The Spireites have donated £5,000 to their charity partner for last season, Ashgate Hospicecare.

The club generated funds for Ashgate Hospicecare and raised awareness of the charity’s activities as part of the link-up between the two organisations.

Ashley Carson, Director at Chesterfield Football Club, who presented a cheque to Ashgate Hospicecare at half time in Saturday’s game against Northampton Town, said:-

“We were delighted to be able to hand over a four-figure sum to a charity which touches the lives of so many people in the area. We will continue to support the valuable work being done by Ashgate Hospicecare in whatever way we can.”

Esther Preston, Director of Fundraising and Marketing at Ashgate Hospicecare, gratefully received the cheque. She said:-

”This very generous donation couldn’t have come at a better time as demand for our services continues to grow.

“This will make a big difference to many local people as £5,000 could pay for 100 people to attend our day hospice, which brings comfort and relief to people with any life limiting illness and gives valuable respite to their carers and family.”

The Mayoress of Chesterfield, Jill Mannion-Brunt, paid a special visit to Ashgate Hospicecare last week, not as a visitor but as a volunteer.

The Mayoress, who has lived in Chesterfield since 1989, volunteered on both the Inpatient Unit and Day Hospice throughout the morning serving breakfast and lunch to patients.

The Mayoress said:-

“The whole experience has been absolutely great. If you are thinking about volunteering then please come and do it. It is invaluable not only for the patients but for the staff as well.

“I would just like to reinforce how important it is to have a place like this. The whole recognition of death as part of the life process and the way people should be looked after with ambiguity and that every town should have a place like this. It is just a jewel.”

Lucy Nickson, Chief Executive at Ashgate Hospicecare, said:-

“It was a pleasure welcoming the Mayoress at the hospice and was very generous and kind of her to spend her time volunteering, spending time with patients. We’re extremely grateful to the Mayoress for her support and look forward to her visiting the hospice again in the near future.”

Alan Rhodes, a patient in Ashgate Hospicecare’s Day Hospice, met with the Mayoress and shared stories throughout the morning. He said:-

“It was wonderful to see the Mayoress in the day hospice, chatting to all the patients. She makes a great cup of coffee!”

The Mayoress is in office until May 2017 and plans to support Ashgate Hospicecare in any way which would benefit the hospice.

The Business of the Year accolade at last night’s East Midlands Chamber Derbyshire 2016 Awards was shared between Penny Hydraulics and HUUB Design.

Chesterfield-based Penny Hydraulics is a UK manufacturer of lifting equipment, with its own purpose-built premises housing a manufacturing and assembly plant.

It carries out all design, manufacturing, quality control, aftersales support and nationwide service operation from a central base.

The company entered the awards because it believed that by putting itself forward it would reap benefits and value beyond the trophy and title if lucky enough to win.

It said that being announced as a finalist had given the firm an immediate boost to workplace morale, which gave the company the ideal opportunity to recognise employees for their contribution to the business.

The firms were among 11 to win awards at the gala dinner at Derby’s Roundhouse where the Chamber celebrated the strength and successes of businesses across Derby and Derbyshire. Three other Chesterfield business were recognised at the event with Cathelco being awarded Excellence in International Trade, Banner Jones being awarded Excellence in Customer Service and Northern Lights being awarded Manufacturer of the Year.

Jean Mountain, Chamber President, said:-

“The Chamber’s congratulations go to all of this year’s winners. We had some really good entries and the judging process was extremely tough, but all of the winning businesses thoroughly deserve their success.

“The standard of competition was extremely high, which clearly shows that despite the surprise of the exit vote at the EU Referendum, we have some real success stories of Derbyshire businesses doing well. All of the finalists also deserve recognition for their success.

“Over the past 12 months, businesses in Derbyshire have been busy investing, innovating, exporting and growing and these awards are testament to the quality of businesses we have in this city and county.”

The number of people in work in the East Midlands continues to rise despite fears that the outcome of the EU-Referendum might have caused massive job losses.

Figures released this morning by the Office of National Statistics showed that there were 2,296,242 people in work in the region in the three months to the end of July – 25,957 higher than the previous quarter, 26,462 better than a year earlier and 88,987 higher than two years ago.

The number of people unemployed fell to 102,104 for the quarter to the end of July – 4,126 lower than the previous quarter, 8,872 down on the previous year and 28,417 lower than two years previously.

The unemployment rate for the region dropped to 4.3%, down from 4.5% in the previous quarter and remains well below the 4.9% national level.

And the number of people claiming jobseekers allowance in August stayed the same in comparison to last months figures in Chesterfield

Scott Knowles, Chief Executive at East Midlands Chamber, said:-

“Reports from the recruitment sector since the EU-Referendum had suggested a slump, which makes today’s figures even more positive than might have been expected.

