About Chesterfield

Volunteers Transform Local Footpath

Seven ramblers have joined forces with Chesterfield Borough Council to improve a boggy local footpath ahead of the annual Chesterfield in Bloom competition.

Running from the Sheepbridge Industrial Estate through to Cobnar Wood to link with the countryside around Barlow, the route is popular with walkers, wildlife enthusiasts and workers alike.

The volunteers are currently working with council park rangers to install edging boards and resurface the path with stone so that local people will soon be able to gain access to the ancient wood throughout the year.

Councillor Chris Ludlow, Chesterfield Borough Council’s Executive Member for Environment said:

“Chesterfield in Bloom is a project led by the council to encourage people to take pride in and help improve their local environment.

“Thanks to the volunteers from Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire Ramblers giving their time and effort, the community can now benefit from an improved path offering access to local countryside and wildlife.

Michael Sims from Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire Ramblers, who volunteered on the project added:

“We are very pleased that we were able to assist in the project.

“The Ramblers help everyone, everywhere, to enjoy walking and protect the places we love to walk.”

The council will launch the annual Chesterfield in Bloom garden competitions in early May.  Anyone interested in volunteering as part of Chesterfield in Bloom should contact John Ramsey on 01246 345097.

Volunteers Transform Local Footpath

Posted in About Chesterfield, Leisure, Summer, Visiting

Last Chance to Vote in 2015 Chesterfield Retail Awards

Time is ticking to nominate your favourite shop or store in Chesterfield. Nominations for the town’s popular retail awards, which are organised by Destination Chesterfield and sponsored by Learning Unlimited – part of Chesterfield College Group, close on Monday 6 April at midnight. Shoppers can nominate at www.chesterfield.co.uk/retailawards

However, if you miss the nomination deadline, shoppers still have one more chance to vote in the Vicar Lane Shopping Centre’s Retailer of the Year Award. Vicar Lane Shopping Centre and Destination Chesterfield want to help find the town’s favourite retailer based on Vicar Lane and Steeplegate in the town centre.

The Vicar Lane Award will be presented by the Centre at the 2015 Chesterfield Retail Awards being held on on 24 June 2015 at the Winding Wheel.

Voting for the Vicar Lane Award opens on the 2 April until 30 April and can be done in any of the 40 shops and stores in Vicar Lane Shopping Centre or online at www.vicarlaneshoppingcentre.co.uk

Vicar Lane Shopping Centre Manager Sonia Kolomijez said: “Last year’s Chesterfield Retail Awards were a huge success and really got the town talking – shoppers and retailers alike. It made sense to work in partnership with Destination Chesterfield in order to celebrate the best Vicar Lane retailer. It’s easy to vote and I would encourage as many shoppers as possible to take the opportunity to do so and help us find and celebrate their favourite retailer.”

The Vicar Lane Retailer of the Year winner will join winners from across 14 categories in the Chesterfield Retail Awards, which include:

• Hair and Beauty Business of the Year
• Fashion and Footwear Retailer of the Year
• Jewellery and Accessories Retailer of the Year – Sponsored by the Pavements Shopping Centre
• Home and Gifts Retailer of the Year
• Children’s Clothes, Toys & Accessories Retailer of the Year
• Food and Drink Retailer of the Year – Sponsored by BHP Accountants
• Phones and Technology Retailer of the Year
• Leisure Retailer of the Year (Sports, Hobbies, Crafts or Outdoor)
• Market Trader of the Year – Sponsored by Chesterfield Borough Council
• Independent Retailer of the Year – Sponsored by Jumble Design
• National/ Multiple Retailer of the Year – Sponsored by Vicar Lane
• Excellence in Customer Service – Sponsored by Learning Unlimited
• Market Hall Business of the Year – Sponsored by Kier
• Best New Store (Opened 2014/2015) – Sponsored by Banner Jones Solicitors

There is also an additional Retailer of the Year award, sponsored by East Midlands Chamber, which will be announced at the awards ceremony. Other supporters of the 2015 Chesterfield Retail Awards include eBusiness works and the Derbyshire Times.

