Latest Innovate Magazine proves Derby has the Wright stuff!

In the latest edition of Marketing Derby’s Innovate Magazine, out this week, we celebrate what has been dubbed ‘The Year of Wright’.

Currently, a major exhibition of work by one of the city’s most famous sons – the artist Joseph Wright – is taking place at the National Gallery.

However, later this year it will relocate to Derby, which is the custodian of the largest collection of Wright paintings.

In the winter edition of Innovate, we talk to Tony Butler, executive director at Derby Museums, about the pull of Wright – and why this latest celebration of his work could be a catalyst for ambitious plans to transform the current museum and art gallery – following on from the successful reimagining of the Silk Mill into the award-winning Museum of Making.

From fine art to fine music, in this edition Innovate drops into Dubrek Studios, which has been operating for 25 years, to meet owner Jay Dean.

There is a real buzz around the intimate Bridge Street premises, which welcomes around 2,000 people through the doors each month, with bands rehearsing and laying down tracks and fans enjoying shows and events.

Jay talks us through Dubrek’s journey to date, which by his own admission, has not all been plain sailing.

If music be the food of love – then The Pepperpot restaurant could lay claim to being the best recording studio in the city.

That’s because last year, this opulent venue was crowned Restaurant of the Year at Marketing Derby’s Food and Drink Awards.

It is one of a number of top accolades that have bestowed upon the restaurant, which sits within the Nightingale Quarter scheme, including an AA Rosette for Culinary Excellence.

We meet the people behind the venue, Graeme Fulton and his wife Rachel, of The Fulton Partnership, as well as talented head chef Dan Fincher, who himself has been accepted into the exclusive Master Chefs of Great Britain.

Venues like The Pepperpot are a good excuse for people to visit the city centre – but it is important that they feel safe.

In this edition of Innovate, we sit down with Derbyshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Nicolle Ndiweni-Roberts, for a Q&A about what she is doing to address the public’s priorities on law and order.

Next month, at its Annual Business Event, Marketing Derby will crown its Rising Star for 2026.

Ahead of that, Innovate went to meet the 2025 winner, The Early Years Community.

Founded just two years ago, the venture, which has garnered hundreds of glowing reviews from happy parents, has recently been named among the top nurseries in the UK.

Lisa Snell, Sarah Oswald and Sophie McCluskey started Early Years with a passion to provide exceptional childcare and education for families in some of Derby’s most challenged areas.

They believe every young person, regardless of their background, deserves the best possible opportunity to learn, explore and grow – and as Innovate discovers, they are delivering.

2025 was something of a landmark year for Derby, with a number of major schemes coming to fruition, such as Vaillant Live, the refurbished Derby Market Hall and the University of Derby’s Cavendish Building.

But how can Derby sustain that momentum? This was the question our panel of experts wrestled with in this edition’s Talking Business Live discussion.

And we sit down for an in-depth interview with John Forkin, the former managing director of Marketing Derby, who at the end of the last year took his well-earned retirement after 20 years at the helm of the city’s inward investment agency.

In the interview, John talks about his early life and what inspired him to get into the regeneration game.

He also reflects on the positive change that has taken place in Derby over the past two decades, not just physically but also psychologically.

And, fittingly, it is John who has the final word in his last column for Innovate Magazine, in which he explains why his glass will always remain half full, as opposed to half empty.

To read a digital version of the latest Innovate Magazine click here.