Business

Scott Knowles appointed as Chamber Chief Executive

Scott Knowles has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of East Midlands Chamber (Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire).

He had been the Chamber’s Acting Chief Executive since his predecessor, George Cowcher, stepped down in July.

Scott joined the Chamber in 1999. Over the past 16 years, he has managed multiple initiatives, including capital infrastructure projects and programmes to support the creation of new businesses and to boost access to finance.

He was responsible for developing the Chamber’s enterprise and business support products and services, its back office functions – including ICT and finance, its property portfolio and its managed workspace offer. He represents the interests of the business community on a number of public and private sector groups and bodies across Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.

He said: “I am excited by this opportunity. The organisation has gone through a number of significant changes since the merger between the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire Chambers in 2013, and there are exciting times ahead for the Chamber and the region.

“We can look forward to growing our membership base and enhancing the products and services we offer to businesses across the three counties.”

Chamber President Liz Fothergill CBE, on behalf of the Chamber’s Board of Directors, who expressed their total confidence in the proposal that Mr Knowles be appointed as permanent Chief Executive, added: “I’m delighted to appoint Scott as the Chamber’s new Chief Executive. The Chamber has made a huge amount of progress since the merger, with the support of his senior leadership team, will ensure that the Chamber can continue to add real value to the business community here in the East Midlands.”

Scott-Knowles East Midlands Chamber

Posted in Business

Skills review to create best local job opportunities for students

Business leaders from Local Enterprise Partnership Sheffield City Region have come together with nine local colleges including Chesterfield College to review the area’s future economic and educational needs.

The Area Based Review (ABR) takes place as the LEP negotiates proposals with Government on a second devolution deal, which would see further powers and funding handed to local leaders to create 70,000 jobs and 6,000 new businesses over the next decade.

An ABR Steering Group has been set up to oversee the Review and it will be co-chaired by private sector LEP Board members Julie Kenny and Nigel Brewster. The Group will be made up of Chairs of Governors from the ten Sheffield City Region colleges, supported by their chief executives and/or principals. Government commissioners and representatives from Education Funding Agency (EFA) and Skills Funding Agency (SFA) will also make up the Group.

Julie Kenny (CBE), ABR Steering Group co-chair, said: “Our Review is being designed to grow the local economy and ensure that young college leavers in Sheffield City Region are getting the skills that our local businesses need, now and in the future. Improving opportunities for local young people to get the qualifications to succeed is at the heart of this work.”

Nigel Brewster, ABR Steering Group co-chair, said: “This Review will give local leaders and colleges a firmer business case as we negotiate greater control over funding and powers from Westminster. I’m looking forward to working closely with these nine high quality colleges to make sure our skills provision and business needs are the closest match possible.”

The nine Colleges involved are already working together collaboratively and in a joint statement said: “We will be actively involved in the area review and work with all of the stakeholders to achieve the best possible outcome for further education provision in the Sheffield City Region. There is an opportunity to increase our contribution to employers by addressing skills gaps and supporting regional economic growth which, in turn, will help to create jobs and careers for our students, and support our local communities.”

The first Sheffield City Region ABR Steering Group will take place on Monday 28 September and the Review is expected to be completed by Spring 2016 with recommendations being followed over the next four years. Sheffield City Region is among the first wave of areas in the UK to undertake an ABR, alongside Birmingham and Greater Manchester.

Sheffield City Region

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business

Packaging and printing firm inspirepac opens new premises at Markham Vale

Around 150 jobs are set to be created at Chesterfield-based inspirepac now the packaging and printing specialist has opened a new multi-million pound premises at Markham Vale.

The new 100,250 sq ft unit is the firm’s latest addition, with sites also based at Sheepbridge, Dronfield, Wetherby, Yorkshire and Cheshire.

inspirepac Chief Executive Chris Marples said:

“We’re really pleased with our new premises. Despite tight timescales and the scale of this project, Henry Boot Developments have helped us deliver an environmentally friendly and energy efficient building that suits the needs of our business perfectly.

“The process was seamless, and the result − a first class job. We’d recommend Henry Boot Developments to anyone looking to bring business into the area.”

The company, which has multiple sites across the UK, manufactures a full range of corrugated cardboard from basic transit and protective cases to specialist retail-ready packaging for well-known brands including PepsiCo, Bacardi, Thorntons, Kimberley Clark, 3M and Unilever.

Derbyshire County Council’s Leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Policy, Economic Development and Budget, Councillor Anne Western said:

“We’re pleased to welcome inspirepac to Markham Vale and the extra jobs they will bring to the area.