“Far from being negative, these figures show continued confidence from business across virtually the whole region and all sectors and are probably one of the best indicators to date that despite the vote to leave the EU nothing has actually happened yet to the detriment of business.

“Businesses across the East Midlands continue to be the drivers of the regional economy and, by default, the national economy. We make things here in the East Midlands and ship them all over the world, not just to the EU, and we will continue to do so long after we leave the EU.”

Chesterfield Football Club are delighted to announce a deal with a leading local van sales company that will see the West Stand at the Proact Stadium named The Van Yard Stand.

The deal with The Van Yard sees them become a significant partner for the club and they have signed a deal to the end of the 2017/18 season.

The company have recently moved to new premises in Arkwright Town to cope with their increasing trade and linking up with the Spireites will help to enhance their brand awareness.

Chris Allsop, Managing Director of The Van Yard, said:-

“It is a great privilege to agree this sponsorship deal with the football club. We have streamlined our business and moved to new premises this year and the next step is for us to strengthen our commercial exposure in the area. Working with Chesterfield FC will allow us to do this and I look forward to a long and fruitful partnership.”

Richard Nichols, Head of Commercial & Marketing at Chesterfield FC, said:-

“It is fantastic to have an enthusiastic and proactive company like The Van Yard associate their business with us here at Chesterfield Football Club.

“Chris has been a pleasure to deal with and we are both genuinely excited about developing a positive and strong relationship over the next two years. They are a local company who already work closely with the RAC, which demonstrates their lofty ambitions and that matches what we want to achieve here.”

Responding to continued uncertainty in the business community, East Midlands Chamber has partnered with law firm Eversheds to offer a free legal helpline to businesses that have queries on how different aspects of Brexit might impact their activity.

Areas that will be covered by the helpline include:

• Employment issues
• Commercial contracts
• Intellectual Property
• Funding arrangements
• Business structures
• Real estate
• Other operating issues

Chamber members calling the lo-call rate number (0333 456 0480) will be offered one hour’s free over-the-phone advice by an expert from the Eversheds legal team.

The hotline will be managed by the Chamber, which will arrange for an expert from the Eversheds legal team to speak to callers.

Chris Hobson, the Chamber’s Director of Policy, said:-

“It is now 12 weeks since the landmark referendum result for the UK to leave the European Union, and companies remain confused about what will happen as we go through the Brexit process.

“While the full implications will only become clear once formal negotiations begin, there is work that businesses can start doing now in terms of the considerations they should be making with regards to those areas that we know are likely to be affected in some way, or where uncertainty is already having an impact.

“With over half of our members employing someone from a country in the wider EU, the main issue at the moment seems to be managing questions over what the status of these workers will be post-Brexit.

“But our members have also expressed concerns over intellectual property rights, continued funding for projects currently funded by EU money and the possibility of levies being laid against imports and exports.

“Working with Eversheds, we have set up the hotline so that our members can talk to legal experts to ensure that, even if they can’t at this stage have all the answers, they can at least ensure they’re asking the right questions to put themselves in the best possible position to overcome the uncertainty and realise the opportunities that Brexit will bring.”

James Fry, Partner at Eversheds said:-

“We are delighted to be partnering with the Chamber to help its members navigate through the uncertainty of Brexit.

“At Eversheds we are committed to giving clear, straightforward and objective advice on what exit from the EU may mean for businesses in the East Midlands. The issues are not the same for every business and we will ensure that our legal advice is tailored to specific needs.”

Chesterfield based business Cathelco have announced that their Evolution ballast water treatment (BWT) system has begun shipboard testing for U.S. Coast Guard Type Approval.

The system has been installed on the Svendborg Strait a 1085 TEU container ship owned by Carsten Rehder of Hamburg.

Julian Glogowski, Technical Director at Carsten Rehder, said:-

“From the start of this project to the final completion we appreciate the care and attention to detail from Cathelco, leading to a smooth, trouble free installation.

“We are very pleased with the outcome and look forward to continuing our relationship with Cathelco”

Peter Smith, Sales Director of Cathelco, said:-

“The system on the Svendborg Strait was installed a day ahead of schedule within a very confined area, demonstrating the flexibility of the equipment.”

The installation of the Evolution system was undertaken within 8 days at the Norderwerft yard in Hamburg. Commissioning and crew training was carried out on the ship’s first voyage.

Stewart Richard Ayre, Senior Project Manager at MPC Münchmeyer Petersen who oversaw the smooth running of the installation, said:-

“We are proud to be partners with Cathelco as the demand for BWT systems accelerates”

The Evolution system will supersede the original Cathelco BWT system which was launched in 2014 and already has IMO Approval and AMS certification. Prior installations include systems for ships ranging from ro-ro carriers to offshore supply vessels.