Chesterfield Champion, BHP Chartered Accountants, has achieved the top Gold Award rating from the prestigious Investor in Customers (IIC) accreditation.

BHP increased on its previous score achieved in 2015, when it was one of just 15% of firms in the country to achieve a top rating when first undergoing the rigorous accreditation process.

IIC independently assesses client satisfaction levels for businesses across all industries through the use of anonymous surveys undertaken with clients, employees and other business connections.

The questionnaires looked at a wide range of areas, from how well customer needs are understood and met, to how happy they feel with the service they receive. Other criteria assessed included how easy it is to do business with BHP, how likely a customer is to make a referral, and the quality of the experience and relationship.

Areas that were scored the highest across all offices by clients included the quality of the relationship with BHP and how fairly customers felt they are treated. Excellent communication was also highlighted as particularly strong, and clients described the firm as being friendly, efficient, reliable and highly competent.

John Warner, Managing Partner at BHP, says:-

“It’s vital that our customers feel valued and that they are getting a service that makes a genuine difference to their business and personal goals. Our aim is to ensure that the high standards we are renowned for are maintained and improved upon. To have increased our rating this year with an IIC Gold Award accreditation is a testament to the hard work of each and every one of our 300-strong team.”

BHP was assessed over a five week period with direct and online feedback from clients, staff and senior management as well as additional desk research which was carried out by an IIC assessor.

Tony Barritt, Managing Director of IIC, says:-

“Following the 2015 Investor in Customers assessment, the team at BHP worked hard to put in place the improvements which were identified at the feedback session. Their latest assessment has shown clear evidence of the success of these initiatives with increased scores across all teams, and a consistent and high-level of customer experience in all offices.”

Chesterfield Champions, Whittam Cox Architects, have been appointed as the first design practice in the Sheffield City Region to play a key role in the transformation of Park Hill.

The practice are working on proposals for phase three of the ambitious regeneration scheme that will add student accommodation to the mix of commercial and other residential uses at the Grade II listed high rise blocks.

Based at Sheepbridge, Chesterfield, Whittam Cox Architects are building a growing student housing portfolio across the UK, alongside contracts for major residential, commercial and leisure developments.

At Park Hill, they introduced student specialist Alumno Developments to regeneration company Urban Splash in a partnership that will deliver 350 student bedrooms for occupation in the 2020/21 academic year.

The student phase is being designed around groups of predominantly four and eight bedrooms with a range of unit sizes to offer students a spectrum of rents to suit different budgets.  Units will have shared living space in a unique three-storey ‘townhouse’ model that will add a distinct yet complementary neighbourhood to Park Hill.

Nick Riley, Board Director at Whittam Cox Architects commented:-

“Park Hill is captivating and infectious; its original design has timeless value and integrity architecturally. Our responsibility is to interpret what is there and create a design response which ensures a long-term future for the fabric of this historically important asset, whilst also seeking to promote a sustainable and diverse community. Being part of the Park Hill story is a genuine privilege for us, especially as so many of our team and their families live in the city.”

David Campbell, Managing Director at Alumno also commented:-

“This is a special project and we are very grateful for the opportunity to be part of the regeneration of Park Hill. The Estate has an amazing historical structure and importance for Sheffield, and we would like to make a positive contribution to its vibrancy and future life.”

Mark Latham, Regeneration Director of Manchester-based Urban Splash, added:-

“We always intended to create a mixed community at Park Hill. With the first phase complete and fully occupied we now have hundreds of people from mixed backgrounds and all ages living and working at Park Hill. We are so pleased to see a mutual respect and support reflected in the events and activities they create together with other residents in the area. We look forward to students being a significant and positive part of that community.”

Shorts are delighted to announce the appointment of Tony Richardson as the latest member of the team.

Having previously worked for Sage and more recently software provider ‘Exact’, Tony joins as Senior Exact Consultant within the firms Software Projects Team.

Malcolm Pope, Partner at Shorts, commenting on Tony’s appointment:-

“I am delighted that someone with Tony’s skills and experience has joined to the team.   This is another important step in the growth of the firm and we are confident that he will contribute significantly to the future success of our clients and the firm as a whole.”

Tony added:-

“I am absolutely thrilled to have joined the team here at Shorts. Having worked alongside Shorts in my previous role at Exact, when they approached me with this opportunity it felt like a great fit. I am excited to bring my experience to such a forward-thinking firm as part of a software projects team that are passionate about providing clients with the right solution for their business.”

With the onset of cloud accounting with the likes of Xero, QuickBooks and Exact challenging the more established accounting systems providers like Sage, there has been a growing appetite in recent years in the SME market to embrace these technologies. Shorts were the amongst the first to fully embrace the potential of cloud based systems, and became the region’s first Platinum Xero Partners. Building on that, Shorts recently announced the formation of a dedicated Software Project’s Team to support clients through the adopting process of cloud accounting such as Xero and Exact.

