Page 5 - Destination Chesterfielfd:: Billion Pound Town

Thursday,September13,2018 www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk
Chesterfield: Billion Pound Town
DerbyshireTimes 61
ADVERTISER’S STATEMENT
Teamwork is the key to success
Businesses, council and community pulling together to help town continue to grow
Peter Swallow is not only the Chair of Destination Chester- field, he is also the manag- ing director of Bolsterstone Group Plc, the Chesterfield- based company leading the £340 million flagship regeneration scheme Chesterfield Waterside.
Bolsterstone heads up a number of large scale regen- eration developments nation- ally; however it is Chesterfield Waterside that is closest to Pe- ter’s heart.
Born and raised in Ches- terfield, he is a former stu- dent of Chesterfield College. He still lives in the area and his four grown-up children all at- tended local schools.
As a leading investor in the regeneration of Chester- field, Peter was approached to be the chair of the inward investment marketing cam- paign Destination Chester- field when it was established in 2010, and he has fulfilled this role for the project ever since.
Within this volunteer role, Peter leads the Destina- tion Chesterfield board which guides the strategic direction of the promotion of the town as a place to live, work, visit and invest. Here, he gives us his views on how Chesterfield has evolved and continues to develop.
What attracted you to the role of chair of Destination Chesterfield?
My roots are in Chester- field and throughout my ca-
‘The town has ambitions
for the
future which are firmly supported
How do we create a town that people want to live and work in?
The private sector really needs to work with the local planners with a view to achiev- ing affordable, good quality design and that is a strategy that Bolsterstone is trying to develop with the councils which we work with. It’s no good submitting a planning application that is commer- cially viable but is then un- acceptable to the planners in quality terms; and vice versa.
Why do you think Ches- terfield has attracted such high levels of investment?
Collaboration between Chesterfield Borough Coun- cil and the private sector is ab- solutely the key.
It is driving everything. Chesterfield Borough Coun- cil has worked tirelessly to get grant and loan money to assist a number of major develop- ments so that they can actually get off the ground and make a big difference to the town.
The market is changing rapidly and what is viable to- day may not be viable in 15 months’ time, which is why the support of the council is so important in order to drive de- velopments forward as quick- ly as possible.
We have built a very pow- erful investment message for our town.
You just have to look at the fact we are getting an HS2 sta- tion as well as a maintenance depot to know that this mes- sage is being heard at a nation- al level.
How do our regeneration sites make us stand out from the rest of the country?
A place has to play to its strengths and location is cer- tainly one of Chesterfield’s.
We have the Peak District on the doorstep which appeals to overseas funders as we have seen with Peak Resort.
Our road connectivity is a major plus point and has been pivotal to the success of ma- jor regeneration projects like Markham Vale. We’ve always had good rail links in the town, but HS2 has heralded the start of a rail revolution which will further transform Chester- field’s fortunes.
l Destination Chester- field delivers a number of mar- keting campaigns which are helping to improve the eco- nomic prosperity of Ches- terfield by promoting it as a contemporary destination to inward investors and sup- porting existing businesses to grow. The project was es- tablished in 2010 and is fund- ed through support from the European Regional Develop- ment Fund, Local Business- es and Chesterfield Borough Council. The North Derby- shire business communi- ty plays a central role in the campaign’s success by lead- ing an independent board of directors and pledging their support through the Chester- field Champions Scheme.
Find out more about Des- tination Chesterfield and the Chesterfield Champions Scheme at www.chesterfield. co.uk/destination-chester- field/
by the public, council and business community’
reer I have chosen to remain in the area. I know first-hand the benefits of not only living, working and raising a family here, but also of the many ben- efits to potential investors.
Accepting the role of chair eight years ago was an op- portunity for me to further contribute to the growth and development of Chesterfield. It is an immensely rewarding role; I feel privileged to have been selected.
How would you describe Chesterfield to a potential investor?
I went to college in Chester- field and love the character of the town – both the people and the architecture. The town has ambitions for the future which, importantly, are firmly supported by the public, coun- cil and business community.
There are so many posi- tives about running a busi- ness in Chesterfield, not least the town’s proximity to excel- lent road, rail and airport serv- ices. Another positive about
Peter Swallow: Willing workforce locally is important.
running a business here is the willing workforce.
What are the challenges facing major construction projects?
From a delivery perspec- tive, the construction indus- try nationally is at quite a critical point as there is a skills and professional shortage due to the fact that many sectors of the industry were rationalised
to cope with a lack of demand during the recession.
We’re now facing major challenges with the viability of schemes as the build costs spiral and funding sources be- come harder to find. Buildings don’t cost any less to build, but there is great demand for af- fordable, innovative architec- tural designs in Chesterfield, and this presents an ongoing challenge.