Saturday July 22 2017 Derby Brought to you by Cultivating our culture Honing our cutting edge Preserving our heritage Regeneration & innovation Improving our chances the times Saturday July 22 2017 2 Derby & Derbyshire Innovation puts MARK AVERILL historic region back on the map each cube represented various innova- The birthplace of tions, from the world’s first factory to the iconic poppies at the Tower of London, all emanating over the past 300 years from industry is seeing Derby and the surrounding county. Marketing Derby, the inward invest- another revolution, ment agency behind the event, recently opened an office in London. It also now with quality of announced the creation of a London chapter of Derby ambassadors — people life at its heart with origins and loyalties in Derby but whose careers are rooted firmly in the capital. ast week, a pop-up exhibition Most cities have teams chasing inward called The Art of Innovation investment but Derby does it differently. was held in the gardens of London’s global nature throws out a historic Lambeth Palace, the challenge to those of us in the regions who official London residence of are seeking people to live, work or play. quality of life when taking corporate or Derby’s architectural mix Buxton is now part of the university. Derby the Archbishop of Canter- Our business is to change perception personal investment decisions: what is the of old and new echoes Roundhouse, the world’s oldest surviving bury. Guests, including busi- and, in doing this, we have to find ways place like, does it have ambition, is it its regeneration of railway roundhouse, is now a college. Lness ambassadors and investors, were that grab attention, to get on people’s changing with the times?” business and industry Ten years ago the city looked tired and confronted by a series of large, mysterious radars. Holding a pop-up at the home of The answer to all three questions is unloved. We needed radical change in cubes, each containing striking abstract the archbishop seemed a neat way of definitely positive. Derbyshire’s stunning order to retain wealth and we have already photographs. doing this. Peak District was the UK’s first National attracted over £4 billion of investment, The exhibition catalogue revealed how The use of heritage, in both the city of Park and the city’s arboretum was the first with £3 billion in the pipeline. Derby and in Derbyshire generally, as a public park. The engines that flew Alcock Perhaps the most notable change has means of driving transformation has and Brown non-stop across the Atlantic been the huge expansion in cultural activi- This supplement was produced become a central strategy in developing and powered the Spitfire were designed ties. Events such as Format (photography) by The Times Special Reports. the local economy. The United Nations and developed in Derby. Derby Festé (street) and the book festival With the exception of the above recognised this in 2001, when they de- Westfield, the Australian retail giant, have all earned national reputations. introduction the sponsor had clared the Derwent Valley a Unesco World opened a £340 million shopping centre in Derby consistently tops the Campaign Heritage Site. Derby ten years ago. And the iconic Cath- for Real Ale league table and this year no influence over the content. Martin Rawson, the Derby city council- edral Quarter was judged best city retained its title, with an astonishing 336 Editor: Mark Barber lor leading on regeneration, says: “We are location in the 2016 Great British High real ales available on census night. Design: David Smith acutely aware of the need to insulate the Street Awards. The event at Lambeth helped showcase Sub editor: Norman Lane area from potential Brexit fall-out. In the Peak District, the Royal Horticul- our innovative DNA and positive percep- Pictures: Tania Cagnoni “Being home to giants that trade global- tural Society holds an annual flower show tion receives another nudge. Cover image: Alamy ly, such as Rolls-Royce, definitely helps. at Chatsworth, that most stately of stately JOHN FORKIN But people are now looking at the wider homes, while the Devonshire Dome in Managing director, Marketing Derby From factory clatter Poppies, rom the cupola of Derby Silk to tourists’ chatter Mill’s great brick tower a flood of ceramic poppies cascades to the ground alongside the River he small village of Cromford in vital role in Derby’s future as well as its F Derwent. They are 5,500 of the Derbyshire holds a unique place past. So says Simon Wallwork, commercial poppies that in 2014 turned the moat of the at the heart of the industrial director at the Arkwright Society, an edu- Tower of London red with such power and revolution, thanks