Innovate explores the hidden depths of Mercia Marina

In the latest edition of Marketing Derby’s Innovate Magazine, we visit the huge success story that is Mercia Marina, charting its rise from a former quarry to a major visitor attraction.

Situated between Willington and Findern, today, it is Europe’s largest inland marina, attracting more than 800,000 visitors a year.

Innovate hooks up with the marina’s marketing manager, Tony Preston, to find out how the site has evolved – and why it is continuing to do so, with stunning new developments making it the ideal place to shop, dine and relax.

He told Innovate: “What once was a muddy hole in the ground is now a relaxing, open space, which is immersed in nature and embraced by the water.

“It’s created something of a seaside feel in South Derbyshire and you’ll see people strolling along the Boardwalk with a coffee in hand or admiring the boats while enjoying an ice cream.”

As well as attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, around 300 workers are employed in the boutiques, restaurants and offices which line the water’s edge at Mercia Marina.

And more than 500 boaters have made the place their permanent home – among kingfishers, herons, buzzards, waxwings and otters.

It’s a far cry from what the 77-acre site used to be.

After quarrying, the land was initially repurposed as a trout fishery, utilising the lake which formed where the excavators had left their mark.

But, around 2006, the owners realised the potential of linking the location to the nearby Trent and Mersey Canal.

Five years later, the Boardwalk, a £1.7 million promenade of boutique retailers, with offices above, centred around a two-storey bar and restaurant, was added.

The marina’s owners are continuing to invest in the site and, when Innovate visits, workers are busy preparing the ground for a £6 million Promenade development, which will include 15 apartments and space for a further restaurant and café.

Tony told Innovate: “The apartments will enjoy grandstand views over the marina or looking out towards the canal, will be forty per cent bigger  than the average and, with the balconies, residents will be able to welcome the outside in – bringing nature inside.

“It will be unique and absolutely spectacular.”

To read the feature in full, visit https://heyzine.com/flip-book/0fb028e91f.html.