Author: Tara Underhill

LEP chairman asks business leaders to have their say on devolution

23rd December 2015

Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Chairman James Newman has written to local business leaders to encourage them to support the Sheffield City Region proposed Devolution Deal and take part in the online consultation which opened earlier this month.

James Newman, Chairman of the Sheffield City Region LEP, said: “I’m encouraging local businesses from across the City Region to take this opportunity to go online and show their support for the devolution deal. This deal will enable our local political and business leaders to take decision-making to the next level, making bigger and better local decisions over skills, business growth and infrastructure. Anyone interested in future business growth in our City Region should go online and take part before the consultation closes next month.”

The proposed deal, which will mean £900m of additional funding and more power to make important economic decisions locally, has been welcomed by a number of local business leaders from across the Sheffield City Region. In October 2015, local politicians and business leaders secured the in-principle deal with the Chancellor George Osborne to transfer national powers and control over funding from national Government departments to the Sheffield City Region – as well as securing a massive £900 million additional cash boost over the next thirty years to deliver major regeneration, infrastructure and business growth schemes.

Peter Swallow, chair of Destination Chesterfield, the town’s business marketing campaign, said: “I would urge all local businesses to take part in the consultation.

“Chesterfield’s position within the Sheffield City Region means we do a lot of business with neighbouring towns and cities in the region. Devolution will give the town a seat at a more influential ‘local’ table not to mention more control over our own financial affairs.

“It could also help bring potential funding to the area further boosting our ambitious plans for growth and development in the area over the next 10 years.”

Local Leaders will be negotiating details of the deal over the coming months but are now consulting on the proposed deal so that they have the views of the people in the Sheffield City Region before finalising any deal. It is recognised that further work needs to continue to clarify issues in relation to the powers of any elected mayor and any potential statutory amendments needed to achieve our preferred geography for the City Region, which means seeking maximum flexibility for all types of authorities to be part of the Combined Authority.

The deal needs to be formally approved by each of the local Councils within the Sheffield City Region and is also dependent upon the Government delivering on the promises it has made in this and previous deals, and the City Region agreeing to the creation of a directly-elected Mayor.

The consultation will be open until Friday 15 January 2016 and local residents and businesses are being invited to comment on the deal by visiting www.sheffieldcityregiondevolution.org.uk.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Destination Chesterfield, Development

Peak tourist board backs Accessible Derbyshire

23rd December 2015

Visit Peak District & Derbyshire is expanding its leading role in supporting accessible tourism by announcing its support for a Derbyshire charity.

Accessible Derbyshire – which was set up to make life easier for people with disabilities, their families and carers – is to be the tourist board’s first-ever chosen charity throughout 2016.

The charity, set up by Gillian Scotford and Jane Carver, who between them have six children, three of whom have disabilities, will receive support thanks to a link on Visit Peak District & Derbyshire’s website to invite donations, a series of sponsored events organised by the tourist board team and efforts to encourage tourist board members to adopt it as their chosen cause.

“This is the first time we have ever selected a charity to support, and we thought Accessible Derbyshire was a highly appropriate choice,” said Jo Dilley, Director of Visit Peak District & Derbyshire.

“Not only have we worked with Gillian and Jane on a variety of projects in the past, we were recently only one of just seven destinations to secure a share in national tourist board VisitEngland’s ‘Access for All’ project, aimed at promoting England as a leading destination for accessible tourism.

“Eight of our businesses took part, and are setting a shining example to their peers in making their facilities and services more accessible. We know Gillian and Jane are passionate about their cause, and we share their enthusiasm for improving access across the area for everyone, so we have decided to support their work by raising money for them throughout next year.”

Gillian Scotford and Jane Carver of Accessible Derbyshire added: “We are absolutely thrilled that Visit Peak District & Derbyshire has chosen us as its first-ever charity of the year.

“As we both have children with severe disabilities, we understand at first hand the importance of a friendly and inclusive welcome. If we can all pull together, we can make Derbyshire an even more accessible destination, for the benefit of both visitors and the tourism industry.”

Chatsworth is one of the eight businesses across the Peak District and Derbyshire which took part in ‘Access for All’ earlier this year to maximise the potential of the so-called ‘Purple Pound’, now worth more than £12 billion to the national economy.

VisitEngland research reveals that the overnight accessible tourism market is now worth £3 billion per annum to the English economy, with day visits boosting the figure to £12.1 billion. Over the past few years, overnight trips by disabled tourists and their companions have increased by 19 per cent, and their spending is up by a third.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Celebrate Chesterfield, Leisure, Visiting

YOUTHINC celebrates first birthday

22nd December 2015

Derbyshire County Council’s youth services brand, YOUTHINC celebrates its first birthday this month.

