About Chesterfield

‘Question Time’ provides opportunity to debate Brexit

11th February 2019

Senior Economist for RBS Strategy, Economics and Corporate Development team, Phillip Bartlett presented an overview of the current UK Economy at a Brexit event organised by Shorts, Banner Jones and Natwest

At the breakfast event at the Proact Stadium, Phillip presented his thoughts on the possible impact of Brexit. Sharing ideas on how businesses should prepare for the economy post-Brexit. This covered areas such as growth trends, interest rates, productivity and employment.

A straw poll of the 150 delegates at the event showed that only 1 in 3 businesses had done any kind of preparation for Brexit.

There was also a question time style panel chaired by David Grey, Executive Chairman of OSL Group Holdings Ltd.

The experience panel included:

Tony Pedder OBE DL, Director of Metalysis Ltd and Director of EEF Ltd
Craig McKay, CEO of Evernort Sheffield and Alexander Cromley Birmingham
Natascha Engel, Government’s Commissioner for Shale Gas and former MP
Phillip Barlett, Senior Economist for RBS Strategy

The panel discussed a range of Brexit related topics and answered questions from the Chesterfield business community on how to approach Brexit.

Find more business events happening in Chesterfield.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business

ALTERIS announces plans to transform Vicar Lane

11th February 2019

Vicar Lane Shopping Centre has unveiled plans to transform the centre following its acquisition earlier this year by ALTERIS.

Purpose-built in 2001 as an open-air scheme, with iconic views through to the famous crooked spire of Chesterfield’s Church of St. Mary and All Saints, the centre draws over 3 million visitors annually.

After five years in receivership, ALTERIS identified an opportunity to create a thriving retail-focused asset in a historic town centre, with one of the UK’s strongest retail heritages, based around the country’s largest open-air market.

ALTERIS is formulating a masterplan vision for Vicar Lane in conjunction with architects Leslie Jones which will see St. James Square become a much more animated focal point within the scheme and re-energise a key meeting point for shoppers within the town.

Bert Broadhead, Director at ALTERIS said: “We’ve identified huge potential in Vicar Lane as it sits in a prime position within a thriving market town. We see a great opportunity to re-imagine the scheme making it more of a centre of gravity for Chesterfield – with enhanced F&B and leisure to complement the existing retail. We also have plans to enhance the public realm to make Vicar Lane a more uplifting place to be.”

“There is much talk of High Streets being in decline at the moment, but this isn’t the case everywhere. We spotted an opportunity with Vicar Lane where we can build upon a positive local catchment, strong asset potential and the prospect of economic growth within Chesterfield – not least via the planned HS2 station a stone’s throw from the centre. After many years of inertia, the centre offers us a blank canvas on which we can build.”

“We will be aiming to work with both national and independent operators, harnessing the latest technologies as well as traditional retail practices to help create a retail experience for the modern age, right in the heart of historic Chesterfield.”

Bert Broadhead will be speaking more about the plans for Vicar Lane at the upcoming Celebrate Chesterfield event on the 20th March, where local businesses come together to celebrate the town and hear about local regeneration work.

Technology is also a key factor and ALTERIS is investing in cutting-edge services which will help make the customer experience more user-friendly and fulfilling.

Tenants at Vicar Lane, which is currently 94% leased, include TJ Hughes, H&M, River Island, JD Sports, New Look, Superdrug, Deichmann, Waterstones, CEX, O2, 3 Store and Holland & Barrett, as well as local brands Quoozies and Ministry.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Chesterfield Retail Awards, Development, Leisure, Made in Chesterfield, Visiting

Chesterfield Studios celebrates 10th Anniversary with West Side Story

7th February 2019

Chesterfield Studios is celebrating ten years of musical theatre with a production of Leonard Bernstein’s iconic musical, West Side Story. The tragic re-telling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, set in New York’s West Side, tells the story of Tony and Maria, two lovers caught in a battle between rival gangs, the Sharks and the Jets.

