High demand already for places at breakfast event celebrating Chesterfield’s success and plans for 2016

With £1 billion of regeneration taking place in Chesterfield, the annual Celebrate event, which is taking place on Thursday 17 March, is the hottest ticket in town.

Taking place at the Winding Wheel from 7.30am – 11.00am, already 190 places at the 250 seat event have been reserved.

Organised by Destination Chesterfield in association with The University of Derby, the town’s leaders will update the business community at the event on the progress made with developments, including the £340million Chesterfield Waterside and the £400million Peak scheme.

Later this year The University of Derby will open its new Chesterfield campus at the former St Helena’s Grammar School, where it will offer world class university facilities for Nursing, Business, Computing, Law and Engineering students.

“Expanding our work in Chesterfield with the refurbished campus in such a wonderful building comes in the same year the University celebrates a decade in Buxton’s historic Devonshire Dome,” said Professor Rod –Dubrow-Marshall, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University.

“Research commissioned by the University into the economic impact of the Buxton Campus on the local economy revealed that it supported 500 jobs through a total spend of £32 million – and we hope to have a similar impact in Chesterfield.”

Peter Swallow, Chair of Destination Chesterfield and Managing director of Bolsterstone which is developing Chesterfield Waterside, will also speak at the event. He said: “Celebrate is an important and popular event for the town’s business community. It is an opportunity to reflect on the success we have had and to hear, first-hand, from decision-makers about forthcoming plans.

“2015 was a significant year for Chesterfield; it was the first in the town’s history that unemployment was lower than the national average. With the current and future developments in the town and inward investment it is attracting, it looks like 2016 will deliver similar successes for the town. It is a very exciting time for Chesterfield.”

The event is free to attend and last year was the largest and fully subscribed Celebrate Chesterfield since the first was held in 2011. This year, the headline sponsor of Celebrate 2016 is joined by fellow sponsors Central Technology and Markham Vale.

Richard Thompson, Sales Director of Central Technology commented: “We are delighted to be one of the sponsors of one of the most significant Chesterfield business events of the year.

“The exhibition is a fantastic opportunity to present our well-established business to leading industry heads in Chesterfield and to demonstrate how we are passionate about supporting business in the area though IT support and Telecoms Solutions.”

“Our experienced team and technological knowhow already provides many local businesses with the IT Support and security they need to help grow their business and we hope that through continued collaborative working between local organisations in the region, we can help place Chesterfield and its business strengths on the national map.”

Ben Ward, Director, Henry Boot Developments, said: “We are proud to return as sponsors of this year’s Celebrate Chesterfield event. The event is fantastic in promoting the local area and showcasing the upcoming activity in 2016. Markham Vale is a key economic development for the area; it has created over 700 new jobs since development commenced, which is contributing to the improvements that continue to transform Chesterfield into a destination.”

Book your place

Sheffield City Region’s top political and business figures are calling on residents and businesses to have their say on a proposed deal which will mean greater power and funding for the local area.

There are now only a few days left to take part in the Sheffield City Region proposed devolution deal consultation which closes on Friday 15th January.

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.”

Sir Nigel Knowles, Chairman of Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) said:

“I believe that it is important that local businesses and residents take part in this consultation and help make our proposed deal a reality. The proposed deal has the potential to accelerate local business growth and create more and higher paid jobs in the area. By transferring powers and funding from Government, this deal will give local leaders, who better understand what is needed to grow our economy, the powers needed to maximise local business growth.”

Councillor Sir Steve Houghton CBE, Chair of the Sheffield City Region Combined Authority said:-

“Our in-principle deal with Government is focused on being able to grow businesses faster and create more and better jobs opportunities for local people. These are issues that people really care about and so I encourage residents and businesses to make time to respond to the consultation before it closes at the end of the week.”

Local Leaders will be negotiating details of the proposed deal over the coming months but they are now consulting on the proposed deal so that they have the views of the people in the City Region before they finalise any deal. Local Leaders recognise that further work needs to continue to clarify issues in relation to the Mayor in any majority vote (to ensure the right checks and balances are in place) and potential amendments to achieving their preferred geography for the region (to seek maximum flexibility for all types of authorities to be part of combined authorities).

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 deal covers a range of themes including transport, skills, creating new jobs, inward investment and support to help local businesses export as well as committing to working with Government on new ways to incentivise local growth.

For more information and to take part in the consultation visit www.sheffieldcityregiondevolution.org.uk. Residents and businesses can have their say by taking part in the online consultation before Friday 15 January.