Markham Vale Business Park has been shortlisted for the Best Overall Scheme – Logistics Park at the Industrial Agents Society 2015 Awards Ceremony.

The past twelve months has seen fantastic progress in developing Markham Vale with high quality bespoke buildings completed for Holdsworth Foods, Ready Egg Products, inspirepac and Gould Alloys.  With the recent Great Bear announcement, the indication is that the remaining plots on Markham Vale will be quickly snapped up by businesses that see the great growth potential at Derbyshire’s flagship regeneration project.

Markham Vale schemes that have already been completed on the site include: a flagship Environment Centre (home to a range of firms from the environmental technology related centre): the speculative built Waterloo Court and bespoke buildings for companies such as Industrial Ancillaries Ltd, Andrew Page Limited and MSE Hiller Ltd.

Markham Vale North has also been recently launched and is a prime industrial and logistics development, within the wider Markham Vale scheme, located at Junction 29a of the M1 Motorway. Markham Vale North provides approximately 70 acres of serviced development land which can accommodate buildings up to 750,000 sq ft.

M&G Real Estate is to fund the construction of a 480,000 sq ft distribution warehouse at Markham Vale in, Chesterfield. The total commitment is £36 million.  The site extends to around 27.5 acres adjacent to Markham Lane and is the largest plot created by the County Council at Markham Vale to date.  The development is pre-let to Great Bear Distribution Ltd, a leading third party logistics company. On practical completion of the development Great Bear Distribution will take a 15 year lease creating around 400 new jobs in the process.

Andrew Windle, Associate Director, Logistics and Industrial at M&G Real Estate, comments: “There is very strong investor demand for new, prime distribution assets in the Midlands due to the very tight supply and continued demand for new space. This will be a prime development in a core and very prominent location off the M1.”

Ben Ward from Henry Boot Developments Ltd, adds: “We look forward to welcoming Great Bear Distribution Ltd to Markham Vale. This is one of several major deals at the site over recent months and represents significant investment into the area.

A former tile warehouse is being completely renovated to create affordable, shared office space for Chesterfield’s entrepreneurs and start-up businesses.  Once complete, Monkey Park will also house a community cafe, a bike workshop and a bakery run by The Gingerbread Boy (previously found on Chatsworth Road).

Based at Clifton and Chester Street in Brampton, the centre is a not-for-profit social enterprise, designed to benefit local people and projects, as well as creating three employment opportunities.

Spokesperson, Christine Redding, said: “This is not just another café.  Monkey Park will pour profits made back into the local community so it’s in everyone’s interest to get it right.

“We’re trying to support community enterprises & social entrepreneurs that give something back to Chesterfield.  As part of this, we’ll be creating a new network of community enterprises within the town.

“We developed the centre through research and visits to similar hubs in Sheffield, Leeds and Manchester.  The initiative will be steered by a community interest company led by angel investors and local businesses.”

Monkey Park is already creating quite a buzz, with nearly 300 likes on Facebook and a bank of nearly 50 local residents volunteering their services to help the project get off to a flying start.

Visitors were also invited for a sneaky preview earlier this month to share ideas about how the venue should look and feel as well as to choose their favourite cakes and coffee.

More volunteers are wanted to help prepare the centre ready for opening in the autumn.  Anyone else interested in getting involved should search ‘Monkey Park’ on Facebook or Twitter.

Planning permission has been granted to redevelop the site of The Trumpeter to create a new local centre for the Grangewood community in Chesterfield.

The demolition of The Trumpeter will enable a complete redevelopment of the site, creating a new local centre.

The proposals for the site include a new Pub/cafe-bar and convenience store along with 3-4 independent retail units, potentially creating 30 new jobs in the local area.

Terry Caton, Developer, said “Caton Enterprises Ltd is a local business operating in Chesterfield for some 23 years. As such we didn’t just want to take away the facilities from the community. We wanted to look at this site in a different way.’

Martin Rix, of MAD architects LLP, says ‘We are trying to create a new retail centre for the community, providing facilities and services which are much needed in the area, and hopefully this development can act as a catalyst for further improvements locally.’

The planning department commented in their committee report that “The development has been sympathetically designed to reflect the scale and form of the wider area. A contemporary design approach has been taken which is felt would give the scheme an independent identity that would serve beneficial.”

Terry says ‘The design team are now developing the technical design to enable works to start on site and we are looking to open the new local retail centre to the public in 2016″.

One of the UK’s most senior economic figures and an expert in looking at business’s future challenges will be guest speakers at the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership Annual Conference.

The free business breakfast event will be held from 7.30am to 10am on Tuesday July 14; at The Leengate Legends Lounge of the Chesterfield FC Proact Stadium, at 1866 Sheffield Road, Chesterfield.

D2N2 – a partnership of business, local authorities, and skills and training providers which promotes economic growth across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire – holds an Annual Conference each year.

Representatives from businesses, local authorities, education providers, community organisations and others working in the D2N2 area are welcome to attend the free event. They will hear about the Local Enterprise Partnership’s work over the last year and its ambitions for the future.

The agenda for the Annual Conference will be as follows:

7.30am to 8am – Registration and light breakfast provided.

8am to 9.15am –

• Welcome and presentation by D2N2 Chairman Peter Richardson.
• Presentation by Chief Executive David Ralph.
• Short video on the work of D2N2 over the last year.
• Guest speaker – Trevor Williams, Chief Economist for Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, Visiting Professor at the University of Derby’s Business School and co-author (with Victoria Turton) of Trading Economics. Trevor will look at where UK growth is coming from in the next few years and its main challenges, in the context of the new Government’s first Budget (due July 8).
• Guest speaker – Christopher Barnatt, Futurist and author of website ExplainingTheFuture.com, Associate Professor of Strategy and Future Studies at Nottingham University Business School, and the author of Seven Ways To Fix The World and 25 Things You Need To Know About The Future.

9.15am to 10am – Business Panel. A panel featuring D2N2 Board members and guest speakers will answer business questions live from the audience. Hosted by Neil White, Editor-in-Chief at the Derby Telegraph.

10am – A chance for networking and close of the event.

Peter Richardson, Chairman of the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “The Local Enterprise Partnership has had a terrific year.

“Highlights have included the launch of the Growth Hub last December, with its team now a vital resource to aid businesses, and the announcement in March this year of £214m in European funding for projects improving skills provision, entrepreneurship, business competitiveness and a wealth of other drivers of economic growth.

“We look forward to welcoming delegates to our Annual Conference, to hear how we’ve moved from planning to delivery and about our ambitious plans for the future.”

To book online to attend the Annual Conference (a maximum of two people per organisation, please) go to the D2N2 LEP website www.d2n2lep.org/About/Events