Established in 2009, Chesterfield Studios leads the way in innovative performing arts training for young people. With over 250 people participating in their theatre school classes, they offer a broad range of classes, spread across all age ranges. All staff have trained at some of the country’s leading universities and colleges and many are working professionals, passionate about working with and engaging young people in the performing arts.

The biggest event of the year for Chesterfield Studios will be West Side Story, which will show at the Pomegranate on almost the very same date, that ten years ago, the company first opened their doors.

Bernstein’s driving score set to lyrics by Stephen Sondheim is as fresh today as it was when it first opened in London’s West End sixty years ago, and features the well known songs, America, I Feel Pretty and Tonight. Fourteen year old Lucy Johnson plays Maria, with Tony being played by seventeen year old Owen Jenkinson. The cast also features professional actor Rob Laughlin as Glad Hand, who first played the part when he was seventeen years old. It is directed by Becky Parker with choreography by Roseanna Sanderson and conducted by Jonathan Francis.

Born to Perform follows in June, showcasing the fantastic array of talent in the young people’s classes. The final major event of the year, will be a celebratory concert in July, combining our Seniors, Rose Choir, past students, special guests and our concert orchestra to perform music from all of the shows we’ve performed over the last ten years.

Showing from Tuesday 19th to Thursday 21st February at the Pomegranate Theatre, find out more and how to book your tickets here.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Leisure, Visiting

GCL Products launch new SoRoTo Mixers trade-in scheme

5th February 2019

Chesterfield Champion GCL Products are proud to announce their new SoRoTo Mixers trade-in scheme.

SoRoTo Mixers UK, a distributor of forced action mixers, are the first in the UK to offer a trade-in scheme, enabling contractors to update & upgrade their mixing equipment. GCL Products are the sole distributor of SoRoTo products for the UK, Ireland and Channel Islands.

From February 1st 2019, SoRoTo Mixers UK, which falls under the parent company GCL Products, are pioneering a trade-in scheme which gives contractors and tradespeople an opportunity to exchange their current forced action mixer for a discount of up to £500 against a brand-new model.

With so many contractors working with older, worn and potentially unsafe forced action mixers in the construction industry, this scheme aims to improve the quality and efficiency of the work of the operators, as well as improving safety standards in potentially dangerous environments.

Forced action mixers can be used in a huge range of applications including the mixing of concrete, render, mortar, the in-vogue resin bound gravel, screed and plaster. This highly versatile nature means that the trade-in scheme could prove incredibly popular with operatives across a broad spectrum of trades.

The SoRoTo range extends from a super-portable 40L model which can mix up to ~100kg of concrete per full load, to the gargantuan 300L which has a maximum capacity of ~700kg per mix.

Fergus Slack, Managing Director of parent company GCL Products Ltd said: “We’re really excited about the launch of our new and unique trade-in scheme. Offering contractors a chance to upgrade and update their vital equipment and improving the levels of safety in the construction industry benefits everyone.”

SoRoTo Mixers are the official UK distributor for SoRoTo Maskiner, the Danish manufacturer of mixers and belt conveyors. Part of GCL Products Ltd, SoRoTo Mixers supply a range of mixing equipment for the construction sector both directly to the consumer and through a network of resellers.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business

Brampton Brewery opens new pub in Chesterfield

5th February 2019

Brampton Brewery has opened its latest pub in Chesterfield. The Glassworks is the brewery’s third pub and is located opposite the Proact Stadium on Sheffield Road.

The brewery now has 3 cask-ale pubs in Chesterfield – The Rose & Crown, The Tramway Tavern and the new Glassworks. In addition to these tied-houses Brampton Brewery serves a local free-trade area covering Sheffield to the north, through to Burton in the south.

