Businesses and schools in the area are being urged to work more closely together to address the employment gap.

The appeal came at the recent Employability Skills Conference which was organised by D2N2 Enterprise Advisor Network and Destination Chesterfield, to address the mismatch between employment opportunities in Chesterfield and North Derbyshire and the number of young people coming forward to fill them.

While apprenticeship opportunities in the area have increased, a recent D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership report suggests that only 48% of schools are organising visits to local apprenticeship providers, leaving employers also struggling to fill apprenticeship vacancies.

The first ever Employability Skills Conference, which was attended by more than 80 people, including head teachers, local authority, training providers and employers in the area, aimed to build stronger links between schools and employers to develop the employability skills through the D2N2 Employability Framework that young people need to be successful in their first steps into employment.

Kam Grewal-Joy, Headteacher Parkside community School, Chesterfield, spoke at the conference. She said:-

“I welcomed the opportunity to speak at the conference to highlight the many benefits of schools linking with employers to prepare children for the world of work.  We are always looking to expand the many links we already have with local employers to provide students a new experience.

“At Parkside the learn to work strategy is at the core of our work with young people and their families.  Our mission is to work in partnership with others to equip children with the skills, attitudes and qualifications needed to secure successful careers and to become responsible adults in the future.”

The conference was organised by Gail Widerman, Director of Placing Futures Ltd, a partner of the D2N2’s Employability Framework, in association with Destination Chesterfield and funded through the Careers and Enterprise Company and D2N2.

Gail Widerman commented:-

“We work with both schools and businesses and more and more employers are telling us that they want work ready young people.  I am delighted that so many schools and businesses came on board with Chesterfield’s first Employability Skills Conference and are taking a joint approach to finding a solution and giving young people a very real future in industry.”

Dom Stevens, Destination Chesterfield Manager explained:-

“The conference brought together the education and business communities to address the perceived and real skills gaps before they become an issue. With more than £1billion of investment happening in Chesterfield over the next 10 years it is vital that our young people are work ready and have the skills that employers want. Having a pool of work ready employees is one of the key reasons businesses invest in an area and create jobs.”

At the conference Made in Chesterfield, the annual month-long celebration of the town’s manufacturing and engineering sector organised by Destination Chesterfield, was praised for bringing schools and employers together. A call was also made for business people to get involved with governor roles at local schools.

Following across-the-board business growth of 20 per cent in 2016, Chesterfield-based Mitchells Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers, has made five new appointments.

Chartered Accountant and Sheffield University graduate Emily Coy strengthens the firm’s corporate team. She joins from a local accountancy firm and brings a broad range of experience in a wide variety of business sectors to her new role at Mitchells.

Commenting on her appointment, Emily, who is originally from Somerset, said:-

“The opportunity to join a well-respected and large firm, yet still be hands-on and involved with my own portfolio of clients, attracted me to the role at Mitchells.”

Vaughan Carr from Chesterfield also joins the firms as an AAT accredited Senior Accountant. Alongside Emily, his appointment supports Mitchells’ current growth while a further three new appointments will support future business development and the firm’s commitment to developing talent from within the firm.

Connie Shaw, from Sheffield joins as an AAT Apprentice and Mathew Nutt from Owlthorpe joins as a Tax and Employer Solutions Apprentice, working with Mitchells’ Small Business and Tax and Payroll teams respectively.

Completing the new appointment line-up is Abigail Chadburn, who joins from Sheffield Hallam University on a 12-month undergraduate placement and will be supporting Mitchells’ Corporate Services team.

The addition of Auto Enrolment services to Mitchells’ portfolio last year has contributed to the firm’s growth and also helped enable the firm to attract new clients.

Mitchells has also experienced significant growth in its corporate business, working with current high growth clients and attracting new clients who are looking to access finance and grant funding.

Over the last eighteen months, Mitchells has secured in excess of £75 million for businesses across Derbyshire, including Chesterfield-based care home group Hill Care, which the firm secured a £26 million finance package earlier this year to enable it to expand the business further nationally.

Richard Trueman, Managing Partner of Mitchells Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers, commenting on the new appointments and firm’s strong performance in 2016, said:-

“Mitchells goes into 2017 in impressive shape. We have an excellent team made stronger by our recent appointments. We are now looking to make further senior appointments within the firm during 2017.”

The recent appointments recognise Mitchells’ commitment to ensuring over capacity in employee numbers to ensure its staff have a work/life balance. This commitment, alongside its investment in staff training and development, led to Mitchells being shortlisted for the People Development Awards in the 2016 East Midlands Chamber and Derbyshire Times Business Awards earlier this year.

The UK Asbestos Training Association (UKATA) is celebrating after a double victory at the Derbyshire Times Business Awards on 10 November. An audience of local business leaders, assembled at the Casa Hotel, saw UKATA awarded ‘Highly Commended’ in the Small Business of the Year category and UKATA General Manager Craig Evans named Business Person of the Year.

Held annually, The Derbyshire Times Business Awards recognise and celebrate the very best in local business and commerce and this double success is recognition of a highly successful 2016 for UKATA. The Markham Vale office has spearheaded a series of successful national initiatives, including Train Safe, Work Safe, Keep Safe; with UKATA members offering free asbestos awareness training to small businesses throughout the country.

Craig Evans, UKATA General Manager, commenting on the awards said:-

“I am obviously delighted to have been named as Business Person of the Year.

“However, my award, and the commendation in the Business of the Year category are fitting recognition of all the hard work of both my colleagues and our members this year. It is a proud moment for me personally and UKATA collectively and we certainly couldn’t have made the progress we have this year without the backing of a great team.”

While UKATA is a national organisation with members throughout the UK, the Association does a great deal of work in the region, both on asbestos awareness and training and in support of local charities.

Craig continued:-

“At UKATA we recognise the importance of playing an active role in the local region, both in terms of asbestos awareness and supporting local charities.

“It’s great these awards recognise the contribution of both individuals and organisations like UKATA in the local community. We joined Chesterfield Champions to support efforts to raise the profile of the town and these Awards demonstrated there are a lot of really impressive businesses and business people operating in this area, and we are proud to be among their number.”

On November 11 2016, Morclean Ltd travelled to the Houses of Parliament in London to attend the Green Apple Awards for Environmental Best Practice. The Green Apple Awards, which are sponsored by the Environment Agency, are dedicated to recognising, rewarding and promoting environmental best practice around the world.

Morclean Ltd, based in Staveley won not one, but two awards at the glittering presentation where other like-minded companies, councils and communities attended to receive recognition.

Morclean, specialists in a wide range of industrial cleaning equipment, had two products up for an honour in this year’s awards including the popular WashPad vehicle wash system and the LowFlow pressure cleaning system. Both of the systems left the award ceremony with an accolade and received a silver award each.

Peter Morley, Managing Director at Morclean, said:-

“The aim here at Morclean is to always develop products that are more friendly for the environment and promote these the best way possible. This will be the 4^th Green Apple Award we will have received and we always enjoy the recognition presented to companies that work to help the environment.

“We wish to thank everyone involved in the Green Apples Awards and look forward to continuing to develop and launch products that the environmentally-minded love.”