Designed by young people, for young people, with a website offering advice and information on all areas of life from something to do, to someone to talk to, YOUTHINC has got a lot to show for its first year. Some of the achievements from the past 12 months include:-

Youth workers putting on 4,194 youth group sessions which involved 65,048 young people;
More than 11,000 young people finding out about learning and career options at Derbyshire Skills Festival events in Chesterfield and Derby;
Careers advisors helping 6,488 young people with their career options;
Chesterfest – Chesterfield’s music festival – being enjoyed by more than 2,000 people.

Derbyshire Youth Council and members of the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) also had the opportunity to speak in parliament to decide the two most important issues facing young people in the UKYP’s Make your Mark campaign.

Councillor Damien Greenhalgh said:

“Since we launched YOUTHINC we’ve provided thousands of young people with information, advice and guidance as well as safe and fun places to meet with one another. We’ve provided careers advice and helped people develop their skills for employment, listened to and supported our youth councillors with their campaigns and arranged work experience placements for young people in care.

“We want young people to have every chance to be happy and fulfil their potential in learning, employment and life.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Celebrate Chesterfield, Leisure

Grants on the way for youth activities in Chesterfield

17th December 2015

Youth groups and projects in Chesterfield will soon be able to apply for a share of £50,000 from Derbyshire County Council.

The new grants scheme will launch in January to coincide with the first anniversary of YOUTHINC – the council’s new youth offer combining all services for young people.

Members of the Derbyshire Youth Council have named the scheme ‘YOUTHINC − We Grant’ and it will also be these young people who will decide how the money is spent.

Councillor Damien Greenhalgh, Derbyshire County Council’s Deputy Cabinet Member of Children’s Services, said:

“We made promises to our young people and we’re acting on them. This new grant scheme is by young people, for young people.

“We value their involvement in the decisions and services that affect them and our youth councillors have been involved throughout this process.”

Cabinet has agreed that groups supporting the development of youth activities throughout Derbyshire will be able to apply for grants of up to £1,500.

Before decisions are made on where money is spent, members of the youth forums and youth council will consider:

If the project or campaign is accessible to all young people
How many young people will benefit
How long the project will run
Whether it is value for money
The long-term impact of the funding
And what the money will be spent on

Councillor Greenhalgh added:

“The youth forum and youth council will make well-informed decisions about where money should be spent and will be asking for regular updates to ensure it continues to benefit young people across Derbyshire.”

More information on applying for grants will be available in early January in the ‘Something to Say’ section of the YouThinc website (opens in a new window).

Posted in About Chesterfield, Leisure

Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap returns to Pomegranate Theatre

16th December 2015

The legendary Agatha Christie thriller The Mousetrap is to return to The Pomegranate Theatre in Chesterfield in the spring, following sell-out performances in 2014.

Louise Jameson will star as Mrs Boyle in the record-breaking 60^th anniversary tour. Best known for her long-running roles as Leela, a companion of Tom Baker’s Doctor in Doctor Who, Louise has also played Susan Young in Bergerac¸ Eleanor Glasson in Doc Martin, and Rosa di Marco in EastEnders.

Louise said: “I thought about doing something special for my 65th birthday in 2016. Just how did I get to be 65? The same way The Mousetrap has run for nearly that length of time I suppose, just second by second time has ticked away we’ve both lasted this long, and so we’ll be celebrating together. That’s quite special.”

Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap has been the world’s longest running stage production at its London home since breaking the record in 1958 and recently celebrated its 26,000th performance. The 60th Anniversary – and first ever – UK tour of this beloved murder mystery is approaching 1000 performances and has now been seen by nearly 1 million people, having broken box office records in many of its tour venues.

Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap comes to the Pomegranate Theatre from Monday 7th to Saturday 12th March. For ticket please visit www.chesterfieldtheatres.co.uk, call into the box office at Chesterfield Visitor Information Centre or call 01246 345 222.

Images:

The Mousetrap 2016 UK Tour. Courtesy of Hugo Glendinning.
Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen and the cast of The Mousetrap celebrating the 26,000 performance. Courtesy of Dave Wise

Posted in About Chesterfield, Leisure, Visiting

Plan to get active with Jog Into January

16th December 2015

A series of absolute beginner jogging sessions are taking place across Derbyshire from January to encourage more people to get active during 2016.

