SDL Minorfern celebrates 45 successful years

25th April 2023

North Derbyshire based motor factors, SDL Minorfern has recently celebrated 45 years of successful trading and growth.

The business started in 1978 with only one small building in Clay Cross. Now, SDL Minorfern has grown organically into 12 branches from Leeds down to Derby.

While the firm is still headquartered in Clay Cross on Furnace Hill Road, it also has a branch in Chesterfield, based on the Foxwood Road trading estate in Sheepbridge.

Julie Salter, Human Resources Director at SDL Minorfern commented: “45 years is a massive achievement for any business, but given the way things have been over the last few years we are even more grateful to be celebrating this milestone.

“We are proud to still be based where it all started here in North Derbyshire, and it is even more special to be part of the community and creating employment for local people.

“We celebrated with all our people on the 18th of April, we had a cake for every branch, got everyone a special t-shirt and a small gift, and we all just took some time to celebrate what a great business we are. We are also having a special trade night on the 25th of May, an opportunity to spend some time with our fantastic customers and suppliers.

“We are very proud to be a Derbyshire based company, and wherever we can we want to be able to further support the local economy going forward.”

North Derbyshire is cost-effective, well located close to the M1 motorway, and full of potential with businesses from world-leading manufacturers to multinational communication companies.

Find out more about the great opportunities to locate your business in the area at: https://www.chesterfield.co.uk/business/invest-in-chesterfield/

SDL Minorfern supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 200 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.

Collaboration leads to eye-catching display for SDL Minorfern

21st February 2022

A collaborative project between two local businesses has led to an eye-catching display being produced and displayed at SDL Minorfern.

The motor parts company has worked with creative experts FWD motion to produce graphics on a Perspex display highlighting the company’s values and achievements. The display is now proudly showcased in the company’s reception area to welcome customers and visitors to the business.

Julie Havenhand, Human Resources Director at SDL Minorfern said: “We are extremely pleased with the result of both the reception wall and the values branding that FWD did, they are a pleasure to work with and very supportive of our vision.

“With the wall being at head office in Clay Cross where the business originally started 42 years ago, it has even more importance to display the history and the growth of the business, from then until now. When visitors and candidates arrive they have the opportunity to see our journey and it’s a great talking point.

“SDL is really proactive in using local business where possible and we value it as vitally important, giving back to the community and also supporting small businesses where possible. Having 12 branches we therefore have the opportunity to support local businesses in all of those areas.”

Emma Cole, Head of Marketing at FWD Motion commented: “FWD were delighted to work with SDL developing their company core value graphics. Working not only on design, but also installation means we get to see a project delivered and in use. Seeing it on display in the Head Office makes a real difference as you can visualise the impact it will have in the workplace.

“As a fully integrated creative agency we can work with clients on design, print, installation, development and marketing projects. We love working with local companies and helping make a positive branding impact. If anyone has a project they’d like to discuss, we’d love to help.

SDL Minorfern and FWD Motion support the marketing and economic growth of the town through Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 200 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Celebrate Chesterfield, Destination Chesterfield, Home, UncategorisedTagged in business collaboration, business news, chesterfield business news, chesterfield champions, FWD Motion, SDL Minorfern

Chesterfield-based SDL Minorfern continues growth by adding new branch in Leeds

21st December 2020

A Chesterfield company has continued its growth by opening a brand new branch in Leeds. SDL Minorfern has established itself as one of the UK’s leading distributors of replacement parts for cars and vans, having been a family-run business for more than 40 years.

Locally, the company already has its head office in Clay Cross along with branches in Chesterfield, Derby, Mansfield and Sheffield all part of a 12 branch network across the North Midlands and Yorkshire.

Now it has expanded again by moving into a Leeds facility in October 2020, making it the biggest standalone branch in the business. The company is also making full use of new technology to improve its output, with the Leeds branch being the first to fully integrate a barcode management system.

The move will also improve connectivity for SDL, with the branch having superb access to the M1 and M621 motorways and Leeds City Centre, enabling the business to expand its customer base further into the Yorkshire region.

SDL now stocks more than 60,000 products, including its own brands and completes around 885,000 deliveries per year. The company has more than 250 employees across 12 branches, with 19 people now working in the new Leeds store.

Darren Murray, SDL Minorfern Commercial Director said: “At SDL Minorfern we pride ourselves on excellent availability of quality parts, a fantastic logistics department for fast deliveries and superb sales teams with decades of quality experience. We then put this all together to provide a quality and reliable customer experience that is second to none, while still remaining highly competitive.

“Now the customers in Leeds and surrounding areas have the opportunity to experience our new site for themselves, and we very much look forward to welcoming them.”

SDL Minorfern Managing Director, Nick Holland said: “We are delighted to open our branch in Leeds. Leeds is a great strategic location to enable us to expand our customer base further into Yorkshire. The Leeds branch offers over 25,000 sq. ft of parts storage, and with state of the art technology we will offer industry leading levels of service to the automotive aftermarket in the Leeds area.”

SDL Minorfern supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 180 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.

Images by Ben Marriott

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Destination Chesterfield, Development, Featured, Home, UncategorisedTagged in business development, Chesterfield, chesterfield business news, Clay Cross, Leeds, SDL Minorfern