Champions column: Close-knit business community takes pride in what town can offer

Our team represents local businesses from new start-ups to long-established larger businesses and supports them with their legal requirements including premises, contracts and sales and purchases.

What was the greatest achievement for your business or organisation over the past year?

Winning the South Yorkshire Dealmakers Awards - National/International Deal of the Year award was a major highlight for us.

It is testament to our hard work and the development of some great business relationships locally. Having been part of the Chesterfield community for 145 years now, we work hard to continue to grow our loyal, longstanding client base.

How would you describe Chesterfield and North Derbyshire, using only three words?

A big village

What are your favourite places to visit in Chesterfield and why?

It has to be Queens Park, especially in the summer when Derbyshire play their cricket fixture there. A lovely park, great for families and a relaxing place for a walk.

How is your business or organisation becoming more sustainable?

Legal firms are historically very paper-heavy but in recent years we have made a real effort to reduce our paper trail, opting for an online client management system.

This drive has been seen across the whole business and is probably the most significant change in our environmental footprint.

We also conduct far more client meetings on the phone and online which saves them a trip to our offices, which means less traffic pollution.

Why do you love working or doing business in Chesterfield or North Derbyshire?

Chesterfield has a close-knit business community who take pride in the town and work hard to promote it. We regularly work alongside other Chesterfield Champions which helps us provide the best service to our clients.

How are you supporting young people in your business?

Our intake of trainee solicitors is far greater than before. Instead of just one per year, we have six with another three recently becoming licensed solicitors. We also have two solicitor apprentices gaining experience from our specialist teams across our legal departments.

How are you, your business or your team supporting local people?

Apart from the high-quality legal services that we offer to our local community, we also support local charities such as Ashgate Hospice, Samaritans, Brightlife and Cash for Kids through donations and by taking part in their events.

For example, I recently took part in the 11-mile High Peak Trail Hike organised by Ashgate Hospiceand a group of colleagues will be taking part in the Sparkle Walk again this year.

Which upcoming development do you think will have the greatest impact on the town and why?

It would be great to see the Waterside development continue to progress and linking that with the canal would give the town a new dimension to what it can offer both business, local people and visitors.

What is your vision for Chesterfield and North Derbyshire in 2030? What do you think the town needs to achieve this?

It would be great to see the delivery of the council’s planned projects for the market square and the provision of quality residential accommodation in the town centre.

As a market town, it is important for Chesterfield that the town centre continues to be a place where small businesses and independent retailers can prosper.