Cardiff University Vice Chancellor criticised for attending property conference in Cannes

Martin Shipton

The Vice Chancellor of Cardiff University has been criticised for attending a property conference in Cannes while staff at the university are facing job cuts.

In the past the MIPIM conference in the fashionable French Riviera resort has been mired in sleaze allegations, although its reputation has not been so notorious in recent years.

A source at Cardiff University sent Nation.Cymru a picture from this year’s MIPIM conference that showed Vice Chancellor Professor Wendy Larner with others including Nick Bennett, the former Public Services Ombudsman for Wales at the stand of high-end property agents Savills.

The caption read: “Why is the VC at a property conference in Cannes?”

A Cardiff University spokesperson said: It’s not a ‘property conference’. The Vice Chancellor is attending part of MIPIM – Session Directory – 9th Mar – a global urban festival as a Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) partner and at the request of CCR.

“The Vice Chancellor is attending alongside other CCR partners including representatives from Cardiff council and other key stakeholders from the Capital Region. The conference provides an opportunity to reinforce Cardiff University’s role in regional innovation and economic growth, engage key UK and international partners on strategic projects such as Innovation Districts, AI Growth Zones and Life Sciences precincts and further strengthen the University’s civic and global profile.”

We asked the university whether it was paying for Prof Larner’s trip or CCR, but did not receive a response.

A Cardiff University staff member who did not want to be named said: ‘it’s a posh property conference and it’s often said more champagne is consumed there than at the Cannes film festival. Let’s not pretend that this is anything other than an elite jolly.

“It’s not a good look when Professional Services staff at Cardiff are waiting for their futures to be decided.”

Back in 2018 there were reports that the conference had become mired in allegations of sexism, drunken behaviour and prostitution.

Code of conduct

The organisers of MIPIM said they were reminding delegates of its code of conduct ahead of the event.

“Under no circumstances does MIPIM register prostitutes,” it added.

The Royal Institute of British Architects also warned its members about their behaviour at the event.

It said: “We are aware of reports regarding inappropriate behaviour at MIPIM in previous years.

“The Riba takes this matter extremely seriously and strongly condemns any form of sexual harassment or discrimination… we have strict requirements for our members through our codes of professional conduct.”

Thousands of architects, construction firms, property groups, investors and government bodies head to the south of France for MIPIM every year.

The conference is billed as “The world’s leading property market”, but the male-dominated event was the subject of several complaints by women who had attended and said they have been the victims of sexist abuse, drunken antics, misogyny and discrimination.

The conference was also criticised for the large number of prostitutes that were allegedly attracted to Cannes for the event, with accusations that some used the conference’s own hashtag to advertise and even that some sex workers were present at the event’s opening cocktail reception.

MIPIM strongly denied that allegation, saying: “Under no circumstances does MIPIM register prostitutes.”

Parties

But the conference also became known for its after-hours parties, on luxury yachts and in private hotel rooms; which were said to be male-dominated and fuelled by booze, to which women delegates were rarely invited and even more rarely attended.

Tamsie Thomson, director of the London Festival of Architecture, launched the Elephant Campaign to tackle what she said was the elephant in the room; discriminatory and exploitative behaviour in the construction and property industries.

Delegates to the 2018 conference were encouraged to wear elephant badges so that women knew that at any meeting there were people who would not accept sexist behaviour and stand up against it.

Ms Thomson told the BBC that conferences like MIPIM were difficult for many women to attend, adding: “If there are women who are there as sexualised objects being used to sell materials or whatever it might be that doesn’t make you as a woman going into that environment part of the wider peer group.”