Chesterfield Champion Shorts is pleased to announce the launch of its brand-new website and updated logo. Over the last 4 years its business has seen growth of 20% pa each and every year.  It is now over twice the size it was in 2014 and it was considered time to update its online presence.

Andy Irvine (right), Shorts’ Managing Partner, who has driven the rebrand process from conception commented: “We are not your average accountancy firm. We wanted our new website to enable visitors not only to find out about our services; but to learn what makes us different, who we are and what really makes us tick.”

“Undertaking a project of this scale has been an extremely challenging yet rewarding process. Working with local brand agency Vivid Creative, we are all delighted and very excited by the results and I am sure that anyone who visits our new website will agree that it offers a great insight into who we are and how we work.”

Shorts was recently selected as a finalist at this year’s British Accountancy awards for Mid-Tier Firm Innovation of the Year.

2018 has already proved to be a successful year for Shorts following a win at the Yorkshire Accountancy Awards where Shorts was awarded Advisory Team of the Year and picking up three awards at the Insider Media Dealmaker awards in summer for Emerging Dealmaker of the year, Deal of the Year (up to £2.5m) and National / International Deal of the Year.

Celebrate the success of athletes from Chesterfield and across the rest of Derbyshire with the Derbyshire Institute of Sport (DIS) at their Annual Celebration Dinner.

Toni Minichieollo, coach of Jess Ennis-Hill and Chesterfield’s DIS alumni Alicia Barrett, will be the guest speaker. The dinner will be hosted by Craig Heap – Commonwealth Games gymnast.

20 year-old hurdler Alicia Barrett is from Newbold and is part of Chesterfield and District Athletic Club and will be attending the event. Alicia won gold in the 100m hurdles at the England Athletics U20 / U23 Championships. She was then selected to represent GB Juniors at the World Junior Championships in Poland where she reached the final and came close to breaking the British Record. Since then, Alicia has competed in the women’s 100 metres hurdles at the IAAF World Championships 2017 and was a finalist in the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Chesterfield’s Liam Pitchford is also a member of Derbyshire Institute of Sport, despite often being abroad for training or competing. Liam has represented Team GB at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 and  Olympic Games. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow he picked up team and mixed doubles silver and men’s singles bronze, having won silver and bronze four years previously in Delhi. Gold Coast 2018 was Liam Pitchford’s third Commonwealth Games. He won gold in the men’s doubles, silver in the mixed doubles and bronze in the men’s team. As of September 2018, Liam is ranked number 31 worldwide.

The Annual Celebration and Fundraising Dinner is the main event of the year for Derbyshire Institute of Sport and aims to raise funds for the programme that supports talented athletes from Derbyshire to achieve their sporting dreams on the global stage at World Class level. As a Community Interest Company the Derbyshire Institute of Sport needs to generate income in order to fund the services, which are free to athletes. During the dinner there will be a raffle, sports quiz, photo booth and other surprises to make for an entertaining evening.

The dinner will be held at The Wardwick (formerly the Central Library) in Derby on Thursday 26 October 2018 from 6.45pm to 11.30pm.  This will be the first event held at this new venue.

For tickets or more information regarding the event including sponsorship and corporate packages please contact Adi Fawcett, Head of Fundraising & Partnerships on adifawcett@derbyshireis.co.uk

Leading Derbyshire law firm and Chesterfield Champion Banner Jones has expanded its Family Law team with the appointment of Solicitor, Adam Kidd, to its Chesterfield office.

Adam joins the team having completed his LPC at the University of Law in 2014 after which he entered into a training contract at Whitby-based Colin Brown & Kidson, before being appointed to the role of Associate Solicitor at the firm where he was based for four years.

Joining Banner Jones’ growing Family Law division, he specialises in supporting families following the breakdown of relationships, as well as overseeing the care proceedings for children.

Adam has a demonstrated history of working in both civil litigation and all aspects of private family work, undertaking advocacy in both county court and magistrates.

Kelly Parks, Head of Family Law at Banner Jones, commented: “We’re delighted to welcome Adam on-board and have no doubt that, as a result of his experience dealing with divorce and judicial separation as well as dissolution of civil partnerships, he will be a great asset to the team.

“His appointment is indicative of our ongoing commitment to deliver an outstanding service to our clients as demand continues to grow across all of our divisions.”

Commenting on his appointment, Adam added: “Joining the firm is an exciting opportunity to be part of a growing family team in an award winning, ambitious and progressive law firm”.

Local community groups are being urged to apply for one of Derbyshire County Council’s £500 Action Grants to support their activities as the deadline for current applications approaches.The £1.5m Action Grants scheme was launched in May and the deadline for the next round of applications is this Sunday (September 30).

In just 4 months Action Grants totalling more than £210,000 have been awarded to 113 community groups, clubs, charities and other non-profit organisations across Derbyshire. Successful applicants were able to show they promoted one or more of the four Action Grant themes – youth activity, community action, sport and physical activity or community safety – or a combination.

There are 2,000 small grants of up to £500, a number of grants worth up to £5,000 and for schemes which can be shown to offer long-term benefits for local people and promote 2 or more of our Action Grant themes there are potential grants of £10,000.

Derbyshire County Council Leader Councillor Barry Lewis said: “There are many groups across Derbyshire who do amazing work to provide opportunities for residents in their communities and we want to support them.”

“An Action Grant could be just the helping hand they need to do even more to provide lasting benefits for people across Derbyshire.”

“The application form is simple and easy to complete and there’s still time to apply for this round of £500 grants.”

The current round is for grants of up to £500. If applicants miss this week’s deadline the next one is 31 December 2018. The Action Grants scheme will run until 31 May 2020.

For more information click here.

One of the region’s largest independent firm of Chartered Accountants, BHP, has welcomed 21 trainees into the company this month.

BHP, which has offices in Chesterfield, Sheffield, Cleckheaton, Leeds and York, has appointed 12 graduates, four year-long placements and five trainees.

The new starters have been appointed across the Audit and Assurance, Tax, Corporate Finance, Healthcare and Financial Planning departments.

Lisa Leighton, who joined BHP as a graduate in the Audit team and is now a Partner at the firm, said: “We’re very excited to welcome this latest intake of trainees who bring with them fresh ideas and talent. I know first-hand what it’s like joining as a graduate and the opportunities it offers to grow and develop your career. We very much look forward to supporting these new starters to flourish in their roles.”

This is also the first time a graduate has been appointed to the Financial Planning team which has witnessed exceptional growth over the last 18 months.

Louise Allen, Head of HR at BHP, said: “We firmly believe in training and retaining future talent as much as possible and these appointments are a testament to the exceptional growth of the business.”

“We’re very proud of our apprenticeship and placement programmes which strike a good balance between work, study and training, while equipping young people for the future of work.”

Nadeem Alam, a graduate in the Audit and Assurance department, said: “I chose to work at BHP because I could see that it has such a warm and welcoming environment.

“Starting a new job can make you feel very nervous but everyone has been very welcoming in my first few weeks which made it easy to settle in.”

“In the future, I would like to achieve my potential and I believe this is possible at BHP because they encourage internal progression which is crucial for your development. After speaking to people here I know I made the correct decision to join this ambitious firm.”

BHP has more than 350 staff, including 31 partners. Over the last 10 years the business has increased turnover from £8m to more than £20m.

For more information about BHP visit their Chesterfield Champion page here.