The UK and EU have agreed a “large part” of the agreement that will lead to the “orderly withdrawal” of the UK from the Union.

Brexit negotiators Michel Barnier and David Davis said they had agreed terms for a transition period.

They called it a “decisive step”, but there are still issues to be resolved, including the Northern Ireland border.

The transitional period is set to last from 29 March, 2019, to December 2020, and is intended to smooth the path to a future permanent relationship.

Mr Barnier said there was also an agreement on the rights of 4.5 million EU citizens in the UK and the 1.2 million UK citizens in the EU after Brexit.

It is hoped the agreement on the transitional period can be signed off by Theresa May and EU leaders at an EU summit this week.

Chris Hobson, Director of Policy at East Midlands Chamber, said:-

“Along with the British Chambers of Commerce and many of our members, we have been calling for a transitional period so that we don’t suffer the potential consequences of an unruly exit.

“This agreement, if ratified, is a short-term fix but extends the timeframe during which a more comprehensive Brexit can be properly negotiated.

“This announcement shows that we can work with our EU counterparts for the mutual benefit of businesses and residents on both sides of the English Channel and we welcome the progress that is being made.”

Small to medium Chesterfield businesses are being invited to access expert help to attract, select, recruit and train graduates through a city region-wide funded scheme.

The Sheffield City Region RISE graduate recruitment programme is delivered in partnership with the SCR Growth Hub, University of Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University and the private sector.

It aims to connect growing businesses with ambitious graduates – and take the hassle out of recruitment. Local organisations that have been involved in the project to date include Chesterfield Champions Casa Hotel,  Global Brands and Stopfords.

Stopfords Chesterfield LLP welcomed marketing graduate Joshua Paget to their team last year as part of the RISE recruitment programme.

Martin Swain, Partner at Stopfords, comments on Joshua’s appointment:-

“I am delighted to be able to welcome Joshua to Stopfords. The scheme not only benefits the local community and businesses copious amounts, but also saves us, the employer, a lot of time and resources.”

Joshua, said about the scheme:

“It enables me to learn and develop in a role I have an interest in. The RISE team were very supportive and informative throughout the whole process and I have had a warm welcome from all the staff at Stopfords.”

Business can participate in RISE, whether they want to appoint a graduate to a six month internship or a permanent post with a six-month probationary period. The only eligibility criteria is that they have less than 250 employees and are based in the Sheffield City Region.

The organisation must commit to an excellent induction, management support, salary and appraisal package. In return, they can access a fully-funded recruitment programme to help manage the process and ensure the best possible result for both employer and employee – plus there’s a £1,000 wage subsidy available.

To find out more about the RISE project click here. The deadline for applications to get involved is March 19th.

Businesses are being encouraged to take advantage of the Derbyshire County Council cut-price offer that could save them money and stop them falling foul of the law.

Businesses that manufacture, import, store or supply goods or services to consumers face numerous trading laws which are enforced by the Derbyshire County Council Trading Standards service.

Trading Standards supports businesses, helps consumers and tackles unfair and unsafe trading practices.

Officers’ advice could help businesses avoid legal action being taken against them.

For one month the rate charged for this bespoke business advice will be almost halved as part of a campaign to promote the service.

The advice service usually costs businesses £65 plus VAT per hour but for the next month the county council are offering it at just £35 plus VAT an hour − a saving of £30 an hour.

For example, among other things, officers can help businesses ensure the safety of their consumer products, help them get their food labelling right and provide them with guidance to ensure that their terms and conditions comply.

Many businesses don’t know about the help the Trading Standards officers can provide, or are reluctant to ask for help. In many cases businesses have realised too late they could have avoided the unnecessary expense of wastage or recalls by involving Trading Standards at an early stage.

Getting something wrong can harm consumers, cost businesses money, damage reputation and lead to prosecution.

Councillor Carol Hart, cabinet member for health and communities at Derbyshire County Council, said:

“No business wants to fall foul of the law and it can be costly if they inadvertently do. For sound advice and peace of mind we have a team of experienced Trading Standards officers with a wealth of knowledge who are happy to help any business that trades in Derbyshire, large or small, with practical advice and guidance.”

She added:

“We hope this offer will encourage more businesses to take up the service, which is a sound investment for them. By using it businesses could avoid lots of problems and save money in the long run.”

Businessman Mike Channon, who owns Tablet Hookz in Derbyshire, manufactures a device for mounting tablets and phones on car, aeroplane and train seats and tables, so people can enjoy hands-free entertainment while they travel.

Mr Channon said:

“I would recommend to anyone who is thinking of bringing a product to market that they should get advice from Derbyshire County Council Trading Standards before they do. I’ve found their advice invaluable. Finding out at a later stage that your product or the instructions don’t comply with the law could be a very costly mistake, if legal action is taken against you.”

Businesswoman Helen Wang, of Abakus Foods in London, got help from us with the packaging of her healthy snacks, which are sold in Derbyshire.

