Our peOple pridethemselves Oncreating andinnOvating

Derby

Derby, a city in the EastMidlands region of England,has a history of punching

above its weight. In the 18th century,when the city had fewer than 15,000residents, it became a hotbed of theindustrial revolution. It was the siteof the UK’s first water-powered silkmill, and it emerged as an engineer-ing and railway centre. A centurylater, its history of firsts continuedwhen the city built the world’s firstroundhouse – to facilitate the servic-ing of locomotives – now describedby locals as the “NASA of its time”.

Growing exports and Derby’ssignificance in the rail sector notonly led the city to grow in sizeand wealth, but it also served as

testament to the fact that local residents hada knack for engineering and innovation. Thecity maintained this reputation throughoutthe 20th century, by attracting a host of multi-national engineering companies, includingRolls-Royce, Bombardier, Toyota Motors andJCB, to locate to the area.

Towards the end of the century, Derby alsomanaged to jump on the digital innovationbandwagon when, in themid-1990s, a localvideo game developer Core Design releasedTomb Raider. The video gamewent on tobecome a cross-platform franchise worth

millions of dollars, with the game’s protago-nist, Lara Croft, becoming one of themosticonic video game heroes of all times.

behind the timesWith a pool of engineering brainpower, biginternational investors and a central location(it takes only 30minutes to get fromDerby toNottingham, 50minutes to Birmingham and90minutes to London), it is natural to assumethat this success has carried over into the 21stcentury. But, according to the CEO of DerbyCity Council, AdamWilkinson, economicdevelopment is not as simple as that.

“The challenge is to keep that wealth inDerby, so people not only work here but alsospend their free time here,” he says.

The problem, according to John Forkin,themanaging director of Marketing Derby, apublic-private partnership promoting inwardinvestments to the city, is that Derby does nothave the leisure facilities that other key UK cit-ies boast. “During the 1980s and 1990s a lot ofcities in the UK lost their core industrial base.Because of that they started redesigning theircity concepts. Derby did not, as there was noimperative for that,” he says.

regeneration effortWhat Derbymissed out on in the past, it isfixing now. In themid-2000s, local authoritiesestablished a £2bn ($3bn) ‘regenerationmasterplan’, aimed at giving the city a new lease oflife, and it has already secured investmentsworth an estimated $1.5bn.

Among the completed projects are theQuad, a film and arts centre worth $16.6m,the Roundhouse, a performing arts venuewhich underwent a $72.4m refurbishment,and the Council House, a local authoritiesheadquarters given a $45.2m renovationand consequently nominated in the RoyalInstitute of British Architects East Midlandsawards. On top of that, in 2007 Derbyattracted Australian shopping giantWestfield Group, which opened its firstUK operation in the city, worth $512.8m.

Another success came in 2011, when Derbysecured a $60m Regional Growth Fund, a gov-ernmental grant aimed at boosting the UK’sbusiness competitiveness. Half of the grant wasawarded to fund the infrastructure needed torealise the Global Technology Campus (GTC),a new high-tech business park. The remainingcapital will be awarded to local manufacturers

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DerbyOverview

Derby has a hIstory ofInnovatIon DatIng back tothe InDustrIal revolutIon,a mInDset that contInuesto serve It Into the DIgItalage. local authorItIes –keen tomake the cItysomewhere to lIve as wellas work – have spent thepast few years ImprovIngDerby’s leIsure offerIng,all of whIch Is enablIng thecIty to contInue to punchabove Its weIght.MichalKaczMarsKi reports

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DerbyOverview

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operating in high-tech sectors such as aero-space, automotives, and software and IT.

“We hadwanted to build [the GTC] for awhile; nowwe can get it done plus our supplychainwill gain financial support as well. Ifsomeone has been to Derby but did notmanageto visit us in the past five years, it is almost likethat person has not been to Derby at all, becausewe have changed somuch,” saysMrWilkinson.

The redevelopment is not over yet.Currently under development are a sportsarena and an Olympic-size swimming pool.“Young, knowledgeable workers used to lookat the job and the company, and then the city.Now they look at the city first, so wemade aconscious decision to adapt to attract themto Derby,” says Mr Forkin.

whatmakes it tickAs Derby, a city with a long tradition of out-of-the box thinking, adapts to changing realitiesof themodernworld, so too do local compa-nies. The best example of this is Smith of Derby,a bespoke clockmaker founded in the city in1856. Clocksmade by the company adornsome of the world’s biggest landmarks, includ-ing Grand Central Station in New York and StPaul’s Cathedral in London. But a slow econ-omy and a changingmarketmeans that Smith

of Derby’s long history has come under threat.“Everybody has watches andmobile

phones now and public clocks almost went outof fashion,” says Bob Betts, managing directorof the company and chairman of MarketingDerby. “It is our job to tell architects anddesigners to include them in their projects.”

