Author: Tara Underhill

Cathelco wins trio of orders for projects worldwide

5th January 2016

Cathelco in Chesterfield has received three orders to supply its specialist hull corrosion protection systems to Brazil, Japan and Singapore.

To protect against vessel corrosion, the business will supply Brazil with an impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) system which will safeguard FPSO Cidade de Campos dos Goyatacazes over an operational life of 20 years.

The vessel will be installed with the latest control panels which provide comprehensive data about performance. This simplifies monitoring for the crew and enables data to be downloaded to a USB stick and sent to Cathelco for detailed analysis.

Cathelco will also supply a protection system for the FPSO Catcher which is being built by the IHI Corporation’s yard at Aichi, Japan.

After the integration of the topside modules and completion in Singapore, the floating system will be deployed in Premier Oil’s Catcher field in the North Sea. It will be capable of processing up to 60,000 barrels of crude per day and have a storage capacity of 650,000 barrels.

A third order for specialist corrosion protection has come from Sembcorp Marine’s Jurong yard in Singapore where a shuttle tanker is to be converted into FPSO Libra.

Scheduled for completion in 2016, the system will have the capacity to produce 50,000 barrels of oil and 4 million cubic metres of natural gas, per day.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Celebrate Chesterfield

Devolution details published for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire

5th January 2016

The benefits of devolution for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire have been revealed in detail, as the region’s draft deal is published for the first time today.

The deal document, which sets out the final negotiating position of the council and business leaders behind the bid, was sent to Chancellor George Osborne and Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Greg Clark just before Christmas.

It was accompanied by a strong message to ministers that “now is the time to do the deal”.

The agreement, as it stands, has been developed following months of negotiations. The majority of the deal has broad agreement, with only a small number of issues now requiring final discussion and sign off.

The deal sets out ten key benefits devolution would deliver for the residents and businesses of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire:

55,000 new private sector jobs
77,000 extra homes
An Investment Fund over 30 years to provide infrastructure such as roads and bridges
Adult skills provision that better meets the needs of businesses
A joint transport fund to spend on key transport improvements
A better co-ordinated public transport system with ‘Oyster’ style smart ticketing
More responsive and co-ordinated business support for growth
The creation of substantially more apprenticeship opportunities
More people entering employment through better targeted local programmes
Journey times to London of less than 90 minutes by train

19 councils across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire together with business leaders from the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, which covers the two counties, are seeking to create a single Combined Authority for the region by March 2016 − the first of its kind featuring district, borough, city and county councils.

The Combined Authority and a new mayor, elected by the people of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, would be granted powers and resources currently held in London and gain responsibility for delivering a raft of new measures to boost economic growth, create jobs, build new homes and improve the quality of life for people living in the area.

Councillor Anne Western, Leader of Derbyshire County Council, said:

“We can’t stress enough the size of the prize on offer for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire and the benefits devolution would bring for local people. So we’ve taken the decision to publish the draft agreement so people can get a better understanding of what it will mean for the area.

“Following a request from Government, we have renamed our bid as North Midlands, which more accurately reflects the geographical area covered and will be able to align with the same name for the Combined Authority.

“We’ve been working with the Government to finalise a deal for some time now and discussions have been extremely positive. Both sides are clearly committed to an agreement and there’s no reason to delay any further.”

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business

Monkey Park Works welcomes first tenants

5th January 2016

A new shared work space for digital start-ups and social enterprises has opened in Chesterfield.

Based on Chester Street in Brampton, the first tenants at Monkey Park Works include specialist technology PR agency, Roaring Mouse, digital innovation and design consultancy, Systems Makers and cycle training company, Wheely Fun Wheels.

The facility currently offers shared office space for up to 16 people and is set to expand to accommodate up to 50 micro-businesses, freelancers and entrepreneurs once the second phase of building work is completed in the Spring.

Developed on the site of a former tile warehouse, Monkey Park started trading in October 2015 and is home to a thriving cafe, community bakery and bicycle workshop.

A not-for-profit social enterprise, cash brought in by Monkey Park will be reinvested to support local community projects. The team will also work with local residents and businesses to create a plan for enhancing the local area and boosting its economy.

Simon Redding, co-founder and director of Monkey Park, comments: “Digital and social entrepreneurs in Chesterfield have been crying out for the kind of flexible and affordable co-working space we are now offering at Monkey Park Works. We hope to foster the kind of start-ups and social enterprises that will go on to create new employment opportunities and help contribute to Brampton’s community-led economic renaissance.”