Jon Leeming, Brewery Director at Brampton Brewery said: “We have chosen to name the pub The Glassworks based on the glass industry that was located around Whittington Moor in Chesterfield”

To celebrate the opening of the pub, Brampton Brewery has produced a new beer ‘The Monocled Mutineer’ which is named after Percy Toplis, who was born on Sanforth Street, which the the pub sides onto. Toplis (aka The Monocled Mutineer) had an interesting history, which was serialised by the BBC in 1986.

Brampton Brewery was resurrected in October 2007 by a small group of local enthusiasts, bringing brewing back to Brampton for the first time in 52 years.

Led by Managing Director and Head Brewer Chris Radford, the brewery has gone from strength to strength, winning numerous awards for its range of meticulously brewed cask-ales. Situated on Chatsworth Road, Brampton Brewery is just a stone’s throw from the original brewery which operated successfully in the town for over 130 years.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Chesterfield Food and Drink Awards, Leisure, Visiting

2019 looks set to be a year full of important milestones for Chesterfield

4th February 2019

2019 looks set to be a year full of important milestones for Chesterfield. The new Premier Inn hotel was completed in January and handed over ahead of its Spring opening and February sees Twist celebrate its tenth anniversary. Huge congratulations to Mike and all the team for reaching this important milestone.

Twist, like Destination Chesterfield, celebrates all that is good about the great town we live and work in. Each month the magazine is packed with positive news, embodying, I think, Chesterfield on paper. There is always something happening, and the pace never seems to slow down – which in turn always provides us with an array of content for the annual Celebrate Chesterfield event.

To be held on 20 March later this year at the Winding Wheel, this event attracts around 300 people, all keen to hear the latest updates on regeneration projects, housing, tourism, education and jobs in the town. It is an event I very much look forward to each year. It’s an opportunity to not only look back and reflect on how far Chesterfield has come in recent years but also see what is on the horizon. There is always a buzz in the room and you can’t help but feel uplifted and excited about the town’s future. – Book Here

However, if we’re to keep up the pace of developments, it is imperative that the town has a skilled workforce to support it. With more than 14,000 students in North Derbyshire set to gain their GCSE and A Level qualifications over the next five years, it’s also important that the workforce is home grown. This is why, later this month, the Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Employability and Skills Conference is being held. – Book Here

The annual conference aims to strengthen links between education providers and local businesses to ensure our school leavers are work ready; we also want young people to be aware of the range of jobs and careers they can have on their doorstep so the town can make the most of its home grown talent.

Chesterfield is a town of opportunity – let’s make sure our young people, their friends, families, teachers and schools know it too.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Blog, Celebrate Chesterfield, Destination Chesterfield

Milestone for Chesterfield’s Twist Magazine

4th February 2019

Heron Publications has delivered the 100th edition of its free Chesterfield publication, Twist, and also published its largest magazine to date, a 150-page special edition of Dronfield Eye – the ‘2019 Dronfield Directory’. Heron Publications are also responsible for Active8, delivered in south Sheffield.

Heron Publications are in their 17th year and moved their offices to Enterprise House at Dronfield a little over three years ago.

Director Mike Firth said: “Having two reasons to celebrate has given us a wonderful start to the new year.”

“A further exciting project is the expansion of another of our Derbyshire magazines, ‘Wings’, ensuring it is read by all the people moving into the hundreds of new homes being built in the Wingerworth and Tupton areas.”

“Readers appreciate the fact that we concentrate on all the positive things that are going on in town and they like the way we present our features in such a bright and breezy manner,” he says.

“They are happy to see Twist land on their doorstep each month and, because people pick it up and read it, advertisers are also delighted with the response they get; that is why many of them feature in our pages every month.”

Twist has the largest distribution of any magazine in Chesterfield. In all, they distribute their free magazines to 51,500 homes and businesses.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Celebrate Chesterfield, Leisure

Free support to recruit and retain graduates for Chesterfield SMEs

1st February 2019

Are you part of an exciting, growing SME in Chesterfield? RISE helps connect the region’s network of innovative and exciting businesses to graduates with energy, enthusiasm and fresh ideas.

