Chesterfield - Economy

Economy

In the last 30 years, the economy in and around Chesterfield has experienced major change, moving the employment base away from the primary and secondary sectors, and towards the tertiary area. The area sits on a large coalfield and the area played host to many coal mines, including:

• Clay Cross
• Arkwright
• Bolsover
• Grassmoor
• North Wingfield
• Holmewood

From 1981 to 2002, 15,000 jobs in the coal industry disappeared and not a single colliery remains open, although open cast mining continued at Arkwright until a few years ago. Many of the sites were restored by contractor Killingleys for Derbyshire County Council. Very little evidence of the mining industry remains today; a cyclist and walkers route, the "Five Pits Trail" now links some of the former collieries and most of the sites are now indistinguishable from the surrounding countryside.

Within the town itself, large factories and major employers have disappeared or relocated in the last ten years. Markham & Co. manufactured tunnel boring machines such as the one used for the Channel Tunnel between England and France. The company was bought out by Norway's Kvaerner and subsequently merged with Sheffield based Davy. Their factory on Hollis Lane is now a housing estate and the former offices were converted into flats and serviced office suites. Dema Glass's factory near Lockoford Lane shut as is now host to a Tesco Extra and the Proact Stadium, Chesterfield F.C.'s new home ground. GKN closed its factory and the site is now being turned in to a business park.

Others companies have downsized significantly. Robinson's, who manufacture paper-based packaging in the town, divested their healthcare interests which led to significant downsizing in both the workforce and facilities in Chesterfield. Trebor merged with Bassetts sweets of Sheffield and relocated a modern unit at Holmewood Business park and were taken over by Cadbury. The former factory near Chesterfield railway station has been demolished and is awaiting further development. Chesterfield Cylinders relocated to a much smaller site in Sheffield. Chesterfield Cylinder's Derby Road site, is now Alma Leisure Park, which includes a Nuffield Health Club, Cineworld, Frankie & Benny's, McDonald's, Hobby Horse pub, and a Blockbuster. Their main cylinder factory opposite is now The Spires housing estate. Bryan Donkin Valves relocated to Staveley, a few miles away. Their former factory on Derby Road is under development as Spire Walk Business Park, a B&Q Mini-warehouse and Chesterfield's new fire station.

Manufacturing employment has fallen by a third since 1991, though the percentage of the population employed in manufacturing is still above the national average, underlining how critical it has been to Chesterfield in the past. Today, smaller scale firms are to be found on several industrial estates, the largest of which is located at Sheepbridge. Business located on the estate include SIG plc subsidiary Warren Insulations, Franke Sisons Ltd (founded in 1784 in Sheffield, and one of the first to manufacture stainless steel kitchen sinks in the 1930s), Rhodes engineering, Chesterfield Felt, and others.

Between the A61 and Brimington Road there is a 40-acre (160,000 m2) clearing due to Arnold Laver's relocating to a modern sawmill at Halfway, on the Sheffield border. The former sawmill being demolished, with plans being proposed for a new waterside village built around a new marina at the end of the Chesterfield Canal which currently terminates at a weir adjacent to the site.

There is a Morrisons on the junction of Chatsworth Road (A619) and Walton Road (A632), a Sainsburys on Rother Way (A619 for Staveley), and a Tesco Extra on the junction of the A619 and A61 (known locally as the Tesco Roundabout). The Institute of Business Advisers is based on Queen Street North. Chesterfield Royal Hospital is on the A632 out towards Calow and Bolsover and the only A&E Department in Derbyshire outside of Derby.

Peak FM broadcasts from Sheepbridge on 107.4 MHz FM and 102 MHz FM via the nearby Chesterfield Transmitter, which also hosts BBC Radio Sheffield on 94.7 MHz FM. DAB transmissions for Chesterfield come from the Chesterfield Transmitter, however only Digital One is currently broadcast and NOW Derbyshire is due to start soon, although some digital radio stations can be received from outlying transmitters. The local television stations are ITV Yorkshire and BBC Yorkshire, both transmitted from Leeds. The digital switchover date for the area is August 2011. Also in the town are the headquarters of the Derbyshire Times, the local newspaper, which does not cover all of the county.

The Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Branch of the RSPCA is located in the town, and serves the North East Derbyshire area. The centre, which is not government funded, holds events to raise money, one being an annual Dog Show held in the summer.

The town's biggest employer is now the "Post Office" administration department located in a newly constructed building located on the edge of the town centre. The Royal Mail's Pensions Service Centre is near the town on Boythorpe Road, in Rowland Hill House. There is another Royal Mail building in the town on West Bars called Future Walk, recently sold to CPP. Formerly this was Chetwynd House, now substantially demolished and replaced by the new Post Office building.