This year, retailers can support their call for nominations by submitting a short 20 second video explaining why shoppers should nominate their business. Videos should be emailed to info@chesterfield.co.uk and will appear on Destination Chesterfield’s website, Facebook page and Twitter.

There are limited sponsorship opportunities still available if you are interested in becoming involved please contact Dom Stevens on 01246 207207 or email dom.stevens@chesterfield.co.uk.

Photo shows winners of the 2014 Chesterfield Retail Awards.

Chesterfield Retail Awards 2014, held in the Market Hall Assembly Rooms.

 

Posted in About Chesterfield, Celebrate Chesterfield, Chesterfield Retail Awards, Destination Chesterfield, Leisure, Visiting

£1bn of Investment Hailed a ‘Game Changer’ for Chesterfield

Huw Bowen, Chief Executive of Chesterfield Borough Council, has described the £1 billion of developments currently happening in the town as a ‘real game changer’.

His comments came at the recent annual Celebrate Chesterfield event, organised by the town’s inward investment campaign Destination Chesterfield. Held at the Winding Wheel (25 March) the packed event saw more than 220 business leaders gather to learn about plans for the town.

The £1 billion investment in the local economy includes Chesterfield’s £400 million Peak Resorts, £320 million Chesterfield Waterside, £88 million Markham Vale and £55 million Northern Gateway developments.

Peak Resorts was announced by Prime Minister David Cameron during his visit to the US in January. Mr Bowen added: “We have a lot to look forward to with over £1 billion of investment coming into the town thanks to big projects like Chesterfield Waterside and Peak Resorts.

“Peak Resorts will be one of the UK’s flagship tourist attractions that will put Chesterfield on the map. Not only will it provide more than 1,000 jobs, but its hub and spoke model will encourage thousands of guests to disperse into the town centre economy every week and bring real value to our restaurant, retail and leisure businesses.”

Markham Vale – part of which sits within Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership’s Enterprise Zone – has also secured a further £7.6 million of funding, enabling additional areas to be opened up for development.

The funding follows £14 million of Government money last year which enabled Markham Vale to expand its business park plans by 81 acres, widen Erin Road, put in place utility infrastructure and construct 100,000 square feet of new industrial buildings. When complete the site will have capacity to bring an estimated 2,100 jobs to the town by 2022.

Further investment will also be seen within the town in 2015 as £8.6 million of funding has been secured from the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership for Northern Gateway.

There are also plans to demolish and develop the former Royal Mail multi-storey car park on West Bars roundabout and work will also begin on the University of Derby’s Chesterfield campus later in July with the site set to open in summer 2016.

At the event Mr Bowen also highlighted the concept of town centre living as being central to Chesterfield’s Masterplan to drive footfall and create a thriving day and night time economy.

Cllr John Burrows, Leader of Chesterfield Borough Council and Vice Chair of Destination Chesterfield, said: “Chesterfield used to be a heavy industry town but we are now having our modern awakening. We punch well above our weight here in Chesterfield and the news that over the next few years the town will benefit from £1 billion of investment is very exciting. We are now a modern town thanks to a lot of hard work from our partnerships with Destination Chesterfield, and local businesses and also through our ability to access funding from the Sheffield City Region and D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnerships.

“As council leader I am very proud of the work we have done in regenerating the area. Over the coming years we want to work towards getting life back into the town after 6pm by investing in town centre residential and leisure facilities so that we can compete with the offerings of neighbouring cities.”

At the event, guests also welcomed news that the town’s marketing campaign Destination Chesterfield, which has been running since 2011, will continue until 2017.

Four areas of activity in the 2015 Destination Chesterfield plan include the launch of a new chesterfield.co.uk website, the Retail Awards, Food and Drink Awards and a month-long repeat of last year’s week-long festival of manufacturing, Made in Chesterfield, in November.

