Celebrating Chesterfield's Retail Community

It is the shortest month of the year and it may be horribly grey outside, but don’t be deceived – Chesterfield’s future is bright.   This month, the spotlight is on the town’s retail sector. Nominations for the 2018 Chesterfield Retail Awards open later this month.

Now in their fifth year, the Chesterfield Retail Awards are the perfect way to celebrate our town’s booming retail scene, and it’s up to you as shoppers to nominate retailers that deserve the recognition that a nomination and potential win these coveted awards can bring.

All too often we hear how the UK’s high streets are struggling. It’s tempting to look at empty shops in our town centre and think that it’s the same story in Chesterfield, but it’s not.

Our abundance of both independent retailers and big high street names, alongside the historic market, means that retail in Chesterfield is unlike most towns in the UK. Last year we attracted new retailers to the town centre

The independent sector is thriving and there are many success stories. Adorn Jewellers for instance, opened in the Shambles five years ago and in 2017 opened a second store in Bakewell. Geeks Headquarters tells a similar story. It started off on the market before moving to shop premises on Rose Hill.

This year we will see the regeneration of the upper end of the town centre where work has begun on transforming the former Co-op into a hotel and restaurants. More development will happen here with the creation of Northern Gateway which will all serve to feed crucial footfall into the town centre and ensure it not only survives but thrives.

The Chesterfield Retail Awards aren’t just about town centre businesses, they’re about every single retailer – whether they are a shop, salon, bakery, market stall or crafter – that operates within S40 and 41.  

There is a huge retail offering outside the town centre. Areas like Chatsworth Road and Whittington Moor are lined with shops and stores, but I urge you to look behind these and down the side streets to uncover the unsung heroes of retail. 

Chink of light at the end of the tunnel

Second only to our world-famous crooked spire, Chesterfield’s market is also a well-known and loved feature of the town and is an important part of our heritage. We not only have one of the biggest open-air markets in the country, but we will soon have a spectacular brand new indoor market.

The end is in sight for the £4 million renovation of our Market Hall. In October the awning will be lifted off the new glass roof, and the refurbished market hall will be unveiled and opened, once again, for business.

Chesterfield Champions were privileged to have a recent behind the scenes tour mid renovation and, without exception, everyone felt excited and positive about what this major investment means for our town and economy.  Aside from what you’d expect in a market, there will be office space and, more importantly, incubation studios specifically for new and fledgling businesses. This must make Chesterfield market not only a great place to shop but also a rich vein of business development.

Externally, the Market Hall will add yet another stunning piece of architecture to our town. All too often a visit into Chesterfield town centre involves a tunnel-vision approach. However look above the shop fronts and you will see some historic and grand buildings that, when put together, make us a very attractive town and tourist destination.  It can come as no surprise that we were voted as the Coach Friendly Town or City of the Year at the annual Coach Tourism Awards earlier this year.

Now we just need to sort out the main gateways to Chesterfield town centre to ensure they don’t let down our Town, which is so full of character. I am confident that such improvements will happen sooner rather than later as there are plans to transform the Donut roundabout area in an estimated £50 million development scheme into a high quality shopping and leisure area, and to improve the ‘Donkin’ roundabout at the entrance to theTown.

Similarly there is strong interest for Chesterfield Waterside on both the housing and commercial elements of the scheme and it is hoped that initial works will start towards the end of the year.

I for one see a chink of light at the end of the tunnel. Construction projects across the country, indeed the world, have slowed in recent years however the economy is picking up and nowhere is this more clear than Chesterfield.

Markham Vale for one continues to attract investment. Already more than 200 jobs have been created on site in the past couple of years and now Ready Egg is building a new factory which will create 50 Jobs. I am confident we will hear more success stories like this going forward as investors recognise the potential in Chesterfield and commit money and resources.

Top of the class for retail

A national report revealed that Chesterfield is bucking the north-south divide with low shop vacancy rates. The latest figures from the Local Data Company (LDC) gives a detailed insight and analysis of 506 town centres and Chesterfield is third best of the largest centres in the country with just 8.7% of shops being empty, compared to the likes of Nottingham (30%), Stockport (28.4%) and Sheffield (26.1%).

Figures from the LDC report show an increase in shop vacancies across the East Midlands from 16.7% in 2011 to 17% in 2012. Chesterfield (8.7%) is the only town centre in the region that is in the top ten featuring amongst a predominant list of Southern based locations, including Central London, Cambridge and Kingston upon Thames.

The good news doesn’t end there on the retail front. A new Debenhams store will be opening shortly and there will be a further phase of development on the Ravenside Retail Park after two additional units have been approved and are due to be completed next summer.

Works are starting on the refurbishment of the Market Hall and the proposed Northern Gateway Projects and Walton Works are working their way through the planning process.

At Destination Chesterfield we want to continue to build on this success and will be once again running a marketing campaign on the run up to Christmas to attract people to shop and spend their leisure time in the town. Last year’s campaign was a great success generating up to an estimated £500,000 into the local economy.

Part of our inward investment campaigns will target the retailers and leisure providers we would like to see in the town, building on what is already here and we will also be launching a number of the initiatives that were included in our Portas Pilot bid thanks to the in-kind and financial support of the Chesterfield Champions.

These positive results can only be achieved by working together and this success is down to the hard work of the town centre businesses, agents, Chesterfield Borough Council and everyone one who works, shops and lives in the town centre.

Shopping for the Future

These are exciting times if you are a shopper in Chesterfield. The town has high occupancy rates, good footfall, one of the largest markets in England and a great mix of independents alongside high street names. However as part of the town’s on-going regeneration the offer is to be improved further.

Chesterfield Borough Council is to undertake a £4 million refurbishment of the town’s historic Market Hall. These major improvements take place because of a funding package which includes £2.1 million of European and Lottery grant with the remaining money coming from the Council. The planning and listed building applications will be submitted in late July with consultation over the summer/autumn. Market traders who have units in the Market Hall have been offered temporary accommodation, the main part of which will be in a temporary market hall on New Square. Traders are expected to vacate their current stalls in January 2012. The refurbishment should begin in February 2012 and the Market Hall is scheduled to reopen in February 2013.

Secondly Chesterfield Borough Council has announced that it is to start searching for a development partner for one of the Town centres’ major regeneration projects. The “Northern Gateway” scheme. The proposed redevelopment of the Donut roundabout area, aims to extend the Town centre shopping offer by creating a newly constructed retail area, with the aim of attracting new brands/names to the Town, thereby improving the quality of the shopping experience. This development will support the existing retail offer and improved highway arrangements will link the town with the Railway Station and the Chesterfield Waterside development. It is hoped that the development could be completed by 2015.