The UK’s Capital for Innovation

Colleague Box

Colleague Box, a new innovative business launched by an entrepreneurial Derby couple during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, has been inundated with orders for their personalised gift boxes, designed initially at keeping companies connected to their teams during lockdown. 

Marketing Derby supported Colleague Box by undertaking property searches and arranging viewings with commercial property agents for its first premises in Derby. The company secured a 3,000 sq ft unit in Derby, which enabled it to grow its product range, order book and workforce. With a £1m turnover in the first six months, Colleague Box has subsequently moved into larger premises in the city and is continually evolving its offer.

Although setting up a business during the pandemic was a risky move, the response to Colleague Box has been amazing. We are delighted to be able to grow our business in Derby and Marketing Derby provided invaluable support in enabling us to do so, through advice about locations, property searches and site visits.

Adam Bamford, CEO

SmartParc SEGRO Spondon

SmartParc was founded to address the challenges facing the food sector and SmartParc SEGRO Spondon will be its flagship 1.85 million sq ft site in Derby, creating 5.000 direct jobs.

It will provide food manufacturing facilities ranging from start-up incubation units through to large-scale manufacturing facilities and will be home to a Food Manufacturing Technology Centre of Excellence to future-proof the food industry.

The site will also re-engineer current food manufacturing and distribution processes and create a new, forward-thinking ecosystem of food production, looking towards new technologies such as vertical farming and providing a central distribution hub to streamline the distribution chain.

Marketing Derby first met with SmartParc’s senior team when it was considering locations for its flagship site in the UK, providing a range of qualitative and quantitative information on Derby and Derbyshire’s credentials. They subsequently worked with Derby City Council and the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership to secure a brownfield site on the city’s east side.

As the largest investment in the region since Toyota UK, Marketing Derby continues to liaise with the SmartParc team on enquiries from domestic and international end-user occupiers.

When we were looking for a location for our first SmartParc, Marketing Derby gave us a warm welcome to the local area and quickly convinced us that we had found the right place for our investment.

Wavensmere Homes

Residential developer, Wavensmere Homes, has purchased the 18.5-acre former Derbyshire Royal Infirmary site in Derby city centre and is transforming it into a high quality residential neighbourhood of over 800 homes – called the Nightingale Quarter.

The £150m investment includes the refurbishment of the iconic pepper pot buildings for community use, including a gym, cafe and meeting rooms, and green spaces to support residents’ outdoor recreation.

As a strategic regeneration site in the city, with historic elements, Marketing Derby supported Wavensmere through its planning application, including writing formal letters of support as part of the planning process, to emphasise the strong economic benefits the development brings to Derby.  Support has also included the provision of market intelligence and viability data to funders of the scheme, introductions to specialised local business support and profile raising activities amongst the local business community, including potential buyers and occupiers.

Marketing Derby has been a pleasure to work with, their pragmatic approach and can-do attitude has been greatly received by us as a developer.

James Dickens, Managing Director

Nixon Coffee

Nixon Coffee is an independent coffee house, steeped in Derby heritage, on Abbey Street within Derby city centre. The venue name is a direct link to the building’s former identity as the only certified Levi retailer in Derby, Nixon’s Jeans, and its fit-out cements the link between old and new.

Located close to the £200m Becketwell regeneration scheme where Grainger plc opened its 259-unit Build To Rent scheme in 2023 and a new 3,500-capacity Performance Venue is due to open in 2025, it is owner and property developer, Jai Sandhu’s first venture into the food and beverage sector, on the back of other residential and commercial investment in the same area.

This area of the city centre has been relatively unloved to date but the investor has identified its huge potential and the scale of the opportunity presented by being located in the shadow of the new Performance Venue.

Marketing Derby is providing intel and support to Jai Sandhu and other landlords in the area to ensure the opportunity presented by Becketwell is fully leveraged. We have brought local investors and businesses together as part of a neighbourhood initiative to share information, assess what could be done to improve the area and leverage funding for interventions to improve the streetscape in the area.

There has already been a huge benefit from being part of the landlord group that Marketing Derby has assembled, gaining a better understanding of what other businesses are planning in the area and being able to work in a unified way to achieve progress.

Bam Boom Cloud (now Pax8)

Technology advisers, Bam Boom Cloud, asked Marketing Derby for advice and support when it was looking to establish its global HQ in Derby in 2020.

With over 25 years’ experience in simplifying technology for small and medium businesses using the latest Microsoft Cloud solutions, and with offices across the world, Bam Boom Cloud wanted to be located in the heart of the city centre in a modern, flexible space designed to support its team’s creativity and fast pace of work. Its new HQ also needed to help it to recruit top talent into ca. 100 roles as it enters an ambitious phase of growth.

Marketing Derby worked closely with the senior leadership team on property options and soft-landing space; signposted them to key local contacts; helped secure financial support from Derby City Council for its new offices, transforming a former nightclub into its new workspace; and produced bespoke familiarisation collateral for senior leadership to use with its staff.

We are excited by Derby’s plans to rejuvenate its city centre, including the Becketwell development, with its performance venue, apartments, hotel and public square, close to our new home in the Wardwick. It’s an exciting time for us to make the move.

We also think we will be good for Derby’s future and for the economy of the city centre. We are already a global technology business and we have ambitious plans for further growth and to recruit more staff.

Vicky Critchley, CEO

Derbion

Derbion has been at the heart of Derby since 2007, with the 1.3 million sq ft scheme typically attracting 21 million visitors each year. Derbion is home to a number of household names, including M&S, Next, H&M, BOSS, Whistles, Hobbs, Mango and Zara. 

Under new ownership since 2020, Derbion has set out a vision to transform the centre over the next two years, delivering a compelling and attractive proposition that will see the scheme become the venue of choice in the East Midlands, for both visitors and occupiers.

Working with key stakeholders from across the city is integral to the centre’s success. As part of the investment decision-making process, Marketing Derby provided data and local intelligence to the new owners. It also continues to support Derbion through initiatives such as focus groups and consultations, as well as city-wide marketing and PR campaigns. 

Adam Tamsett, general manager at Derbion, comments: “The investment in Derbion reinforces our continuing confidence in Derby. With many significant, multi-million pound projects happening on our doorstep, £15million secured as part of the Future High Street Fund as well as Derby’s bid to become the UK’s City of Culture in 2025, we believe the future is bright for the city.

Our ongoing work with Marketing Derby is invaluable as we continue to collaborate on campaigns to drive footfall into Derby post-Covid and highlight all that the city has to offer. Our aim is to create exciting experiences and to bring new brands to the region, positioning Derby as the place to be, with Derbion at its heart.

Adam Tamsett, general manager