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business

Chesterfield workers challenged to get active

4th January 2016

Businesses in Chesterfield are being urged to help revolutionise the lunch break by encouraging their workforce to get active – and reap the business benefits as a result.

A new eight-week Derbyshire Workplace Challenge launches today and businesses are invited to sign up and encourage staff to step away from their desks at lunchtime and take time out to take part in sport or physical activity.

Organisers say that by encouraging employees to get active on their lunch break businesses could save one sick day per employee per year – equating to an average saving of £10,225 for a business with 100 staff.

The Derbyshire Workplace Challenge is an online activity log challenge which allows colleagues to track how much sport and activity they are doing, and work together to earn activity points and work their way up the online leaderboard.

Anyone can sign up to the challenge and it is completely free for individuals and workplaces to join.

Rachael Dyer, Sport Development Officer at Derbyshire Sport, which runs the Workplace Challenge in Derbyshire, said that businesses which encouraged staff to get active could reap the rewards of a healthier and happier workforce.

She said: “Busy workloads can mean that employees sometimes feel under pressure to work through lunch, and time is often cited as a barrier to participation in sport and physical activity. But this can mean that many workers often spend eight or nine hours sat at a desk, and during winter the lack of daylight hours often provides many workers with a ready-made excuse to avoid exercising outside of work hours.

“We are inviting employers to think differently and offer their employees the opportunity for a flexible lunch break so they can participate in sport and physical activity – and come back to work feeling re-energized.”

Across England workers take on average 5.31 sick days per year. However NHS research has shown that those who are physically active are 20% less likely to take a sick day and, if they do, they are 27% more likely to return to work more quickly.

Based on the average earnings for Derbyshire, by saving one sick day per year per employee, Derbyshire businesses could collectively save £50,692,994 per year.

A number of prizes will be on offer throughout the challenge, both to teams and individuals. This includes four free places in the 2016 Derby 10k Business Team Challenge, which will be awarded to the workplace at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the eight-week challenge. In addition, anyone who successfully completes and logs 150 minutes of activity each week for the first four weeks of the challenge will automatically be entered into a prize draw to win two tickets to the NBL Team Derby home game on Monday 8th February.

For more information and to take part visit www.workplacechallenge.org.uk/derbyshire

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Leisure

LEP chairman asks business leaders to have their say on devolution

23rd December 2015

Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Chairman James Newman has written to local business leaders to encourage them to support the Sheffield City Region proposed Devolution Deal and take part in the online consultation which opened earlier this month.

James Newman, Chairman of the Sheffield City Region LEP, said: “I’m encouraging local businesses from across the City Region to take this opportunity to go online and show their support for the devolution deal. This deal will enable our local political and business leaders to take decision-making to the next level, making bigger and better local decisions over skills, business growth and infrastructure. Anyone interested in future business growth in our City Region should go online and take part before the consultation closes next month.”

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.”

Local Leaders will be negotiating details of the deal over the coming months but are now consulting on the proposed deal so that they have the views of the people in the Sheffield City Region before finalising any deal. It is recognised that further work needs to continue to clarify issues in relation to the powers of any elected mayor and any potential statutory amendments needed to achieve our preferred geography for the City Region, which means seeking maximum flexibility for all types of authorities to be part of the Combined Authority.

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 consultation will be open until Friday 15 January 2016 and local residents and businesses are being invited to comment on the deal by visiting www.sheffieldcityregiondevolution.org.uk.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Destination Chesterfield, Development

Peak tourist board backs Accessible Derbyshire

23rd December 2015

Visit Peak District & Derbyshire is expanding its leading role in supporting accessible tourism by announcing its support for a Derbyshire charity.

Accessible Derbyshire – which was set up to make life easier for people with disabilities, their families and carers – is to be the tourist board’s first-ever chosen charity throughout 2016.

The charity, set up by Gillian Scotford and Jane Carver, who between them have six children, three of whom have disabilities, will receive support thanks to a link on Visit Peak District & Derbyshire’s website to invite donations, a series of sponsored events organised by the tourist board team and efforts to encourage tourist board members to adopt it as their chosen cause.

“This is the first time we have ever selected a charity to support, and we thought Accessible Derbyshire was a highly appropriate choice,” said Jo Dilley, Director of Visit Peak District & Derbyshire.

