Mipim: Yachts it all about, wealthy?

Leicester and Leicestershire at Mipim 2014: Day two

I've a confession to make. I was on a yacht earlier today. I even had a couple of sips of wine while a few rays of sunshine warmed my face.
The fact I find it hard to come clean about this highlights the sensitivities about being perceived to live the high life in Cannes while colleagues pick up the slack back in the UK.
These sensitivities are heightened when the delegation you are with is being partly funded by the taxpayer, as is the case with the Leicester and Leicestershire team I've come out here with.
So why was I on the yacht? Well, believe it or not, it's where people with a lot of money to invest sometimes reside. In fact it's usually a rule of thumb that those who hire yachts at Mipim have more to invest than most.
One of the two fellow delegates from the private sector I was with at the time happened to bump into a former colleague. He now works for an investment management business which is at Mipim and which had hired a yacht in the harbour. He invited me and the two other delegates aboard.
He introduced us to his boss, who knew of Leicester, and was aware there was demand for high-end student accommodation in the city and it could potentially be a good investment opportunity. But he wasn't sure.
Within a few minutes we'd given him a whole load of reasons why he should do it. We even put forward a strong case for Loughborough, which, as a resident of the town, I was able to do with good rounded knowledge. Before we left we gave him the contact details of the inward investment officials from the city and county council who are part of the city and county's delegation.
Yes, there are yachts, fine wine and sunshine at Mipim. Yes, it's nice to get invited onto a £10 million yacht, even for 30 minutes (as was the case for me today). And yes, I felt a little guilty about it as I thought of my colleagues picking up the slack created by my absence back in the office. But, as is often the case at Mipim, this was too good an opportunity to help cement a good relationship for Leicester and Leicestershire. Being po-faced about being seen to embrace wealth just doesn't cut the mustard at Mipim.
As the popular mantra for those wanting to gain great wealth goes: 'you have to be in it to win it'. Even if 'it' happens to be moored off the coast of the French Riviera.