Member Article

Puppies, pop and property as Bisnow looks to shake up London’s events calendar

US media group Bisnow Media is looking to inject new life into a sector more commonly associated with sullen boardrooms and sober financials after holding its inaugural property event in London this week.

As part of its continued UK expansion, the property news and events firm launched its property events programme on Thursday with its ‘London State of the Market’ event.

Housed within the impressive surroundings of Park Lane’s Intercontinental Hotel, Bisnow welcomed over 600 attendees for its inaugural UK event which boasted some of the biggest hitters from London’s property sector.

The likes of Canary Wharf Chief Executive Sir George Iacobescu, British Land head honcho Chris Grigg, and WeWork’s Patrick Nelson were all on hand to give their two pennies’ worth on issues including the office market’s exposure to the tech sector and the impact of the US election on the capital’s property market.

Bisnow is renowned in the United States, where it was founded back in 2005, for its singular approach to the sometimes staid world of property events.

Drones filming proceedings, excitable puppies to take the awkwardness out of networking, and bombastic pop music to segue between panels have all been a key part of their set up, and all were present and correct at their London event too.

Asked how he thought the event went, Bisnow’s Chief Executive Officer, Will Friend, said: “I’ll let the success of the event be decided by our attendees, speakers and sponsors - and of course our puppies!”

Currently operating with a UK team of ten employees after launching earlier in the year, the US group is already eyeing up potential expansion across the country and Europe, with Germany, Ireland and France all touted as potential new markets.

“We have an eventful 2017 calendar in place for London and are actively looking at the rest of the UK as well as Europe and one or two markets in Asia,” added Will.