Latest News | 2 September 2021

Forget the nay-sayers – things are starting to happen in Derby

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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.

Back in a previous life, I spent many years working in the newspaper industry – a sector in which you get to meet people from across the whole social spectrum, all with differing views on Derby.

In the early days of my career at the Derby Telegraph, the ‘letters page’ was the only place where readers could vent their spleen about the state of the city – unless they decided to call the newsroom and bend the ear of one of the reporters.

Of course, these days, people can share their views in an instant (in most cases protected by the shadow of anonymity) thanks to the internet.

Back then, and I’m talking late 1990s and into the 2020s, there was plenty of negativity about – and to be honest, some of it wasn’t misplaced.

I remember myself writing about a number of grand schemes, accompanied by fanciful artists’ impressions, which ultimately never happened.

One notable exception was QUAD – the arts and media centre on the Market Place.

I always look back with a wry smile when I recall a letter in which the writer declared that it would become a white elephant and close within a year. They could not have been more wrong!

As I say, QUAD was one of the exceptions. Back then, there seemed to be a constant flow of false dawns and unfulfilled investments that ultimately bred cynicism among certain quarters of the Derby public – a “That will never happen” attitude.

Fast-forward to the present, does that attitude still exist today?

There will always be the nay-sayers. But the major difference between back then and now is that things really ARE starting to happen in Derby.

Speaking as a Derby person, one thing I have noticed is that if enough people think something is a good idea, then more or less the entire city will get behind it.

For me, a case in point was the campaign to save Bombardier a decade ago. I had written an article calling on the people of Derby to join in a march and rally in the city centre in support of our rail industry.

At best, I’d hoped that a couple of thousand might show up. We got more than 10,000!

I’m hoping that people will do the same for Derby’s City of Culture 2025 bid.

In August, we had the announcement that Adam Buss, chief executive of QUAD (Hang on, wasn’t that the white elephant that was supposed to have closed after just a year?), had been appointed as the city’s bid director. (Read the full story here.)

Personally, I cannot think of anyone better than Adam to lead on our bid. He has the passion, drive and commitment needed for such a bold and noble undertaking.

One thing to be clear about is that the competition will be tough. A record 20 places have expressed an interest – many of whom have been working on their bids for years. (Read the full story here.)

For Derby to be long listed would be a significant achievement (just as a mid-table finish for Derby County this season would!).

We’ll all be keeping our fingers crossed (for both the bid and the Rams) – and I’m sure that even if we don’t succeed the first time around, we will dust ourselves off and try again.

A fantastic addition to the city that people really got behind this summer was the Derby Ram Trail.

What a fabulous thing it was. I’m rather sad that the rams have now disappeared as they really cheered me up whenever I spotted one.

At least we managed to have some extra few days with them before they went off for auction to raise money for Derby Museums. (Read the full story here.)

August was another encouraging month for Derby’s big hitters, with some interesting stories emanating from Rolls-Royce, Alstom and Toyota.

It was great to see Rolls-Royce returning to profit after a turbulent 2020. (Read the full story here.)

And it was also nice to once again be writing about new orders for the engineering giant’s civil aerospace business. (Read the full story here.)

I was pretty shocked, as I’m sure many of you were, to read the findings of a major UN scientific report that was published in August on climate change.

The study found that human activity is changing the climate in unprecedented and sometimes irreversible ways.

But scientists said a catastrophe can be avoided if the world acts fast and there is hope that deep cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases could stabilise rising temperatures.

Our major manufacturers are constantly looking at ways to cut emissions.

For example, in August we had a story about plans to transport cars built at Toyota’s Derbyshire plant destined for mainland Europe by a train which runs on used vegetable oil. (Read the full story here.)

And talking of trains, Alstom was in celebratory mood as it marked 20 years of its Voyager Inter-City trains. (Read the full story here.)

As we all know, Derby is a major centre for rail, home to numerous companies involved in the sector.

And it was good to see one of them expanding its footprint – with international rail firm Loram UK taking over Technology House on Pride Park, which is a stunning office building. (Read the full story here.)

And it was also good to see progress being made on buildings that have fallen out of use. I’m confident that Staton Young will do a stunning job after getting planning permission to transform the former tax office building in Agard Street into plush student apartments. (Read the full story here.)