CHESTERFIELD CHAMPION: '˜The town is full of warm and hardworking people'

I’m 48 years of age and am married with two boys aged ten and eight.

I’m very proud to be Chesterfield born and bred.

Almost ten years ago, I rekindled Brampton Brewery as a small micro-brewery with a handful of like-minded friends. And now as well as the brewery, we also operate two pubs on Brampton and a specialist off-licence.

We employ four people in the brewery, whilst each pub is run by a manager and a small team of dedicated bar-staff.

1. What’s your best memory of the town?

Well as a massive Spireite most of my fond memories are football related. It would be remiss of me not to mention the FA Cup semi-final which pinned the town not just on the national map, but also the international map.

More recently a couple of trips to Wembley, two championships and the run to the League One play-offs has to be the most concentrated period of success the club has ever had.

2. What development do you think will make the biggest difference to the town?

The Waterside canal basin has the potential to be massive for the town. Also, Peak Resort will help the wider area.

3. How would you describe Chesterfield to someone who has never visited?

Chesterfield is warm and friendly, but also hardworking.

4. What are the positives of running a business here?

The location is perfect. From a business perspective, we have excellent road links being so close to the M1 and great rail links where we can be in London in less than two hours.

We are almost equi-distant from Sheffield, Derby and Nottingham, and sit as centrally in the UK as we possibly could.

5. Who or what do you turn to in Chesterfield for business advice?

The Chesterfield Champions initiative has been fantastic and keeps local businesses abreast with any changes and developments in the town.

For more practical assistance and advice, I’d have to recommend the East Midlands Chamber of Commerce which incorporates Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.

6. Why did you choose to base your business in Chesterfield?

Well I’m a Chesterfield lad who is as passionate about local history as I am about traditional cask ale.

The opportunity to resurrect the Brampton Brewery name was a long-held ambition of a number of us connected with the brewery. We couldn’t start it up anywhere else.

7. Who do you admire in the community?

Anyone locally who has set something up, built it up or inherited something and carried the mantle forward. The list is not exhaustive and I’ll kick myself for forgetting someone, but I have to mention people like James at Northern Tea Merchants, Guy at Robinson Packaging and Trevor at Jacksons Bakery.