Belief is the key when it comes to reimagining Derby city centre

2025 is set to be a big year for Derby city centre – and at this year’s UKREiiF, delegates found out just why.

The city centre currently provides the focus for the majority of Derby’s regeneration activity and is a priority for city partners in seeking and supporting investment.

According to John Forkin, managing director of Marketing Derby, the key for Derby going forward is to “believe in our place”.

He said: “Derby is on a journey. We punch above our weight economically, yet also below our weight when it comes to our city centre.

“We are a hotspot for investors and have an attractive proposition – but in order to move on we need to believe in our place.”

At a special event called ‘2025 – The Year of Derby’s ‘olympic’ Opportunities’, which was held as part of the Midlands Engine pavilion at UKREiiF, a panel drawn from Derby City Council’s leadership and a range of private partners came together to discuss and showcase the numerous city centre schemes which are set to come online next year.

They include a new 3,500 capacity performance venue at St, James Securities’ Becketwell scheme, which will be operated by ASM Global; a new Business School for the University of Derby as part of its city campus, which will be home to 6,000 students by 2030, and the opening of the revamped Victorian Market Hall into a retail and leisure destination.

Speaking on the panel was Tammy Whitaker, the city council’s director of city growth and vibrancy.

She said: “We have a strong ambition to build on the city’s industrial past for its industrial future.

“We want the city centre to be worthy of the world-class businesses we are home to.”

Speaking about the flagship schemes set to complete next year, Tammy said: “The transformation of the Market Hall represents a £35 million investment by Derby City Council. It is a grand old lady which is set to be a brilliant venue.

“There will be a new performance venue – and the University of Derby Business School is part of their anchor site as they move into the city centre.”

However, the vision for Derby’s city centre does not begin and end in 2025.

Tammy explained to the audience: “We are only halfway through the journey. There is more to come. For example, the revamping of the Guildhall Theatre as part of an ecosystem of smaller cultural venues, opening in 2026.”

She also stressed that it was important to make the city centre, as a whole, an attractive place to visit.

She said: “It is critical that we make the street scene attractive, have more green spaces, and better transport links within and into the city.

“The focus now is on place and how we galvanise our efforts, working with partners, to deliver that.”

One of those partners is Steve Parry, managing director at ION Developments, a company which, alongside VINCI UK Developments, is the city council’s preferred strategic development partner.

He joined the panel at UKREiiF to explain how they are currently working with the council, businesses and community stakeholders to develop their vision and design for the regeneration of the city centre.

The revitalised ‘Cultural Heart of the City’ will offer a range of leisure, commercial and community facilities, connected to a new business and residential district, incorporating the Bold Lane area and Northern Quarter.

The plans for the former Assembly Rooms site involve a multi-functional building, with spaces for meeting, working, and creating above restaurant and commercial space, to enhance the city centre offer.

The plans are set in a redesigned and enhanced Market Place, which will become a focal point for the city and will create new and improved green spaces, including ‘pocket parks’ to support relaxation and wellbeing.

Speaking at UKREiiF, Steve said: “There’s a pretty unique proposition in Derby – it’s different from other cities where the demographics and economic position are poor.

“But people aren’t using the city centre in Derby. We need to get people to use the centre and local people to believe in it”