Derby City Lab playing a key role in ‘winning hearts and minds’

In the latest edition of Marketing Derby’s Innovate Magazine, we look at the key role the Derby City Lab has been playing in ‘selling Derby to Derby’.

The lab first opened in 2023 in St James’ Street before relocating to the Derbion shopping centre. It is now preparing for its third iteration inside the revamped Derby Market Hall.

It was established by a public/private sector partnership, spearheaded by Marketing Derby, with the aim of engage the public in the city’s regeneration story.

Since then, more than 18,000 people have come through the lab’s doors, with visitors encouraged to share their ideas and opinions on how Derby could be made better.

Innovate sat down with John Forkin, managing director of Marketing Derby, to find out why the lab has been so vital in getting the people of Derby to buy into the city’s past, present and future.

Asked why it was so important to engage people in helping shape the future of the city, he told Innovate: “Because they are the customer. At Marketing Derby one of our core mantras is to think customer and not product.

“So, the product is the city, but the customers are the people who live, work and visit here.

“If they don’t come into Derby, then it’s going to be a lot harder to achieve our objective of rejuvenating the city centre.

“Derby and most other city centres are still coming to terms with the impacts of the triple whammy delivered by the 2008 economic crash, Covid and the growth of online buying.

“Cities are having to change what they are about. And you just can’t flick a switch.

“That’s why we need to bring people with us, because if they don’t believe in the project and have some role in helping shape it, then they’re less likely to come.”

The centrepiece of the current city lab is the Derby City Model – a detailed 3D model of Derby city centre, which aims to help visitors visualise the city’s ongoing regeneration story.

It also houses the City Living Room, which includes detailed information about the city’s investment pipeline, as well as a 300-year timeline of the city.

Visitors can also view the city of the future by watching a film all about the University of Derby’s Derby Urban Sustainable Transition (DUST) project.

John told Innovate: “The journey we’re on is about winning hearts and minds.

“At the lab, we’re not promising Disneyland. But we’re bringing people along on the journey.”

Now, plans are in place for the third version of the lab inside Derby Market Hall, which is due to reopen on 24 May.

Speaking about the next iteration, John told Innovate: “It’s next to the Guildhall Theatre, which is also being given a new lease of life, opposite the Assembly Rooms site and close to the river, which could have a key role in enhancing the future city experience.

“So, in a sense, we’re moving back into the middle of regeneration land.

“If version one of the Lab was more exhibition-led and version two was a kind of retail offer, version three will be different again.”

To read the feature in full, visit Innovate.