RISE is a free graduate recruitment programme to help SMEs based in in the nine regions of the SCR (including Chesterfield, Bolsover, North East Derbyshire and the Derbyshire Dales) to find the best graduate talent for their business. The team will write you an advert, advertise your role across the UK and put candidates through a variety of recruitment tasks. You’ll also have access to line manager training, interview guidance and toolkits.

To date, RISE has helped over 300 businesses to fill over 400 graduate vacancies, from manufacturing to marketing. A recent survey of RISE businesses showed that businesses benefit in many ways by taking on a graduate who bring new skills, energy and enthusiasm to their business as well as new ways of working that ultimately help the business to grow. In fact, 72% of businesses who used RISE believe that hiring a graduate helped their business grow.

“RISE worked really well for us. We wouldn’t have had the resources to interview the number of initial applicants ourselves.” Riverside Automation

“The RISE scheme was a breath of fresh air and I learnt a lot about recruitment. All the information was there if we needed it, but wasn’t forced on us if we didn’t.” Sheffield Sustainable Kitchens

“It has been a great service as RISE has done a lot of the selection process for us. It’s great because whilst RISE organises a lot of the recruitment process, we still have the final say on who we hire.” Pyronix

The service is jointly funded by The University of Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University and the Sheffield City Region Growth Hub, so there is no cost to you except the graduate’s salary and employers NI.

The deadline to sign up to the scheme is 6^th March so get in touch with Oliver Tarrant to discuss advertising a vacancy.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Apprentice Town, Business, Celebrate Chesterfield, Made in Chesterfield

Growth of Chesterfield’s Superior Spas leads to new 400,000 sq ft factory

1st February 2019

Superior Spas, the Chesterfield-based UK Spa ‘Supplier of the Year’ has broken ground on a brand new, 400,000 sq ft factory in China as it pushes ahead with plans to up its own brand manufacturing and expand its presence internationally beyond the UK and Europe.

The huge new space will be the largest hot tub manufacturing facility in the world and will give Superior Spas the capacity to further expand into manufacturing for other hot tub firms. Coupled with a new distribution centre being constructed in Chesterfield, it will see the company become one of the largest spa and hot tub firms in the world at a time when many businesses are struggling to shake off post-Brexit fears.

Robert Carlin, Superior Spas MD said: “This is a very exciting time for Superior Spas and we are striding forwards with confidence as we realise our very ambitious growth plans. Having our own state-of-the-art manufacturing facility is a game changer for the Superior Spas brand and one that will elevate us to an international presence outside of Europe for the first time. This will also mean we create more jobs, bring more to the local economy at home and generate more export and import business.”

The firm expects to create 20 new UK jobs initially and hundreds of new roles in China. Production at the factory will start in March with Superior Spas products being moved from the current manufacturer to the firm’s own factory over the course of the next 12 months. The firm’s full range of Platinum and Swim Spas will be taken in-house.

Sales Director Gareth Ward said: “When the brand new Superior Spas factory comes online fully in March of this year, we’ll be able to stock 900 hot tubs in the UK at any one time as well as keep over 2000 units in stock in China. What’s more, this means we can explore new business partnerships with the option to extend manufacturing services to other hot tub brands looking for a specialist manufacturer for their own product lines. Our clients will have the option to build their own brand of spas in our factory, give us more opportunity to grow our product range and customer base.”

Rob White, Superior Spa’s Head of Marketing adds: “Having our own manufacturing facility is massive – it means we can control every aspect of quality and production schedules, reduce costs, create jobs, open up big new markets and give us the opportunity to sell to a worldwide audience from one of the most prosperous regions in the world.”

To find out more, visit: www.superiorspas.co.uk

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Celebrate Chesterfield, Made in Chesterfield

Brookfield Community School put careers in the town’s manufacturing sector under the spotlight for students

31st January 2019

The importance of introducing young people to careers in the town’s manufacturing sector has been highlighted by Brookfield Community School.

