If I had my way, I’d get someone to build a huge statue in the Market Place made up of all the things we make in Derby and call it something like the Pioneer, or the Innovator, writes Dean Jackson MBE, founder of HUUB.
Yes, someone would probably say it’s expensive, but I would say it’s worth it. Because it would give tourists something to come and see and it would tell them the story of our city and what we’re all about.
Because, and I have to say it, at the moment we don’t have much of a big public-facing identity. We don’t have much of a story and while we may know what we’re about internally, what about externally?
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When I go abroad on business and say I’m from Derby, I get a puzzled look from people who have never heard of our city.
When you write it out for people in America, they pronounce it Durby. And then you explain it’s in the Midlands and unfortunately you end up going down the route of saying it’s next to Nottingham.
And they go: “oh yeah – Robin Hood!”
Don’t get me wrong. I’m very proud of Derby. I’m proud of its people and I’m proud to have been born here, but since most of my conversations abroad have come when I’m visiting some kind of landmark, like the Eiffel Tower, or the Leaning Tower of Pisa, or even the Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo, I can see where it’s lacking.
The last is just a giant zebra crossing for crying out loud, yet we have nothing for people to picture or relate to when they hear the word Derby.
This is nothing to do with the people. I’m always surprised at how, despite the traditional set-in-stone pathways we lay out for young people taking them all to Rolls-Royce, Alston and Toyota, we have so many entrepreneurs and innovators who are doing something else incredible.
Take my school, Noel Baker in Alvaston. Some of the people who have come out of it have achieved great things, including one kid who ended up as artistic director for Star Wars, Mission: Impossible and Doctor Who. It’s also produced a writer for Hollyoaks and another ended up dancing in Moulin Rouge.
Elsewhere from Alvaston, you have Jack O’Connell, who has achieved great things in the acting world. Plus, the city created Lara Croft – who I would say is bigger than Robin Hood in the eyes of an entire generation.
These are all Derby successes, but where can people come to our city and read about them? Where are the people in the city who are talking about it?
And what do we do that leaves a lasting impression? Aside from our amazing museums, what does Derby’s business card say?
Which brings me onto another question – what experience is there for visitors and what message does that send out to them?
We who live here can all find things to do, but anybody coming here might scratch their head a little bit as they look for something to do in the city centre once the museums are exhausted.
If they asked you for advice, where would you send them?
Yes, they could go for a walk by the river. Or they could go to Pride Park and watch a game of football or go cycling at the velodrome. Or they could go out into the Peak District – which defeats the purpose of coming to Derby in the first place.
We need to take a look at our city centre experience and decide what we want it to be and what we want it to look like, because that’s really important too.
When I go somewhere, I always look at what’s at eye level. It’s what shapes your perception of a place. Take York, which is amazing at eye level, with its colour, history and heritage. It’s the same in Nottingham – or at least it used to be.
In Derby, while there are some places which look the part, in others we’re getting it terribly wrong, not least with those businesses whose signage is inappropriate and whose buildings aren’t being cared for.
If we want to help our city, someone needs to stand up and take that in hand so that we can improve the city’s appearance and entice people to come in. They need to pick up a big, wet, soapy flannel, like your mum used to do, wipe off the city’s surface blemishes and take a deeper look.
Then we need more things to do.
This year, things are changing, with the opening of Vaillant live, which looks amazing and is very exciting, and the reopening of the Market Hall.
Both could be catalysts to help transform the city’s fortunes and bring back the buzz, the kind of buzz I remember when I was 15 and I’d go into town and go to HMV and Athena, or go to Halfords to look at the bikes, or, later on when I went for a pint in Sadler Gate and found that everything and everyone was there.
Those few streets were the catalyst to the community, and while I appreciate we’re not going to get the glory days of retail back, we could bring back the buzz, and it could have our story right at the heart of it.
Because we do have a story, and it’s not a fairytale about a man who once wore tights. It’s about a challenger city that was built on making things and continues to innovate and to pioneer and to push technological boundaries.
I don’t believe it’s impossible to turn that into a narrative that everyone buys into and believes and then turns that into experiences to bring it to life, however people see fit.
Which brings me back to my big statue, which could be our version of the Angel of the North.
I recognise our city has social mobility and social care issues that a statue won’t fix, and that it needs housing and a reinvigoration of its retail landscape.
But it would give us a focus, a north star for everyone to follow – and that kind of start could make a difference to bring life, visitors and money into the city.
