New future for Chesterfield Co-op store

More good investment news arrived in Chesterfield recently with the announcement that a planning application has been submitted to turn the former Co-op department store into a £20million hotel, restaurants and leisure development.

I am delighted that the potential of Chesterfield has, once again, been recognised by investors. It is large scale developments in the town centre such as this, coupled with our thriving independent sector, which will help make us a go to destination for shoppers and tourists.

November has been designated the month where we hope to do exactly the same for the town’s manufacturing sector with Made in Chesterfield.  The festival has two aims; to attract manufacturing and engineering companies to invest here and create jobs and to get more youngsters turned onto a career in manufacturing

Last year, Made in Chesterfield only ran for a week however it was credited with introducing more than 400 young people to careers within the sector. Building on this success, this year the festival is running throughout November.

Thanks to partnerships Destination Chesterfield has fostered with schools, companies within the sector, Derbyshire Education Business Partnership, Natwest, Chesterfield College, Derbyshire County Council, Chesterfield Borough Council, Placing Futures and Positive 4 Young People,  this year more young people than ever will discover first-hand the employment opportunities and the number of varied and exciting roles within manufacturing and engineering.

If your school, child or company would like to get involved with Made in Chesterfield, you can view the programme of events here www.chesterfield.co.uk/made 

Attracting young people to the sector is essential if Sheffield City Region (SCR) is to achieve its vision of developing a Modern Manufacturing and Technology Growth Area. Chesterfield’s Enterprise Zone at Markham Vale is already playing an important role in attracting investment to the area and events like Made in Chesterfield are contributing further in ensuring there is a ready workforce to enable SCR to achieve this vision.

We’re also taking a similar approach to the town’s hospitality sector through the Chesterfield Food and Drink Awards. Without a ready workforce proposals for developments such as the Co-op would be a non-starter.

Each year, however, Destination Chesterfield partners with Chesterfield College to showcase the skills of the young people about to enter the hospitality sector. Not only does the College sponsor the awards, it provides the venue for the awards but, most importantly, its own students cater and serve the entire event.

After the success of last year’s awards evening at the College – all superbly catered and served by the students, it came as no surprise that tickets for the 2015 awards sold out weeks before the event, prompting us to increase numbers to the absolute maximum. 

Creative Chesterfield

News that part of Paul Cummins’ iconic poppy sculpture could return to its spiritual home of Chesterfield is an opportunity to further put the town on the map if our bid is successful.

As the inspiration for this magnificent sculpture came from Chesterfield library and commemorates the many men who lost their lives in the First World War, it seems only fitting that it returns to its spiritual home if only for a brief time.

As well as showcasing our wonderful town to visitors, the sculpture will also highlight the wealth of artistic talent that has originated and also remains here. Although now living outside the area, Mr Cummins was a Hasland resident and studied at the College. He is not the only artist to receive national acclaim. Ashley Thomas, whose wonderful At Home range is sold in Debenhams’ stores nationally originally hails from the town, as does award winning ceramicist Clare Gage who continues to live here and sell her designs at Libby’s on Chatsworth Road.

The businesses involved in Chesterfield’s digital and creative community are making an important and significant contribution to the local economy and many of the fledgling start-ups in this sector can now be found at Chesterfield College’s fantastic West Studios off Sheffield Road.  Melanie Jackson, the artist responsible for the wonderful Growth sculpture on Horns Bridge is one of the many talented artists, designers and producers based there.

Often when people think of careers in the digital and creative industry they think of logo design or computer games, however this sector permeates virtually every industry, not least manufacturing. Just look at the fantastic Franke Sissons sculpture at Chesterfield Coach Station, which we unveiled during Made in Chesterfield Week last year, for proof if it were needed.

I am delighted Made in Chesterfield, which is being organised once again by Destination Chesterfield and Derbyshire Education Business Partnerships returns in November. 

Last year, during the course of a single week we reached out to more than 400 young people and raised awareness of careers in the manufacturing sector. This year, thanks to the involvement of the digital and creative sector and an entire month devoted to Made activities, we can showcase a greater breadth of careers and, importantly, show that they can follow their creative dreams and make a career out of them, here in Chesterfield. 

Celebrating Chesterfield

It’s that time of year again, time to celebrate and look back on everything that Chesterfield has achieved.

All too often we hear about the good news in isolation and it can be overshadowed by the bad which means it can be forgotten in the melee. That’s why Destination Chesterfield’s annual Celebrate event is so important.

This will be our third Celebrate Chesterfield event and takes place on Wednesday 25 March at the Winding Wheel. Last year was standing room only, however the stream of good news delivered by the Destination Chesterfield Team, left us all uplifted!

This year, Celebrate will be no different. We’ve made a point of building on last year’s success and striving to be even better in 2015.  In June we’ll be welcoming again the hugely successful Retail Awards and the Food and Drink Awards in October. We’ll also be celebrating our thriving manufacturing sector with Made in Chesterfield in November. This year it will be running over two weeks and will bring even more young people, teachers and businesses together.

It’s important to me that the young people who live here know that there is a future for them and marketing Chesterfield and its successful business sectors is crucial to this. We have a number of thriving industries and there is huge employment opportunities in all of them. The Manufacturing sector in particular is telling us they want apprentices now!

