Our Chesterfield Champions reflect on a year of achievements
As 2025 draws to a close, we reflect on another year of progress and achievement.
Chesterfield continues to be recognised as a great place to live, named one of the happiest places to live in the East Midlands by The Guardian and the Rightmove Happy at Home Index. It has also been recognised as one of the greenest towns in the UK, with over 95% of homes having access to private or nearby outdoor space. Thanks to its excellent schools, our strong community spirit and access to nature, it also consistently ranks among the best places to raise a family.
Throughout the year, progress has continued on the transformation of Chesterfield and Staveley town centres, the extension of the Chesterfield Canal, and the preparation of development platforms for the first phase at PEAK Resort.
We spoke to our network of Chesterfield Champions who have shared their businesses’ biggest successes from the past twelve months.
Andrew Byrne, Chair of Destination Chesterfield and Property Development Director at Devonshire Property Group
“Starting work on our employment scheme at Markham Vale (NOVA) with our joint venture partner HBD has to be the highlight of the year for Devonshire Property Group. This scheme will see over 700,000 sq ft of high-quality employment space delivered at Markham Vale employing in the region of 700-800 people. We’re due to complete the initial ground works early in 2026 and will accelerate our marketing campaigns to attract occupiers and investors in the New Year.”
Cllr Tricia Gilby, Leader of Chesterfield Borough Council and Vice Chair of Destination Chesterfield
Julie Richards OBE, Destination Chesterfield Board Member and Principal of Chesterfield College
“Supporting over 6,000 students and apprentices to learn, grow and take their next steps has undoubtedly been our proudest achievement. As a college group, we’ve also continued to strengthen partnerships with hundreds of employers across the region, ensuring our curriculum genuinely reflects industry needs and future workforce demand.”
Paul Flitter, Founder and Director, New Oak Estates
“We are delighted to have been identified as one of the top estate agents in the UK for the second year running. We feature in the Best Estate Agent Guide 2025 – the most comprehensive review of UK agencies.””
Kriston Harvey, Director, Rodgers Leask
“As someone who has called Chesterfield home for over 40 years, I am particularly proud of our involvement with Revitalising the Heart of Chesterfield project and seeing the recently completed Market Square re-open. This vibrant update to the town centre’s public realm blends repurposed cobbles with new feature paving, subtly honouring the market’s heritage through a carefully chosen material palette.”
Natalie Burkinshaw, Founder, CRUSH
“We won a series of awards, including the Transform Awards Europe and German Design Awards for our rebrand of Ziemann Holvrieka, as well as being personally shortlisted and winning two women’s business awards.”
Laura Jo, Owner, Adorn Jewellers
“We’re thrilled to have celebrated a milestone: 15 years of business in the heart of the town centre. The high street has certainly changed during that time. We’re hopeful that the growth of town centre living, combined with footfall driven by social media and online discovery, will ensure we continue to thrive here in Middle Shambles for many years to come.”
Neil Beaumont, Sales Director, Custom Solar
“Since our acquisition by MITIE two years ago, we’ve tripled our workforce and continued to grow. Our focus has been on delivering high-quality installations, meeting our clients’ carbon reduction goals, and maintaining the company’s ambitious growth trajectory.”
Heather Hearn-Poole, SEO Manager, FWD Motion
“Over the past year, we’ve grown and developed our pool of talent in both SEO and Channel Marketing to ensure that we continue to be at the leading edge of digital marketing.”
Anna Meer, Director, DLP Planning
“Quite recently, we have become an employee-owned trust. We have noticed a real difference across all our offices, in terms of the drive and commitment that everyone has in sharing how the company grows.”
Dawn Brown, Owner, Rose Cottage, DogLand
“We’re thrilled about the progress we’ve made towards opening a second DogLand site at Woolley Moor. After the serious floods in 2023, our Rose Cottage facility was severely damaged and required many repairs and TLC. But thanks to our hardworking team and supportive community, we were able to come back bigger and better than ever.”
Claudia Risorto, Apprentice Solicitor, Banner Jones Solicitors
“One of our proudest achievements at Banner Jones Solicitors has been securing a place in the Legal 500 rankings. Additionally, we rank 1st in Chesterfield for the volume of property transactions we handle.”
Katie Snodden, Head of Sales, Bridge Help
“This past year has been record-breaking for Bridge Help, with the highest number of enquiries to date. Increased investor support allowed us to launch exciting new products and grow our team with two new hires as we continue to scale.”
For more information on Chesterfield Champions, please visit: www.chesterfield.co.uk/destination-chesterfield/champions/Chesterfield Champions