She said:

“Derbyshire County Council Trading Standards helped us check our packaging design to make sure it complies with regulatory standards. The detailed report was helpful for us to know what we can and cannot say on the packaging. The comments were very insightful and the turnaround was quick. We will be back in the future.”

Chesterfield Champion, Central Technology (CT), were awarded Veeam’s VSCP Partner of the Year award at the Veeam’s Partner Awards ceremony in early March.

This award recognises the Veeam partner that has made the greatest contribution to the popularisation of Veeam powered services. The award was presented on the 8th March at Veeam’s Partner Awards by Greg Bailey, Veeam’s Sales Director for Channel & Cloud UK&I.

CT was nominated and awarded this honour for delivering innovative ideas to maximise the development as well as improvement of Veeam products. Effective marketing and business practices that has positively promoted the benefits of Veeam services were also highlighted.

Demonstrating the delivery of effective technical ideas was CT’s Director, Chris Barr, who influenced the addition of a crucial cyber security protection feature in the most recent Veeam Backup and Replication release – a ‘recycle bin’ for the Cloud Connect Backup repository’ which provides a true air gap between the customers’ onsite environment and the data stored with the service provider.

Ian Snow, Managing Director at CT, said:-

‘The team here at CT places great value on our long standing partnership with Veeam and the benefits that it offers all our customers. Our partnership and combined expertise has enabled us to offer the very best in hosted products and services, including addressing a critical cyber security challenge amongst our customers.’

Ian continues:-

‘The ability to influence the development of a product that provides the highest level of protection and availability for customers is incredibly satisfying and is testament to the work we have achieved together. From a service provider perspective, we see tremendous opportunity for the growth of Veeam’s suite of business continuity products. They are a leader in their space and will continue to help us deliver world-class cloud-based backup and recovery services to our customers at a time where legacy back-up solutions do not provide the protection organisations now need.’

Mike Tonks, Veeam’s Territory Manager Cloud UK & Ireland, said:-

‘I am delighted to award the Veeam VSCP Partners of the year to CT. Our strong relationship has resulted in solid growth on their platform particularly around BaaS and DRaaS offerings. We are excited about the future for CT and Veeam and we look forward to continued growth.”

Outdoor company Go Outdoors has confirmed that it’s new Chesterfield store will open on Saturday 17th March.

Go Outdoors follows a number of retailers to invest in the town recently including Deichmann Shoes , Trespass and Patisserie Valarie as well as a number of new independent stores.

Whilst the store is set to open this weekend, the official opening will take place the following weekend on Saturday 24th March with actor Ross Kemp cutting the ceremonial ribbon to mark the opening of the new store at Spire Walk Business Park. The celebrity guest will be onsite from 9am, taking part in a question and answers session, welcoming new customers and signing autographs.

As part of the official opening on the 24th, families will receive a complimentary £20 gift voucher if they are one of the first 200 shoppers through the door. Other incentives at the opening event include an 15% discount over the weekend and a free Go Outdoors discount voucher offering a range of savings across a variety of products and brands.

Cathelco are supplying marine growth prevention systems (MGPS) for four jackup barges owned by Gulf Marine Services, the largest operator of self-propelled, self-elevating support vessels in the world.

The systems will protect the barges against blockages in pipework caused by the growth of barnacles and mussels which can impair the efficiency of engine cooling systems and ancillary equipment.

The systems will be installed over the coming months when the Kikuyu, Kawawa, Kudeta and Keloa return to the GMS yard in Abu Dhabi for scheduled maintenance work.

The order was obtained by Cathelco Middle East who are based in Sharjah and provide sales and technical support throughout the region.

Stevenson Verghese, Managing Director of Cathelco Middle East, said:-

“Bio-fouling organisms grow rapidly in warm, shallow waters and therefore Cathelco MGPS are widely used on jackups to prevent the problems caused by blockages in pipework.”

Cathelco will be supplying two types of MGPS systems for each of the vessels, one to provide protection when they are in transit with their hulls floating on the water and the other for when the platforms are in the elevated position.

The seachest installations, protecting the vessel in transit, will consist of two pairs of copper and aluminium anodes connected to a control panel, whilst in the elevated position copper anodes will be used protect the submersible pumps.

In operation, the copper anode produces ions which flow through the pipework and create an environment where mussel and barnacle larvae do not settle or grow. At the same time, the aluminium ions produce an anti-corrosive layer on the internal surfaces of pipes.

The concentrations of copper are extremely small, but effective in preventing blockages caused by bio-fouling. As a result, the system is environmentally benign and does not harm the wider marine habitat.

Cathelco are the largest manufacturer of MGPS equipment in the world with a record of over 50,000 installations during a period of more than 60 years. It’s systems are used on offshore platforms and jackup rigs in locations from the Middle East to the Russian Arctic as well as numerous types of commercial ships including offshore supply vessels.