The Jog Into January campaign is specifically designed to help people who have never pulled on running shoes before, or want to get back into jogging.

Co-ordinated by JOG Derbyshire – which has more than 90 jogging groups across the county – the sessions start from Sunday January 10 and are led by qualified jog leaders.

Jogging plans for complete beginners can be followed, which assist participants to progress from walking to jogging within weeks.

The 2015 campaign, which ran from January to March, saw 278 new members join JOG Derbyshire, while 800 people a week jog regularly with the organisation.

“The most important thing is that people don’t need to worry about how they look or what speed they are moving at,” said Michelle Simmons, JOG Derbyshire Co-ordinator. “The emphasis is very much on every group being friendly and non-competitive, working with people step-by step to help get them jogging.

“If your New Year’s resolution is to get fit, then this is an ideal opportunity to start your health kick among people who’ve also not jogged before, giving the opportunity to make new friends.”

To find participating groups in Chesterfield click here.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Leisure

Positive job figures cap year of success for Chesterfield businesses

16th December 2015

The number of people out of work and claiming Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) in Chesterfield fell again in November, according to figures released today by the Office for National Statistics. In November, there were 876 JSA claimants , 46 fewer than in October (922) and 570 fewer than in November 2014 (1446). The current percentage of people claiming the benefit remains below the national average for a third month (1.4% for Chesterfield compared with 1.6% for the UK and 1.4% for the East Midlands).

The number of unemployed people in the East Midlands fell by 2,000 to 101,000 over the three months to the end of October, meaning that the region’s unemployment rate now stands at 4.3%.

The regional employment rate now stands at 74.2%, with the total number of people in employment over the three months rising by 65,000, to 2.23m

Scott Knowles, Chief Executive of East Midlands Chamber, said: “It’s good to see the year being rounded off with another set of positive employment figures, which once again show that the region is at the front of the pack when it comes to creating jobs.

“Private sector businesses in the East Midlands have created jobs at a faster rate than anywhere else in the UK over the past 18 months and although we’d expect this trend to continue into 2016, there are issues out there that could impact on job creation next year.

“Overall, the strength of the labour market remains an important driver of economic growth and the economy is continuing to expand at a decent pace. But that growth remains far too unbalanced.

“Firms that do business solely in the UK have so far been relatively well insulated from the international slowdown, but the longer that key overseas markets suffer malaise the greater the likelihood that we may start to see it impacting on the UK economic environment.

“We also have uncertainties around things like the EU referendum and the introduction of a new National Living Wage and we can’t yet fully appreciate what impact these might have on business.

“The substantial widening in the trade deficit is a warning sign that more needs to be done to fix the fundamentals that hinder productivity, exports and enterprise if we are to achieve growth that is both balanced and sustainable over the next year and beyond.”

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Celebrate Chesterfield

Pupils cook up donations for Macmillan Cancer Centre

15th December 2015

Year six pupils at St Peter and St Paul’s School in Chesterfield have created a unique cookery book featuring a wonderful collection of recipes from celebrities and influential people – including dishes from the Prime Minister, David Cameron and Gino D’Acampo, amongst other well-known names, as well as local business people, and staff and pupils from the school.

Published locally, The Big Cookbook is an idea cooked up by a group of children who were challenged to raise as much money as possible for the Chesterfield Royal Macmillan Cancer Centre Appeal, starting with only £203 (the cost of funding a Macmillan nurse for a day).

The Macmillan Cancer Support’s Biz Kids initiative is an opportunity for pupils to learn entrepreneurial skills and includes support from local businesses. John Nettleship, a solicitor at Chesterfield law firm, BRM Solicitors, worked with the school on the project, providing support and advice in the weekly sessions in which the book was produced.

John said: “The pupils and staff of St Peter and St Paul School should be very proud. The book is a fantastic achievement, and is sure to raise a lot of money for the Macmillan Cancer Centre Appeal. It is already selling extremely well, and there is work ongoing to get the book into local and national retailers.”

Michele Farrand, tutor of the Year 6 class who produced the book added:

“We are grateful to all the contributors who have taken the time to submit their recipes for inclusion in the recipe book. The children have worked hard to make this a success and have valued the business advice given by John Nettleship from BRM Solicitors and Tim Ward from the Digital Print Company. We, at St Peter & St Paul School, are thrilled that we have been able to make this contribution to the Macmillan Cancer Centre Appeal.”

