City delegations who had been set to attend property festival MIPIM in huge numbers have been reacting to the news it has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Organisers Reed MIDEM said on Saturday it was "not a decision we have taken lightly", but that "the well-being of clients and staff is our number one priority".
They said the event originally set to take place in March would now happen almost three months later, in June.
Reacting to the news, Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council and MIPIM lead, said: “Whilst we are undoubtedly disappointed about the postponement of MIPIM, owing to the huge amount of work and planning that we always put in to make the Manchester Pavilion an informative and effective business destination within the overall MIPIM programme, it is absolutely the right decision given how things currently stand.
“Our international profile is hugely important and MIPIM plays a significant role in helping us showcase Manchester on the world stage. We are fully committed to our international strategy and will do everything we can to continue our momentum.
"In the meantime I ask that delegates please adhere to the values of the Manchester at MIPIM Partnership and support the delivery team at Marketing Manchester as they deal with the important task of mitigating the impact of postponement.”
Stephen Cowperthwaite, chair of Liverpool at MIPIM steering group, said it was "unfortunate" the event had been postponed until June, but "as responsible citizens it is undoubtedly the correct decision given the vital importance of preventing the spread of coronavirus".
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He told the Liverpool delegation: "We now have a lot of questions to be answered and arrangements to be changed to ensure that we can deliver the high quality programme that we had planned.
"We will be updating all of the Liverpool delegation at the earliest opportunity, so please bear with us as we assess the situation.
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"Rest assured that we will continue to work tirelessly towards delivering Liverpool’s most successful MIPIM yet.”
Speaking on behalf of Team Leicester and various firms affected by the news, Alister de Ternent, managing director of Associate Events, said: "We are strongly recommending to our clients not to take directly reactive plans until the ‘fog’ clears a little; which we expect to be on Tuesday or Wednesday. That said, our contingency plans are now coming into force.
"MIPIM 2020 may well still go ahead in June and we are planning in this vein.
"We are now liaising with all of our clients regarding postponement arrangements and, should the situation not resolve as quickly as it is hoped, a cancellation contingency. However, we hope in the interests of all parties concerned that this will be a temporary arrangement and we continue to maintain a positive outlook in the hope that MIPIM will go ahead in June, as proposed.
"This is far from an ideal position for anyone. Our clients have the full and unconditional support of Associate Events to bring this to the best resolve possible, and we will continue to work in complete and incontrovertible partnership, despite the direct financial implications upon our agency.”
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On Saturday, MIPIM made the announcement about the festival being cancelled.
Reed MIDEM said the decision to reschedule was taken and announced before the French government's decision to ban gatherings of over 5,000 people.
27,000 had been expected to attend the four-day real estate exhibition, which will now happen between June 2-5.
The statement added: "We believe these new dates will provide the international MIPIM community with the opportunity to achieve their business objectives. We are grateful to our clients for their support and constructive input during this challenging period, and we look forward to talking with them in the coming days about MIPIM in June."