Why Derby & Derbyshire

Prime areas for investment
Not only does Derbyshire have the sites and infrastructure to support significant inward investment it also has the added benefits of a geographical position at the centre of England, and a quality of lifestyle, given reasonable living costs, second to none.

The City of Derby’s industrial history was based on its strengths in Engineering skills, being both home to Rolls Royce and a major Railway town. More recent investments, notably by Toyota and its first tier suppliers in South Derbyshire, have served to strengthen the areas links with transport technologies. No other City in the UK has such a unique and rich combination of household name transport engineering companies and their supply chains. 

Opportunities are not confined to traditional areas, however, as research and development carried out in partnership with local universities and colleges has not only developed the cutting edge technologies applicable to new generation vehicles and power plants, but has also resulted in spin offs in what might be regarded as distinctly non traditional areas. Thus Derby has become a centre for computer gaming excellence, where iconic electronic heroes have been born, and is helping to lead in the development of alternative energy sources and generation.

Main Industrial Sectors
Derbyshire has major strengths in Rail and Aerospace, key strengths in Automotive, Engineering, Materials, Media and Creative and some strengths in Fuel Cells.

An internationally competitive offer in Aerospace – Rolls Royce, the world’s second largest manufacturer of aero engines is headquartered in Derby where the Company employs close to 12,000 people. Rolls Royce supplies both military and civil engines to such customers as Boeing and Airbus; most of the world’s airlines use engines built in Derby and many specify them as opposed to their US competition. Not only is Rolls Royce at the heart of the extensive Midlands aerospace cluster, consisting of 700 companies employing 45000 people, it is supported by powerful research and development expertise at local universities in which has been developed in partnership with the Company and its supply chain.

An internationally competitive offer in Rail – Bombardier, the UK’s only major rolling stock manufacturer, is based in Derby. The Company provides trains for use across the UK and abroad as well as building the newer generation of trams for mass transit systems, as in Nottingham, becoming popular in cities throughout Europe. Not only does Bombardier act as the hub for an extensive supply chain cluster, other rail technologies flourish in Derbyshire, partly due to Derby’s history as a rail centre. The City is home to a number of companies involved in rail, signalling and electrification systems as well as some of the world’s leading international rail consultancies.

A nationally competitive offer in Automotive- The automotive industry in the East Midlands is extensive, with more than 500 companies making the regions automotive supply chain one of the strongest in Europe. Soon to be the world’s leading car manufacturer, Toyota produces its Avensis and Auris models at Burnaston in Derbyshire where close to 5000 people are employed. Key suppliers to Toyota are being attracted to Derbyshire in order to serve its sequenced production system based on ‘just-in-time’ philosophy. JCB also have a major plant in South Derbyshire where diesel engines are produced in a brand new 160,000 sq ft facility.

A nationally competitive offer in Fuel Cells – Besides its Aero engine business Rolls Royce is also actively pursuing an agenda of fuel cell technology, and together with Loughborough University has opened a brand new facility to produce fuel cell components, developed using technology provided by suppliers in Singapore, Europe and the US. Fuel cell development and production is seen as being an integral part of the Region’s commitment to alternative power generation technologies. 

A nationally competitive offer in Engineering – The location within Derbyshire of so many key companies within the Transport sector, together with their essential and complex supply chains, inevitably means that the area is extremely strong within the traditional and more innovative engineering disciplines that such companies demand. Originally based on historical factors the development of Derbyshire’s engineering strengths has continued and adapted to meet the needs of modern transport technologies. Academic and skill strengths have in turn attracted other engineering companies to set up production facilities and administrative headquarters, and this will continue to be one of the factors attracting such companies into Derbyshire. 

A nationally competitive offer in Media and Creative Industries – Derby is the centre of a world class interactive games niche. Tomb Raider featuring Lara Croft, one of the best selling games of all time, was designed in the City, by Core Design. Eurocom, the UK's leading independent games developer, with 270 people working in its Derby studio, has created some of the best selling games in the industry, steadily expanding development to cover all the major consoles and handhelds. Other independent games producers based in the City include CiRCLE, Rebellion and Straw Dog Studios.

A regionally competitive offer in Materials and textiles – The region has a long history of materials, textiles and design. This heritage is proving invaluable today, as technology and new processes, partly fuelled by strengths in transport technologies, create the materials of the future. The East Midlands is home to 2300 textile related companies employing 85000 people.

Included in these statistics are companies supplying technical textiles to the Transport sector, as well as manufacturers of new technology high performance composites. One such company, Advanced Composites Group, is based in Derbyshire and supplies high performance composite products to the motorsport, aerospace, marine and automotive industries worldwide. 

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