Places still remain at a free conference which seeks to address the important issue of young people’s employability skills in Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.

Organisers the D2N2 Enterprise Advisor Network and Destination Chesterfield, are appealing to representatives from education and businesses to attend the free conference, which is being held at Ringwood Hall on Wednesday 19 October 2016 from 8.00am – 10.00am.

The conference follows the launch of the D2N2 Employability Framework at last year’s (2015) Annual Conference of the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership; a private sector-led body which promotes economic growth and jobs creation across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.

The Employability Framework – which is being delivered (with £300,000 in support) through the Government-backed Careers & Enterprise Company Enterprise Adviser Network, and D2N2 – seeks to address the mismatch between the employability skills that young people are leaving school with or picking up through post-16 training programmes, against those needed by employers.

While apprenticeship opportunities in the area have increased, a recent D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership report suggests that only 48% of schools are organising visits to local apprenticeship providers, leaving employers struggling to fill apprenticeship vacancies.

The increase in apprenticeship opportunities in the area and less young people to fill them, coupled with the opening of the new University of Derby’s St. Helena campus in Chesterfield, has pushed employability skills to the top of the local agenda.

The conference on October 19 will aim to build stronger links between schools and employers in the area, and help young people better realise their career potential.

Gail Widerman, Director of Placing Futures Ltd, a partner of the D2N2’s Employability Framework said: “We work with both schools and businesses and more and more employers are telling us that they want work ready young people. I am delighted that so many schools and businesses have come on board with Chesterfield’s first Employability Skills Conference and are taking a joint approach to finding a solution and giving young people a very real future in industry.”

Dom Stevens, Destination Chesterfield Manager commented: “With more than £1billion of investment happening in Chesterfield over the next 10 years it is vital that our young people are work ready and have the skills that employers want. Having a pool of work ready employees is one of the key reasons businesses invest in an area and create jobs. The conference is designed to bring together the education and business communities and address the perceived and real skills gaps before they become an issue.”

To attend the free Chesterfield Employability Conference visit http://www.chesterfield.co.uk/events/chesterfield-employability-conference/ Or, to find out more about the D2N2 Employability Framework go to: http://www.d2n2lep.org/skills/employability-framework

Dedicated shared office space can now accommodate up to 25 people at a single time offers flexible and affordable office space to entrepreneurs, freelancers and telecommuters

Lonely entrepreneurs, freelancers and telecommuters working from home in Chesterfield need no longer be frustrated following the completion of expansion work at Monkey Park Works , the town’s first dedicated coworking space.

A team of volunteers and skilled tradespeople have completed the second phase of renovation work at the former tile warehouse, tripling the capacity of the shared office space above the Monkey Park cafe, bakery and cycle repair workshop on Chester Street in Brampton.

With more than 1,000 square feet of modern office space, there is now capacity for up to 50 members, who work alongside each other using a combination of open plan and cubicle seating.

Membership is very flexible, ranging from one day a week to full time. 15 people currently use the shared workspace on a regular basis, including staff working for mobile app developer 7DayTek , technology consultancy Systems Makers , PR and digital communications agency Roaring Mouse and several freelancers.

Simon Redding, cofounder and director of Monkey Park, comments: “We are delighted to complete the second phase of building work at Monkey Park Works. We now have a thoroughly modern working environment, supplied with superfast internet, that provides small businesses with a cost effective alternative to traditional offices and people who would otherwise work from home with a sociable substitute to the kitchen table.”

“Although we are only nine months old, we’ve already become a hub for digital & creative businesses and charities in the Chesterfield area. They appreciate being able to use the
coworking space to collaborate and be part of a working community. People are using the space to trade internationally and bring new opportunities back to Chesterfield and we are keen to foster more startups and other social enterprises that can create new jobs and new opportunities locally. As we’re a community nonprofit, we’ll also be using the income from the workspace to support the local area.”

This week, Cathelco Ltd. supplied a ballast water treatment (BWT) system for the C.C. Pacifique, a steel barge which is being converted into a cable laying vessel for Coastal Carriers BV of the Netherlands.

Robert Field, Technical Director at Cathleco, said:-

“The BWT project was scheduled with a tight deadline and we were able to hold discussions and produce drawings within a very short time span.”

The Chesterfield based company, who designs and manufactures equipment for ships and offshore installations, have been working on developing new systems and technology to give them a more reliable and economical offering. This has allowed Cathelco to operate more effectively in the most challenging of water conditions, providing a unique selling point over their competitors in marine, brackish and fresh water.