“Not only have we worked with Gillian and Jane on a variety of projects in the past, we were recently only one of just seven destinations to secure a share in national tourist board VisitEngland’s ‘Access for All’ project, aimed at promoting England as a leading destination for accessible tourism.

“Eight of our businesses took part, and are setting a shining example to their peers in making their facilities and services more accessible. We know Gillian and Jane are passionate about their cause, and we share their enthusiasm for improving access across the area for everyone, so we have decided to support their work by raising money for them throughout next year.”

Gillian Scotford and Jane Carver of Accessible Derbyshire added: “We are absolutely thrilled that Visit Peak District & Derbyshire has chosen us as its first-ever charity of the year.

“As we both have children with severe disabilities, we understand at first hand the importance of a friendly and inclusive welcome. If we can all pull together, we can make Derbyshire an even more accessible destination, for the benefit of both visitors and the tourism industry.”

Chatsworth is one of the eight businesses across the Peak District and Derbyshire which took part in ‘Access for All’ earlier this year to maximise the potential of the so-called ‘Purple Pound’, now worth more than £12 billion to the national economy.

VisitEngland research reveals that the overnight accessible tourism market is now worth £3 billion per annum to the English economy, with day visits boosting the figure to £12.1 billion. Over the past few years, overnight trips by disabled tourists and their companions have increased by 19 per cent, and their spending is up by a third.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Celebrate Chesterfield, Leisure, Visiting

YOUTHINC celebrates first birthday

22nd December 2015

Derbyshire County Council’s youth services brand, YOUTHINC celebrates its first birthday this month.

Designed by young people, for young people, with a website offering advice and information on all areas of life from something to do, to someone to talk to, YOUTHINC has got a lot to show for its first year. Some of the achievements from the past 12 months include:-

Youth workers putting on 4,194 youth group sessions which involved 65,048 young people;
More than 11,000 young people finding out about learning and career options at Derbyshire Skills Festival events in Chesterfield and Derby;
Careers advisors helping 6,488 young people with their career options;
Chesterfest – Chesterfield’s music festival – being enjoyed by more than 2,000 people.

Derbyshire Youth Council and members of the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) also had the opportunity to speak in parliament to decide the two most important issues facing young people in the UKYP’s Make your Mark campaign.

Councillor Damien Greenhalgh said:

“Since we launched YOUTHINC we’ve provided thousands of young people with information, advice and guidance as well as safe and fun places to meet with one another. We’ve provided careers advice and helped people develop their skills for employment, listened to and supported our youth councillors with their campaigns and arranged work experience placements for young people in care.

“We want young people to have every chance to be happy and fulfil their potential in learning, employment and life.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Celebrate Chesterfield, Leisure

Grants on the way for youth activities in Chesterfield

17th December 2015

Youth groups and projects in Chesterfield will soon be able to apply for a share of £50,000 from Derbyshire County Council.

The new grants scheme will launch in January to coincide with the first anniversary of YOUTHINC – the council’s new youth offer combining all services for young people.

Members of the Derbyshire Youth Council have named the scheme ‘YOUTHINC − We Grant’ and it will also be these young people who will decide how the money is spent.

Councillor Damien Greenhalgh, Derbyshire County Council’s Deputy Cabinet Member of Children’s Services, said:

“We made promises to our young people and we’re acting on them. This new grant scheme is by young people, for young people.

“We value their involvement in the decisions and services that affect them and our youth councillors have been involved throughout this process.”

Cabinet has agreed that groups supporting the development of youth activities throughout Derbyshire will be able to apply for grants of up to £1,500.

Before decisions are made on where money is spent, members of the youth forums and youth council will consider:

If the project or campaign is accessible to all young people
How many young people will benefit
How long the project will run
Whether it is value for money
The long-term impact of the funding
And what the money will be spent on

Councillor Greenhalgh added:

“The youth forum and youth council will make well-informed decisions about where money should be spent and will be asking for regular updates to ensure it continues to benefit young people across Derbyshire.”

More information on applying for grants will be available in early January in the ‘Something to Say’ section of the YouThinc website (opens in a new window).

Posted in About Chesterfield, Leisure

Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap returns to Pomegranate Theatre

16th December 2015

The legendary Agatha Christie thriller The Mousetrap is to return to The Pomegranate Theatre in Chesterfield in the spring, following sell-out performances in 2014.

