My major headline for June, well, at least for me personally, was the fact that my wife and I managed to have our first night away together since the birth of our son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We went to Manchester to see Romesh Ranganathan (he was brilliant, by the way).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s funny, ever since joining Marketing Derby<\/a> I\u2019ve looked at other cities in a different way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I scan the horizon to see whether they have cranes on the skyline, I stop to admire new developments, I observe how they\u2019ve tried to (or in some cases not) blend the old with the new – and I check out how busy the shops and pubs are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As far as Manchester city centre is concerned, I\u2019d not visited since I went to see a Manic Street Preachers gig back in the late 1990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Goodness me how its changed. All my old points of reference had disappeared, replaced by shiny glass skyscrapers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, I\u2019m not going to sit here and write loads of stuff about how brilliant Manchester is. Suffice to say, we had a very nice time \u2013 albeit an expensive one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n London prices have very much arrived in Manchester I thought, as I slowly sipped at my \u00a311 glass of red wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then there were the travelling costs, the parking, the hotel room, the restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Throughout the whole weekend, I had a nagging feeling in the back of my mind, which was this: \u201cIsn\u2019t it a shame I\u2019ve had to travel all the way to Manchester to see Romesh? I\u2019d much rather be spending my money in Derby.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, Derby already welcomes the likes of Jimmy Carr and Sarah Millican \u2013 but it would be great if we were able to attract more big-name acts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With any luck, we shouldn\u2019t have long to wait. Next year, the new multi-million-pound performance venue in Becketwell will open its doors operated by ASM Global (the same people who operate the Ao Arena in Manchester, where I went to see Romesh).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The new performance venue represents a golden opportunity for Derby to supercharge our existing offer \u2013 and a chance for the city, particularly the neighbourhood surrounding the venue, to up its game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is something that provides the focus for our latest edition of Innovate Magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You should\u2019ve had yours through your door by now. If not, you can read a digital version here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The performance venue is just one of many major new schemes set to come online in 2025 \u2013 dubbed Derby\u2019s \u2018olympic\u2019 year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those schemes are set to provide the focus for the Derby Property Summit, which takes place next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n