Up to 400 new jobs are set to be created at a flagship regeneration site in Derbyshire – which is covered by both the D2N2 and Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnerships.
D2N2 partner Derbyshire County Council has just announced that Chester-based logistics company Great Bear Distribution will next year move into a 479,285 sq ft warehouse and offices development at the Markham Vale site, near junction 29a of the M1. Construction firm Henry Boot (pictured) will begin work on the purpose-built premises this autumn and it is due to be completed in spring 2016.

Markham Vale, on the former Seymour Colliery site, is classed as an Enterprise Zone site and is the only one in the UK covered by two Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).
LEPs are partnerships between business, local authorities and education providers which provide advice, guidance and funding to promote economic growth and create jobs in a specific geographic area. D2N2 is the LEP for Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire; the Sheffield City Region covers Barnsley, Bassetlaw, Bolsover, Chesterfield, Derbyshire Dales, Doncaster, North East Derbyshire, Rotherham and Sheffield.
Companies already on the Markham Vale site include AW Repair Group, MSE Hiller, Squadron Medical, Industrial Ancillaries, Andrew Page, Holdsworth Foods and Ready Egg Products.
Glenn Lindfield, Chief Executive Officer of Great Bear Distribution, said: “Bringing our business to Markham Vale is a positive step forward for our company.
“The site is exactly what we’ve been looking for with tailor-made facilities in a prime location just off Junction 29A of the M1 motorway, providing easy access to our customers and other bases across the UK.”
David Ralph, Chief Executive of the D2N2 LEP, added: “Development of our Enterprise Zones is at the core of the D2N2 Strategic Economic Plan and key to delivering our strategy of creating 55,000 new private sector jobs in key industries, over ten years.
“We, our D2N2 partners and our Sheffield City Region LEP colleagues are investing heavily in the Markham Vale site, and this is attracting quality firms such as Great Bear Distribution and the new jobs they bring.”
Work is also expected to start this summer on the £7.5m Seymour Link Road, linking the Markham Vale site to junction 29A of the M1, and due to be completed next year (2016). It will be funded by Derbyshire County Council, and D2N2 and Sheffield City Region LEP Local Transport Boards.
For further information about the D2N2 LEP see its website at www.d2n2lep.org and for more on the work of the Sheffield City Region LEP see http://sheffieldcityregion.org.uk/
Media wanting more information on this story or on the D2N2 LEP can contact D2N2 Communications Officer Sean Kirby on 0115 9578749 or email: sean.kirby@d2n2lep.org