This proactive attitude has resulted in amultitude of successes for the company. In2009, it supplied themechanical clock for theworld’s largest clock tower built in Guangzhou,China. And in 2011 it entered the record booksagain, when the companymade the world’ssmallest mechanical clock to celebrate the40th anniversary of the United Arab Emirates.

Despite these far-flung successes, the com-pany has kept its roots firmly in Derby.According to Mr Betts, this is not just nostalgia,there is a rationale behind staying in the city.

“In this city we can find an understandingabout what we do and people that pride them-selves on creating and innovating,” he says.“We would not stay here for all these years ifthere was no economic sense in it. Engineeringskills have been passed down here from gener-ation to generation. From aerospace, throughto automotives and contemporary clocks. I donot think you can find any other city in theworld with that sort of talent pool.” ■

engineering hub: derby (top) has attracted a host of multinational engineering companies, including rolls-royce (left) , Bombardier (centre) and toyota motors (right)

UK

IrelandDerby

England

Scotland

DerByPopulation: 248,700Pop. growth rate: 1.9%area: 78 sq km

Unemployment rate: 4.7%source: Derbyshire county council, office fornational statistics

The cost of this report wasunderwritten by MarketingDerby. Reporting and editingwere carried out independentlyby fDi Magazine.

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SUPPLEMENTderby

there is latentdemand ingrade-aofficespace located inderby’s city centre

DErby’S iNDUSTriaLExcELLENcE haS NEvErqUiTE bEEN rEfLEcTED iNiTS ciTy cENTrE’S offEriNg.howEvEr, a fLUrry of NEwofficE DEvELoPMENTS – aSwELL aS a rESUrgENcE ofThE ciTy’S rESiDENTiaLMarkET – Look SET TochaNgE aLL of ThaT.MichalKaczMarsKi rEPorTS

Theplace tobe

T he shining, copper-clad exte-rior of One Friar Gate Square,Derby’s newest office develop-

ment, makes the building impossi-ble to overlook. But its appearanceis not the only reason why this build-ing is the talk of town; it is the firstspeculative office property con-structed in Derby’s city centre since1991. Although Lowbridge, the prop-erty developer behind the project, isstill conducting confidential negoti-ations with potential tenants, localnewspaper the Derby Telegraphreported inMay that two firmshave already expressed an interestinmoving into the building.

“Developers are dusting downtheir plans, and watching whotakes residence in One Friar GateSquare, and howmuch rent theypay,” says Russell Rigby, directorof Rigby & Co, a local commercialproperty consultancy.

rush tobuildDuncanAshby is a director ofNorsemanHoldings, an EastMidlandscommercial property developer thatis among the developers ‘undusting’his development plans. Since 2007,

he has beenworking onOneDerby,an office complex that comprises fivebuildings, retail space, restaurantsand a proposedmulti-storey car park.Unfavourable economic conditionshavemeant that the project has strug-gled to get off the ground, thoughthatmay soon change.

“We are exploring ways in whichwe can commence on site with phaseone [of the One Derby complex]within the next 12months,” saysMr Ashby. “Interest in One Friar GateSquare has proved that there islatent demand in grade-A officespace located in Derby’s city centre.”

Aside fromOne Derby, there areother developments that are lookingto get off the ground, such as CityGate House, a 5500-square-metreoffice complex built by Cedar HouseInvestments, andWilson BowdenDevelopments’ 8800-square-metreoffice building, known as NumberOne Cathedral Green.

As all of these buildings arelocated in or around the ‘CathedralQuarter’, Derby’s picturesque butquiet city centre, it is widely hopedthat the developments will ‘bringsuits back to the streets of Derby’,to use the local parlance.

rush tobuy?Derby’s residential market is alsoshowing encouraging signs. In May,Compendium Living, a Liverpool-headquartered development com-pany, started on the construction ofCastleward, amajor urban develop-ment scheme in Derby that will see800 homes constructed over the next10 years at a cost of £100m ($151m).Also, UK Regeneration, an EastMidlands-based developer, unveiledat March’s Mipim property summit

the details of its Nightingale Quarterin the city, a site which is expected tohost 300 houses and a supermarket.

All of these developments are,of course, important for locals,but their significance goes beyondDerby’s boundaries. This shows thatthe UK propertymarket does notrevolve exclusively around London,and that well-run second-tier UK cit-ies, after years of stagnation, arecapable of rebounding.

