City in spotlight at UK real estate event

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

Team Derby has been in Leeds for the UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF).

Accompanied by members of Derby City Council’s leadership, Marketing Derby’s inward investment team has been highlighting investment opportunities and pipeline projects.

Supported by a number of Marketing Derby Bondholders, they have 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: “We have 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 Derby’s momentum and the growing list of big-name players who continue to see the city 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 on the region’s property calendar – the Derby Property Summit, which will take place in July.”

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

This year, the event attracted more than 12,000 people.

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, Councillor Baggy Shanker, leader of Derby City Council and the new East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward took 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 growth and city vibrancy, who was joined by James Dickens, managing director at Wavensmere Homes, Paul Morris, director at St James Securities, Steve Parry, managing director 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.”

Yesterday, 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, with UKREiiF delegates invited to the event to get a more in-depth look at the city’s investment credentials.

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.

Look out for our special UKREiiF news bulletin, which will be published tomorrow.