Talking Business Live: Creating a ‘step change’ for Derby

Derby City Council‘s leadership has said it wants to create a “step change” for the city as it shared its plans for its 2022-23 budget with Marketing Derby’s Bondholders at its latest Talking Business Live session.

This week, Marketing Derby hosted the city council’s budget consultation for non-domestic ratepayers, partners and preceptors.

At the session, the city council’s leadership shared its vision for Derby over the coming year, outlining its priorities, while welcoming feedback from the business community on its plans.

Firstly, following an introduction by John Forkin, managing director of Marketing Director, Scott Knowles, chief executive of East Midlands Chamber, set the scene, giving an insight into business sentiment in Derby and Derbyshire.

He referenced the chamber’s latest Quarterly Economic Survey, which covered the final quarter of 2021.

The data is based on responses from chamber members, who, among other things, are asked about the performance of their businesses, confidence levels and thoughts on the future of the economy.

According to Scott, the data highlighted the “cost of doing business crisis”, with pressures including inflation and cost increases, such as the rise in energy prices.

It also highlighted the difficulties firms face in recruiting skilled workers.

Scott said: “It must be remembered that that most of the responses were collected just prior to the implementation of the Plan B Covid restrictions, which explains the rather muted data.

“However, the results do show that one of the biggest concerns is inflation – it is the greatest challenge when it comes to the cost of doing business crisis.

“Access to skilled labour is also of great concern to the business community.

“The same survey from 10 years ago would have showed the same – but the pandemic has made the challenge of searching for the right labour force more acute.

“There are also concerns about overtrading – instances where businesses are facing capacity constraints.”

Councillor Chris Poulter, leader of the city council, then went through the detail of its budget proposals.

He explained that the council was focused on four key priorities – to create a vibrant city, a city of growth, a resilient city and a green city.

He referenced some of the key projects that will help the city bounce back from the pandemic, such as the new entertainment venue at Becketwell, the ongoing Nightingale Quarter residential scheme and SmartParc SEGRO Spondon.

Councillor Poulter said: “Hopefully, the Covid pandemic is coming to an end – and now we want to create a step change for Derby, to help the city spring back into life and take it to the next level.”

At the session, Simon Riley, the strategic director of corporate resources, talked about how the city council contributes to the local economy.

He said: “Our contribution to the Derby economy is over £1 billion. One of the biggest challenges is in social care, due to increased demand for those services.

“We have also had to respond to a perfect storm in the economy and new pressures.”

Going forward, Mr Riley said that the city council wanted to work more closely with the people of Derby, including the business community, to shape a better future.

He said: “We have a huge amount of relationships and data, which we need to use more.

“We have a responsibility to work with and for the city. It is why we are consulting with the business community – this is Team Derby, and we will be stronger together.”

To watch a recording of the full session, click here.