chesterfield business news

New commercial law firm in Chesterfield to bring ‘fresh approach’ to clients

A group of solicitors have joined forces to deliver a fresh approach to clients following the launch of a new Derbyshire law firm.

Solicitors Anna Cattee, Jason Skelton, Neil Brown and Stacey Pocock have pooled together their business legal knowledge to launch CMP Legal at The Bridge Business Centre in Chesterfield.

Anna Cattee qualified as a solicitor in 2011, having previously completed her Legal Practice Course at Nottingham Law School with a distinction.

Neil Brown has been qualified as a solicitor for 29 years. He started his working life at a large international law firm in Birmingham before moving back home to Chesterfield in 1992 and has practised in Chesterfield ever since.

Jason Skelton was born in Chesterfield and has practised in the town for over 30 years so has a wealth of local knowledge and business contacts as well as having considerable commercial, management and compliance experience.

Stacey Pocock studied law at Sheffield Hallam University and began her career in the legal profession in 1999 as a paralegal. Stacey completed the Legal Practice Course at De Montfort University, Leicester and qualified as a solicitor in 2005.

The niche commercial law firm will deliver expert services to clients located in Chesterfield, Sheffield and across the country in areas such as corporate, commercial, dispute resolution and employment. The firm also has a resident notary public for companies and individuals.

Anna said: “Being passionate about delivering our expertise in a clear and concise way, we understood there was a better way of working with improved technology geared for a national reach. Our investment in digital systems, offers clients complete flexibility in the delivery of the services they require.”

“Our approach is that we are understanding of our clients and colleagues needs, and we work closely to support both, whilst being professional yet approachable, strategic advisers.

CMP Legal supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 180 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.

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Chesterfield’s GBS announces new partnership to deliver vital digital skills

Chesterfield’s GBS Apprenticeships has announced a new delivery partnership with Serco to deliver vital Digital and IT skills across Derbyshire.

Delivering on behalf of Serco on the Skills Support for the Workforce programme (SSW), GBS has an opportunity to provide training to those in work across pathways including Digital Marketing and IT.

These programmes will be delivered remotely, with the option of returning to face-to-face delivery when safe to do so. The programmes will be typically delivered over 8 weeks and will provide a great foundation to progress on to higher levels of training.

GBS Director, John Cusworth commented, “The partnership provides GBS with a fantastic opportunity to support the local skills agenda and enrich lives with new digital and IT skills in the Derbyshire area.”

At the end of the programme, individuals who successfully complete the course will receive accredited certification with either NCFE or BCS, both of which can lead to further progression such as higher level apprenticeships in Digital Marketing or IT.

John Cusworth further added, “We are really pleased to have been selected to work in partnership with Serco to deliver the SSW programme. Being able to offer short course provision in a sector in which we specialise can really benefit our network of employers, and at the same time complement our existing offering of apprenticeships and more recently Digital Bootcamps.”

If your business could benefit from fully-funded training in Digital Marketing and IT, contact GBS directly on 01246 925 923 or info@gbs-ltd.co.uk

The SSW programme is co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), so the training can be accessed at no cost to your business.

GBS supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through  Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 180 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.

John Cusworth, GBS Apprenticeships

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Fire safety advice now available to Chesterfield and Derbyshire businesses

Businesses across Chesterfield are being encouraged to ensure they are minimising the risks of fire, with guidance, support and advice now available from Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service.

The service has launched a campaign to contact businesses across the county, who trade in hot works or are having hot works completed on their premises, to offer essential safety advice on keeping their business and employees safe from the risk of fire.

Hot works is the term given to work that involves, but is not limited to, soldering, welding cutting, grinding, and using hot air guns. This work can pose a serious fire safety risk, which is why businesses have a legal and moral duty to ensure their premises, and any works carried out, are safe.

During the campaign, Derbyshire’s Business Safety Advisors and Firefighters will be working alongside local councils and network groups to complete site visits and deliver online presentations, where they’ll offer businesses free support and advice. They will cover topics such as whether the work is necessary or if there’s an alternative, identifying hazards, and how to raise the alarm if an accident was to occur.

Business Safety Advisor Andrew Mosler said: “It’s really important businesses understand the fire risks involved with hot works, and how to reduce them, as the implications can be devastating.

“If not carried out safely hot works can result in a fire which can have financial implications due to the loss of business premises, customers turning to competitors and increased insurance premiums. In the worst case scenario a fire could result in serious injury or loss of life.

“Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service has a whole team of dedicated Business Safety Advisors to help you keep your business safe from the risk of fire. The team provide free advice on ensuring your business is compliant with fire safety legislation, completing your Fire Risk Assessment, the types of fire extinguisher you may require, how often to test your fire safety equipment, or any other fire safety enquiries you may have.”

Whether you’re in retail, manufacturing, hospitality, or any other sector, a Business Safety Advisor will be able to help.

If you would like more advice on keeping your business safe, please get in touch with your local Business Safety Advisor, Andrew Mosler, on 01773 305681 or via email: amosler@derbys-fire.gov.uk

Posted in Business, Destination Chesterfield, Development, Featured, Home, Made in Chesterfield, UncategorisedTagged in , , , , , ,

Bolt tightening ceremony marks another milestone in Chesterfield Waterside

Progress on the town’s £340 million Chesterfield Waterside scheme has taken another step forward with the completion of the steel framework for One Waterside Place.

Contractor Britcon (UK) Ltd, a leading Civil Engineering, Building and Steel Frame Solutions company, began erection of the steel frame for the seven-storey office block in February earlier this year.

With people still being advised to stay at home amidst the pandemic Cllr Tricia Gilby, Leader of Chesterfield Borough Council, joined a bolt tightening ceremony, marking another stage in the development’s progress, via video conferencing technology.

Councillor Tricia Gilby, Leader of Chesterfield Borough Council, said: “It’s fantastic to see this building progressing at such pace. When complete One Waterside Place will provide modern office accommodation for businesses and in turn will create more jobs for local residents.

“It is just one of several high-quality developments around the borough that will help ensure we are in the strongest possible position to recover from the impact of the pandemic, as a thriving borough with lots of opportunities for business development and economic growth.”

Peter Swallow, Chair of Chesterfield Waterside Ltd and Managing Director of Bolsterstone Group said: “The bolt tightening ceremony represents another milestone in the construction of One Waterside Place and is further step forward in the creation of a quality modern office environment in Chesterfield; one that that meets the demands of the most discerning occupiers in the post Covid economy.

“Construction is on track to be completed later this year with tenants already committed to moving into some of the floors of this ‘Grade A’ new office building. It is a tremendously exciting time not only for Chesterfield Waterside, but also the town as a whole.”

Nick Shepherd, Managing Director of Britcon added: “We are delighted to be working with Chesterfield Waterside Ltd in delivering this iconic and modern commercial office building. Working in partnership with our client and associated stakeholders we are not only delivering a construction project, but also pulling together our experience and resources to utilise the build process as both an educational and local employment opportunity.”

The event held special significance for Peter Swallow and Nick Shepherd who were once both students at Chesterfield College which sits above the development. Britcon and Chesterfield Waterside are working with closely throughout the whole build process and hope to invite students to site once restrictions allow. Construction of the office block began last year following the securing of a forward funding agreement between Chesterfield Borough Council and Chesterfield Waterside Ltd, as a key strategic investment opportunity for the town.

With the steel frame complete, Britcon will now begin installing the concrete flooring ahead of making the building watertight and then beginning the internal fit-out before tenants move in later this year.

Chesterfield-based accountancy firm BHP Chartered Accountants have already committed to occupy a floor of One Waterside Place once complete.

One Waterside Place is part of a wider business and residential offering in phase one of Basin which comprises offices, a hotel, multi-storey car park and build-to-rent apartments, which will be centred around the new canal basin and pedestrianised public realm which will become the new home for the renowned Dame Barbara Hepworth sculpture.

Recognised as being one of the UK’s largest regeneration projects, Chesterfield Waterside is being led by Chesterfield-based Bolsterstone Group Plc working in conjunction with Arnold Laver Group and Chesterfield Borough Council.

To find out more about the office space available at One Waterside Place, please contact Harry Orwin-Allen at Knight Frank on 0114 272 9750 or Tim Richardson at FHP Property Consultants 01332 343 222.

Keep up-to-date with the latest developments at Chesterfield Waterside at ChesterfieldWaterside.co.uk or follow the development on Facebook and Twitter. You can also find out more on our developments page.

Waterside Ltd. supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through  Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 180 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.

