JET - jobs education & training

Normanton’s History
Modern Normanton has a high ethnic minority population with the largest concentration of Derbyshire’s Asian Community. Since the expansion of the European Union in 2004 there has been a noticeable influx of new immigrants to the area from various Eastern European Countries. The Normanton Road, a main thoroughfare leading to the centre of Derby, reflects a vibrant multi-cultural community with shops, businesses, fast food outlets and restaurants offering a wide selection of different foods. A recent report confirmed that 81 languages are spoken in the area.

Normanton has an interesting and colourful past. A prominent local landmark was once the Normanton Barracks, Headquarters of the Sherwood Forest regiment. Demolished in 1981 the site is now a leisure park and a showcase cinema complex. Normantons religious diversity is reflected by a wide number of places of worship, including the Guru Arjan Dev Gurdwara in Stanhope Street, the Jamia Mosque in Rosehill Street and Catholic and Protestant churches.

The area’s main recreational facility is Normanton Park, opened in 1909. Until the 1950’s the building was used as a Tea Room. The Arboretum Park was the first public park in the country which was given to the town of Derby by Joseph Strutt in 1840 (also mentioned below). The Park has recently been the subject of significant funding and is now a user friendly safe community facility. 

At this moment in time City Institutions and Initiatives are looking at different ways to further enhance the area. All the objectives are in line with JETs purpose which is to reduce social deprivation, to deliver Jobs, Education and Training and to improve economic prospects throughout the community.

Arboretum Park
On the morning of Wednesday September 16th 1840 one of Derby's Mill Owners, and the first Mayor of the Reformed Borough of Derby, 75 year old Joseph Strutt, presented the Town Council with the deeds to the Arboretum.

Thursday 17th, the whole town took the afternoon off work, and a procession, the like of which had never been witnessed in Derby, as 1500 people set out from Friargate for the Arboretum, that afternoon the Arboretum opened its gates to the public for the first time. Making the Arboretum England's first public park and is now home to over one thousand trees.

This charming park has been recently refurbished with funding from Heritage Lottery and the Council.  It is included in the English Register of Parks and Gardens and has unique heritage value. 
Along with its historic side, there is also a modern recreation ground with a play area for children of all ages as well as sports facilities.

Rolls Royce
2008 is the centenary of Rolls-Royce’s decision to come to Derby and July 9, 2008 was the 100th anniversary of the opening of the factory itself – by any estimate an earth-shattering event, bearing in mind the achievements and prestige of the company ever since.

Yet, by encouraging the establishment of the factory in Derby, our council showed one of its rare flashes of genius.

In 1907, Rolls-Royce had, among others, an engineer-in-chief, Henry Royce; a commercial managing director, Claude Johnson; and a technical managing director, Charles Rolls.

It was Claude Johnson who was charged with finding a place to build a new factory, once the decision had been taken to move from their cramped premises in Cooke Street, Manchester.

After much deliberation, and with Leicester definitely in the frame, the City Fathers of Derby stepped boldly in: their greatest act of prescience.

Derby Borough Council’s officials made a late approach to offer almost everything that the company was seeking – suitable building land at an affordable price, backed up with a plenitude of possible room for expansion.

There was also a commitment to supply electricity from the borough’s new Full Street power station at a highly competitive tariff on a long-term basis, as well as all the other mains services.

Fundamentally, Rolls-Royce was a foundry, so it embodied not only a long Derby tradition of producing luxury goods – in this case motor cars – but also the equally long tradition of foundry work in the town.

There was, therefore, a good pool of skilled labour available, too, on top of the excellent communications the city had always enjoyed. Not only that but homes were being built next to the site to accommodate some of the workforce moving from Manchester – and rates of pay were generally lower in Derby than across the Pennines.

The site comprised 12.5 acres of the former estate of Osmaston Hall, which the Wilmot-Hortons had begun to break up in the late 1870s, the house having become uninhabitable due to the pounding of steam hammers and roar of furnaces from the adjacent Cotton Lane foundries, most of which worked all day and all night.

Building began in April 1907. The buildings themselves were exceedingly workaday but were put up with commendable speed by And-rew Handyside and Co, of Duke Street, to the very exact requirements of Henry Royce, who undertook the design and layout of the 1.5-acre workshops.

To oversee the work, Royce rented The Knoll, a late Regency villa in Quarndon. It was at this stage that Henry Royce also designed the long, two-storey “commercial block” alongside Nightingale Road, though it was not completed until 1912.