“We’ve already generated around 730 new full-time jobs on-site and inspirepac will provide a further boost to employment locally.”

She added:

“It’s a busy time for Markham Vale with more businesses being attracted to the site and the excellent transport links it has to offer.

“Work to develop the Markham Vale North section of the site is progressing well and our Environment Centre expansion is complete offering more opportunities for smaller businesses to move to Markham.”

inspirepac’s new premises was designed and built by private sector developer, Henry Boot Developments after securing a 20 year lease at the site.

Ben Ward from Henry Boot Developments commented:

“inspirepac is the latest business to join our Markham Vale site and we’re delighted to welcome them on board. This deal was a particularly positive one for both parties as it involved building a very specific and purpose built site to support an expanding successful business. The past 12 months have been remarkable, with seven major deals taking place, and we are sure interest will continue to follow as a result of the recent activity.”

inspirepac joins Gould Alloys, AW Repair Group, MSE Hiller, Squadron Medical, Industrial Ancillaries, Andrew Page, Holdsworth Foods and Ready Egg Products on the site, which is one of the UK’s biggest Enterprise Zone developments.

Markham Vale

Posted in Business

‘Leading Firm’ status awarded to Banner Jones

Banner Jones Solicitors is celebrating this week after receiving ‘Leading Firm’ status in the UK Legal 500 for the third year running.

Ann-Marie Lowe, Marketing Manager comments: “Being a Legal 500 firm is a great accolade for the business, and we are one of the few law firms in Chesterfield to have received a ranking.

“The Leading Firm status is based on our outstanding Family Law and Personal Injury teams who both received individual rankings in the 2015 edition.

“The competition is always fierce across the region which makes it all the more meaningful for us to have been included.”

Three members of the team have also received the prestigious ‘Recommended Lawyer’ status within the guide, including Helena Downing who has been included for a second time thanks to her deserved reputation in childcare work, and executive directors, Simon Wright and Robert Banner who both specialise in personal injury.

Simon comments, “I am delighted to have received the ‘Recommended Lawyer’ status again and I am very proud of the business for achieving this ranking as it highlights our specialism and expertise in these areas. It is wonderful thing to have been given this recommendation from such a highly regarded publication”.

Images show Helena Downing and Simon Wright from the Banner Jones team.

Banner Jones

Posted in Business

Employment continues to rise in Chesterfield

The number of people out of work and claiming job seeker’s allowance in Chesterfield fell again in August, according to figures released this morning.

There were 1071 JSA claimants in Chesterfield – 84 fewer than in July and 540 fewer than a year ago.

Chesterfield is now below the national average for the percentage of claimants for the first time since records began in 2006.

In the East Midlands as a whole, the number of people in employment increased over the three months to the end of July to 2,172,663, a rise of 18,539 compared with the 2,154,124 in the previous three months.

The employment rate for the region over the same periods rose from 74.4% to 75% and unemployment dropped from 5% to 4.8%.

Scott Knowles, Acting Chief Executive of East Midlands Chamber, said: “Yet again, Derby and Derbyshire are recording strong employment growth. That is excellent news, especially as there will have been a cohort of 18-year-olds leaving school this summer – the first since the school-leaving age was increased from 16 – and appearing on the figures for the first time.

“What is important is that these jobs are sustainable, which means they must be created alongside improvements in productivity [output per employee] if regional growth is to be sustained.

“Over the next few months we can expect to see a spike in employment as companies recruit temporary staff, some on zero hours contracts, to cope with the Christmas rush.

“What we must hope is that, come the new year and the end of those contracts, we don’t see a large dip in employment or spike in JSA claimants.”

Chesterfield Market

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business

Aviva Secures landmark deal at Markham Vale

Henry Boot Developments has recently completed the sale of two distribution and industrial investments at Markham Vale in Derbyshire, to Aviva Insurance, for a price reflecting a net initial yield of 5.3%.

The newly constructed properties comprise a 100,000 sq ft manufacturing facility let to Smurfit Kappa, which is currently occupied by inspirepac, a national corrugated packaging company acquired from the Logson Group in 2014.

The sales also include the 52,000 sq ft distribution warehouse at Markham Vale West which is let to Gould Alloys, one of the fastest growing specialist metals stockholders in the country. The sale to Aviva follows the successful £36million forward funding deal of Great Bear’s 480,000 sq ft new distribution facility by M&G Real Estate earlier this year.