Posted in Business, Celebrate Chesterfield, Destination Chesterfield, Development, Featured, Home, UncategorisedTagged in , , , ,

Plastic Free Chesterfield urges businesses to ‘build back greener’

As Chesterfield’s shops, restaurants and cafes start to plan their re-opening from 12th April, local campaign action group, Plastic Free Chesterfield, is calling on the borough’s business sector to Build Back Better and Build Back Greener from the Covid-19 pandemic, by pledging to reduce their single-use plastics.

A Surfers Against Sewage survey last year found that 63% of respondents want to decrease their personal consumption of plastic packaging and 60% want to use refillable containers more once lockdown eases.

Plastic Free Chesterfield is offering to support businesses with advice on how to reduce their single-use plastics, listing swaps they can take on their website, along with a Facebook group to network and ask questions from other businesses who have made changes.

Greg Hewitt, Plastic Free Chesterfield Community Lead said: “Whilst businesses are currently closed and are preparing to open, then can use this time to their advantage by planning ahead, and reducing their single-use plastics, ready for opening. For those hospitality businesses the government has already helped, by banning single-use plastic straws and stirrers, but for other businesses, there are always ways of making sustainable swaps.”

Companies who can make at least three swaps away from single-use plastic will be awarded the status as a Plastic Free Champion business, gaining a certificate and plaque, as well as free publicity from the group.

Destination Chesterfield recently signed up to become a Plastic Free Ally in the town. The organisation has pledged to make a number of changes at its in-person events, including swapping single-use plastic cups and coffee cups for glass and china glasses and mugs for drinks, metal cutlery will be used instead of single-use plastic cutlery and paper, and card or cotton bags will replace single use plastic bags.

Businesses wishing to Build Back Greener should get in touch with Plastic Free Chesterfield via their website

Posted in Business, Development, Featured, Home, UncategorisedTagged in , , , ,

Promising response to Green Entrepreneurs Scheme from Derbyshire businesses

More than 130 people from businesses and community groups across Derbyshire joined the virtual launch of Derbyshire County Council’s Green Entrepreneurs Fund – a £2 million grant fund for organisations interested in developing and investing in green energy and carbon reduction schemes.

Businesses and organisations heard details about how they can apply for funding through the scheme being run in partnership with the University of Derby to help support green economic recovery across Derbyshire.

There are 3 separate funds:

Green Entrepreneurs Demonstrator Fund
£1.2 million set aside for a small number of high-quality projects from entrepreneurs wanting to establish green, alternative energy or low carbon initiatives in Derbyshire to provide community heat and power schemes. The minimum grant available through this fund would be £100,000. Applications for expressions of interest will open 1 April 2021.

Green Entrepreneurs Small Grant Fund
Grants of £10,000 – £20,000 for new and existing businesses with game changing proposals in alternative energy, clean fuel and carbon reduction. £500,000 will be made available through this fund. There will be 3 separate rounds in which to apply for funding – the first will launch on 1 April 2021 followed by further rounds opening on 4 October 2021 and then 3 January 2022.

Green Entrepreneurs Scholarship Fund
A training fund to support individuals to retrain with skills to enable them to enter the field of alternative energy. £100,000 will be made available through this fund. Grants will be awarded monthly from July 2021 onwards.

Leader of Derbyshire County Council Councillor Barry Lewis added:

“We’re championing business innovation and want Derbyshire to become a leader in the field in the development of green energy as part of our bold ambition to cut the council’s carbon emissions to net zero by 2032 and that of the Derbyshire economy by 2050.

“We believe there is a unique opportunity to bring greater benefits to local communities and the local economic conditions to create high quality jobs driven by utilising the local skills base in engineering and manufacturing.

“We’re excited to be able to offer businesses the financial support needed to help turn their ideas into reality, through game changing proposals that help to tackle climate change and impact positively on the way we all live in the future both in Derbyshire and further afield.”

Councillor Tony King, Cabinet member for Clean Growth and Regeneration, said:

“We’ve had an unbelievable response to the scheme so far from businesses and community organisations across Derbyshire.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing the applications start to come in with proposals for projects to kick-start the county’s carbon reduction and alternative energy agenda and boost the local economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I would urge anyone who was unable to join the virtual launch to visit www.derbyshire.gov.uk/gef to find out more.”

