When Nancy Rothwell boarded a chartered jet to attend a prestigious property conference in Cannes this year, it was something of a moment for the institution she runs.

The University of Manchester had attended the annual Mipim conference before, when the  physicist Brian Cox, its most recognisable academic, presented on graphene, a kind of carbon with important industrial uses. But this was a pure real estate pitch, and the  vice-chancellor was taken aback to find herself one of the star attractions.

“We thought there would be a lot of interest . . . but I didn’t quite expect them all standing down the side of the room,” Dame Nancy says. “I was surprised by how many were there,” she adds. “The sovereign wealth funds, international pension funds . . . how big they were.”