Why we should all think a bit more like Vic

Here, in his latest monthly column reflecting on the news over the past month, our Press and PR Executive Robin Johnson looks at the headlines.

So, here we are in 2024 – another year, and as far as I’m concerned, another year closer to my half century.

That’s because on New Year’s Eve, I turned 49. I know it’s impossible to believe – but it’s true!

Yes, I am rapidly closing in on my half century and preparing to raise my bat towards the pavilion to receive sympathetic applause.

“It’s just a number,” said my wife, as I opened birthday card after birthday card, all sharing a common theme – light-hearted abuse about me getting that bit older.

I’m not bothered about getting old. I much prefer the age I am now, compared to when I was in my teens or in my 20s.

I have a two-year-old son who has no idea how old I am – and he helps keep me young, although occasional twinges in my back remind me to restrict myself to just a few minutes playing ‘horsey rides’ per day.

Age may well be just a number – but numbers are important, particularly if you work as a journalist.

A number can be the very crux of a story. You can hang a complete page lead on a juicy statistic.

Take the big stories from Derby and Derbyshire in December, which is what I’m here to talk about. Yes, I know it seems like a long time ago!

For me, some of the key numbers in the stories from that month were: 6, 35, 70 and 3,451.

So, let’s start with the number 6.

In December, a delegation from Derby travelled down to London to lobby Parliament over the future of train-building at Alstom’s Litchurch Lane site.

I remember the last time this city had to mobilise itself in order to save the future of this vital industry.

At the time, I was business editor at the Derby Telegraph – and was pretty much in the thick of things in terms of the campaign to save what was then Bombardier.

In that instance, we lost the battle but won the war. We failed to reverse a decision not to award Litchurch Lane a lucrative contract, but we did convince the Government to ensure a more level playing field when it came to awarding future contracts, which ultimately led to Bombardier landing orders.

That was over a decade ago. So, it was with an intense sense of déjà vu (a feeling shared by many involved in that initial campaign) that I was called upon to report about the latest crisis at Litchurch Lane.

How could it be allowed to happen again, you ask? Well, it has always seemed to be a case of feast and famine in the rail industry.

I only hope that enough work can be scraped together to keep the production lines going at the Derby site until the HS2 contract kicks in.

Behind-the-scenes, organisations like ourselves, the city council, the unions, and politicians of all political hues, are doing all we can to resolve the situation.

In my report, Alstom’s UK chief Nick Crossfield said that something needed to happen in six weeks. He said that on 6 December, so there is now less than that.

On a cheerier note – the number 3,451 is one that Derby should be proud of.

That is the number of miles between London Heathrow and JFK International Airport, in New York.

And towards the end of 2023, a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787 successfully made that journey using engines made by Rolls-Royce.

What made it special was the fact that it was the first ever transatlantic flight powered by engines (in this case Rolls-Royce’s Trent 1000 engines) running on Sustainable Aviation Fuel, or SAF as the aviation industry refers to it.

Rolls-Royce is making great strides when it comes to introducing SAF – and it’s great to see a Derby company at the forefront of the push to make air travel greener.

Meanwhile, in Derby city centre a number making the headlines was 35.

£35 million was how much it cost to build Fox House – a new apartments building created as part of Wavensmere Homes’ £175 million Nightingale Quarter scheme.

The building is made up of 209 apartments – and the fact that 90% of these were sold off-plan really demonstrates the appetite there is for city centre living in Derby.

Another important number, at least as far as I was concerned, was 14.

That’s how many categories myself – along with a panel of fellow judges – were asked to choose finalists and winners for when we came together to judge TheBusinessDesk’s East Midlands Leadership Awards.

It was both encouraging and inspiring to read so many magnificent entries.

Don’t bother asking me who’s won – my lips are sealed! You’ll just have to wait for the awards ceremony in March.

In the meantime, you can find out which Bondholders have been shortlisted here Bondholders shortlisted for leadership awards – Marketing Derby.

At the start of this piece, I recalled my wife’s comforting words of “Age is just a number”, as I opened another birthday card, whose message contained something about birthday cake candles and fire engines.

However, a man who really does prove that age is just a number is Vic Handley.

In December this year, Vic will cross the Atlantic Ocean – and not in a Boeing 787 running on Sustainable Aviation Fuel.

He will be rowing. Yes, rowing. Single-handedly. A massive challenge for even the youngest and fittest of athletes.

Then consider the fact that Vic will be 70 years old when he takes on this gruelling challenge, from La Gomera, in the Canary Islands to Antigua, in the Caribbean, which is known as ‘The World’s Toughest Row – Atlantic’.

Just before Christmas, Vic hosted a ceremony at Pride Park Stadium where he unveiled the name for his canoe: ‘City of Derby UK’.

He will not only be rowing to raise Derby’s profile, but hundreds of thousands of pounds for four worthy charities.

Vic firmly believes that age “shouldn’t exclude anyone from realising their ambitions or potential”.

Maybe my New Year’s resolution – and all those of a similar vintage – should be to remember that age really is just a number and that we should all think a bit more like Vic.

Anyway, have a safe and productive January and I look forward to catching up again with you soon.