Derby’s Economic Task Force pledge to stand with Rolls-Royce and its workers

The St Peters Quarter BID is part of the Derby Economic Recovery Taskforce which was set up to lead Derby’s economic recovery from the effects of the coronavirus crisis.

The Task Force have described today’s announcement of job losses at Rolls-Royce as heart-breaking for the workers, the company and the city and they have pledged that Derby will do all it can to stand with those affected at this difficult and deeply distressing time.

The city council is already in talks with Rolls-Royce management, unions, local MPs and the Government about ways of helping those who will lose their livelihoods and on steps to safeguard remaining jobs at the firm and amongst its suppliers.

The authority is partnering with the Department for Work and Pensions to provide support, including on-site careers advice and training, a web portal that matches people to new careers and jobs fairs. There will also be assistance for displaced workers who wish to launch their own businesses.

The company says it needs to shed 9,000 jobs worldwide because of the impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic on the aerospace sector. It has not yet specified where the redundancies will take place but Derby, as headquarters of the firm’s civil aerospace division, is expected to be hard hit.

The Derby Economic Recovery Task Force will draw expertise from both the public and private sectors, to understand the businesses, sectors and investments most likely to be hardest hit by the pandemic and identify ways of mitigating those effects.

It is aiding the work of other agencies on short-term interventions, such as identifying opportunities for local contract sourcing.

It will renew Derby’s city centre master plan, taking into account new commercial realities and changed priorities, to ensure the city is well-placed to benefit from the economic bounce-back and it will identify opportunities for financial assistance and press Derby’s investment case.

The task force is concentrating on three phases of economic recovery:

1. Restart – helping the city get back to work;
2. Revival – helping to boost confidence and demand;
3. Renewal – making strategic changes that will help produce a more resilient local economy and a more environmentally sustainable city.

Workstreams have been set up to consider business adaptation support, transport adaptation, sector-specific support networks, city centre transformation and demand stimulus.

Other members of the Derby Coronavirus Economic Recovery Task Force include Cathedral Quarter Business Improvement District, Derby City Council, the University of Derby, Marketing Derby,  Derby Renaissance Board, Intu, Rolls-Royce, Bombardier, Toyota and East Midlands Chamber.