Firm foundations laid over the past four years have paved the way for an even brighter and more secure future for tourism in the Peak District and Derbyshire.

That was the message from the incoming Chairman of official tourist board Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire, Paul Jones, as he took over the helm from outgoing Chairman Paul Roden this week (Friday May 25).

“Since Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire was reorganised in 2014, so much has been achieved to keep it moving forward to address the ever-changing demands and challenges of the competitive tourism industry,” said Paul, Marketing & Communications Director of The Camping and Caravanning Club, one of the tourist board’s Patrons.

“During Paul Roden’s chairmanship, huge progress has been made in putting the tourist board on a sustainable financial footing, creating a responsive infrastructure to take it forward and devising and taking part in creative and innovative marketing campaigns to attract more staying visitors from both the UK and overseas.

“I’ll be looking to consolidate and build upon the hard work that has already been done, by supporting Managing Director Jo Dilley and her outstanding team to offer an even more effective service in the future.”

Since 2014, Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire has:

• Secured £1.49 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to fund a comprehensive, three-year business support programme, currently being delivered until March 2019
• Successfully bid – with a range of other tourist boards and partners – for around £5.2 million from VisitBritain’s Discover England Fund to bring in more staying visitors from key overseas markets such as Australia, China, Germany, The Netherlands and the USA
• Revamped and relaunched its website to make it more customer friendly and responsive when searching for accommodation, attractions, activities and events in the area
• Run carefully targeted multi-media marketing campaigns, such as ‘The Land to Forget Time’ (aimed at affluent 25- to 35-year-olds) and the current #Unique District (aimed at a variety of audiences, including millennials, empty nesters, groups and camping and caravanning enthusiasts)
• Organised scores of educational visits for national and international media, online influencers and travel trade buyers across the UK and in key overseas markets – including leading titles such as The Times and Sunday Times, The Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph and The Guardian, plus growing markets such as China, Germany and the USA
• Restructured its skilled and committed team to heighten the area’s profile at home and abroad and provide an even better service for visitors, members, Patrons and public and private sector partners

Added Paul: “I’m delighted to take over the role of Chairman at such a pivotal time for the tourist board. Our two organisations have had a long and mutually beneficial relationship – we work very creatively together and complement each other.

”Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire was the first tourist board we actively partnered with, and our strong working links have been so successful that we have used them as a blueprint for working with other destination management organisations across the UK.

“I will be aiming to bring added value in areas such as membership, finance and partnership working. I’m also keen to actively support the tourist board’s mission to encourage more people to come and stay here and to extend their stays, so that they spend more in the local economy to support jobs and boost overall prosperity – that’s very important.

“I want to be an effective ambassador for the organisation and for the Peak District and Derbyshire, and am both excited by, and very much looking forward to, the challenge.”

Outgoing Chairman Paul Roden, owner of Losehill House Hotel & Spa, Hope, who took up the post in June 2014, said: “The past four years have proved to be a busy and rewarding phase for Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire, as it successfully negotiated a period of transition after reorganisation in late 2014 to keep pace with the constantly evolving tourism market.

“It’s been a privilege and a pleasure to be part of this crucial phase in its development, and I would like to thank all the members of its small, but dedicated team for their  hard work and commitment, as well as all our public and private sector partners, Patrons and members for their continuing loyalty and support.

“I wish them and my successor, Paul Jones, every success as they embark on another exciting phase to further develop and grow the tourism sector for the benefit of local businesses, residents and the local and regional economy.”

Leading national consultancy Commercial Property Partners LLP (CPP) has secured three new occupants for Wilson Business Park, a speculatively developed 13-unit scheme at Markham Vale in Chesterfield, with a further 4 units currently under offer.

The units, ranging from 1,200 – 3050 sq. ft. are available to buy, presenting a unique opportunity in the market for businesses looking to own a building on Derbyshire’s flagship business park. The scheme was recently developed by Priority Space in conjunction with Hunt Group and designed to address  a chronic shortage of high quality SME business space in the region.

New occupant Direct Track Solutions (DTS) has agreed a long-term lease on Unit 1 after the building was purchased ‘off plan’ by an investor. DTS manufacture products for the rail sector and have now taken occupation of a 1,450 sq ft unit.

Shotblast Solutions Ltd, the second new occupant on the estate, has purchased Unit 14, totalling 1,250 sq ft, the company provides parts to the surface preparation industry, along with 24/7 repairs and maintenance services for shot blasting machines.

Magpie Beauty, an online retailer of beauty products, will occupy Unit 9. The 2,300 sq ft unit at Wilson Business Park will form their new HQ and distribution depot.

All new occupants will join the wider Markham Vale site, a key employment site in the region which has attracted likes of Ready Egg, Gould Alloys, Inspirepac, Meter Provida, Great Bear and Ferdinand Bilstein, all of which have committed to large scale warehousing and distribution facilities on the park.

Stuart Waite, sole marketing agent on the scheme commented:-

“We are delighted to welcome the first occupiers into Wilson Business Park, and we hope to be in a position to announce further deals in the near future, with a further four units currently under offer.

“The accessible nature of the scheme, being just off J29a M1, the quality of the units and the option to buy has been a key driver of demand. For companies needing a location to service a customer base across the region, and even the UK, the units at Wilson Business Park are ideal.”