“The situation in Derby remindsme of the scenario in ‘The Voice’ [amusic talent show in which celebrityjudges pick promising new singers],where judges are expected to pressthe buzzer when they spot a hotprospect. I know that there are anumber of office developers itchingto press the buzzer,” says Mr Rigby.■

one friar gate square, derby’s newest office development andthe first speculative office property constructed in derby’s citycentre since 1991

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The UK’s manUfacTUring declineof recenT years seems To havebypassed derby, which has meTThe challenge of low-cosTcompeTiTors in The developingworld by focUsing Upon qUaliTy.Michal KaczMarsKi reporTs

Derby’sgot talent

At the turn of 20th century,decades before inward invest-ment attraction became what

it is today, Derby’s local authoritiesmanaged to attract a start-up com-pany operating in new but promisingsectors of automotive and aerospaceengineering to open a plant in theregion. It was 1907 and the companywas Rolls-Royce, now a multinationalgiant with annual turnover of $18bn.

Manchester, Coventry, Bradfordand Leicester were among the poten-tial sites being considered by thecompany but, eventually, Derbywon the bid after offering a cheaperaccess to electric power. ‘A rich pack-age of incentives’, it would be calledin the jargon of modern-day eco-nomic developers. However, the

electric rates were only part ofthe reason why the companyselected Derby, according GrahamSchumacher, head of developmentservices at Rolls-Royce.

“The city offered good accessto land suitable for our operations,had co-operative authorities and,most importantly, its workforce hadthe right set of skills for us,” he says.“It is still the case today, otherwisewe would not have stayed here.”

Large and smallRolls-Royce not only stayed in Derby,it has become the city’s biggestemployer, with more than 13,000workers in its Derby plant. Over theyears, Rolls-Royce has been joinedin Derby by other manufacturingmultinationals such as Japanese carmanufacturer Toyota, Canadian railfirm Bombardier, and constructionequipment company JCB. Quite a list,given that in the 1980s and 1990smanufacturers have been tricklingaway from the UK looking for loca-tions with cheaper labour cost.

Tony Walker, deputy managingdirector of Toyota Manufacturing

High praise: Home to multinational companies such as Rolls-Royce (main) and Bombardier (bottom left), Derby has been praisedby the UK’s chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne (top left) for representing “everything that is right with the UK economy”

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derbyAdvAncedmAnufActuring

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UK, says that there is a strongcase for staying in the Derby area.“Quality is very important to us andbeing based in Derby, a place whichhas a very strong engineering base,definitely makes sense,” he says.Indeed, Toyota is not only stayingin Derby, it is extending its presencein the region. In 2011, the companydecided to invest $155m in itsBurnaston plan, located just outsideDerby, in amove that is expected tocreate 1500 new jobs.

As much as they are amongthe region’s biggest employers,Derby is not just about big nation-als. Its wealth of engineering talentmeans that the city also has home-grownmanufacturing success sto-ries. One of them is Epm TechnologyGroup, a carbon fibre compositemanufacturer, established in 1996by GrahamMulholland. “At thattime I was 23 years old and I feltthat the company I worked for wasbadly run. So I left and started myown,” he says.

The company has had a turbu-lent past and, in 2004, it was forcedto reduce its headcount by half. Now,however, things are looking up forthe firm. It supplies products toFormula 1 teams such as Force India,Lotus andMarussia and hasmorethan 40 job vacancies to fill. Thecompany is also planning tomoveto new facilities by the end of thefirst quarter of 2014.

According to MrMulholland,the fact that the company is basedin Derby is reflected in the way thatEpm Technology operates. “Our cli-ents acknowledge that Derby trieshard tomake things happen. Theyalso see that it is reflected in theway our company operates,” he says.“Plus, engineering skills and atten-

tion to detail is whatmatters to us,and that is what Derby is all about.”

nurturing talentThe city’smanufacturing traditionand skills arewhatmost investorsin the city point towhen describingDerby. But years of gloomy forecastsabout the direction inwhichmanu-facturing is going in the UK has takenits toll and deterredmany youngstersfrompursuing careers in the sector.

In an effort to remedy this skillsshortage, many big local employersrun their own apprenticeship acade-mies in the area. Recently, local com-panies came together with theUniversity of Derby and DerbyCollege to set up the UniversityTechnical College (UTC), an engi-neering school for 14 to 18-year-olds.The school is expected to be openedby September 2014, and take approx-imately 600 students.

