Introducing its masterplan, Derby City Council writes: “Over the last decade, Derby has seen billions of pounds in investment, thousands of jobs created and huge regeneration successes, but we are not resting on our laurels.

“The City Centre Masterplan sets out a strategic context for investment opportunities in the city … (2015-2030), demonstrating the Council’s commitment to the regeneration of the city centre. By 2030, this masterplan aims to leverage £3.5 billion in investment (and to) create 4,000 new jobs.”

This is essentially the umbrella project for a host of urban renewal schemes in and around the centre. Examples include:

• Derby Silk Mill: a five-year, £17 million scheme to create the ‘Museum of Making’ on the site of the world’s first factory. It opened in 2021.

• Derby Market Hall: an £11.4 million programme designed to convert a Victorian-era hall into a popular new retail centre; phase 2 began in January 2023 and the development as a whole is expected to open towards the end of 2024.

• Grade A offices, Bold Lane: a £6.9 million new build project that has created a 4-storey office block in the Sadler Gate area. It is expected to support around 200 new jobs when fully tenanted.

• Becketwell regeneration: Becketwell is part of Derby city centre and the subject of a £200 million regeneration project. Now well under way, the scheme will ultimately comprise a mix of office, retail, leisure and residential spaces, together with a hotel and a new public square. In all, the work is expected to create between 2,000 and 2,700 new FTE jobs.

• The Nightingale Quarter: described as “one of the largest city centre regeneration sites in the UK”, this £150 million regeneration scheme will see the site of a former hospital used to create new leisure, residential and exhibition space, together with improved public access, green spaces and cafes.

These schemes follow other important regeneration works, such as major improvements to the Cathedral Quarter – one of the city’s main shopping districts. Moreover, they are likely to be followed by further investment if the City Council’s latest funding bid is approved by the UK government.

In June 2020, the Council submitted a successful bid for two projects under the Future High Streets Fund initiative. In May 2021, it secured £15 million to support the Market Hall transformation and the Eastern Gateway project. An article in The Business Desk, June 2020, noted that “the money will help bring new office space, create public areas, utilise digital technology to improve visitor experience, and provide a new use for one of the city’s most historic buildings… (It) would unlock a total investment of around £100 million – with the rest coming from the Council and private investors.”

This followed the award of £70 million of ‘levelling up’ funding.

In June 2020, Derby City Council announced that, together with Nottingham, the city would jointly receive £161 million from the UK government’s Transforming Cities Fund. The money is being used “to launch an electric rapid-transit route through the city centre, create new park & ride hubs, improved cycling and public transport links, and electric vehicle charging points.”

The work is being overseen by the Derby Economic Recovery Task Force, which was established to manage the city’s economic growth as it emerges from the Covid-19 lockdown. It has already distributed over £40 million in business grant aid via Derby City Council and has numerous other projects in progress. Amongst others, these include a proposed “flood defence programme … that could free up land to create a new city centre park, build hundreds of homes and create commercial space for 1,000 jobs.”

The Task Force is also supporting the creation of a new business park extension that would cover 177 hectares and create up to 5,000 jobs. A key element of the South Derby Growth Zone, Infinity Park will provide a base for “high-value technology employment and skills”. The developer, Hallam Land Management, submitted its planning application July 2020. It forms part of a larger £100 million plan to create a string of garden villages across the region, and work is expected to continue for between 10 and 20 years.

The extended durations of these schemes are important because they will continue to inject money and jobs into the local economy for decades, rather than just a few years. This, in turn, should support greater economic stability, investor confidence and – as a result of rising employment – a gradual upwelling in demand for residential property.

In April 2020, Derby City Council released data from a report by the economic consultancy company Regeneris. Its remit was to evaluate the likely economic impact of “near-universal full fibre connectivity… in the city over a 15-year period.” As the report shows, the planned roll-out of faster broadband across Derby could have significant and lasting effects.

• £70 million in increased average property values

• £69 million resulting from “Smart City initiatives including home automation technologies, smart energy networks and intelligent transportation systems”

• £14 million as a result of digital enhancements in healthcare delivery

• £39 million in improved productivity amongst Derby’s business community

• £21 million in added GVA resulting from increased start-up growth

• This amounts to £213 million in total impact

Advanced manufacturing is a key sector for Derby. Around 22,000 jobs are supported by the aerospace, automotive and railway engineering industries, but these are by no means the only high value sectors in the city.

According to Derby City Council, other important sectors for GVA and employment include:

• Creative and digital industries (12,500 jobs)

• Quarrying (a £2 billion industry in the county)

• Textiles (85,000 jobs and 2,300 businesses)

• Tourism (worth £2.15 billion to the local economy; 28,000 jobs)

The Council notes that in terms of business population, the ‘professional, scientific and technical’ category is the single largest sector, accounting for over 17% of all enterprises in the area. The top 5 sectors include:

• Professional, scientific and technical: 17.2% (1,225 enterprises)

• Construction: 12.4% (905)

• Retail: 8.4% (615)

• Business administration: 7.6% (560)

• IT and communications: 7.1% (515)

Other important sectors include the arts, hospitality, logistics and, of course, manufacturing.

ONS reports that in terms of job numbers, the most important sectors include:

• Manufacturing: 20% of all jobs in Derby

• Health & social work: 16%

• Wholesale & retail: 12.5%

• Business administration: 8.5%

• Education: 8.5%

• Professional & scientific: 7.5%

• Hospitality: 7%

It’s important to note that many of these sectors can be considered comparatively ‘high value’ and well placed to sustain employment for decades to come. Moreover, the largest single category of job roles is ‘professional occupations’ which, according to the City Council, accounts for 20.1% of all employment locally. Next comes ‘associate professional & technical occupations’ at 14.3%. This weighting towards better-paid roles goes some way to explaining Derby’s comparatively high wages.

In short, the local economy is built on higher skills and relatively ‘future-proof’ roles. This is a characteristic that should support robust demand for higher quality rental accommodation for many years to come.