Paul’s pride as Derby Property Summit comes to Becketwell

For Paul Morris, this year’s Derby Property Summit was a particularly emotional occasion – as the event was held inside a building his company helped to deliver.

Becketwell Live represents phase two of the overall £200 million Becketwell regeneration scheme.

The £45.8 million, 3,500-capacity venue opened its doors in the spring – and aims to lure people back into the city centre.

Paul is development director at St James Securities, the company which helped deliver the first phase – made up of the city’s first ever build-to-rent apartments scheme – The Condor – along with a new public square, followed by Becketwell Live.

When asked by host Declan Curry about what it felt like to see the Derby Property Summit held at Vaillant Live, Paul replied: “When I arrived this morning, I had a huge lump in my throat.

“For so long we had been talking about delivering the building we’re sat in now.

“We worked incredibly hard with the city and council and our team to deliver – and we’ve talked about it at numerous summits in the past.

“So, to be actually sat here in this wonderful auditorium in the city centre really did nearly bring me to tears.

“It’s tangible. It’s here. There may be many people here who won’t have been here yet – and I hope they will be visiting time and time again to see bands, comedy and go to dinners, awards and exhibitions.

“That’s what this is all about – bringing people into the city centre.”

Paul then talked about the story of Becketwell so far – from taking a six-acre site in 2017, full or tired and redundant buildings, to creating somewhere people can live, work and play.

Paul said: “Regeneration is not quick. It takes time, patience and determination.

“But among all that, it requires partnership. You can’t do it on your own. The city council already recognised that the area had huge potential.

“One of the ideas that was considered at the time was an ice rink – but we believed that we could be more ambitious, and the council embraced that ambition.”

Paul said that in order to re-energise the site fully, a mix of uses was needed.

He said: “The first phase was residential, and it was a great achievement securing Grainger for The Condor building. They believed in the city centre – and that Becketwell was the right place to invest.

“In terms of the second phase, there had been no facility like this since the Assembly Rooms shut in 2014 following a fire.

“We suggested to the city council a public/private partnership to deliver a new performance venue – and secured ASM Global, one of the best in the world, to operate it.

“But to make this type of building really work, it needs to be flexible – which it is.”

In terms of the future, Paul said after completing the ‘live’ and the ‘play’ elements of Becketwell, the focus going forward would be on ‘work’, providing much needed Grade A office space in the city centre.

He said: “It would be the final piece in terms of that jigsaw.”