‘I’ve been proud to be part of the Marketing Derby family’

Today, John Forkin retires after 20 years of leading Marketing Derby – the city’s award-winning investment promotion agency. Here, in his own words, John reflects on his own personal journey –  and that of the city he loves – explaining why, as he prepares to ‘don his slippers’, he remains firmly optimistic about Derby’s future.

Today, after 20 happy years at Marketing Derby, I leave the role I have loved so much and shuffle off-stage to enter the apparently-slippered world of the retired.

When I gave my notice back in sunny June, the prospect of a ‘deep and dark’ December seemed distant.

Now, with summer faded and autumn been and gone, we sit in tinsel-time and ‘R’-Day – 19 December – is finally here.

For me, most of this year’s working roads have led here. Despite ample time to prepare, there is still a slightly breathless frisson of panic before I collect my P45 and hand over passwords and the office keys.

Within my six months’ notice period there has been an inevitable trajectory of reflections and memories – not only of the 20 years at Marketing Derby but also the 43 years of a working life.

The final lap has been a season of ‘lasts’ – my last Derby Property Summit, last London Embassy, last board meeting etc and finally, this week, my last team meeting.

And, what a team, in my view, simply the best investment promotion agency staff in the UK and worthy winners of the MBE for business, the Queen’s Award for Enterprise.

Over the years, I’ve attended many Bondholder sessions and my final one last week was hosted by Safe and Sound, showcasing their new HQ in Bold Lane.

The work this group does in protecting children and young people from exploitation is as amazing as it is hidden.

The event manifested what I’d call ‘perfect Bondholder central casting’ – it was hot and busy, in a room packed with amazing people doing amazing things, supported by scores of local businesses making a real difference to their city.

There was a bit of a property theme and, walking back to Marketing Derby’s new office in the University of Derby’s impressive Cavendish Building, it struck me that our very first Bondholder event – way back in 2006 – was held just around the corner in St Mary’s Gate, mere yards away from today’s Safe and Sound.

In those early days, we were still figuring out the potential of Bondholders but that inaugural breakfast was held in an empty and dilapidated building that was to become the Cathedral Quarter Hotel.

Four years later, the hotel famously hosted the Queen for lunch and following a dip in quality around Covid, it has recently been bought by Sri Lankan investors and is now undergoing a revival.

In some respects, my time at Marketing Derby can be viewed through the prism of buildings, as the city centre lumbers from near death on its journey of revival.

Since we launched in 2006, the world has experienced the massive market crash of 2008, the pivot in purchasing from bricks to clicks and a global pandemic.

These impacted every city in the world and Derby was not immune.

The launch of the £340 million Westfield (now Derbion) in 2007 was the last hurrah of the economic boom.

After that, along came the broken British High Street and talk of the need to repurpose city centres.

The idea was to shift from over-reliance on retail, towards becoming places to live, work and visit.

I took a walk around the city this week and I was astonished by how many buildings have been refurbished (the Council House, Riverside Chambers, Market Hall, Museum of Making etc), or built as new (the QUAD, the Copper Box, Cavendish Building, the Croft, Riverlights, Nightingale Quarter, Castleward, The Condor and Vaillant Live etc).

The job is not finished – in truth a city never is – but Derby’s progress is undeniable and in financial terms all this adds up to over £2 billion, a massive vote of confidence from investors who could have taken almost every penny of that elsewhere.

I’m often asked if Derbeians have a down on Derby?

In my experience – except for a few keyboard warriors and chancers – I believe they don’t.

This week, we welcomed our 50,000th visitor to the Derby City Lab and that project has given us a pretty unique insight into what people really think.

So, are they down on Derby? No, quite the opposite, most have a passion and an ambition for place that outpaces the change they experience on the street.

They are frustrated by the high-profile failures (the Assembly Rooms debacle, the Hippodrome and Friar Gate Bridge stasis etc) but they are genuinely excited by the city’s momentum of change and future opportunities, for example, in a revived riverside.

Derby’s secret sauce is something many other cities crave for, the fact that we host a dynamic, hi-tech, advanced manufacturing-based economy that punches well above its weight.

Being home to Alstom and Europe’s largest rail cluster, world HQ to Rolls-Royce’s civil aerospace and nuclear divisions, as well as the base for Toyota Manufacturing UK – together with a dynamic SME community – brings an economic energy that acts as a driver for so much other investment.

This is why my glass has remained half-full through my time in the job.

Marketing Derby is known for its public-private-partnership business model that mixes business Bondholder funding with that of Derby City Council and the East Midlands Combined County Authority.

That innovation has helped to facilitate the attraction and retention of over 15,000 jobs and £1.3 billion of capital investment.

Over time, this has morphed into a broader Team Derby sensibility that campaigns for the city – the battle with government to save Bombardier in 2011 (and again Alstom in 2023) or the behind-the-scenes tussle with Derby County’s administrators, Quantuma, before Bondholder Clowes Developments saved the club.

The Marketing Derby family is a key player, and we should take pride in what these collaborations have achieved.

Our Embassy events brought our investment pitch to the world – mainly in London (House of Commons, 11 Downing St, Lambeth Palace, Lancaster House, the Tower of London and many others) as well as in Birmingham, Cannes, Monaco and even China.

The Financial Times, no less, described Marketing Derby’s embassies as the world’s best investment promotion events and I believe they are.

Our online presence, regular e-shots, vibrant social media, diverse films (thanks to everyone who participated in these) and the quality Innovate business magazine are all trusted market leaders in disseminating the investment and place-shaping agenda to the wider community.

Maybe the biggest compliment is the high number of visits we get from other authorities and investment agencies asking how we operate so differently from others with the most recent being only last week.

I have no doubt that Marketing Derby, under the leadership of Bob Betts and Kathryn Allen, together with our brilliant team of staff, board directors, Bondholders and funding partners, will continue to thrive and deliver into 2026 and beyond.

I will be watching with a lot of pride and maybe a little envy too.

I’ll sign off now by wishing you all a very merry Christmas, a fantastic new year, good health and every success for the future…now, where are those slippers?