Professor Kathryn Mitchell DL, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Derby, said:

“I am delighted that the Green Entrepreneur launch was such a success. It is really encouraging to see so much interest and enthusiasm from local businesses in taking up opportunities like this to operate more sustainably and to make a real contribution towards reducing their carbon footprint.

“We look forward now to working with the county council to deliver the scheme to our entrepreneur community, and to make Derbyshire synonymous with sustainable business.”

Find more information about the programme including application forms, timetable for grant funding and eligibility criteria.

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Plans to revamp Chesterfield Market move forward

Chesterfield Borough Council’s plans to revamp the town’s historic market have taken a further step forward, with expected works to be completed in around a year’s time.

Last December, the council asked residents, market traders and local businesses to share their views and help shape the future of Chesterfield Market.

The aim of the surveys was to understand what people enjoy about Chesterfield Market, what might encourage them to visit more often, and understand how they think it can be improved.

This was the first step in the £3.25m Revitalising the Heart of Chesterfield project which includes plans to revamp the town’s historic outdoor Market Place, as well as improve the public space around Elder Way.

Councillor Kate Sarvent, cabinet member for town centres and visitor economy, said: “Chesterfield Market is the heart and soul of the town. It’s crucial that we work together with residents, market traders and local businesses to make sure improvements meet their needs. It was fantastic to receive hundreds of responses to our surveys, which shows the market means so much to everyone in Chesterfield.”

The surveys showed support for changing the layout of the market. 72% of the public, 89% of local businesses and 46% of market traders, supported changing the layout of the market

There was strong support for events, particularly specialist and event markets. These could include food festivals, farmers markets or vintage markets.

The public survey results show strong support for market traders and a desire to support local businesses.

Councillor Sarvent added: “Work is now underway to develop options for the market design and these will be available for comment as part of a consultation with the public, market traders and local businesses this summer. It is especially encouraging to see the public support for traders and local businesses as we move towards re-opening the town centre from lockdown next month.”

Details of how to take part in the next stage of the market consultation will be available from the council’s website this summer. Following this, it is expected works will be complete in Spring 2022.

As well as looking at the future of the market, the Revitalising the Heart of Chesterfield project will also include improvements to the public space between the town centre and the Northern Gateway site.

The Revitalising the Heart of Chesterfield project has benefitted from £650,000 of funding through the D2N2 Local Growth Fund.

Posted in Business, Development, Featured, Home, Leisure, Love Chesterfield, Summer, Uncategorised, VisitingTagged in , , , , , , ,

Chesterfield businesses offered free membership of crime-fighting partnership run by East Midlands Chamber

Up to 2,000 businesses in Chesterfield can sign up for free to an East Midlands Chamber-run scheme that helps to reduce town centre crime and anti-social behaviour. The Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP) has secured funding from Chesterfield Borough Council to offer access to Disc, an online crime information-sharing system that connects businesses with local police forces.

There will be no cost for the first 12 months, with subsequent years costing up to £100 – and potentially lower if enough businesses take up the programme permanently.

Jackie Roberts, BCRP manager at the Chamber, said: “Businesses in town and city centres are struggling at the moment and crime will only make this worse.

“The Disc portal is an integral part of crime reduction strategies as it makes it so much easier for businesses to share intelligence about incidents and offender images between members, police, community safety officers and other partners such as the BCRP team.

“We’ve had a lot of reports during lockdown because police resources have been really stretched due to sickness, so the BCRP fills the gap where police can’t deal with petty crime.

“By working with local authorities such as Chesterfield Borough Council, we’re delighted to offer this scheme for free to businesses in order to make them more resilient – a key theme during the post-Covid economic recovery.”

What is the Business Crime Reduction Partnership?

The BCRP, one of 200 such programmes in the UK, is funded by both the Chamber and the Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner Hardyal Dhindsa.

Its remit to reduce crime in participating towns, cities and retail parks fits into an overall objective to make them a safer place to work, visit, socialise and shop.

Members pay a fee and benefits include a GDPR-compliant data-sharing system that facilitates direct reporting to the police without the need to use the time-consuming 101 system.

Intelligence and crime reports can be submitted electronically to the police and other BCRP members, who also have access to app and web-based image galleries of people who have been arrested or are known offenders.

How BCRP membership will help Chesterfield town centre

There are currently about 80 businesses in Chesterfield signed up to an advanced version of the BCRP scheme that also includes radio connections.

The council’s funding will give about 2,000 businesses in sectors such as retail, hospitality and tourism the opportunity to sign up for the basic package, which uses the online Disc system.

