Page 11 - Destination Chesterfielfd:: Billion Pound Town

Thursday,September13,2018 www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk DerbyshireTimes 67
Chesterfield: A great place to do business
Big name businesses relocate to the area and help to create thousands of new jobs
German car parts giant Ferdinand Bilstein chose Chesterfield as the place to build its hi-tech UK distribution hub.
Vale with international reputation
Chesterfield’s location in the heart of the country has made it a natural location for logis- tics firms with national and international reputations.
The 200-acre Markham Vale business park – on the site of the former Markham Col- liery near Staveley – was cre- ated to bring jobs to the area after the end of coal mining.
And it is now home to some major names who are leaders in their fields.
More than 1,600 jobs have been created at the site, with 1.8 million sq ft of developed business space and more available for further develop- ment.
Most recently, bespoke builds for Ferdinand Bilstein UK, Gist, and Great Bear have been completed on-site, total- ling over 750,000 sq. ft.
As a world-leading spe- cialist, German car parts business Ferdinand Bilstein choseChesterfieldastheloca- tion for its state-of-the-art UK distribution centre because of its excellent transport links.
Their site, which opened this year, replaced 10 differ- ent distribution centres right across the country, improving the firm’s efficiency and cut- ting its carbon footprint.
UK operations director,
Paul Dodgson, said: “We de- cided on Markham Vale to be close to both our customers and our couriers.
“The site is just outside what we in the logistics trade call the ‘golden triangle’.
“This is a part of the mid- dle of the country where you can get a HGV to any major conurbation around the UK without having to stop for a break. This allows us to have a later collection time for next day delivery than at our Kent warehouse for example – around 9-10pm rather than 7pm.”
Mr Dodgson said another important factor for them was the large working population nearby – 800,000 within 45 minutes drive.”
The fact Bilstein has joined fellow logistics company Great Bear at Markham Vale is per- haps no surprise given its lo- cation.
But it is not just giants of in- dustrythathavebeenattract- ed to the site – local businesses have also found a home here.
Bio8 and its consumer arm Envii specialise in creat- ing highly-targeted cleaning products for both the business and domestic markets.
Founder and managing director, Andrew Hiron, says that while the excellent trans-
‘Our Markham Vale facility is strategically located to serve the needs of our European customers’
port links for the site were a factor, it was the develop- ment’s commitment to sus- tainability that was equally important.
“We try to use products that are as kind to the envi- ronment as possible,” he says.
“When we were looking to find a place 10 years ago, Markham Vale had everything that we wanted.
“They had solar power, the wind turbine, good insulation – everything really fitted and worked for us.”
Since moving out of An- drew’sHaslandhomeadecade ago, the firm has expanded from one to two units and, in the following 18 months, ex- perienced astonishing online growth.
“When we went onto Am- azon with our consumer products we weren’t really expecting anything, but it just went bonkers.
American firm Sterigenics is the latest to announce a move to Markham Vale.
“We added about £200,000 to our turnover in four to five months.”
Anotherhouseholdname which recently relocated to Markham Vale is Grangers International.
The makers of Cherry Blossom shoe polish are moving to custom-built headquarters at the site, lo- cated just off junction 29A of the M1.
The latest business to
announce plans to move to Markham Vale is hi-tech American firm Sterigenics, whichwillbuildaastate-of- the-art gamma sterilisation centre
The 60,000 square foot facility will use gamma ra- diation to sterilise and kill harmful micro-organisms for medical and pharmaceu- tical businesses.
“Our Markham Vale North facility is strategical-
ly located to serve the needs of our European customers,” said Adrian Wye, director of UKOperations.
“Its prime location at the heart of the UK’s motorway network will provide an op- timum location for their sup- ply chain logistics. And our facility’s high-tech capabil- ities will deliver the turna- round times necessary to distribute their products to market quickly.”