to a water- cational charity which exists to promote poignancy — now back in the city where T powered cotton spinning mill the county’s rich industrial heritage. they were made to commemorate British invented and built there in 1771 by Sir “Cromford’s £5 million visitor centre; and Commonwealth lives lost in the First Richard Arkwright . opened last year after two decades of World War. Along with other early pioneers such as renovation, has already become a magnet The artist Paul Cummins, whose work- John Lombe — whose Derby Silk Mill had for the many people who want to know shop at Pride Park produced many of the begun production 50 years earlier — the about how Sir Richard Arkwright became 888,246 handmade poppies, one for every industrialist chose the tranquil the father of the factory system,” he says. A workroom at John — with one exception. The John Smedley life, in the original installation Blood Swept setting of the Derwent Valley to draw up “When they spend a day with us, they Smedley’s mill in earlier knitwear company, based at Lea Mills Lands and Seas of Red, feels his work has what became a blueprint for the world’s understand how early mass production times. Customers have in Matlock, continues to produce hand- come full circle. “The poppies are back first factory system. not only changed the lives of eighteenth included Marilyn Monroe crafted garments from a factory first home. This is where I thought it up in 2012. In the 240 or so years since Sir Richard century workers but continues to shape and the Beatles opened in 1784. Examples of the “industri- Here, I could see it go up every day. It’s used Cromford as his testing-ground, the modern life today.” al housing” built for the first workers are where 300 people hand-coloured each clattering noise of machinery which once With the help of CGI technology, still on view nearby. flower, turning their houses red. For me, rang out across the Derbyshire Dales has visitors are also given the chance to Today Lea Mills, part of which has been the story is the people.” fallen silent. “meet” a computer-generated replica of converted into a factory shop, is recog- The installation Poppies: Weeping But with working mills now replaced by Sir Richard. nised as the oldest manufacturing factory Window, by Cummins and designer Tom visitor attractions, guided tours and All but one of the first-generation Derby in the world to have been in continuous Piper, ends tomorrow (July 23) but could exhibitions, the Derwent Valley Mills mills live on today through the tourist operation since day one. take five days to dismantle so there is still World Heritage Site continues to play a pound rather than textile manufacturing VIRGINIA MATTHEWS a chance to see it before it moves on. the times Saturday July 22 2017 Derby & Derbyshire 3 marketingderby.co.uk Heritage given a modern makeover Built at the height of the Industrial Revolu- The city’s iconic tion, left derelict for many years and now revived as part of a £48 million restoration, the building’s new role in the lives of the buildings are now next generation could not be more apt, says Russell Rigby, director of Rigby & Co, must-have business a local commercial property and regener- ation specialist. addresses, reports “Studying in a building like the Round- house can’t help but inspire our young Virginia Matthews people, regardless of whether they want to go off to university or find an internship or apprenticeship closer to home,” he says. ome say that the faint whiff “Derby is blessed with lots of inspiring of cigar smoke still lingers in buildings from all sorts of different epochs Marble Hall, the former Rolls- and although some of them may have been Royce HQ and factory site in badly neglected, there is a tremendous Derby which housed secret will to breathe new life into them for the meetings of the War Office entire city.” at the height of the Second While transforming a heritage building SWorld War. into office space can be a challenge, Rigby Best known for its Battle of Britain commemorative stained glass window, the 1912 building was once camouflaged to protect production of the Merlin engine, powerhouse behind the legendary Spitfire. Entrepreneurs want Now the centrepiece of a £14.2 million project by Connect Derby — which aims somewhere original to create unique workspace for micro businesses, entrepreneurs and SMEs — to build their brand Marble Hall is one of a number of land- mark buildings being repurposed for a believes that by taking into account the new generation. needs of the local community as well as “There’s a great demand for quirky corporates, all groups can be catered for. addresses among entrepreneurs who may As an example, he cites Marble Hall.