It will be launched at the beginning of May ahead of the reopening of hospitality in the Government’s roadmap to ending lockdown.

Councillor Jill Mannion-Brunt, Chesterfield Borough Council’s cabinet member for health and wellbeing, said: “It is fantastic news that this funding has been made available for our local businesses.

“This project will help strengthen the link between retailers and the police which should help limit crime and anti-social behaviour in our town.

“I want to encourage every local business to sign up to this programme because I believe it will be a positive step for our town.”

Hardyal Dhindsa, Police and Crime Commissioner for Derbyshire, added: “Tackling retail crime is a priority for me and I am pleased that my funding of the Business Crime Reduction Partnership with the Chamber is enabling partners like Chesterfield Borough Council to join us in tackling criminality. This is an excellent way of supporting businesses to reduce the crime and antisocial behaviour that they have said concerns them.

“We have been working hard, with local partners, to successfully address other problems in Chesterfield Town Centre through the Chesterfield Town Summit, and this is another tool in the box.

“I welcome the fact that Chesterfield Borough Council has recognised the important of supporting local business and I hope that in time we will be able to roll this programme out across Derbyshire with other local authorities.”

Further plans for BCRP roll-out in Derbyshire

Discussions are ongoing on how to roll out the offer to Staveley, while there are plans to roll out the Disc scheme in Matlock and Bakewell, in which a combined 40 businesses are signed up to the radio system.

Jackie added: “The hope is that by signing up businesses for the first year, they will be able to see the benefits of continuing with the scheme thereafter.

“The more businesses that are involved in the BCRP scheme and sharing information, the stronger it will be – and the better the area will be as a result.

“Councils and regeneration teams are placing crime reduction high on the agenda in order to bring back footfall into their towns.

“It also removes barriers to reporting crime as the Disc system automatically notifies the police when an incident is logged, while police are able to input feedback so businesses can follow what happens to offenders.”

The British Retail Consortium’s 2020 retail crime survey, published in March just before lockdown, found there were 424 violent or abusive incidents towards staff per day nationally, while businesses lost £770m due to theft and £2.2bn resulting from overall crime.

Anyone interested in discussing how to get involved with the Derbyshire Business Crime Reduction Partnership can email jackie.roberts@emc-dnl.co.uk.

 

Posted in Business, Destination Chesterfield, Development, Featured, Home, Uncategorised, VisitingTagged in , , , ,

Chesterfield-based Solicitors Elliot Mather announces new additions to residential property team

Chesterfield-based full service law firm Elliot Mather is demonstrating further growth and success by announcing new additions to the company’s Residential Property team.

The firm’s latest recruit, Daniel Lindon joins the team as a Senior Associate Solicitor. Daniel has worked in the legal profession for many years, qualifying as a Solicitor in 2005. Daniel brings with him over 15 years’ experience in Property Law. During his career he has worked across offices in Nottinghamshire, as well as West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. He brings a wealth of local knowledge to the department.

This appointment comes just shortly following recent appointments of experienced Associate Solicitors; Tina Rana and Rabi Miah.

Tina possesses a high level of expertise in residential conveyancing, allowing her to advise clients locally and regionally on matters, including: residential sales and purchases, re-mortgaging, new build purchases, right to buy, declaration of trusts, auction sales and purchases, help to buy mortgages and transfer of equity.

Rabi qualified as a solicitor in 2017 after having achieved her LLB from the University of Warwick and her LPC from Nottingham Law School. She has extensive experience in dealing with all aspects of residential conveyancing including: leasehold, unregistered title, adverse possession, shared ownership, as well as new builds.

Alan Grant, Chief Operations Officer at Elliot Mather said: “The recent recruits in our Residential Property team, as well as those across the Practice, demonstrates our desire to deliver our client focused legal services to a wider audience.”

The new recruits now mean that the Residential team comprises of 5 qualified members to service the needs of more clients based locally, regionally, and even nationally.

Andrew Yates, Head of Elliot Mather’s Residential Department said: “We have been very lucky to have such talented and dedicated staff to make the department what it is today and likewise in being able to make appointments at this level in such a buoyant market. These are exciting times for the firm.

Having invested considerably recently in IT to enable us to deliver legal services efficiently and securely, together with the additional appointments to enable us to continue to develop and provide the best legal services to our customers competitively. Whist due to COVID no one is sure what will happen in the future we just wish to ensure we are number 1 in the property market.”

