About Chesterfield

Limited places for Chesterfield Football Club gala ball

There are a limited number of places available for Chesterfield’s Gala Ball at Chatsworth House next month, which is part of the club’s 150th anniversary celebrations.

The black tie event, taking place on Saturday, October 22, will feature a fantastic three-course meal and superb live entertainment.

Guests will be provided with transport to and from Chatsworth House, where there will be a champagne reception before dinner. Entertainment will be provided by Alexandra, an electric violinist, together with a ‘Rat Pack’ trio.

Tickets are priced at £150 for this prestigious, one-off event, with a limit of 150 places.

Spireites Gala Ball at Chatsworth

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Leisure

Businesses invited to free business funding workshop

With pre-referendum uncertainty over and interest rates at an all-time low, businesses in the area in are being encouraged to forge ahead now with their growth and investment plans.

Businesses looking to access finance and grants can get all the information they need at a free half day workshop – Funding for Business, which is being delivered by Sheffield City Region’s Growth Hub.

Only a limited number of places are available at the workshop, which is taking place at Dunston Innovation Centre on Wednsday 14th September from 10am – 1pm.

Organised in association with Destination Chesterfield and Chesterfield Borough Council’s Innovation Support Project, the workshop aims to preparing businesses for the post Brexit world of funding.

The European Regional Development Fund-funded workshop will also provide a one-stop-shop for advice and signposting on funding choices open to business, including lending and grants and guidance for making actual applications.

Dom Stevens, Destination Chesterfield said: “The timing of this free workshop couldn’t be better. Many firms held off with their investment and growth plans in the first half of the year due to the uncertainty around Brexit. Now the decision has been made, businesses are forging ahead with their plans and eager to get information on funding streams and grants available to them.”

 

For more information about the free Funding for Business workshop, or to book one of the remaining places, visit http://www.chesterfield.co.uk/events/free-business-workshop-funding-for-business/

qDunston Innovation 01

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Destination Chesterfield, Development

Spireites organise pop-up sensory room

Chesterfield Football Club will invite a number of fans affected by autism to attend their next home fixture in a pop-up sensory room.

The hospitality box in the Community Stand at the Proact Stadium will be turned into a sensory room for the day when Chesterfield take on Northampton Town on Saturday, September 17.

Multi-sensory equipment, which is extremely therapeutic for people with sensory impairment, will be installed in the hospitality box. The equipment will be provided by Chesterfield-based Rompa, who are world leaders in the design and manufacture of sensory equipment and multi-sensory environments.

The initiative is being organised by the Chesterfield FC Community Trust, in partnership with Accessible Derbyshire – a charity with the aim of improving the lives of disabled people, their families, friends and carers living in or visiting Derbyshire and the Peak District.

John Croot, CEO of the Community Trust, said:-

“We are delighted to be working with Accessible Derbyshire on this project and we are also exploring other ways that we can raise awareness of autism.

“I would like to thank Trevor Marples from TM Accounting, who has agreed to make the hospitality box available.”

Gillian Scotford, one of the founders of Accessible Derbyshire, added:-

“The Proact Stadium boasts some fantastic facilities for people with disabilities – including a Changing Places facility – and we are keen to promote the great work being done by the club in this way.

There are a limited number of places available in the sensory room, which are free of charge and include a buffet.

 

Chesterfield Football Club

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business

Crafter’s Companion recruitment drive strengthens Chesterfield team

Global craft supplier, Crafter’s Companion, has added 11 new recruits to its team in the run up to the opening of its store in Chesterfield.

The outlet, at Dobbies Garden Centre in Chesterfield, will be the company’s second store launch in 2016 and officially opens to the public on Friday 23rd September.

As part of the store’s launch, the company held a special recruitment day to find the right candidates to form the retail team.

The day was attended by over 50 people and saw potential candidates take part in a number of tasks designed to help show off their skills.

Now, the company is on the lookout for a further four candidates, which will take the total number of recruits to 15.

Sara Davies, founder of Crafter’s Companion said:-

“We’re absolutely thrilled to be opening our next store in Chesterfield and to be able to bring new jobs to the area.