“Businesses in Derby are veryenthusiastic about the project, astheywill be able to grow their own

QUality is veRy impORtant tOUsanDBeinG BaseD inDeRBy, a placewHicHHasaveRy stROnGenGineeRinG Base,DefinitelymaKes sense

tony walker, deputy managing director of toyotamanufacturing

employees,” says Liz Barnes, pro vice-chancellor at the University of Derby.Ms Barnes has been directly involvedin setting up the new school.Although Rolls-Royce has played amajor part in the project, she saysthat the school should not be viewedpurely as an extension of Rolls-Royce’sApprenticeship Academy.

“We havemeetings with employ-ers from across the region, discuss-ing how they can engage. Somewillprovide research projects, some casestudies, some teaching or technol-ogy. We want to include asmanycompanies as possible,” she says.

HighpraiseUTCwill not be the only additiontoDerby’smanufacturing landscape.After the citywon a grant from theUKgovernment’s Regional Growth Fundin September 2012,work is due tostart on theGlobal Technology Cluster(GTC), a high-tech campus expected tocreate 1000 new jobs by 2022.

“Derby is not just a place wheretrains or cars are assembled, it is alsoa place of high-tech innovation. GTCwill confirm that,” says Nick Smillie,associate at AED International, aneconomic development consultancy.

Such is Derby’s success that it hasbeen praised by both the country’sprimeminister, David Cameron, andchancellor of the exchequer, GeorgeOsborne. Both paid visits to the cityto acknowledge its part in the UK’smanufacturing revival. During theopening of Rolls-Royce’s ApprenticeAcademy in November 2012, MrOsborne went as far as saying that“Derby represents everything thatis right with the UK economy”. Withthe UK economy still far from robust,howmany other cities can claimsuch praise?■

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Derbyunited

Part of the project: University of Derby academics liaise with business leaders to ensure their courses are relevantfor jobs on offer in the city

ThoughDerbymay appear smallwhen compareDwiThoTher businesshubs in The uK anD europe, ThisworKs To The ciTy’s aDvanTage, as iTsbusiness communiTy is welcoming,inTerlinKeD anD possesses a realzeal Tomove The ciTy forwarD, asMichalKaczMarsKi finDsouT

WeWanteDaPlacethatofferstherightsetofskillsanDhasgooDtransPortationlinks...Derbyticksalloftheseboxes

D erby markets itself as a placethat is very well connectedwith the rest of the UK in

terms of physical infrastructure.But another of the city’s considera-ble strengths comes through con-nections of a different sort. Theinterlinking between Derby’s busi-ness community may not be as visi-ble as motorways or railroads, butnewcomers to the city can quicklyget a feel for how tightly knit it is.

“People are genuinely interestedto hear what you want to say. I feelwelcome here,” says Nigel Wheatley,who in March was appointed as thesenior centre manager at WestfieldDerby, a shoppingmall in the centreof the city. Despite being new to thecity, MrWheatley says that withinweeks he hadmet virtually allof Derby’s key movers and shakers.

Derby’swarmwelcomeImportantly, such a greeting isnot reserved only to people con-nected with the city’s flagshipbusinesses, such as Westfield.Cameron International, a Houston-headquartered oil company, openedits Derby office at the end of 2012and employs 12 people in the city.The company’s Derby headcountmight be small, but Brian Haynes,Cameron’s engineering director,says that it was easy to build linkswith other local businesses. “Thereare so many networking events hereand they really help you with find-ing your footing,” he says.

Members of the city’s academicinstitutions also take advantage ofthese networking opportunities.“When we are designing a course,we have to think about whether it

will still be relevant after our stu-dents graduate, and there is noother way of knowing that thanspeaking to the businesses. Thatis whymy colleagues and I haveto be out and about,” says KeithHorton, dean of the business,computing and law faculty atthe University of Derby.

AcommonvoiceIn Derby, suchmeetings do notonly serve networking purposes.MrWheatley says that a lot of time isdevoted to discussing how best to pro-mote the city and deciding inwhatways it should develop. “What I foundinDerby is real passion about the city,about its brand and about gettingthings done,” saysMrWheatley.“When the [city leaders] talk of ‘regen-eration’, theymean it. And inDerby,regeneration has not stopped at thecouncil, or the local government; itis in industry and commerce.”

For Cameron executives, it wasthese meetings that convinced themthey should set up their new officein Derby. “We had the whole UK tochoose from, and we went througha long process of looking at differentsites,” says Mr Haynes, who addsthat Coventry and Newcastle werealso considered as potential loca-tions for the company’s expansion.

“We wanted a place that offersthe right set of skills and has goodtransportation links, but also onethat looks like it is heading in theright direction in terms of the econ-omy and where you can tell thatthere is a vision for the city. Derbyticked all of these boxes.” ■

supplemenTDerby

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