East Midlands Economic Report: Derby: Win with winners

TheBusinessDesk.com and Barclays have produced an exclusive report and survey on the state of the East Midlands economy, assessing the challenges and opportunities facing the area as it continues to outperform its regional rivals. Read the full report here.

In the first of a series of guest columns, Graham Mulholland, chief executive, epm:technology, gives us his perspective on how and why Derby and Derbyshire maximises its opportunities.

THERE’S no doubt that in the East Midlands we’ve quietly gone about establishing ourselves as one of the most successful economies outside of London. The region has become THE place in the UK to set up a business – and make it not only survive – but thrive.

Why is this? We’re well prepared, I think. Businesses in the region take a measured view of the noise from London and take stock, keep our heads down and make things happen. We’re not over the top, but neither are we scared to shout about our successes – and there have been many companies in the East Midlands despite London, politicians and Brexit that have started growing again.

My business is in high performance manufacturing, and it is this sector which is driving the Midlands Engine – mainly through smaller and medium-sized companies. Yes, bigger players such as JLR and Rolls-Royce and others play a big part in this but they are here due to the DNA that drives the cultural behaviours in the first place were very good I think at dealing with the data and taking a view and carrying on.

Of course there are hidden dangers around every corner, and it remains to be seen how the Brexit vote will actually affect our industry, and the wider city and county of Derby and Derbyshire. But we will skilfully deal with the challenges of Brexit when we know them.

I see our main challenges as growth… and the main opportunities are also growth. We’re ready to go but we need brave customers who will partner us to help us grow. What is changing is that the enquiries from the rest of the world are suddenly three fold. So, if UK companies don’t take on our values, vision, knowhow and technology others now seemingly will.

We wouldn’t base ourselves anywhere else but in Derby. It’s central. Yes. It’s close to home. Yes. And it has a lot to offer. Yes. Derby as a city is also on it and you can bounce off others whose glasses are also half full, not half empty. But then you’re straight into Derbyshire for down time and a lot of staff we’re bringing into epm from outside Derby and Derbyshire are also enjoying this. We tell them: Win with winners!

The Midlands Engine is an interesting project, in which Derby has a huge part to play. But I’m not sure the quote right. We need ‘something’ – a title for leaders to shout about in London. But if I were them I would be proud to let our collective numbers do the talking.

But, we do need to make our voices heard in Westminster. I would ask government to do these things: keep the roads open, keep the power on and let business leaders do their jobs to take risks and make things happen. The rest will then follow, stronger economy, skills would grow and job security would improve.

Therefore, we see a bright future for high performance engineering globally from Derby. It’s a smart future. An exciting time where a company like mine blends customer needs with our own capabilities seamlessly in partnership with customers. Our future therefore will see epm investing more and more to ensure we have the facilities, equipment and skills required to be the best, even world class; inspired by an in-house culture to nurture talent and develop our own team through apprenticeships and our academy training engineers of the future.

From our purpose-built, 60,000 sq ft technology centre based in Derby – Based in UK capital for innovation – we continue to engage with the best customers, use the most up-to-date equipment and proven systems to design and certify parts, assemblies and sub-systems that are fit for flight and tested on the race track to win! We simply make things happen and enjoy winning with winners.