Dominic Stevens, Destination Chesterfield Manager commented: “The project is very much business-led. The plans and campaigns we develop are driven by the business community. A recent audit recognised the many strengths of the Destination Chesterfield projects, but specifically noted the success of the Chesterfield Champions network in disseminating information, lobbying and working together to trade locally. The Chesterfield Champions Scheme has gone from strength-to-strength and now has more than 160 local organisations contributing to the promotion of the town.”

The Celebrate Chesterfield event was held in association with headline sponsors Henry Boots Developments at Markham Vale and Corrugated Case Company.

To keep up to date with developments in Chesterfield, visit www.chesterfield.co.uk/developments 

Read more about Celebrate Chesterfield and see videos and images from the event

Celebrate Chesterfield

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Celebrate Chesterfield, Destination Chesterfield, Development

Gold Medal Celebrations for Students at Chesterfield College

Students at Chesterfield College are celebrating after winning a gold medal in the regional and national heats of the WorldSkills UK – a contest which is designed to test knowledge, practical skills and attributes valued by employers.

The students competed in different disciplines demonstrating their expertise and using the skills they had learnt at college and in their workplaces.

This year’s winners were Blake Robey, in Automotive Refinishing and Jennie Jarvis in Advanced Nail Art.

Winners from last year, James Grayson in Automotive refinishing and Tom Beardsley in Fabrication and Welding, have both made the UK squad and will soon find out if they will be competing in the international competition in Brazil later this year.

Stuart Cutforth, Principal at Chesterfield College said “The determination, dedication and expertise demonstrated by the students in these competitions is phenomenal. To win medals at national level is no easy task and to potentially make it to international competition level really makes me proud. It demonstrates how a good college education coupled with industry experience can really make young people world class in their chosen field.”

Peter Lauener, Chief Executive from the Skills Funding Agency, the Education Funding Agency and the official UK delegate to the WorldSkills 2015 competition in Brazil joined staff and students from the college at a special lunch last week.

Peter said: “The Worldskills competition plays a vital role in raising standards and levels of expertise in further education. They raise the profile of a range of skills and prove how careers can be shaped by having them. Skills are vital for our economy and local colleges like this play a key role in making sure we are equipping local workforces with the skills they need.”

Worldskill UK celebrations at Chesterfield College

Photo from left to right: Stuart Cutforth; Jennie Jarvis; Peter Lauener; Blake Robey; Frank Smith, Head of Corporation, Chesterfield College (Photo by: Demetri Yiallourou)

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business

SEO CoPilot Shares More Industry Knowledge with Chesterfield College Students

Digital and creative students at Chesterfield College received more expert advice from SEO CoPilot last week to help them understand the changes announced by Google earlier this year.

Guy Tomlinson, Founder of SEO CoPilot gave two presentations covering the importance of a user friendly website, search engine optimisation and accomplished social media marketing, and how to implement it all when designing a website.

The visit is the second time this year that Guy has shown his support for the town’s future workforce.  Sharing his enthusiasm, Guy said:-

“I have always been a strong believer in sharing my knowledge with the student community and will continue to support the fantastic work being done by Chesterfield College.”

“With regular search algorithm updates from Google, having a fully compliant website is paramount to the success of any business looking to market itself online and the latest change which will start to roll out on the 21st of April is no exception.”

“Of course it doesn’t stop there either.  If you want to be successful in web designing then search engine optimisation and paid search marketing is vital to a website’s long term sustainability, popularity and visibility on the internet. There’s no point in having pictures on a map if all the landscape is the same.”

“Finally, no one can deny the importance of social media.  It’s unquestionably the best form of (mostly) free advertising and will give a huge boost to any marketing campaign, the learning curve now is much better than a few years ago as more and more people grow up with social media at the forefront of their lives.”

SEO CoPilot is based in the heart of Chesterfield and delivers bespoke search engine optimisation, pay per click and social media campaigns to help businesses increase traffic to their website and boost the amount of sales and enquiries they receive.

