Chair’s blog: “Businesses certainly see strong benefits to investing and growing in Chesterfield”
Creating vibrant town centres continues to be a priority for Chesterfield.
Like all towns across the UK, we know we must evolve to attract more residents, workers, and visitors to spend time in our high streets.
At the beginning of summer, I wrote about many exciting festivals and events taking place locally. All encouraging you to make memories with your loved ones and to support our shops, eateries and leisure businesses.
This month, I am highlighting the successes of the new office spaces in Chesterfield town centre. Developments like these are bringing hundreds of new jobs to the heart of our town. Exactly what we need to increase the footfall from Monday to Friday.
The new offices are proving popular – thanks to their attractive location, as well as being energy efficient. In less than a year after its opening, the Northern Gateway Enterprise Centre is now more than 80% full. Meanwhile, several more firms have expressed a strong interest in One Waterside Place, following the two floors that have already been snapped up.
Furthermore, it’s fantastic to see a full refurbishment now completed at The HQ. What used to be the Royal Mail offices – set adjacent to Queen’s Park – has been transformed into an exciting hub for businesses to thrive.
Quality office spaces continue to be promoted by Destination Chesterfield, with the next marketing campaign underway, targeting firms looking to relocate and grow. I’m pleased to say that almost 3,000 enquiries have been made over the past five years for business premises, keeping Chesterfield Borough Council’s economic development team very busy!
Businesses certainly see strong benefits to investing and growing in Chesterfield, with over 3,000 enterprises now operating here.
But we won’t stop there. It is Chesterfield’s aim to attract a further 100 higher value businesses by 2030, generating more higher wage jobs for local people. This will be complemented by new educational facilities in Staveley, giving people the chance to learn advanced skills in sectors such as construction and rail.
Looking ahead to October, the Chesterfield Investment Summit is a key annual event that allows us to showcase our strengths to inward investors and growing businesses. Returning to Casa Hotel on Wednesday 18th October, it will highlight the wide range of regeneration taking place across our area, whilst explaining the benefits of locating your business here.
This year’s event will focus on quality and sustainable housing, the Gateway at PEAK – which will be an exciting new visitor destination, and the latest progress on Chesterfield town centre’s upcoming £20 million transformation… I’ll be writing more about that in the next post!
As we look towards the future, I have no doubt that Chesterfield will continue to build on its strong foundations and thrive as a top destination for visitors and investors.
