Spotlight shines on Derby’s ‘olympic year’ at UKREiiF

Investors have been learning about the key investment opportunities in Derby at a major real estate event this week.

Team Derby has been in Leeds for the UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF), which this year attracted more than 12,000 delegates.

Accompanied by members of Derby City Council’s leadership, Marketing Derby’s inward investment team were there to highlight city investment opportunities and pipeline projects.

Supported by a number of Marketing Derby Bondholders, they held events while also supporting those organised by regional partners – building on the high levels of investor interest created at MIPIM back in March.

John Forkin, managing director of Marketing Derby, said: “Team Derby had a highly productive UKREiiF.

“It is an exciting time for Derby right now, with a number of key schemes set to come online in 2025 – dubbed Derby’s ‘olympic year’.

“Investors were impressed by the momentum that has been created – and the growing list of big-name players who continue to see Derby as the place to put their money.

“New alliances were forged, while existing ones were strengthened. We now hope to build on these relationships further as we work towards one of the major events in the region’s property calendar – the Derby Property Summit, which will take place in July.”

UKREiiF aims to connect people, places and businesses to accelerate the Levelling Up Agenda, while unlocking sustainable, inclusive and transformational investment across the UK.

It brings together the public sector – with every core UK city and region involved – alongside government, investors, funders, developers, housebuilders and more.

A key event in Team Derby’s packed schedule took place on Tuesday with an event entitled 2025: The Year of Derby’s ‘olympic’ Opportunities.

Held as part of the Midlands Engine showcase, it saw Councillor Baggy Shanker, leader of Derby City Council and the new East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward take part in a question-and-answer session.

This was followed by an expert panel discussion made up of Tammy Whitaker, the city council’s director of city growth and vibrancy, who was joined by James Dickens, managing director at Wavensmere Homes, Paul Morris, director at St James Securities, Steve Parry, managing director of ION Developments and Rob Richardson, development director at St. Modwen Logistics.

Reflecting on the strong panel line-up of investors and developers bringing forward schemes in Derby, Councillor Shanker said “The whole public-private partnership approach is working in Derby and 2025 is a year of opportunity – we will continue to have a laser sharp focus on delivery of the key development schemes and are already talking to Claire Ward, the new East Midlands Mayor, about Derby’s priorities to attract further investment and deliver a vibrant city.”

On Wednesday, Marketing Derby held its own private roundtable event with a group of Bondholders from the property and investment sectors.

The theme of the discussion was around how Derby’s heritage as a hi-tech city for 300 years underpins its investment offer today.

A full write-up of the discussion will be published in the autumn edition of Innovate Magazine (https://www.marketingderby.co.uk/resources/ ).

Team Derby was also at UKREiiF to support its regional partners, including the recently formed East Midlands County Combined Authority (EMCCA), the Midlands Engine and the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership.

This included the launch of the Midlands Engine’s updated Midlands Investment Portfolio, which features a number of Derby schemes, and an event organised by the D2N2 LEP, which explained how the region is working together to unlock the £4 billion investment opportunity presented following the creation of  EMCCA .

Some of the city projects showcased at UKREiiF will be featured at the forthcoming Derby Property Summit.

This year’s summit is due to take place on Wednesday 10 July, at Reach Events, on Pride Park.

For the latest on this year’s summit follow Invest in Derby on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) at @‌InvestinDerby and Marketing Derby at @‌MarketingDerby.