SEO CoPilot Chesterfield Champion

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business

Derbyshire Community and Voluntary Groups to Receive Funding Boost

Community and voluntary groups supporting older and vulnerable people are set to receive a share of £2.5 million from Derbyshire County Council.

More than 200 grants will go to organisations across the county ranging from larger groups such as Derbyshire Carers Association, Disability Derbyshire Coalition for Inclusive Living and the Alzheimer’s Society to around 150 smaller groups including lunch clubs, exercise groups and befriending services.

The groups which will benefit from the funding provide a wide range of services and support aimed at helping people to stay independent for as long as possible and promoting their health and wellbeing. This can prevent, reduce or delay the need for people to use mainstream social care services.

A review will be carried out to decide exactly where the funding should be used.  The review, which will use criteria agreed by the Health and Wellbeing Board, will aim to ensure the money available is being used in the most efficient and effective way and supporting the most vulnerable people.

Derbyshire County Council’s Assistant Director for Adult Care Julie Vollor said:

“Community and voluntary groups provide wide ranging services across the county which can support people who need a bit of extra help to stay living independently, safely and well in their own homes.

“We recognise the value of many of these services and are pleased to be able to fund them for the coming year.

“The review will look at a number of factors, including who the services help and in what way, as well as whether there are other services that could provide similar support. Most importantly, no decisions would be made on funding without consultation.”

Ashgate Hospice Chesterfield

 

Posted in About Chesterfield

Chesterfield Manufacturer to Expand

Chesterfield manufacturer Krantech Holdings Ltd has been awarded a Regional Growth Fund (RGF) grant of £300K for a £1.5 million investment in a 10,000 square foot new factory based at Colliery Close in Staveley, Chesterfield. The state-of-the-art facility’s target completion date is March 2016.

The funding will see Krantech grow from 50 employees with the creation of 15 new jobs and the new manufacturing unit will compliment the company’s existing medium/heavy fabrication workshop.

The new building will meet additional requirements for precision CNC machining and large machining capacities in the Subsea oil and gas market sector and also new services, such as pressure testing and alloy steel exotic welding.

Mel Myronko, CEO at Krantech Holding Ltd said:-

“The RGF grant has enabled us to take the company to the next phase of development. It will enable us employ a number of local people and continue with our commitment to apprenticeships”.

“The new manufacturing unit will be state of the art and set up with the “paramount safety first” attitude pre-requisite, a necessity when working in the Oil/Gas sector. Meaning, Krantech Holdings Ltd will be well equipped in both H&S and technical ability to deliver on any specification from MoD, Marine, Aerospace and Track/Rail sectors, as well as general machining.”

“All this has been achieved with the assistance of Chesterfield Borough Council.”

Due to the expansion Krantech Holdings Ltd will also be expanding into new market sectors away from the oil and gas market sector, with a vision to provide services to local companies.

Chesterfield manufacturer Krantech Holdings Ltd

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Development

Proact Sees Increase in Wedding Bookings

A recent wedding fayre at the Proact Stadium has sparked a surge in bookings from couples who want to get married at the home of Chesterfield FC.

Seven couples who attended the fayre have already booked their wedding at the Proact with a number of others set to return to the stadium to discuss plans for the big day.

One prospective bride said:

“My partner and I attended your wedding fayre on Sunday and we were blown away by how amazing the venue is!  You very kindly spent time with us, showing us the various schemes and rooms and describing what can be achieved at the stadium and again, we were blown away.

“Having read your brochure and seeing your wedding package menus, we would very much like to get married at the Proact. It would be ideal for us!”

Paul Watts, Events Manager at the Proact Stadium, has been delighted with the response. He said:

“It was the first wedding fayre staged at the stadium for three years and we were pleased to be able to showcase the superb facilities we have on offer.
“We received many favourable comments from those who attended and we look forward to ensuring that the brides and grooms who get married at the stadium have an unforgettable day!”

CFC weddings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Photo shows the Leengate Legends Lounge at the Proact Stadium, set up for a wedding.)

