More than 30 businesses choose Chesterfield town centre for their new home

The new businesses, which include Barkworthy Dog Emporium, Kooca, Chesterfield Escape Room and Boba Shack, show how the town is not standing still – and is in a strong position to recover from the impact of the pandemic.

Cibo Bistro, Fat Pig BBQ, Little Dessert Shop, WiseGuys, and Snowflakes Desert Shop are all set to open imminently.

Additionally, the Market Hall has welcomed four pop-up stores - Hobson’s Choice, Sparky’s Treats, The Little Ark, and Adelante Antiques. While the outdoor market has welcomed new traders, including Chris’s Fresh Fish, The Flower Girl, Tina’s Make & Mend, Soul Nuah Soapery, Marples Gifts, Lillie’s Cake Shed, Chocolate Elements, Slacknbaggy, Cakehole Bakehouse and Magesh.

Louise Spence, Bistro Supervisor and Coordinator at Cibo which will open later this month on Low Pavement, said: "We hope with the support of the people of Chesterfield behind us we can add something new and exciting to our town, truly believing with your support anything is possible!

"We are a great advocate of helping independent local businesses and encourage all of us to get behind local suppliers and companies, creating jobs for local people. We hope the kind people of Chesterfield will come and give us a try in the coming weeks."

Praising the town, Anthony Foster is the owner of one of the new businesses which has opened in the last 12 months, Barkworthy Dog Emporium in Theatre Yard. He said: "It's fair to say we were captivated by the town immediately, its bustling market and quaint alleys which led us to all sorts of independent local shops. This immediately piqued our interest, for that is exactly what we planned to do - set up a quirky, emporium style outlet that catered for dog lovers everywhere, focused on natural products and ethically sustainable."

In addition to new businesses, since 2021 nine businesses have also expanded into larger premises in the town centre, these include Rebel, Pizza Pi, Vintage Tea Rooms, Bee-Orchid and Twelfth Craft.

Raj Dhir, owner of Rebel Menswear which expanded into a new larger unit on the corner of High Street and Packer's Row in March added: “We believe in Chesterfield, and that’s why we are spending roughly £500,000 on the store. Chesterfield as a community and town centre has always supported us so it's only right we invest back in the town centre and community. We believe the future of Chesterfield Town is bright and will only get brighter as more investment is made into the town centre.”

Councillor Kate Sarvent, Chesterfield Borough Council’s cabinet member for town centres and visitor economy, said: “It’s great to welcome new businesses to Chesterfield town centre and celebrate those who are expanding and investing in our town. We’re making a significant investment across our town centre which will further boost business confidence by attracting more visitors and shoppers. Our town centre will be the go-to place to live, work, socialise and shop.”

Meanwhile, the state-of-the-art Northern Gateway Enterprise Centre is due to open for business shortly – further boosting activity in the town centre.

The council also secured almost £20m of Levelling Up Funding to improve and regenerate key public spaces and improve the look, feel and flow of the town centre – while also refurbishing the historic Stephenson Memorial Hall – as part of the Revitalising the Heart of Chesterfield project. The work is set to start in spring 2022 and be completed by 2025.

Peter Swallow, Chair of Destination Chesterfield, added: “Chesterfield is a town of opportunity, and we have the partners and collaboration in place to drive forward our ambitions to not only deliver our current development plans but also attract further investment.”

New town centre businesses

Cawa Bakery – Lower Pavement

Cawa Bakery – ChesterfieldTrain Station

Alberts Jungerer Bruder - Stephenson Place

Boba Shack – Cavendish Street

Fireaway Pizza- Knifesmithgate

Barkworthy Dog Emporium – Theatre Yard

Kooca - Beetwell Street

Merkur Slots- Vicar Lane

Caprinos Pizza – West Bars

Brows - Lower Pavement

Bet Extra Casino - Lower Pavement

Coffee Co - Beetwell Street

The Lucky Magpie Salvage – Hollis Lane

The Hidden Knight - Soresby Street

Chesterfield Escape Rooms – Soresby Street

Chesterfield VR – Soresby Street

Chesterfield Gamezone – Soresby Street

Imrans Diner - Cavendish Street

The Dirty Habit - Holywell Street

New Market Hall businesses

Adelante Antiques

Hobson’s Choice

Sparky’s Treats

The Little Ark

New market traders

Chris’s Fresh Fish

The Flower girl

Tina’s Make & Mend

Soul Nuah Soapery

Marples Gifts

Lillie’s Cake Shed

Chocolate Elements

SlacknBaggy

Cakehole Bakehouse

Magesh

Relocation / expansion

Shoe Zone - Packers Row

Pizza Pi – Vicar Lane

Vintage Tea Rooms - Vicar Lane

Twelfth Craft - The Shambles

Bee Orchid - Packers Row

Rebel - High Street

The Job Centre - Vicar Lane

Woodheads Café - Theatre Yard

Businesses due to open soon

CIBO Bistro- Lower Pavements

Fat Pig BBQ - Saltergate

Snowflakes Desert Shop - 12a Saltergate

Little Dessert Shop – Holywell Street

WiseGuys – Packers Row

A new bridal shop is also set to open its doors in The Shambles