The hospitality industry is set to boom also. In the same week it was announced that not only was Chesterfield home to one of the top five hotels in the UK – Casa, but also that the outskirts of the town was to be the location for the £400 million Peak Development.

Whether you’re a resident, investor, business or visitor, there are exciting times ahead for Chesterfield. However, we must not forget about the past and present. So much has been achieved since we launched Destination Chesterfield in 2011 and I for one am looking forward to sharing the town’s numerous successes at Celebrate.

You too can share in the success. The event is free to attend, you simply need to register at www.chesterfield.co.uk/celebrate

We continue to make great things in Chesterfield

I read recently that the Bristol-based children’s suitcase maker Trunki has reported a pre-tax loss of £1.5m for 2013 following competition from Chinese rivals. This is really sad news but the story couldn’t be more different in our town.

The manufacturing sector here is thriving and companies believe there to be little or no threat from China for two key reasons – poor quality, unreliable output and increased domestic demand for goods amongst the Chinese population.

Chesterfield’s Enterprise Zone at Markham Vale plays an important role in helping Sheffield City Region (SCR) achieve its vision of developing a Modern Manufacturing and Technology Growth Area.

As well as attracting manufacturing and engineering companies to invest here and create jobs, it is equally important to ensure there is a ready workforce. Events like Made in Chesterfield (10 – 14 November) help secure the future of the sector and get more youngsters turned onto a career in manufacturing, raising awareness of the employment opportunities within it as well as the number of varied and exciting roles.

And this is exactly what we have achieved with the Chesterfield Food and Drink Awards. Chesterfield College students take an active and hands on role at the awards evening. After the success of last year’s awards evening at the College – all superbly catered and served by the students, it came as no surprise that tickets for the 2014 awards sold out weeks before the event – and we increased numbers by 50%.

Like the Food and Drink Awards, Made in Chesterfield brings together employers and students. Companies have embraced the week, delivering hands on activities and site visits for so many youngsters.

I am confident that Made in Chesterfield will change many perceptions about the manufacturing sector, particularly the view that it’s dirty and grimy. Just walk into MSE Hiller’s workshop and your opinion will change instantly.

Embodying Made in Chesterfield is the new sculpture at the Coach Station. The sculpture is the work of Fanke Sissons’ apprentices and students from Parkside School. It is truly magnificent. Look closely and you will see that it encapsulates what young people feel is representative of Chesterfield today; Nature, Manufacturing, and Community.


I encourage you to visit the coach station and view this work of art. Not only will it enhanced yet another major gateway to the town, but it represents a true partnership between education and the manufacturing and engineering sectors – one which I hope will continue to provide employment opportunities for many generations to come.

Looking foward to 2014

Firstly - Happy New Year to all readers!

Chesterfield could not have asked for a stronger economic foundation on which to enter 2014. The Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce’s (DNCC) Quarterly Economic Survey for Q4 was released at the beginning of this year showing that the recovery that began in Q2 of 2013 had accelerated in Q3 to enable the area to finish off the year strongly.

In fact, figures from DNCC show that more than two thirds of businesses operating in Chesterfield expect turnover to improve over the next 12 months. George Cowcher, DNCC Chief Executive tempered this by saying: "Much work still needs to be done to ensure the recovery experienced is sustainable." I couldn't agree more. Chesterfield, however, should be confident it has laid the foundations for continued success and we will continue to see evidence of this throughout 2014.

In the first quarter of the year, the diggers will finally roll on to the Chesterfield Waterside site to begin construction of the first phase of new homes. In 2013, Chesterfield was one of the first areas to report a housing boom and it looks likely this will continue with a number of developments planned throughout the town.

In fact Barratt Homes, which is building 68 new properties on the former Chesterfield Football Club site on Saltergate, is one of the major contributors to the £300,000 Hornsbridge roundabout artwork –‘Growth’ – which will be appearing at the main gateway into Chesterfield from the M1 later this year.

There are many reasons to visit Chesterfield, not least out thriving restaurant and retails sectors. After the success of the inaugural Chesterfield Food and Drink Awards in October 2013, I am delighted to announce that the Destination Chesterfield board has approved the presentation of the awards again in 2014. We have also decided to launch the new Retail Awards-as with all awards, you have to be ‘in it to win it’ and we’ll tell you more about the competition process nearer the time.

Our aim is for 2014 to be the town’s most successful year yet both at home and away. That’s why we will be celebrating everything that comes from Chesterfield, whether it is food, arts and crafts or engineering equipment; we have a lot to offer, and many businesses based here are actually supplying goods throughout the world. Destination Chesterfield intends to celebrate this fact with our Made in Chesterfield campaign to be implemented in the autumn.

One thing that is sure to put the town on the map before then however is the arrival of none other than Sir Tom Jones at the Proact Stadium in June. He’s just one of many big names coming to Chesterfield’s entertainment venues in 2014, so if you’re not lucky enough to secure tickets for Tom, there is plenty more which is sure to be happening!!

As Tom Jones once asked: “What’s new pussy cat?” I can tell you with confidence there’s an awful lot new for Chesterfield this year.