5 Years of the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership - as featured in the Johnston Press Newspapers on the week commencing November 16 2015.

1. 8 www.belpernews.co.uk Wednesday,November18,2015BELPERNEWS
Fiveyearsofsuccessmarkedby
D2N2LocalEnterprisePartnership
Five years after it was set-up
the D2N2 Local Enterprise
Partnership (LEP) is looking
backonahalf-decadeofhelp-
ing grow companies, jobs,
skills and the infrastructure
toboosttheeconomy.
D2N2istheprivatesector-
led partnership of business,
local authorities, skills and
training providers, commu-
nity organisations and oth-
ers, which works to grow the
economyandjobsnumbersin
its area of Derby, Derbyshire,
NottinghamandNottingham-
shire.
To do this, it receives Gov-
ernmentandEuropeanfund-
ing, which is used to lever in
privatesectorinvestment.
Established five years ago
(by Government agreement,
in October 2010) it can look
back on a record of success,
which has seen tens of mil-
lions of pounds invested in
practical measures to grow
the economy, and give busi-
nessanincreasinglystronger
voice.
D2N2 has done this by
sticking to the five priorities
pledged in its Strategic Eco-
nomicPlanforthearea:
Businesssupportandaccess
tofinance
Since it was established
in December 2014 the D2N2
Growth Hub has helped
more than 1,000
businesseswith
free advice,
guidanceand
help access-
ingfinance.
Business
s u p p o r t
programmes
such as Un-
locking In-
vestment
for Growth and the Growing
Places Fund (the panel oppo-
sitedetailscompanieswho’ve
benefited),havealsoprovided
‘bridging’ finance, to enable
companies to take forward
theirplans.
Innovation
Innovative ideas create
growth. A typical example is
last April’s launch of ‘The
Grand Tour’ by major
players in the Visitor
Economy (tourism),
a key sector for the
D2N2area,including
Chatsworth House,
Bakewell, and The
Harley Gallery, Wel-
beck.
A modern rework-
ing of the 18th Centu-
ry aristocratic tradition
of touring Europe’s cul-
tural destinations,
D2N2 backed
the joint Grand
Tour project –
which creat-
ed a unique
packagefor
tourists
toviewOldMastersalongside
newartisticworks–inreceiv-
ing £350,000 in central arts
funding.
D2N2 also invested
£35,000 of its own funding in
Season One (July-September
2015)andSeasonTwo(coming
March–June 2016). For more
informationseewebsitewww.
thegrandtour.uk.com/
EmploymentandSkills
As part of its over-arch-
ing target to create 55,000
(predominantly private sec-
tor) jobs by 2023, D2N2 and
key stakeholders are work-
ing with area employers to
understand what skills they
need in their workforces and
withtrainingproviderstoen-
sureprogrammesprovidethe
rightones.
D2N2 is building an infra-
structuretoimproveskills.In
2015itagreedfundingfromits
Local Growth Fund for two
higher level skills centres;
£2.6m towards the £6.5m Vi-
sionUniversityCentreatWest
Notts College, Mansfield, and
£3.4m for a Chesterfield cen-
tre, backed by the University
ofDerbyandChesterfieldCol-
lege.BothareduetoopenSep-
tember2016.
I n f r a s t r u c t u r e f o r
economicgrowth
Havingtherightfounda-
tions for economic growth
–transport networks, facil-
ities, improved broadband
access–isseenbyD2N2asvi-
tal. This year it has agreed to
provide a third (£2.5m) of the
cost of the £7.5m Seymour
Link Road, to link Markham
Vale Enterprise Zone (which
both D2N2 and the Sheffield
City Region LEPs invest in) to
junction 29a of the M1. This
will increase the site’s attrac-
tionforcompanieslookingto
relocate and enable the ‘un-
locking’ofdevelopmentland.
HousingandRegeneration
Homes’ value and con-
struction sector activity are
used to assess the UK econo-
my’s health; but available and
affordable housing also help
create social stability and re-
generation, making areas
more attractive for business-
estolocateto.
Investing in major trans-
port schemes – including
mainjunctionimprovements
such as the A57/A60/B6024
in Worksop, where D2N2 is
investing £1.8m (in a £2.4m
scheme co-funded by Shef-
field City Region LEP and
Nottinghamshire Coun-
ty Council); and the £4.8m
the LEP is due to approve in
2015/16 for the A61 Whitting-
tonMoor,Chesterfield,works
– also helps ‘unlock’ land for
housing and commercial de-
velopment,bringingregener-
ationthroughincreasedjobs.
Peter Richardson, Chair-
manoftheD2N2LocalEnter-
prisePartnership,said:“Most
people would be surprised at
how many major economic
projects and initiatives D2N2
hasbecomeinvolvedin.”
“WithaDevolutionDealfor
Derby, Derbyshire, Notting-
hamandNottinghamshirenot
too far away – an agreement
we,andourbusinessandlocal
authority partners have been
pursuing for some time – the
LEP hopes to do even more to
boostthelocaleconomyinfu-
ture,forthebenefitofallcom-
munities.”