The Software Projects Team have created a number of industry specific solutions for clients and see Exact as particularly suitable for those in manufacturing and distribution.

The team is unique within local accountancy practices and can provide solutions to any accounting challenges; making internal processes more efficient and implementing systems to get the best set up for each business.  The team quickly identify the specific requirements of each business and ensures they get the right systems in place for their business and budgets, providing one-to-one training sessions as required.

In January 2018, Chesterfield Champions UK Asbestos Training Association marks a decade since the Association was first established to manage training providers for licenced asbestos work and monitor standards.

The last ten years have seen profound changes for both UKATA and the wider world and while enormous strides have been made in asbestos training and awareness in the last decade, more remains to be done.

UKATA is marking ten years of asbestos training and safety with a series of special events and initiatives throughout 2018, including a special AGM, awards, additional charity work and an expansion of the Train Safe, Work Safe, Keep Safe campaign, which has already delivered thousands of hours of free asbestos awareness training across the country to those who otherwise have been unable to access it.

Craig Evans, General Manager at UKATA, said:-

“In January 2008, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) passed responsibility for managing the list of training providers for licenced asbestos work to UKATA, tasking us with monitoring training standards.

“Ten years on, UKATA has evolved from the original brief to fill the vacuum that existed in asbestos training, to offer our support and expertise to educate the nation on asbestos awareness.”

Back in 1999, asbestos was banned after the Government pledged to “deal effectively with the problems of asbestos”, but eight years on, millions of public buildings still contained the substance. The HSE Asbestos Training Providers’ Working Group (ATPWG) directed training enquiries to available providers but it was clear more needed to be done. The need for change was recognised and the formation of a training body was suggested, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Craig added:-

“Until asbestos related deaths are consigned to history, UKATA has a key role to play until asbestos is consigned to history.

“A decade down the line, asbestos remains a hidden killer, despite the latest HSE figures for 2015 showing over 5,000 asbestos related deaths keeping asbestos in top spot as the biggest killer in the UK workplace. UKATA has built on the vision of our founders to improve the wider health and safety landscape. Yet with these figures projected to remain the same for the next decade, now is the time to redouble efforts to seeing a significant fall in the number of deaths from asbestos related illnesses like mesothelioma.”

UKATA is the leading authority for asbestos training provision in the United Kingdom. Tasked by the HSE in 2008 to manage the licensed asbestos training providers, UKATA has gone from strength to strength and now has over 180 member organisations from all corners of the UK.

World-class facilities for high-level technical education in the Sheffield City Region (SCR) today received a boost of more than £1.2million in a bid to improve productivity across the region.

Five grants have been approved by the Combined Authority for education centres to purchase advanced equipment needed for learning in science, technology, engineering, and maths – known as ‘STEM’. These higher skills are badly needed in the digital, automotive and construction sectors.

Chesterfield College receives £243,000 to develop a Digital Skills Hub which will teach software, games, networking and hardware development, and develop digital content for college programmes. Over 10 years this will support 5,700 learners with 2,300 estimated to find work subsequently, and provide a £38milion boost to the economy.

Nigel Brewster, Vice Chairman of the SCR’s Local Enterprise Partnership, said:-

“This is a massive boost to productivity across the City Region. Our ethos is about creating jobs and economic growth, and these are just the sort of schemes that will continue putting our economy back on its feet.

“They’re practical, and they are in areas where they will produce results. We’ve worked closely with our partners to underpin their drive to make courses dynamic and fit for the future. We’re providing the equipment for hands-on skills learning.

“It’s an intelligent way to put our funding to use. In the Sheffield City Region, we get things done in an honest, no-nonsense way – this is helping us to build a truly competitive centre of business excellence.”

The Combined Authority also agreed to give £500,000 to Sheffield Hallam University to increase space and equipment for 10,800 learners on digital degree apprenticeship courses over a decade, generating £50million for the economy and seeing an estimated 2,300 being employed subsequently. The university plans to be a ‘business ready’ institution and to launch a centre of excellence for degree apprenticeships.

Students at the RNN Group, (which includes North Notts, Dearne Valley and Rotherham colleges), will soon be working ‘hands-on’ on the futuristic technologies of hybrid and electric vehicles thanks to a £185,000 grant. This will help to fill a shortfall in skilled technicians and provide opportunities for adults looking to re-train or upskill.

The National Fluid Power Centre in Worksop won £132,500 for equipment which will help students receive more in-depth technical training on the advanced integrated systems (combining hydraulics, pneumatics, electronic and controls) used in manufacturing, packaging, control technologies, sensor technology and online monitoring.

And The Sheffield College has been awarded £154,700 to purchase specialist equipment to answer the increased demand in the construction industry for higher level skills in estimating, design, quantity surveying, and site supervision, plus digital ‘literacy’. Some funding will go to simulation software such as a virtual reality welder, and pneumatic and hydraulic simulation.