Louise Jameson will star as Mrs Boyle in the record-breaking 60^th anniversary tour. Best known for her long-running roles as Leela, a companion of Tom Baker’s Doctor in Doctor Who, Louise has also played Susan Young in Bergerac¸ Eleanor Glasson in Doc Martin, and Rosa di Marco in EastEnders.

Louise said: “I thought about doing something special for my 65th birthday in 2016. Just how did I get to be 65? The same way The Mousetrap has run for nearly that length of time I suppose, just second by second time has ticked away we’ve both lasted this long, and so we’ll be celebrating together. That’s quite special.”

Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap has been the world’s longest running stage production at its London home since breaking the record in 1958 and recently celebrated its 26,000th performance. The 60th Anniversary – and first ever – UK tour of this beloved murder mystery is approaching 1000 performances and has now been seen by nearly 1 million people, having broken box office records in many of its tour venues.

Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap comes to the Pomegranate Theatre from Monday 7th to Saturday 12th March. For ticket please visit www.chesterfieldtheatres.co.uk, call into the box office at Chesterfield Visitor Information Centre or call 01246 345 222.

Images:

The Mousetrap 2016 UK Tour. Courtesy of Hugo Glendinning.
Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen and the cast of The Mousetrap celebrating the 26,000 performance. Courtesy of Dave Wise

Posted in About Chesterfield, Leisure, Visiting

Plan to get active with Jog Into January

16th December 2015

A series of absolute beginner jogging sessions are taking place across Derbyshire from January to encourage more people to get active during 2016.

The Jog Into January campaign is specifically designed to help people who have never pulled on running shoes before, or want to get back into jogging.

Co-ordinated by JOG Derbyshire – which has more than 90 jogging groups across the county – the sessions start from Sunday January 10 and are led by qualified jog leaders.

Jogging plans for complete beginners can be followed, which assist participants to progress from walking to jogging within weeks.

The 2015 campaign, which ran from January to March, saw 278 new members join JOG Derbyshire, while 800 people a week jog regularly with the organisation.

“The most important thing is that people don’t need to worry about how they look or what speed they are moving at,” said Michelle Simmons, JOG Derbyshire Co-ordinator. “The emphasis is very much on every group being friendly and non-competitive, working with people step-by step to help get them jogging.

“If your New Year’s resolution is to get fit, then this is an ideal opportunity to start your health kick among people who’ve also not jogged before, giving the opportunity to make new friends.”

To find participating groups in Chesterfield click here.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Leisure

Positive job figures cap year of success for Chesterfield businesses

16th December 2015

The number of people out of work and claiming Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) in Chesterfield fell again in November, according to figures released today by the Office for National Statistics. In November, there were 876 JSA claimants , 46 fewer than in October (922) and 570 fewer than in November 2014 (1446). The current percentage of people claiming the benefit remains below the national average for a third month (1.4% for Chesterfield compared with 1.6% for the UK and 1.4% for the East Midlands).

The number of unemployed people in the East Midlands fell by 2,000 to 101,000 over the three months to the end of October, meaning that the region’s unemployment rate now stands at 4.3%.

The regional employment rate now stands at 74.2%, with the total number of people in employment over the three months rising by 65,000, to 2.23m

Scott Knowles, Chief Executive of East Midlands Chamber, said: “It’s good to see the year being rounded off with another set of positive employment figures, which once again show that the region is at the front of the pack when it comes to creating jobs.

“Private sector businesses in the East Midlands have created jobs at a faster rate than anywhere else in the UK over the past 18 months and although we’d expect this trend to continue into 2016, there are issues out there that could impact on job creation next year.

“Overall, the strength of the labour market remains an important driver of economic growth and the economy is continuing to expand at a decent pace. But that growth remains far too unbalanced.

“Firms that do business solely in the UK have so far been relatively well insulated from the international slowdown, but the longer that key overseas markets suffer malaise the greater the likelihood that we may start to see it impacting on the UK economic environment.

“We also have uncertainties around things like the EU referendum and the introduction of a new National Living Wage and we can’t yet fully appreciate what impact these might have on business.

“The substantial widening in the trade deficit is a warning sign that more needs to be done to fix the fundamentals that hinder productivity, exports and enterprise if we are to achieve growth that is both balanced and sustainable over the next year and beyond.”

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Celebrate Chesterfield