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Leisure, Visiting

Barrow Hill to Benefit from £4.5m Facelift

A £4.5m improvement programme has been agreed for the London Boroughs estate at Barrow Hill.

The work, which was approved by Chesterfield Borough Council last week, will include new roads for better access, improved car parking and green spaces and new footpaths and shared courtyards.

The changes follow extensive consultations held in July and November last year to find out would make life better for residents and visitors.

Councillor Jim McManus, Chesterfield Borough Council’s Executive Member for Housing, said: “If you were designing the London Boroughs estate from scratch today there is no way you would build it as it is now.

“At the time the architects would not have foreseen the huge growth of car usage and the issues this creates for parking.

“You would also want to plan the links between roads, including the network of footpaths across the estate, in a much more logical way. At the moment it is a common site to see delivery drivers unable to find the address they are looking for.

“While we cannot change everything we believe that the proposals suggested meet the needs that residents identified in the public consultation process and will improve life in many ways for everyone living on the estate.”

A tender process will take place later this year to appoint a contractor to carry out the work.

The improvement programme is set to begin in January 2016 and should be completed by March 2017.

Further details can be seen at www.chesterfield.gov.uk/Barrow-Hill-environmental-works-1498.html

The council’s cabinet has also approved plans to start a public consultation later this year to find out what improvements people living on the Holme Hall estate would like to see.

These schemes are the start of a planned programme of improvements for estates across the borough over the coming years.

London Borough estate artist impression

Posted in About Chesterfield, Development, Visiting

Chesterfield Apprentices Win Market Competition

Chesterfield Apprentices from Learning Unlimited (part of the Chesterfield College Group) have been declared the winners of a 4 day challenge designed to celebrate National Apprenticeship Week.

Battling against business students from Chesterfield College, the two teams – LU Mugs Creations and i-Wear Baby Grows were each given £150 to create and sell a product to shoppers at Chesterfield Market.

The most profitable product on the day was a Mother’s Day mug – created by LU Mugs Creations, which raised over £230 for local charity Ashgate Hospicecare.

Holly Thompson, team captain and sales apprentice at Learning Unlimited said:-

“It’s been fantastic taking part in the competition. It was great fun selling on the market and seeing the project through from having an idea to raising a good amount of money for Ashgate Hospicecare. Hats off to my team mates who worked really hard in their spare time whilst working during the day on their apprenticeships.”

Runners up, i-Wear Baby Grows raised over £80 of profit which has been donated to Ashgate Hospicecare.

Business student and captain of  i-Wear Baby Grows, Katie Lambert said:-

“It’s been so much fun selling on Chesterfield market. To put a lot of what we learn in theory into practice has been such an eye opener. I’d love to do something like this again, we actually had enquiries for further orders so who knows we might take this business further!”

During the week the teams put their business, marketing, finance and production skills to the test, highlighting how apprenticeships can prepare young people for a successful career in business.

Paul Champion, Operations Director from Learning Unlimited said: “Putting apprentices to the test like this proves what they are capable of when they have had the chance to earn and learn in a real business situation.”

Winning LU Mugs Creations - Learning Unlimited

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business

Tickets Selling Well for England v Slovenia

Chesterfield FC has reported high demand for the upcoming England v Slovenia match taking place at the Proact Stadium in Chesterfield next Monday.

Coach John Peacock, who guided the Young Lions to Euro success last season, has named an 18-man squad for the Elite Round qualifiers, with games against Norway and Romania also coming up this month.

“Tickets have been selling well with only limited availability now in the HTM Products (West) Stand,” said ticket office manager Karen Wood. “If all tickets for this stand are sold, we will open part of the Karen Child (South) Stand.”

The top two teams in the group will seal a place in the UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Bulgaria this coming May.

England Under-17s take on their counterparts from Slovenia at the Proact Stadium in Chesterfield on Monday, March 23 (kick-off 7pm).  Tickets are available to purchase online via www.chesterfield-fc.co.uk/tickets or by calling 01246 488232.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Leisure, Visiting