The team will be working from Elliot Mather’s Nottingham office, which opened its doors in 2019.

Elliot Mather supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through  Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 180 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.

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New local radio station set for launch in North Derbyshire

A new local radio station serving Chesterfield and North Derbyshire is launching later this month, providing people across the area with local news and information along with a variety of music.

The team at the newly-created North Derbyshire Radio says it aims to ‘fill the void’ left by recent broadcasting changes by providing local news, sport and entertainment, as well as supporting local charities and businesses across North Derbyshire.

The service will be launched on on Monday 22nd March and has been created by Former Peak FM presenter and programmer Naz Premji, now a regular contributor to BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC TV’s Final Score’s football coverage.

“I spent many great years at Peak107/Peak FM after the people really welcomed me with open arms when I arrived in 2001,” says Premji.

“I’ve always had an affinity with the area and the people of North Derbyshire. With the help of some familiar faces and voices and some new ones too, I’m hoping we can bring truly local radio back to this very distinctive part of the country.”

The line-up includes several local presenters who are familiar voices to listeners in the area, including Mark Chadwick, Claire Salanyk, Naz Premji and the return of the legendary Richard Spinks who will be back with his famous Late Night Love Songs show.

North Derbyshire Radio will also feature another former Peak FM favourite, Jason Hardy, as well as John Isherwood, Richard Shaw Wright and Michael Weadock.

The station will play a variety of music and provide local news and information throughout the day.

North Derbyshire Radio will be available online at www.northderbyshireradio.com and on the North Derbyshire Radio Android and Apple smartphone app and on smart speakers.

Posted in Business, Destination Chesterfield, Development, Featured, Home, Leisure, Uncategorised, VisitingTagged in , , ,

Funding available for Chesterfield businesses to take on remote-working interns

Small businesses in Chesterfield and Derbyshire can receive up to £7,000 in funding and support to recruit remotely-based student and graduate talent into their workforce.

The rise in remote working due to the COVID-19 pandemic means the University is now able to work with more businesses than ever before, including those who previously may not have had the office space to accommodate a graduate.

The opportunities are provided by the GRADS for D2N2 project which is part-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and is part of the ESF High-Level Skills programme.

ESF supports activities to extend employment opportunities and develop a skilled workforce. The GRADS for D2N2 project is delivered by the University of Derby as part of the High Level Skills consortium which also includes Nottingham Trent University, Derby College, Nottingham College, and Nottingham City Council.

Chesterfield small business (SME) owner Rebecca Erskine, owner of Yellow Bird Marketing and Communications recounted the benefits of working alongside the University after taking on a graduate, Maciej Rus and current University of Derby student, Freya Padmore.

The team put together a series of remotely-filmed videos showcasing the virtues of remote working and the importance of internships as a way for students and graduates to gain “a competitive edge” and “apply the skills learnt at the University to the workplace.”

Rebecca said: “I recently took on two interns from the University of Derby. I think it is really important that the University, regardless of its name, supports businesses across the county of Derbyshire and that is the benefit of this particular programme.

“I think that when people are hard-working, they deserve real opportunity in life. Very often there are things that sit on the back-burner as far as your business is concerned.

“As a small business owner, obviously what brings in the money is the billable work and that has to be your priority, but it can’t be at the expense of business development or promoting your business so the interns coming into the project have really helped me make sure that I am looking at every element of the business. Remote working has given me the perfect opportunity to get the candidates that I really wanted for the project, regardless of where they’re based.”

Freya said: “Having experience that I can talk about in interviews and my applications gives me just that competitive edge compared to some other students who haven’t had any experience yet.

“I’m working in a really small team now so we can really bounce ideas off each other. It’s just given me a much better idea about what I want to do when I graduate.

“I don’t have to commute to work anymore. I can literally just sit at my desk and everything’s there that I need. I can literally log on whenever I want to, finish working when I want to, just based on when I feel like working.”

Support available to SMEs includes organisations needs assessments, talent grants, graduate internships, Employability and Apprenticeship workshops, curriculum co-design and more.

For more information please contact driven@derby.ac.uk

The University of Derby supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through  Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 180 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.

 

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Destination Chesterfield, Development, Featured, Home, UncategorisedTagged in , , , , , , ,

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