ADVERTISEMENTFEATURE
Artist’simpressionofplanned£6.5mWestNottsCollegecentre,Mansfield.
FormerStHelena’sSchool,siteoffutureChesterfieldhigherlevelskillscentre
GrandTourtourisminitiativelaunchedbyD2N2inAprilthisyear
PeterRichardson,
ChairmanofD2N2
LEP.

2. 9Wednesday,November18,2015 www.belpernews.co.uk BELPERNEWS
ADVERTISEMENTFEATURE
Cartechnology,craftbeerand
chilledfoodsmayseemtohave
littleincommon–butonecon-
nectionistheD2N2LocalEn-
terprisePartnership(LEP).
Thoughfirmlygroundedin
itsDerby,Derbyshire,Notting-
ham and Nottinghamshire
catchment, D2N2’s help for
andinvestmentincompanies
looking to expand means its
influencecanbefarreaching.
Former business support
programmes such as Unlock-
ing Investment for Growth
(UI4G), providing ‘bridg-
ing’ grants of up to £500,000
(supported by the Regional
Growth Fund and the Euro-
pean Regional Development
Fund), and Growing Places
Fund (GPF), giving loans of
£500,000 to £2.5m to kick-
start larger stalled develop-
ments, have provided link
funding for practical meas-
ures to grow the economy
andjobs.
Typical examples, from
D2N2’sfiveyears,include:
QTSLtd
The leading manufac-
turer of wire mesh shelving
and racking for warehouse
and logistics use was able to
‘re-shore’ its manufactur-
ing base, from China back to
the UK, and open a new facil-
ity in Pinxton, with the aid of
a £287,000 UI4G grant from
D2N2.
Shaun Ingram, Managing
Director of QTS, said: “With-
out the funding from D2N2 it
wouldhavebeenverydifficult
forustocompletetheproject
inthetimeframewewanted.”
Standard Motor Prod-
uctsEurope(SMPEurope)
Based in Annesley, Not-
QTSLtdmanagingdirectorShaunIngramandJamesBosworth,businessgrowthmanager,Manufacturing
AdvisoryService
RefrigeratedDeliveryServicesLtdreceivedvitalD2N2fundinghelpand
rightD2N2ChiefExecutiveDavidRalph.
Widerangeofcompanies
benefitfromD2N2help
tinghamshire, the company
was similarly able to move
manufacturingbackfromthe
FarEasttotheUK,expanding
its workforce in the area. The
manufactureranddistributor
of engine management prod-
uctsreceived£81,000fromthe
UI4Gprogramme,towardsits
total expansion plan of more
than £320,000 in premises,
plant and equipment. Eleven
new jobs have been created
already.
ThornbridgeBrewery
The award-winning Peak
District craft brewer has
built on a 2014 premises and
production expansion, cost-
ing more than £400,000
–£78,000ofthatfromD2N2–
to branch into new markets.
This year (2015) it opened its
first Thornbridge branded
bar abroad, in southern Hol-
land,workingwithaninvestor
there. It is now looking for a
similar deal in Helsinki, Fin-
land’scapital.
Refrigerated Delivery
Services(RDS)Ltd
With D2N2’s help the fro-
zen and chilled foods storage
and delivery firm, which em-
ploys more than 90 staff, was
able to buy extra yard and
warehouse space at Shire-
oaks, Worksop; overcoming a
problemwhichhadseenthem
having to turn away potential
clients.
Simon Herberts, Opera-
tions Manager at RDS Ltd,
said: “We identified and
boughttheperfectsiteforex-
pansion, and the grant we re-
ceived from D2N2 enabled us
to build a whole new chiller
roomandfreezer.”
David Ralph, chief execu-
tive of the D2N2 Local Enter-
prise Partnership, said the
LEP and its partners helped
companies find what worked
best for them, rather than
taking a ‘one size fits all’ ap-
proach.
“Whether you’re a compa-
ny turning over £100m a year
orsomeonewhosebusinessis
stillonlyanideaintheirhead,
whether you’re looking for fi-
nance to expand or for addi-
tional training help, D2N2 or
its partners should be able to
help,”headded.
For more information
about the work of the D2N2
Local Enterprise Partner-
ship see its website at www.
d2n2lep.org.
PARTNERS
The D2N2 Growth Hub is there
to help ambitious businesses
like yours to grow.
IT CAN HELP WITH
• Free support and guidance
• Assistance in getting your
business started
• Growing your business
• Accessing finance
• Employment and skills
• Expansion into new and
international markets
HAVE A LOOK AT OUR WEBSITE AT
WWW.D2N2GROWTHHUB.CO.UK
TO FIND THE FUNDING AND SUPPORT YOU NEED FROM PUBLIC
AND PRIVATE SECTOR PROVIDERS WORKING IN YOUR AREA.
Or ring one of our advisors on
0333 006 9178, or
email: info@d2n2growthhub.co.uk
or follow us on Twitter at @D2N2GrowthHub