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.”

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

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.

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.”

A delegation of local business and authority leaders is heading down to London today to negotiate a ground-breaking devolution deal for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.

The consortium of representatives will meet with Greg Clark MP, Minister for Cities, to discuss how the area can take control of key economic drivers including jobs, skills and transport.

If accepted, the proposed devolution deal has the potential to create 55,000 new jobs and 77,000 affordable new homes, transform the area’s digital and transport infrastructure and speed up the planning process and make it more flexible.  It could also lead to the formation of a new £1bn regional business investment bank.

The proposed combined authority will be the first two-tier area to get to this position and, if successful, it could be a model for the future for the rest of the UK.

East Midlands Chamber – the Chamber of Commerce for Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire – coordinated the response from business to several of the initiatives included in the pitch.

Chamber Chief Executive George Cowcher said: “The proposed Devolution Deal for D2N2 is a bold and ambitious pitch from business and local authority partners in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire which, if accepted by Government, will position this part of the East Midlands as a regional powerhouse capable of competing with the likes of Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds.

“The Chamber has played a role in developing and stating the business case for these proposals and ensuring that any key decisions were taken with the interests of local companies in mind.

“What these proposed measures seek to do is maximise the potential of this area. The East Midlands has got one of the UK’s fastest-growing economies which has largely been driven by the businesses we have here in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.

“The deal being pitched for will help to harness and accelerate that growth and in turn, deliver the new jobs, wealth and prosperity that the Government is looking for.”

Councillor Jon Collins, leader of Nottingham City Council, on behalf of Nottinghamshire councils said:

“This level of ambition shows that the region is pushing to be seen alongside the likes of Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds as a regional powerhouse.

“It will give greater influence to local people over decisions which have real affect over their lives and prosperity − decisions which are currently taken in London, often by people with little knowledge of the issues facing local residents and businesses.”

Speaking on behalf of all Derbyshire authorities, Councillor Anne Western, leader of Derbyshire County Council, said:

“The Government needs a better way to work with two tiers of local government and this could be that way.

“It is important to stress that this is not about reorganisation of local councils, nor is it about us asking for additional funding. It is about making sure that the money that is raised locally, is used and invested based on local rather than national priorities. We will work collaboratively to ensure that we have the powers that will give the local area real growth with real jobs and real prosperity.”

Devolution deals are being offered by Government to combined authorities, and Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire are currently seeking to create two new combined authorities covering Derby and Derbyshire and Nottingham and Nottinghamshire by the end of the year.

Any new devolved powers would not be developed until 2017.

Find out more about the proposed Derby and Derbyshire Combined Authority