“Our new team members will be the heart of our new store, so we’ve spent a lot of time making sure we’ve chosen candidates who really understand our brand and our values.

“We’ve really enjoyed welcoming the guys to the Crafter’s Companion family and we’re looking forward to welcoming more team members in the coming months.”

Gurvinder Barn, the new store manager, who brings more than 20 years of retail experience to the team, said:-

“The team are already working really hard to get the store ready for the launch weekend. The new store will bring something unique to the area and we can’t wait for our visitors to see what’s on offer.”

crafters

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Development

£1.27m investment to aid D2N2 Growth Hub in ‘powering up business’

The D2N2 Growth Hub has been awarded £1.27million in European funding – guaranteeing its services to businesses in Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has agreed to part-fund the D2N2 Growth Hub, with £1.27million from the £97m European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) allocation for the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire (D2N2) area, to guarantee Growth Hub services until March 2019, and improve its offer to businesses in its area.

Part of the private sector-led D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership – which promotes economic growth and jobs creation in Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire – the Growth Hub was launched in December 2014. It works with partner organisations including local authorities, universities and businesses to provide free and impartial support and advice on training, growth and accessing funding to expand.

A recent survey of a sample 200 Growth Hub clients showed 88% (176) would recommend its services to a fellow business.

Since its creation, the D2N2 Growth Hub has:

  • helped over 2,400 businesses to access free and impartial support and advice;
  • run events and workshops – including with partner organisations – to inform businesses of its services;
  • commissioned and managed the delivery of additional business support services, including a high growth business support programme;
  • been ‘Highly Commended’ for the design and accessibility of its website (at www.d2n2growthhub.co.uk ).

The new funding agreement for the D2N2 Growth Hub will ensure that its core services – a dedicated phone line, business advisers, a bespoke website and network of business support providers – can provide an improved service to its customers.

It will provide a full time Growth Hub Manager to drive and co-ordinate the project, increased ability and capacity to handle a greater variety of business support enquiries, enhanced marketing and communications, and enable increased working with partner organisations. These will help the D2N2 Growth Hub to strengthen its connection to business support in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire by providing 4,000 businesses with the support they need between now and 2019 – assisting them to create jobs and grow.

Through some of the D2N2 LEP’s local authority partners – Derbyshire County, Nottinghamshire County, Nottingham City, High Peak Borough, Derbyshire Dales District and Chesterfield Borough councils – the core D2N2 Growth Hub service will be enhanced through a network of local business support advisers.

David Williams, Chair of the D2N2 Growth Hub’s Project Board, said:-

“The D2N2 Growth Hub continues to provide Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire businesses with support, advice and information.

“This new funding agreement builds upon our excellent track record, and the belief by Government in our commitment and ability to help the D2N2 business community grow and prosper.”

 

D2N2-Growth-Hub-Lindsay-Allenl

 

Posted in About Chesterfield, Development

BBC Antiques series Flog It comes to Chesterfield

Flog It, the popular BBC One antiques programme presented by Paul Martin, is set to visit Derbyshire on Thursday 29th September. Flog It recently filmed its 1000th episode and the 16th series is currently being recorded. The show regularly achieves an audience of over two million viewers in its weekday afternoon slot.

Barrow Hill Roundhouse Railway Centre near Chesterfield will be hosting the Flog It valuation day. Rather like a treasure hunt, members of the public are invited to visit the unique heritage attraction with up to three antiques or collectables they might be interested in selling. Once valued in this iconic historical location, the owner and a team of experts decide whether an object should go forward for auction. If the item is chosen for inclusion in the show it is included in an auction a few weeks later – hopefully when the auctioneers hammer falls its owners make a tidy sum.  Everyone who goes along to the valuation day will receive a free appraisal of their items – even if their antiques are not chosen for filming or to go forward for auction.