The works themselves were a showpiece of rational layout to facilitate what is still a very complex manufacturing process and were much admired.

Claude Johnson arranged the grand official opening for July 9, 1908, and some 75 guests attended, although more were presumably invited.

Umbrella and posh luggage vendor Alderman Arthur Simpson attended as Mayor, along with Sir Edwin Ann, photographer WW Winter – in his capacity as an alderman – and the hero of the hour, Arthur Longden who, as chairman of the Borough Development Committee, was the man to whose vision Derby was to owe its long association with Rolls-Royce.

There were a good number of motor trade guests, including the unlikely grandee, 2nd Earl Russell, father of the pipe-toting Marxist philosopher Bertrand (3rd Earl), who was representing the Humber Car Company.

Everyone gathered on folding chairs in one of the new, rather spartan, buildings was offered modest refreshments and addressed by both Rolls and Royce as well as the 2nd Lord Montagu of Beaulieu – man of action, ex-MP, war correspondent, motoring pioneer and some-time train driver.

His usefully-connected first cousin, Lord Herbert Montagu-Douglas-Scott, was a new recruit to the company’s board. Lord Montagu told the assembled crowd that Royce was an engineer of genius and that their new 40-50hp car – the Silver Ghost – was the best car in the world and that he was on the point of buying one himself. Widely reported, these remarks had a startlingly beneficial effect on the company’s fortunes!

Once over, a switch was thrown to energise the plant’s bargain electricity and the guests were taken round the works. The saga had well and truly begun.

The Royal Crown Derby
The Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company is a privately owned Limited Company. It employs about 300 people and manufactures the highest quality English Fine Bone China at its factory on a four and a half acre site on Osmaston Road, in Derby, England. 

The Company produces bone china collectables, for sale primarily in china and glass retailers and department stores, both in the UK and overseas.

The Company also runs a popular Visitor Centre at Osmaston Road, providing factory tours, demonstrations, museum, factory shop and restaurant.

The present factory was established in 1878 but the business traces its origins to the original factory which was set up in Nottingham Road in about 1750. Queen Victoria granted permission to include the title "Royal" in the company name in 1890. 

There is also a branch office of Royal Crown Derby in North Hollywood, California, USA, responsible for sales and distribution in that country

PAK Foods
Having started as Price-wise in Radford and West Bridgford, PAK Foods moved to Derby where it was instrumental in regenerating its local neighbourhood.

When they initially moved to Derby, Normanton had little to offer the local community, it was a run down and derelict area for some time before PAK Foods arrived.

As PAK Foods grew bigger over the years so Normanton grew rapidly into a bustling shopping precinct. Their objective is simply to serve the customers well, since opening their store in Derby, that has been their main focus and they still thrive to achieve this. They have been constantly improving and developing their product range.

Since opening their Derby store PAK Foods have built an outlet in Sneinton (Nottingham) in January 2006, where it is investing in local people. Pak Foods have also seen through two new outlets in the past two years, one in Stoke-On-Trent and another in Leicester.

PAK Foods is now one of the largest ethnic specialists in the East Midlands and it has future plans to grow, and open more outlets and expand its wholesale services. It has an annual turnover of approximately £20m.

Mohammed Sharief, Normanton’s Ambassador
Since moving to Derby from Kashmir in 1966, Mohammed Sharief has fallen in love with the city. More recently, he has fallen in love with the Normanton area.

Now he is sharing his passion for the multi-cultural district with other people from Derby in his role as a Normanton Greeter.
Mr Sharief, who emigrated to England to be closer to his family, said: “There’s such a rich variety of life around Normanton and I want people to get a feel for that.”

“People across Derby may have heard about Normanton but many of them have never thought about coming here and seeing it for themselves.”

Mr Sharief is leading guided tours and arranging trips to Normanton’s places of interest including places of worship, community organisations, shops and Arboretum Park in a bid to encourage community cohesion and attract people to the thriving inner.

Mr Sharief, who runs Jobs, Education and Training, a Normanton-based charity helping people from minority ethnic groups find work and training, is the first Normanton Greeter, but it is hoped more will follow.

Already having attracted visitors from Chellaston and Elvaston, people from various other areas also attended.

Mr Sharief said: “We want to encourage people to come and sample what Normanton has to offer.

“We can bring them in and take them round, showing them inside our faith centres, our mosques and temples, along with speciality product retailers such as Pak Food Stores, which has great spices and fresh fruit and veg, or some of the jewellery and fabric shops.

“It’s about social cohesion and people learning about each other, which will enable us to break down barriers.”