News from producers around Derbyshire

The UK is in the midst of a ‘rising redundancy tsunami’ with employers in danger of facing dramatic increases in disputes and Tribunal claims, according to Timms Solicitors’ Employment Law specialist Emma Spandrzyk.

She continued that it was therefore vital that employers took advice before proceeding with redundancy, absence management or dismissals and plan their future workforce requirements ahead of the end of furlough arrangements at the end of April. 

The Rotary Club of Derby have presented local charity Safe and Sound with a cheque for £1,500 following a successful virtual Santa Sleigh project throughout December.

The organisation had to adapt its annual Santa Sleigh due to the pandemic and worked with charity partners and Derby digital agency Think3 to enable families across the county and beyond to book a personalised letter or recorded video from Santa in return for a donation.

Derby Museums has been overwhelmed by the generosity of its supporters following the Museums’ first ever virtual auction last week, hosted by auctioneer and TV personality Charles Hanson. 

Family-owned Wathall’s – Derby’s longest-established independent funeral directors – has expanded the service it is able to offer to local families.

The company, which has branches in Derby, Alvaston, Ashbourne, Borrowash and Burton-on-Trent, has joined forces with another local company to offer graveside memorials.

Art Stone Memorials was launched ten years ago by stone mason Oleksandr Burlaka – operating from a workshop in Drakelow and a showroom in Stapenhill.

Banks Mill Studios on Bridge Street in Derby is a hub for creative businesses and just before the first Lockdown in March 2020 welcomed mosaic artist Diane Daley.  Diane runs China Petals which makes personal keepsakes out of fine bone china.  

Launching a creative business is hard at the best of times, however Diane has adapted her business and has successfully diversified during her first year, to ensure her business is thriving in challenging times.

The chief executive of Grammy-nominated Sinfonia Viva, the East Midlands’ professional orchestra, is to retire at the end of April after 26 years with the organisation.

Peter Helps, who was awarded an MBE in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to arts and culture, has been at the helm of the Derby-based Orchestra since 1995 – steering it through challenging times.

Derby’s two Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) have announced that they will take a lead role in this summer’s Derby Ram Trail across the city centre.

Rescheduled from last summer, The Derby Ram Trail is being brought to the city by Derby Museums, in partnership with Wild in Art and is an amazing public art sculpture event with 30 individually painted 5ft tall Rams, threading through the city centre between May 27 and August 22.

The Cathedral Quarter BID are the presenting partner and St Peters Quarter BID are the trail partner for the project.

Bearded Badger Publishing, a new company based in Belper, have made a sampler available from their new poetry imprint TRA(verse).

The sampler features work from poets with links to the East Midlands and can be accessed via this link.

Derby Poetry Festival will be running some online events in the coming months.

The first is Poems for a New World organised with Derby Libraries and Civic Leicester which will be based upon readings from last year’s Black Lives Matter anthology.

This free event will be on 5th March for more information, please visit the Derby LIVE website here.

There is a short, free poetry related workshop on the Get Creative on the BBC4 Front Row website along with lots of other interesting content.

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