malden of Savills was meeting a new contact for the first time in the Majestic Hotel Bar. They sat down and became rapidly engaged in a heated discussion about the topic in question. Only for the real contact to appear a couple of minutes later and introduce himself.

For those left behind in London, life went on, and although the days of toasted crab sandwiches and Chablis Premier Cru are firmly behind us, everyone still had a jolly nice time courtesy of the Savills’ ‘At Home’ event.

Clifford Chance’s Real Estate reception was held at 6.30pm. Which gave rise to dark mutterings that pandering to the whims of Investment Bankers for so many years had blinded CC to the fact that bankers never go to events so late in the day. For the perfectly good reason that they’ve been drinking since noon.

Source: Property Week (www.propertyweek.co.uk)