Hamster flies flag for West Midlands

Feb 22 2007 By Gary Marks, Birmingham Mail

RICHARD Hammond - co-presenter of BBC2's Top Gear programme - has teamed up with Advantage West Midlands to help promote £550 million worth of development opportunities being presented at next month's MIPIM 2007 property show in Cannes.

The regional development agency is planning milestone announcements at MIPIM involving four key projects across the region - the i54 near Wolverhampton, the Bilston Urban Village, Chatterley Valley in Stoke-on-Trent and Edgar Street in Hereford.

Key decision-makers and investors from the land and property industry will be among more than 21,500 visitors to Cannes between March 13-16.

Solihull-born Hammond will be the guest speaker at a high-profile AWM developer dinner in Cannes on March 13.

"MIPIM is a golden opportunity to promote the superb commercial property developments which are transforming the region," an AWM spokesman said.

A MIPIM organiser said: "Hammond is incredibly popular with the public but he is also a respected journalist, admired by the business community.

"He was brought up in the West Midlands so he's an ideal advocate for the region."

The AWM stand at MIPIM will also be showcasing the achievements and new projects being developed by its regional partners, including Birmingham, Staffs, the Black Country, Telford, Coventry and Warwickshire.