New 3500 capacity venue announced for Becketwell

Exciting plans to deliver a new 3,500 capacity venue in Derby’s Becketwell area have been drawn up by developer St James Securities and Derby City Council.

The new entertainment and conference venue will be located in St Peters Quarter on the site of the former Pink Coconut nightclub.  It is expected to be a significant attraction for Derby by adding a much needed new ‘Cultural venue’ but also supporting the important regeneration of a long disused site linking the Intu Shopping centre and the Cathedral Quarter.

It’s anticipated that the venue will hold hundreds of cultural and commercial events each year offering a fantastic and varied programme for local people and attract an additional quarter of a million visitors to Derby.

Over 200 new local jobs are expected to be created giving the city centre economy a significant boost. The scheme is set to generate more than £10m per year for the area, providing a massive stimulus to local businesses.

The new music, entertainment and conference events venue will be housed in a purpose-built facility. It will be a fully flexible, scalable space, with a capacity of up to 3,500, with secondary space up to 400 capacity.

It will offer a significantly larger amore flexible space than the City has had in the past and it will appeal to a wider range of audiences in a purpose-built setting run by a nationally respected operator.

The new venue will collaborate with and complement the activities of Derby Arena to provide the best possible events programme for Derby. The two venues will work together to ensure we can maximise the number of events that can come to Derby .

A new large-scale venue is a key component of Derby’s masterplan for the city centre which has been developed collaboratively between the public and private sectors. It is envisaged that the venue will act as a catalyst for further investment into the city-centre and boost the vibrancy of the area. The leisure and retail experience will be greatly enhanced invigorating the day and night-time economies.

The new venue at Becketwell will be in addition to plans for a new public square, hotel, offices, and apartments already signed off by planners earlier this year. Derby City Council will also kick start the process of totally re-developing the former Assembly Rooms by clearing the site and pursuing new development opportunities that will contribute to Derby’s future prosperity. The Council is working with partners on ideas to ensure the site can contribute to the vibrancy of the Market Place quarter to complement the new vision for the historic Market Hall, the successful Quad offer and the refurbishment of the Guildhall.

A vibrant city centre is a key priority for the Council and its partners as we look ahead to the city’s recovery from COVID-19.  An economic task force, made up of representatives from both public and private sectors has been formed to lead and drive forward Derby’s economic recovery from the effects of the coronavirus crisis, including a specific workstream on the city centre, which will look at the longer term impacts on the city centre.