Lee Buchanan of Priority Space commented:-

“We feel the deals completed up to this point provide a real endorsement of our decision to speculatively develop a scheme of this nature on one of the region’s flagship business parks. It’s great to see activity on the site and we are confident this will lead to further concluded deals in the near future.”

Wilson Business Park forms part of the wider Markham Vale regeneration area, which benefits from its own dedicated M1 motorway junction, Junction 29a – just 5 miles east of Chesterfield and approximately 20 miles from Sheffield, Nottingham and Derby. Markham Vale is a 200 acre employment led scheme being delivered by Henry Boot in partnership with Derbyshire County Council.

Chesterfield Champion, Whittam Cox Architects, have been listed in the fifth edition of London Stock Exchange Group’s ‘1000 companies to Inspire Britain’ report, published this month.

The report is a celebration of the UK’s fastest-growing and most dynamic small and medium sized businesses across the UK. To be included in the list, companies needed to show consistent revenue growth over a minimum of three years, significantly outperforming their industry peers.

Of the 1000 companies listed, around 40% are based in London/South East. The East Midlands and Yorkshire region, where Whittam Cox Architects are based, represents 14% of companies listed. Less than 10 Architects practices were listed in total.

The report states that creative industries continue to live up to their name by being one of the most innovative parts of the UK economy, generating an estimated £10.5m every hour and employing 3 million people. Creative industries have also been growing twice as fast as the whole economy in recent years; with a 7.6% increase in the sector’s gross value in 2016 alone. And, while the industry is often associated with the London tech sector, in fact, two-thirds of creative industries jobs are outside the capital, in areas as diverse as architecture music, fashion and museums.

The report has been supported cross-party from leading politicians, including The Rt Hon Theresa May MP who provided opening commentary in the report. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond MP also attended the official launch of the Report on the 15^th May.

Nick Riley, Board director at the practice, commented:-

“We are genuinely delighted to have been recognised in this impressive publication; particularly in the context of its multi-sector national spread. We have put a huge amount of time and energy into redefining and shaping our business direction over the last three years. Whilst change process can of course be challenging at times, we believe we have created a strategic and operational model which will hopefully sustain us for the long-term.”

Ashley Turner, CEO at the practice, added:-

“As an Architect’s practice, our success is defined by our people, who are the reason for our ongoing success and we are grateful to everybody, both within and associated with our business, for supporting us along the way.”

Nikhil Rathi, CEO at the London Stock Exchange Plc, added:-

“We warmly congratulate all of the companies identified in this year’s ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain’ report. Five years on, the report continues to demonstrate the strength and diversity of British businesses across the country. These dynamic companies are the backbone of our economy, playing an important role in the UK’s ability to innovate, export and grow.”

A full searchable database of all of the companies along with a downloadable pdf of the publication can be found online at www.1000companies.com

A second date has been announced for a free seminar to steer small and medium-sized enterprises through the HS2 procurement process.

The new event was added after the first ‘sold out’ within 24 hours.

Organised by East Midlands Chamber in partnership with HS2, places at the first event were snapped up by firms looking for ways to cash in on the huge infrastructure project.

With a waiting list of over 50 delegates, the Chamber and HS2, along with the D2N2 Growth Hub, decided to repeat the event.

Once up and running, HS2 will not only improve passenger and freight capacity on rail routes through the East Midlands but will contribute about £4bn a year to the GVA of the region and parts of Yorkshire.

But there will also be billions of pounds worth of opportunities for regional businesses during the construction of the new rail line.

The procurement event highlights the wide range of works, products and services needed before, during and after construction and are more than just civil engineering and rail related.

Ian Bates, the Chamber’s Sector Forums Manager, said:-

“Demand for the first event was incredible and every place was filled within 24 hours of it being announced. We had over 50 people on a waiting list, so decided to run the event again and are pleased to be working with the D2N2 Growth Hub to make this happen.

“HS2 will be transformational for the region and it’s important that local firms know how to identify and grab the opportunities it will offer. Those opportunities exist today, will grow during the construction of the line and continue long after the trains start running.

“But there is a process that firms must follow and unless they know what it is they will either arrive too late at the party for the best of the buffet or simply miss out altogether and we want to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Matthew Wheatley, Interim Chief Executive at the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, said:-

“HS2 presents a fantastic opportunity for Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and the wider East Midlands.

“With our excellent construction, transport equipment and supply chain manufacturing businesses, the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire area has a lot to bring to the table where HS2 is concerned, but it’s also important that businesses in our area are ready to seize the opportunities HS2 offers.”

Examples of opportunities that sit outside the larger civil engineering, railway systems and rolling stock elements of the project include landscaping, tree surgery, wildlife habitat and woodland relocation, telecoms, site office and compound works, site security, signage, CCTV, traffic surveys and management, ground investigation, drone surveys, labour and staff wellbeing, plant hire, aggregates, ducts and pipework, pest control, specialist photography and more.

The #Fit4HS2 event will be held at Chesterfield’s Proact Stadium on 14 June. It is underwritten by the European Regional Development Fund through the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership’s Growth Hub.