Date: Tue 22nd June, 2010
Venue: Derby Hallmark Hotel, Midland Road, Derby, DE1 2SQ
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Around 100 people packed into the Hallmark for the second Insider Derbyshire Economic Forum. The event, which was sponsored by UKTI, Flint Bishop, Marketing Derby, Business Link, Homes and Communities Agency, Emda and Blueprint saw six panellists take questions from the audience.
John Forkin sounded a warning not about cutting investment in Derby city centre. He said: “The real essential next step for Derby is to build offices in the city centre. The next phase of development has to be that, and we need to get suits on the street. We have get the funding we need to hold on to large parts of our masterplan.”
Nigel Bobroff, patner at Glacial Properties, bemoaned the lack of bank finance, but also warned against deep public sector cuts. He added: “We’re in a climate today where there is little or no finance available from the banks, and so we’ve been reliant on local authorities to help kickstart development. We need to get businesses on board and help them buy in to Derby’s masterplan.”
Prioritising which projects should be funded was Adam Wilkinson’s main aim. The chief executive of Derby City Council said: “We have a capital expenditure plan of £440m over three years, and we need to find the projects that have the impetus to go forward. It all depends on what the Budget will mean to businesses, of course.”
George Cowcher, the chief executive of the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce said: “The private sector is pleased that the city has a plan going forward, and it wants to be part of that. But we have to look at things in a wider context; there is an awful lot of regulation involved in helping to build an enterprising economy, and I think we need to strip that back.”
For Margaret Allen, regional director of the Homes and Communities Agency, it was about more than just shops and offices. She said: “What we need to do is build houses and a social offer. The masterplan should be there for that, too, and it’s all about how we work in partnership together to achieve our goals.”
Mike Carr, executive director of business services at Emda said that his organisation was working closely with the city council to ensure as much as the masterplan came to fruition.