The Big Cookbook is now available to buy for £12 from the St Peter and St Paul School, and BRM Solicitors on Saltergate, Chesterfield. A small amount of proceeds will go towards printing costs, with the rest to be donated to the Chesterfield Royal Macmillan Cancer Centre Appeal. Copies are also available by mail, with an additional £2 payable to cover postage and packaging. Please telephone 01246 555111 or email macmillan@brmlaw.co.uk to place your order.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Christmas, Manufacturing

Hat trick of awards for Handelsbanken

11th December 2015

Handelsbanken, the local relationship bank with a branch in Chesterfield is crediting its recent success to constant customer focus after scooping a total of three independent awards in only a few weeks.

The fast-growing banking, wealth and investment management provider has been recognised by Financial Times and sister publication Investors Chronicle magazine (“Best Private Bank”), financial magazine International Banker (“Best Customer Service Provider of the Year – Western Europe”), and Citywire Wealth Manager magazine (“Best Overall Medium Firm” for Handelsbanken’s wealth and investment management business, Heartwood).

Handelsbanken has received an award from the Financial Times and Investors Chronicle for three out of the last four years; the initial shortlist being based on a survey of readers’ banking experiences. It is also the second year in a row that Heartwood has received this accolade from Citywire Wealth Manager.

All three awards follow the announcement this October that Handelsbanken has been rated top for customer satisfaction for the seventh year running, in an independent survey of British banks’ personal and business customers**. The bank puts customer satisfaction first, believing local branch teams like Phil Walker’s in Chesterfield are best-placed to serve and make the majority of decisions relating to their customers.

Phil Walker, branch manager at Chesterfield commented:-

“As a bank built on strong and lasting relationships, we focus first and foremost on satisfying our customers by providing the best local advice and service we can. We make all the everyday decisions that matter to our customers here in the branch, free from head office targets or bonus incentives.

“As we conduct no national marketing, we are only able to develop our business by building a strong reputation within the communities we serve. It is good to see that our reputation for customer service, across our banking and wealth management services, has attracted wider positive attention.”

Chesterfield branch staff have full power to advise customers on their banking needs, and agree individual product terms and pricing, free from targets or bonus incentives. The team of 5 bankers draws on over 100 years of combined banking experience to meet their customers’ individual needs locally.

Overall, Handelsbanken operates over 850 branches in 25 countries worldwide, with the UK representing its fastest-growing market. As well as the branch in Chesterfield, teams of experienced local bankers now serve individual and corporate customers in more than 200 other communities throughout Great Britain.

Posted in Business

Funding boost for Brampton Primary

11th December 2015

Brampton Primary School in Chesterfield is set to receive a share of £220,000 to help improve the quality of its toilet facilities.

Approved by Derbyshire County Council, the funding pot is designated for twelve schools across the county as part of an initiative to help modernise buildings and improve access for disabled children.

Derbyshire County Council’s Deputy cabinet member for children’s services Councillor Caitlin Bisknell said:

“Making sure children in Derbyshire get the most out of education is one of our key priorities − and that means doing what we can, within a tight budget, to make sure our schools are accessible to all.

“By offering schools this money, children will be able to learn in improved conditions. And although our budget is very tight, we are prioritising where we spend taxpayers’ cash so we can make the biggest difference.”

Posted in About Chesterfield, Celebrate Chesterfield

Chesterfield Theatres announces new season

10th December 2015

From comedians and concerts to dramas and dance nights, there are a variety of fantastic shows are on the way to Chesterfield Theatres this spring including the return of the legendary Agatha Christie thriller The Mousetrap starring Louise Jameson from EastEnders and Dr Who.

Other highlights at the Pomegranate Theatre will include new Yorkshire-grit comedy Shafted!, Jesus Christ Super Star, David Copperfield the musical and plenty of fun family shows including Northern Ballet’s Tortoise and the Hare, We’re going on a Bear Hunt and The Gruffalo’s Child.

The Winding Wheel is excited to present hit Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Tell Me on a Sunday starring Jodie Prenger in March, as well as concerts from American legend Chubby Checker, Gerry & the Pacemakers, and Paul Carrack.

Keeping us laughing this spring will be Gary Delaney, Lee Nelson, Romesh Ranganathan and fascinating Aidas Dillie Keane, as well as more fantastic stand-up comedians to look out for at Chesterfield Theatres’ own Spotlight Comedy Club.

To view all shows on sale at Chesterfield Theatres, visit www.chesterfieldtheatres.co.uk or visit the theatre’s box office now found in the Chesterfield Visitor Information Centre in Rykneld Square.

An online brochure can also be downloaded by clicking here.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Christmas, Leisure, Visiting