London Embassy: Why we’re backing Derby and Derbyshire

Key investors have shared the reasons why they are backing Derby and Derbyshire at Marketing Derby’s latest London Embassy event.

Held in the historic surroundings of Lancaster House, almost 200 guests, including Bondholders, investors, ambassadors and politicians from both the Houses of Lords and Commons, came together to hear about the latest investments in the city and county.

They heard from keynote speakers, including Jackie Wild, from SmartParc, the firm behind a high-tech food manufacturing and distribution campus on the outskirts of Derby, and Henrik-Juhl Hansen from Vaillant UK, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of environmentally friendly heating and air-conditioning technology, which has its head office at Belper.

John Forkin, managing director of Marketing Derby, said: “This year’s embassy really did exceed expectations.

“The 200 attendees from our Bondholder, ambassador and investor communities really made the best of one of London’s most stunning buildings and the speeches were a brilliant showcase of what makes Derby and Derbyshire such a dynamic location.

“As important as it is to celebrate it’s worth noting that – as with all of our embassies – some real business was being done under the radar which will lead to new jobs and investment.”

On the night, a team from GoldBox Productions filmed proceedings – and is currently putting together a film, which will be released next week.

As part of the filming, they also interviewed key investors, who shared their thoughts on why Derby and Derbyshire are the ideal places to invest.

Among those interviewed was Henrik-Juhl Hansen, managing director of Vaillant UK, part of the Vaillant Group, which has a presence in over 20 countries with national sales companies, and exports to more than 60 states.

A family-owned company with a £3 billion turnover, it provides customers with energy-saving solutions for heating, cooling and hot water.

He said: “We’ve been in the area for almost 150 years. We make boilers but have an ambition for being in Belper long term, also manufacturing heat pumps.

“We are a very significant employer in the area and are committed to creating new jobs in Belper and the Derbyshire community.

“We are continuing to invest in the future to be part of meeting the Government’s net zero objectives.”

Among the ‘live’ investments is SmartParc SEGRO Derby – a £300 million scheme, which aims to pave the way for collaboration in the food industry to meet the challenges of sustainable production while addressing the need for efficient direct routes to consumers.

Being created on the former British Celanese site at Spondon, the SmartParc SEGRO campus aims to combine world-class food production facilities with shared utilities, amenities and services to provide a sustainable, low-cost production base for food manufacturers.

It will provide 5,000 new jobs in the area over the coming years -with HelloFresh already on site, creating 400 new positions.

Explaining why SmartParc chose Derby, director Kate Hancock said: “SmartParc has decided to invest in Derby because there’s excellent space available.

“Derby is an amazing location as it allows us to get to 80% of the population within four hours, which really helps us in terms of the distribution of fresh food.”

Look out for more interviews from the London Embassy, which will be shared across Marketing Derby’s social channels.