Small businesses looking to expand are being offered help and assistance through a free business health check from the D2 Business Advisory Growth Service.

Derbyshire County Council have contributed £36,000 towards the project to help small Derbyshire-based businesses to reach their full potential and a further £36,000 has also been contributed from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The free business health check will:

• look at where your business is now and where you want it to be
• identify the areas where your business could benefit from additional help and support
• identify what you need to do to achieve your goals
• help you apply for grants that are available to businesses across Derbyshire

Councillor Tony King, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Regeneration at Derbyshire County Council, said:-

“We’re pleased to help fund projects that give small Derbyshire businesses the step-up they need to grow and develop.

“Small businesses play a vital role in boosting Derbyshire’s economy through supplying to other local, national and international companies, bringing in business to the county and employing local people.

“If you’re a small business looking to expand or have just started trading and want to progress to the next stage, don’t miss out on your business health check − it could be a great benefit to you and your company and it’s free.”

The D2 Business Advisory Growth Service is run on behalf of D2N2 − the Local Enterprise Partnership for Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.

For more information about business support for Chesterfield business please click here.

Cementing its commitment to bringing on new talent in the accountancy sector, Mitchells Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers has appointed Brandon Wazirali as an undergraduate placement student.

Brandon (21) from Mosborough in Sheffield, is an Accounting and Finance student at Sheffield Hallam University. As part of the third year of his degree he has joined Mitchells Corporate Services team full-time, on a 12-month placement in order to gain experience ahead of his final year and graduation.

He explained: “Accountancy opens doors to so many different careers, however my personal aim is to become a Chartered Accountant and undertaking this placement with Mitchells is a great way to gain experience as well as confirm my career ambitions.”

He is one of a long line of undergraduates to join Mitchells as a placement student; the majority of which are offered permanent roles with the firm on completing their degree. Partner Tony Hornsby joined Mitchells originally as a placement student in 2001 and has remained with the firm since graduating.

Commenting on his appointment, Brandon said: “I’m really enjoying it at Mitchells. Every day is different. I have always been good with numbers, so being able to apply the theory from my course in a practical, hands-on environment is giving me invaluable experience which will provide a great platform on which to build my career once I graduate.”

Outside work, Brandon who is a keen half marathon runner, enjoys playing Sunday League football with The New Bohemians.

The firm is looking to make further appointments to add to its expanding team of tax professionals and Chartered Accountants. If you’re looking for a career at Mitchells Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers, get in touch with Andrew McDaid by calling 01246 274121, or send your CV and covering letter to andrewmcdaid@mitchellsaccountants.co.uk

Capitalising on recent research – stating that nationally the proportion of women that went into business between 2013 and 2016 rose by 45% – the Women in Business Network (WIBN) are set to launch a new networking service for business women in Chesterfield.

The WIBN is a membership organisation for women who wish to gain new business opportunities through word of mouth. Whether employed or a business owner the network has a huge diversity of businesses involved.

Networking is widely seen as the most effective business tool to market any business or service. The WIBN has been offering businesses the chance to meet monthly to do business together, collaborate on projects and gain new leads for over 12 years. The Chesterfield group will be first group set up in Derbyshire after success of the group in Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.

The WIBN will meet for a two hour networking meeting held every month, starting from 5th October, where they will share lunch whilst allowing delegates the opportunity to increase business, brand and profile for their organisation.

Paula Grizzard, Director of WIBN North Derbyshire and Yorkshire,  said:-

“We are impressed with the drive for business in Chesterfield and keen to set up our newest WIBN Group here to be part of the growth and investment in the town.”

To find out more about the meetings please click here.

Chesterfield Food Producer, Moss Valley Fine Meats, have recently been announced as finalist in the ‘Pig Farmer of the Year’ category for the Farmers Weekly Awards 2017.

Top technical performance was the common theme across all three finalists this year, which ranged from the largest pig producer in the country to a family-run farrow-to finish farm marketing their own produce. They stand against GSK Pigs in Norfolk and British Quality Pigs in Suffolk.

Stephen and Karen Thompson of Moss Valley Fine Meats, produce pork, bacon, ham and sausages in their own butchery from pigs bred and reared on their farm in the beautiful Moss Valley on the edge of Sheffield.

A rare little gem is how you could describe the family-run Moss Valley Fine Meats, which is home to 200 sows and is producing about 6,000 pigs a year. They have also recently gain planning permission to triple the size of the butchery with a LEADER application being undertaken for EU funding. This will allow the farm to expand across the country and hopefully internationally.

Moss Valley have developed a brand that is well-known with top chefs and at farmers markets in the Sheffield area; supplying around 70 restaurants, delis and shops in the local area. They have also been approached to supply large volumes of sausage for a schools contract.

A representative from the Farmers Weekly said about the farm:-

“A smaller-scale, family-run pig operation makes Moss Valley Meats really quite rare in the industry today. They have built a brand that is well known in the Sheffield area, has excellent performance and is carbon neutral.”

The winner of the awards will be announced in a black tie awards ceremony held at The Grosvenor House Hotel in London’s Mayfair in October.

Alongside being shortlisted for such a prestigious national title, Moss Valley are also celebrating being shorlisted as finalists in the first ever English SME Business Awards 2017.

Dynamic individuals with an understanding of business and a taste for a challenge are being sought to help drive forward the work of the Sheffield City Region (SCR).

Four members of the Board of the Local Enterprise Partnership – or LEP – have reached the end of their three-year term and applications are invited for the vacancies.

Today Sir Nigel Knowles, Chair of the LEP Board, said:-

“I’m tremendously grateful to our retiring members. They have given us a huge breadth of knowledge and depth of understanding of this region and its strategic economic needs. They have given their time and expertise most generously and we all have a great deal to thank them for.”

Several Board members will be joining a booming region that is smashing its own targets. It aimed to see 70,000 new jobs in the decade from March 2015 – but just two years later 27,000 have already been created.

The Local Enterprise Partnership Board, founded six years ago, has built an enviable reputation as a business orientated and pragmatic private-public partnership. It leads a region now well placed to take advantage of greater localism – one of the key points of the Government’s Industrial Strategy – and to accelerate the rebirth of the economy.

The LEP drives trade and investment activities, transport improvements, housing developments, and skills and training. With LEP support two global giants, the supercar maker McLaren Automotive and aero manufacturer Boeing, voted with their feet and began building bases in the region this year, and another two such major announcements are confidently expected in the near future.

Now the SCR is looking for a three-year commitment from a new round of businesspeople prepared to sit on the LEP Board, giving their time and expertise to advise and guide the executive, working closely with the region’s local authorities.

The retiring members are Simon Carr, MD of Henry Boot Construction; Deborah Egan OBE, Arts Director; Paul Houghton, Partner at Grant Thornton; and Chris Scholey, former Chair of the Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS Hospitals Foundation Trust.

Nigel Brewster, Vice Chair of the LEP, added:-

“I can honestly say being a LEP Board member is one of the most rewarding things I do. You learn a tremendous amount, meet fascinating people, and at the end of the day you can feel you’ve done some practical good for the region.

“Members serve for three years and we are using this opportunity to look for people who are willing, unpaid, to represent the wealth of different businesses, geography and population we have in this region. We are working on a new Strategic Economic Plan which will be our road map for the next 10 years, and it brings a whole new set of exciting challenges – so we are looking for the brightest and the best from across the whole of the region.

“We’re a region that’s booming, and now is an amazing time to join us.”

For more information on how to apply please click here.