Manchester at MIPIM Q&A: Civic's Katrina Davis on working collectively for the greater good

Manchester has seen transformational change over the last two decades, as evidenced by our ever-changing skyline, diverse economy and pipeline of opportunity. At the heart of this change is Greater Manchester’s collaborative network of local authorities and private sector partners that pioneer change through placemaking. With a new 10-year plan for growth and the foundations in place, Greater Manchester is ready to position itself as the UK’s leading growth opportunity, with the overarching ambition to make the city-region a greener, fairer and more prosperous region.

As MIPIM 2025 draws ever closer, we wanted to catch up with members of the Manchester Invest Partnership to learn more about what they hope to achieve at the property conference and why they've chosen to attend with the official Manchester delegation.

Civic is a longstanding Manchester at MIPIM partner. The organisation has played a huge role in delivering some of Manchester’s most transformative developments and has acted as an ambassador for the region at global property events for many years. In the last year, the organisation has experienced a dramatic period of growth, taking on new acquisitions and expanding its remit to create a more holistic service offering.

We sat down with Katrina Davis, Director of Communications and Culture at Civic, to learn more about her experiences working with Manchester’s leaders and joining us in person at the conference for the first time last year.

Why has Civic chosen to attend MIPIM with the Manchester Invest Partnership?

At the start of our journey, Civic Engineers was founded in the city, and we were also, when we were very young, a growth company-funded organisation. The city is our home. We've got studios across the UK and Ireland now, but we were founded here, and we've worked on key projects across the city. And so, we have really strong links to the city and the wider, Greater Manchester area.

One of the main reasons we attend is about the power of collaboration. Together, we can all have a greater impact. Collaboration is at the heart of everything we do and you can't work in isolation. If, as a city-region, we can all work together and we know each other well and understand everybody's capabilities, we can have an even greater, more positive impact. If we can show a united front, private and public, we can help attract investors and investment into the city.

How does Greater Manchester’s leadership support the private sector partners?

Through collaboration and the recognition that we all need each other. It's really important that we do work together, know each other, spend time together and support each other in that way, as that ultimately helps make the process of making projects happen easier. They champion the private sector as well and want to talk about the great examples of the work going on, and I think they support us just through continued collaboration and recognition.

Access through the Manchester Invest Partnership is really important, we can go out to MIPIM and spend time with the key political leaders and key decision makers, which for us is incredibly valuable.

Why is it important that Greater Manchester’s property sector comes together at events like MIPIM?

We can’t achieve what we want to achieve on our own, so we have to work collectively for the greater good. Events like MIPIM are really important because they give us the chance to spend a prolonged period together and have important conversations. You're all in the same place, and you're all there for a few days. It's not people coming and going out of the city after a few hours or one day. You get to have those much more in-depth conversations, and you get to see people you wouldn't usually get to see for extended periods.

Everyone there is helping to showcase the work being done in Greater Manchester. There are so many people who play an important role it’s actually quite rare to get everybody together.

Why do Greater Manchester’s leaders in comms and culture need to attend MIPIM as well?

I think it's important to show all the different elements of the built environment and the different roles people have to play. A key part of my role is about talking about the projects we're working on, talking about why the work we do is important, and trying to connect us with the right people so we can have a greater impact and do more business. It's really useful for me to be at MIPIM to support my fellow directors in doing that and help to tell some of the stories while we're out there.

There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes that people probably aren’t aware of, and a lot of that is done by people on comms or marketing teams.

What the culture at MIPIM is like?

I went to MIPIM for the first time last year, and yes, there are still an awful lot of suits, but I think it is changing. I think it's very noticeable the difference in the diversity of delegations. Manchester, for example, fields a very diverse delegation. There's always still more work to do, and it's really important that we continue to work on that, but I think Manchester does a good job in promoting diversity.

Why is it important to promote diversity and inclusion at events like MIPIM?

If we're going to design places and spaces that are inclusive for everyone, you need to have diverse representation like that on your design teams and in your organisations. Otherwise, you're going to get what you've always got, and things aren't going to change.

One thing that stood out to me last year, and that I've found so helpful, particularly given I was going out there for the first time, was a huge amount of support from other groups both within the Manchester delegation and such as Women in Property North West. Having that support and seeing friendly faces really made a difference.

What are your main priorities for MIPIM 2025?

For us, the focus will be on how we can collaborate more meaningfully to address the urgent issues presented by climate change. To make real progress, we need to move beyond isolated efforts and embrace a more open exchange of ideas and insights. One way to do so is to help showcase some of our work through the cities where we work. We're attending with Manchester and our director Gareth Atkinson is attending with London, and we share best practice from our teams across the wider UK and Ireland as well. There’s a chance for us to talk about Civic and how our business has changed because we've been through a period of growth and acquisition as well, so we’re well positioned to respond to these challenges through system thinking. We're doing a lot more now than we ever did, and working in additional areas such as heritage and archaeology, geoconsultancy, sustainability, and place-based consultancy.

But, it's also about showcasing the city, the projects and some of the amazing work that's going on that really is best practice. For example, our CEO Stephen is speaking on the Manchester Stand about the Strangeways Strategic Regeneration Framework, which is a transformational, very complex project, but it shows the boldness and forward-thinking attitudes of both Salford and Manchester City Council.

What are you most looking forward to at MIPIM 2025?

The thing that I'm looking forward to is the chance conversations that happen. You don't know who you're going to end up sitting next to on the plane or next to at dinner, and I think some of those chance conversations and the little MIPIM surprises can be helpful to both your business and also for fostering a culture of genuine collaboration.

To start planning your time at MIPIM 2025, view the Manchester at MIPIM programme and learn more about who is joining us at the event.