Ben Ward, Director at Henry Boot Developments, said “The demand for these fully let investments demonstrates the confidence in Markham Vale as a location of choice for both occupiers and investors.

We are extremely pleased with the recent deals announced this year, and with our next phase of development currently underway, we are offering a wealth of opportunities for investors and occupiers at Markham Vale.”

Markham Vale’s strategic location adjacent to Junction 29a of the M1 alongside its Enterprise Zone status has seen excellent levels of take up over the last couple of years. The next phase of development, Markham Vale North, is currently being prepared for development and there is already a strong interest from a number of parties for large scale distribution buildings.”

Burbage Realty and JLL represented Henry Boot Developments in the latest Aviva investment deal.

 

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Development

East Midlands Chamber Welcomes Rail Franchise Extension

East Midlands Trains has secured an investment of around £13m from the Department for Transport to improve services for customers as part of a new rail franchise.

The current East Midlands Trains franchise was due to end in October and the operator had been in discussions with the DfT for a number of months about a Direct Award to the franchise.

Stagecoach, East Midlands Trains’ parent company, has now secured an agreement with the DfT that will see services continue to run until at least March 2018.

Chris Hobson, Director of Policy at East Midlands Chamber*, said: “This is fantastic news for the region and for one of our key members, East Midlands Trains, which will ensure that rail passengers can continue to access the same award-winning service for at least the next two-and-a-half years.

“The announcement of this franchise agreement is timely, given that the Chamber is leading a delegation of business – including East Midlands Trains – and local authority leaders to Westminster today to meet with local MPs and get their support for the electrification of the Midlands Main Line, which is currently on hold.

“The Midlands region, and the East Midlands in particular, has created jobs at a faster rate than anywhere else in the country over the past 18 months and has been a significant driver of the growth of the UK economy from recession to recovery. Businesses here stand ready to push the economy forward again, but they need support.

“The electrification of the Midlands Main Line is critical to the delivery of a modern, cost effective and reliable transport system serving the economy of the East Midlands and should proceed without delay.”

East Midlands Chamber logo

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business

Twist magazine publishers up for two national awards

The company behind a series of north Derbyshire glossy magazines – including Chesterfield’s Twist magazine -has once again been shortlisted in two categories at the 2015 Magazine Publishers’ Awards.

Director Mike Firth said: “We’ve come away from the awards night with trophies for the past two years and we would be delighted to make it a hat-trick this year.

“But there has been a 64% increase in the number of entries this time around, so competition is fierce and we’re delighted to have been shortlisted.”

Heron Publications has been selected in both the ‘Best Social Media’ class – partly due to their busy ‘Dronfield Eye’ facebook content – and also for ‘Best General Interest Editorial’, recognising the quality of journalist Deborah Wain’s feature looking at 100th anniversary of the Women’s Institute.

Last year, Heron Publications Ltd was Runner-Up in the ‘Best Magazine Editorial’ category and in 2013 the company was Runner-Up in the ‘Best Magazine Front Covers’ section.

This year’s winners will be announced by the Association of Independent Magazine Publishers on October 2nd.

(Image shows Mike Firth at the 2014 Magazine Publishers Awards.)

Mike Firth Heron Publications

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business

Banner Jones invests in staff development

Three employees at Banner Jones Solicitors have been given the opportunity to progress onto solicitor training contracts following their successes as paralegals within the firm.

Laura Barlow, Stacey Lee and Natalie Barnett started their formal training this month and all expect to qualify within two years after building up experience across three practice areas.

Chris Sellars, Director of Human Resources said: “As a firm we recognise that investing in our staff is the best way for us to secure our future. Our people are ultimately responsible for delivering the high levels of quality legal advice we have become known for and it is crucial we have a training and development plan in place.”

Laura Barlow, whose training contract begins within business legal services, joined the business in 2012 after finishing her Law degree or LPC. Laura had previously completed some work experience with the firm in 2011.  Laura started working as a secretary in the Mansfield Family Law team and was then promoted to paralegal in 2014 when she moved into the business legal services team in Chesterfield where she works today.

Stacey Lee joined Banner Jones on a temporary contract following a 2 week work experience. She then became a part time employee whilst finishing her degree.  Stacey finished her LPC in June 2012 and began full time work soon after. She began working as a paralegal in Bolsover, moving to the Chesterfield office last year to lead a busy team of 3. Stacey starts her training contract within residential property but will move to the private client team shortly.