Flog It has made many significant finds over its sixteen series, including in North Lincolnshire a rare Aboriginal Broad Shield that had been kept hidden away in a viewer’s wardrobe which was brought along to a valuation day, it went on to sell at auction for £30,000! Flog It experts also discovered an unusual Royal Doulton Spook figurine in Blackpool which had been bought at a car boot sale for £2; it went on to sell at auction for £5000.

Alex Habgood, Location Manager of Flog It said “The Flog It team are delighted to be bringing the show to Barrow Hill. It’s a privilege for us to be filming at a site of such important historical significance. We look forward to revealing some of its history to our viewers.”

Paul Martin, presenter of Flog It said “I’m thrilled to be bringing the show back to Derbyshire; on our previous visits to the county we’ve always received a very warm welcome.  I’m really looking forward to coming back and hope as many people as possible will bring along their items to the valuation day. To help us tell the story of Barrow Hill I’d be particularly pleased to see anyone who has items related to the history of the site”

Alexa Stott, Marketing Manager for Barrow Hill Roundhouse said “The Roundhouse team is honoured to be hosting the Flog It programme in our unique museum.  Following hot on the heels of our Heritage Lottery Fund award we are really putting Barrow Hill on the map and are sure that the programme will encourage many more people to come and see this amazing place.”

The BBC will be making four editions of the show featuring Barrow Hill and they will be transmitted within eighteen months of recording. Paul Martin will be joined at the valuation day by on screen experts Michael Baggott, Raj Bisram and Jonathan Pratt.

BBC Flog It will be at Barrow Hill Roundhouse Railway Centre, Barrow Hill, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S43 2PR, between 09.30am and 4.00pm on Thursday 29th September 2016. The items selected for filming at the valuation day will go under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers in Etwall on Thursday 20th October.

Barrow Hill Roundhouse

Posted in About Chesterfield, Leisure

Demolition of the former Queen’s Park Sports Centre approved

 

A planning application seeking permission to demolish the former Queen’s Park Sports Centre was approved by councillors at the end of August.

Chesterfield Borough Council’s planning committee decided the building, which closed at the end of December 2015, can be demolished, with landscaping of the site carried out until plans are developed for the future use of the land.

The existing building, in Boythorpe Road, has to be demolished because it is no longer economically viable to keep running due to not being energy efficient, not being up to modern environmental requirements and having high running costs.

As a result of the application going to the planning committee the public consultation on future use of the old site will now take place between Monday 12 September and Friday 21 October.

Councillor Amanda Serjeant, Chesterfield Borough Council’s cabinet member for town centre and visitor economy, said: “We are turning our attention to the future use of the site.

“We have been researching a whole range of potential options for the site and assessing whether they are viable from a planning perspective, as we need to protect the historic grade two star listing of the neighbouring park, by ensuring any future use is compatible with that leisure setting.

“In this time of cuts to council finances we also need to ensure that whatever goes on the site is either cost neutral or generates income for the council that can then be used to help towards the costs of running Queen’s Park and future improvements to that site.”

This week security fencing has been installed around part of the former Queen’s Park Sports Centre building to address concerns about anti-social behaviour around the park. The fencing is designed to prevent vandalism or potential break-ins and is not related to the  demolition.

The former sports centre closed when the new £11.25 million Queen’s Park Sports Centre opened further down Boythorpe Road in January 2016 on the Queen’s Park Annexe site.

Former Queen's Park Sports Centre

Posted in About Chesterfield, Development

University campus to open this October

A new University of Derby campus due to open in Chesterfield on October 17 will help transform the region’s health care sector and boost the town’s growing advanced manufacturing industries.

Building work at the former St Helena’s Grammar School for Girls is on target for the official opening, which will unveil some of the best teaching facilities for nursing in the UK – including an NHS-standard mock hospital ward.

Degrees in Engineering, Business and IT across the new campus and at Derby will support Chesterfield’s growing advanced manufacturing industry and allow businesses to upskill their workforce and better equip employees for their careers.

After lying disused for many years, the Grade II listed building in Sheffield Road has been sympathetically restored in keeping with its origins as a pioneering educational establishment designed by internationally acclaimed Victorian architect George Widdows.

