Derby hopes its culture club bid will power up industrial mecca
Derby isn’t known as a tourist hotspot. Often overshadowed by nearby Nottingham, bypassed on the road to the Peak District, locals here know the hotels are quietest at weekends when visiting business folk leave.
That hasn’t stopped its leaders making a tilt to become UK City of Culture 2025. Bidding to reinvigorate civic pride and economic growth after the fallout from Covid-19, the aim here is to showcase the city’s unique industrial heritage as a crucible for the art of manufacturing.
“It’s our version of the Olympics,” says Adam Buss, the chief executive of the city’s Quad arts venue and bid director for the 2025 campaign. “We’ve always lived a bit in the shadows – maybe people go past on the M1, or the train. But what we want to say with city of culture is ‘Stop! Come here.’”
Pitting itself against seven other places – including Southampton, Bradford, Stirling and the entire county of Cornwall – Derby hopes to replicate some of the economic growth, investment and feelgood factor enjoyed by previous winners such as Hull and Derry-Londonderry.
With final bids for the longlisted entrants due this week, it comes as ministers prepare to launch the long-awaited “levelling up” blueprint for places like Derby – with a white paper from Michael Gove’s department expected within days.
As the city puts its cultural offering in the shop window, there is also cause for concern. Its most high-profile attraction – Derby County football club – is in trouble, at risk of collapsing into liquidation with unsustainable debts.
“It would be catastrophic if something significant happened,” says Buss. Losing the Championship side managed by Wayne Rooney would hit the city’s cultural heft on the national stage. “It should be a wake-up call for the
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