Natalie Barnett joined the office in Mansfield in 2013 after finishing her LPC.  She progressed quickly to assisting with a caseload in the residential property team and then moved to the Chesterfield residential property department where she was then promoted to paralegal. Natalie has now moved into Family law where her training contract begins in the Ilkeston and Derby offices.

Chris adds “All three thoroughly deserve the opportunity and we wish them all the very best during their training”.

Training contracts Banner Jones

Posted in Business

East Midlands firms still confident about creating jobs

East Midlands firms are more optimistic than their national counterparts about their employment prospects for the rest of the year, according to figures released today.

The latest national Manpower Employment Outlook Survey showed a balance of plus 10% between the percentage of employers in the East Midlands which plan to hire additional workers over the coming three months and those who plan to reduce the size of their workforce.

At +4%, the national employment outlook now stands at its lowest level for three years, according to the survey.

Manpower said the figures appear to show that employers nationally are already reacting to the forthcoming implementation of the National Living Wage by scaling back their recruitment plans for the fourth quarter of 2015.

James Hick, its Managing Director, said: “An unintended consequence of the introduction of the new living wage is that firms might try to bypass the legislation altogether. We anticipate that some employers may look to mitigate the extra costs by taking on more younger or self-employed workers, who are not entitled to the national living wage.

“While on the surface this could be good news for youth unemployment, which currently stands at 16%, it could push a greater proportion of young people into low skilled jobs, resulting in an influx of less experienced workers into social care and other sectors hardest hit by the new legislation.

“Meanwhile, candidates under the age of 25 have been asking us why it is they will be paid less despite doing equal work.”

East Midlands Chamber (Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire) and a delegation of its members, from a range of sectors, are meeting with the Low Pay Commission later this month. The session will form part of the Commission’s consultation on the implications of changes outlined in the Summer Budget to the National Minimum Wage.

The Chamber’s annual State of the Economy Conference, in November, will focus on the impacts of the forthcoming changes, particularly on the retail, leisure, care and certain manufacturing sectors.

Chris Hobson, the Chamber’s Director of Policy, said: “The East Midlands has created jobs at a faster pace than anywhere else in the UK over the past 18 months and these figures somewhat underplay what we have seen in official national estimates and our own survey work. While the national outlook for the rest of the year is muted, regionally, the picture is still encouraging.

“What is clear, however, is that a number of local firms have concerns about how they will afford the Government’s proposed new National Living Wage when it is introduced in April.

“While we know from recent survey work that a significant majority of Chamber members and many other employers across the region already pay their staff a living wage, we are also aware that the forthcoming implementation of a new National Living Wage may well have a disproportionate effect on smaller employers already facing financial pressures as they implement pensions auto-enrolment.

“This will be of particular concern for some sectors – such as care, hospitality and retail – and could cause a ripple effect across pay scales as it will close the differentials, meaning they may also need to up-rate other pay grades and this is what we plan to highlight to the Low Pay Commission when we meet later this month.

“Firms will also want assurances that moves to further increase the minimum wage will follow an evidence-based approach to minimise impacts on smaller firms, for which adjustment will be harder.”

East Midlands Chamber logo

Posted in Business

Devolution bid formally submitted by council leaders

Council leaders in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire have submitted a joint bid to government for the devolution of more economic powers and much greater control over their own affairs.

It is believed that the ground-breaking deal would place the East Midlands firmly on the Westminster map and at the front of the queue for jobs, growth and skills.

It would also place the area, which includes the Core City of Nottingham, on a par with Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and the West Midlands.

The final detail of the bid is still subject to on-going negotiation, but will include new powers to generate income for major infrastructure projects. It also calls for more say over jobs, skills, housing and transport projects.

One of the Government’s conditions for devolving significant powers includes a directly elected mayor. While this is challenging for many, it was agreed that it needed to be seen in the light of the prize that was on offer.

All 19 councils in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, including Chesterfield Borough Council, have shown their support for the idea of regions having greater control over their own affairs and being able to help local economies to thrive.

In a joint statement, Councillor Anne Western, Chair of the D2 Joint Committee, and Councillor Graham Chapman, Chair of the Nottinghamshire Economic Prosperity Committee, said:

“We submitted our devolution bid to Government on Friday 4 September 2015 after an agreement from the leaders of the councils.

“The potential benefits to local people are substantial. It would place Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire at the head of the queue for skills, growth and economic development.

“We all know that some of the conditions are challenging but the size of the prize means that we can’t afford not to be at the table. The important thing now is to keep talking and negotiating so we can secure the best possible deal for the people of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.”

Chesterfield Town Hall spring

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business