“The University of Derby has a strong tradition of giving old buildings new life, and the completion of the renovation of St Helena comes in the year we also celebrate a decade in the beautiful Devonshire Dome in Buxton,” said Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Derby, Professor Margaret Bruce.

“Although we have long had a presence in Chesterfield, we are very excited about this development and have been warmly welcomed by the town. We hope that our expansion will contribute greatly towards Chesterfield’s economy and enrich the lives of its people.”

The building will include a new Innovation Centre which will provide access to facilities and support services for small to medium-sized enterprises and business start-ups, including product development, testing equipment and incubation units.

Research commissioned by the University into the economic impact of its Buxton Campus ­ showed that it supported 500 jobs annually through a total spend of £32 million, a result which it is hoped will be replicated in Chesterfield.

St-Helenas-1

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Development

Well dressing festival returns to Chesterfield

Residents and visitors to Chesterfield can visit the town’s annual well dressing festival this September.

There will be two well dressings on display from Saturday 10 to Saturday 17 September.

The first well dressing, organised and constructed by Chesterfield Borough Council, will be on display at the town pump in the market place.

The theme is Beatrix Potter to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of the children’s author and will feature the popular characters Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, Jemima Puddle-Duck and Mrs Tittlemouse.

Donations at the town pump will go to the mayor’s chosen charities – the Macmillan Cancer Centre at Chesterfield Royal Hospital and Accessible Derbyshire.

The second well dressing will be on display in the porch of St Mary and All Saints, the ‘Crooked Spire’ church.

The well dressing marks the 750th anniversary of the Battle of Chesterfield and commemorates the occasion when the Earl of Derby, Robert de Ferrers, was found hiding behind the woolsacks in Chesterfield Parish Church and dragged to London to face King Henry III.

Donations left here will go towards the upkeep of the church.

Councillor Amanda Serjeant, Chesterfield Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Town Centre and Visitor Economy, said:-

“Well dressing is an old Derbyshire tradition and each year visitors come from far and wide to see the well dressings in Chesterfield.

“They can be sure of a warm welcome and the chance to admire the handiwork of all the volunteers who have taken the time to create the artistic displays.”

 

Alice in Wonderland well dressinglong

Posted in About Chesterfield, Leisure, Visiting

Something wicked this way comes…

Visitors to Revolution House, in Old Whittington, can find out about the witch hunts of the 17th century in a special event this September.

The event takes place at the popular Chesterfield Borough Council run attraction on Sunday 4 September from 11am to 4pm.

As well as learning about witch hunting, visitors can make a witch pot with a trained potter.

Councillor Amanda Serjeant, Chesterfield Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Town Centre and Visitor Economy, said:-

“People of all ages have heard about witchcraft because of the Harry Potter stories and films.

“This event at Revolution House will offer visitors of all ages the opportunity to find out about the real witch hunts that took place throughout England in the past.”

Revolution House is open each Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 4pm until Sunday 25 September. Admission is free.

f

Posted in About Chesterfield, Leisure, Visiting

Online fashion retailer opens store in Chesterfield

Style Loft, an independent retailer specialising in ‘cultured clothing’ and ‘street styles’, have recently opened a store in Chesterfield.

The online business has enjoyed increased success trading nationwide over the last two years, so much so, that they were able to open a new hybrid store for their customers. The store identifies itself as the first ladies hybrid store in Chesterfield offering customers coffee, cakes and shakes whilst they shop; provided by local retailers Smith Street Coffee Roasters and Butterfingers Bakery.

Style Loft’s company ethos is to provide an easy, helpful shopping experience with complimentary style advice. The store hopes to remain on trend and competitively priced.

Emily Simister, a representative from the shop, says:-

“I am so passionate about fashion, setting up my own store was something I had to do. Choosing the location was easy, it had to be my home town.

“I strongly believe Chesterfield is becoming more and more cosmopolitan and I see Style Loft developing and expanding within the area. I love being alongside so many unique and independent businesses.”

Captureslhql

Posted in About Chesterfield, Development