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Riverside Chambers welcomes Derby Sales & Information Centre ahead of Assembly Rooms refurbishment

Riverside Chambers welcomes Derby Sales & Information Centre ahead of Assembly Rooms refurbishment

Derby’s Sales & Information Centre, the combined frontline service for Visit Derby, Derby LIVE and Derby Active, has relocated from its current home in the Assembly Rooms on the Market Place to a temporary base, just seconds away at Connect Derby’s Riverside Chambers building.

The move comes ahead of the forthcoming £24 million refurbishment of the Assembly Rooms.

In the spirit of collaboration, Connect Derby and Derby’s Sales & Information Centre will now be jointly delivering combined frontline services for Connect Derby, Visit Derby, Derby LIVE and Derby Active.

All current Visit Derby tourist information services, along with sales and bookings for Derby LIVE and Derby Active, will be offered from the reception area at Riverside Chambers (former Magistrates’ Court building on Full Street), alongside the normal Connect Derby services.

The move will signal a number of benefits for tenants, with extended opening hours. Reception services will now be available from 9.00am – 8.00pm Monday to Saturday for a temporary period.

Tenants and visitors to Riverside Chambers should not experience any disruption to their normal reception services.

Derby LIVE, part of Derby City Council, present and produce a diverse programme of live performances, events and festivals in Derby. Their venues include Derby Arena and the Guildhall Theatre as well as outdoor spaces across the city including the Market Place, Darley Park and Bass' Recreational Ground.

Derby Active, the Council’s sport and leisure services, operate across Derby Arena, Springwood Leisure Centre, Queen’s Leisure Centre and Moorways Stadium.

Visit Derby tourist information services promote events, attractions and venues across Derbyshire, helping visitors to make the most of their visit to the city.

Commenting on the Sales and Information Centre move to Riverside Chambers, Ann Bhatti, head of Connect Derby, said:

“We’re looking forward to teaming up with Derby LIVE, Derby Active and Visit Derby to support these essential services during the refurbishment of the Assembly Rooms.

“We aim to ensure a seamless transition and members of the Sales & Information team have received training to ensure our high standard of services are maintained. Tenants and visitors to the Connect Derby managed workspace should not experience any disruption to their normal reception services.”

Ed Green, marketing and business development manager, Leisure, Culture & Tourism at Derby City Council, added:

“We are very excited about seeing the return of a large-scale entertainment and conference venue in the city, but to enable this to happen, we will have to temporarily vacate our current base.

“By moving just across the road to Connect Derby’s Riverside Chambers building, we will still be very conveniently located for customers and look forward to providing a warm and friendly welcome at Riverside Chambers.”

Derby City Council has selected a commercially re-focused Derby LIVE to operate the new Assembly Rooms and has recently held public engagement events. This will give the public and stakeholders the chance to have their say on the proposed designs for the building and to suggest the types of shows, performances and acts they would like to see in the venue in the future. These views will be put forward in a planning application that is expected to be submitted in the summer.

Connect Derby is a £30m project which brings together Derby City Council’s workspaces under one banner to create jobs for local people. It provides micro businesses, entrepreneurs and SMEs with the high specification working environment, IT infrastructure and business support they need to improve business survival rates and act as a catalyst for expansion and growth.


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