Eight year 12 students from the school visited Chesterfield-based United Cast Bar as part of the Made in Chesterfield campaign.

The campaign, which is co-ordinated by Destination Chesterfield and Derbyshire Education Business Partnership and sponsored by University of Derby, is designed to bring together businesses, schools and training providers to showcase the sector to future school leavers.

As part of the visit, Students were taken into the foundry to see first-hand the manufacturing processes involved in producing continuous cast iron bar.

Tim Fagan, Head of Technology and Enterprise at Brookfield Community School, who accompanied the students on the visit, said: “The visit to United Cast Bar was so useful for our students, as it allowed them to see proper industrial practice.”

To mark its fifth year, Made in Chesterfield has now been aligned with the National Curriculum and will run throughout the year.

Mr Fagan added: “The students who took part in the visit love doing technology at school and enjoy making things, but sometimes it’s hard for them to link that up to the opportunities out there in the world of work. I think the visits to companies within the manufacturing and engineering sector helps open their eyes as to where the skills they learn in education can lead.”

Since the campaign was established, more than 2,500 young people from schools have spent time in the area’s manufacturing and engineering businesses. The visits to businesses operating within the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) sector are being organised by Derbyshire Education Business Partnership.

United Cast Bar is one of a number of companies from Chesterfield’s manufacturing and engineering sector which are opening their doors to students from across the borough in an effort to raise awareness of job opportunities.

James Brand, Managing Director of United Cast Bar, commented on the importance of developing the workforce of the future: “With an eye on future workforce needs, regularly inviting schoolchildren to the foundry through the Made in Chesterfield initiative plays an important part in our recruitment.

“If we are to develop our young people and retain their talent in the UK, schools must start bringing manufacturing and engineering careers to their attention. To look forward we must look back; getting young people interested in the sector is a great first step.”

Alongside the educational activity there is a programme of business events including a manufacturing conference, manufacturing and engineering forum, business masterclasses and networking events taking place throughout the year.

In addition to Destination Chesterfield, Derbyshire Education Business Partnership and University of Derby, Made in Chesterfield is supported by MSE Hiller, United Cast Bar Ltd, Natwest and Placing Futures.

To find out more about Made in Chesterfield or to arrange a school visit, please visit: https://www.chesterfield.co.uk/made/

Posted in About Chesterfield, Apprentice Town, Business, Destination Chesterfield, Made in Chesterfield

Approval given for new council homes in Brampton

31st January 2019

Approval has been granted for Chesterfield Borough Council to build a further ten new council homes for local families in Brampton.

The council’s planning committee approved the plans at its meeting on Monday 28 January for a mix of ten new three and four bedrooms on the site of the former sheltered housing complex at Heaton Court.

Councillor Helen Bagley, Chesterfield Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Homes and Customers, said: “It is 100 years since the Chesterfield Corporation, the forerunner of Chesterfield Borough Council, built the first council homes for local soldiers who had fought in the First World War.”

“I am proud that we are continuing to provide new quality houses for local families and particularly that we are using the skills and expertise of our staff to build them.”

The new homes will be designed by the council’s in-house architectural services team and building work carried out by Fortem Solutions Ltd, which has carried out the refurbishment of our older persons accommodation at Brocklehurst Court and Glebe Court.

The council aims to build 100 new council homes over the next five years.

Families are set to move into four new council homes at Rufford Close this spring.

Plans have been developed and approved for new homes at Manor Drive at Brimington and are also being developed for several other sites including Court Place in Middlecroft and the former Brockwell Court in Brockwell.

The council’s Local Labour Clause also means that the council will use local suppliers as part of the commitment to support local businesses.

For more information on council homes available in Chesterfield visit the On the Move website: www.onthemove-cbc.org.uk or call (01246) 345700.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Development