Historic Site For New Derby NFU Office
Added by Love Business East Midlands | 26 October 2016
UPDATED: 26 October 2016
Derby and Melbourne NFU group secretaries Jim Watt and Tim Winder have moved into new offices based in the Darley Abbey Mills World Heritage Site north of Derby. Their office was officially opened this week (12 October) by NFU’s county chairman, Angela Sargent. Angela is an NFU Derby branch member and farms at Etwall.
Jim Watt, speaking at the opening, said:
“We are incredibly proud to have moved to Darley Abbey and to have our offices in the Long Mill, a unique and historic building. Our whole team has worked hard and we are grateful to colleagues at the NFU Mutual who have helped to make the move so trouble-free. To have state of the art communications, in such historic surroundings is a great step forward for both the NFU branches and our NFU Mutual insurance business. The site oozes history and the atmospheric surroundings will provide a great work environment for us and a lovely place to visit for our customers and NFU members. And it’s an ideal location for both us and our clients, in the middle of our south Derbyshire area.”
Angela Sargent said:
“I am very proud to be asked to open the Derby and Melbourne branches local office. This is a fantastic location for the new NFU and NFU Mutual offices and I hope that Jim and Tim and their staff will be comfortable and happy here. Having visited the Derby NFU offices at the livestock market for so many years where the facilities were functional and workmanlike, to come to this delightful mill building with every “mod-con” imaginable is wonderful.”
NFU county chairman and Etwall farmer, Angela Sargent and Jim Watt, NFU group secretary and agent for NFU Mutual for the Derby and Melbourne branches.
The Long Mill is part of the Darley Abbey Mills site, the southern most of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. Built in the 1780s by the Evans family, the site was a water-powered cotton spinning mill with connections to Richard Arkwright’s Cromford Mills cotton production business. The Grade 1 Listed building has been tastefully and carefully restored with state-of-the-art office facilities and 21st century telecommunications infrastructure to enable a variety of commercial uses. NFU’s offices, 1, The Long Mill, have 250 square metres of space and ample parking for customers and staff.
Anthony Attwood and Andrew Rose, whose family business owns Darley Abbey Mills, have worked with local conservationists and English Heritage to find innovative solutions for businesses, such as NFU, to occupy these historic buildings, giving the site a sustainable future and helping protect a valuable asset for Darley Abbey, Derby and Derbyshire. With a longstanding local connection, Derby and Melbourne NFU branches have been in Derby for over 100 years, the NFU team are delighted to support and be part of such an exciting local project.
NFU county adviser, Andrew Critchlow added:
“NFU and NFU Mutual operate shared local offices run by group secretaries, who are also agents for NFU Mutual Insurance Society Limited. The new Derby and Melbourne office is one of 31 local offices in local towns in the East Midlands NFU region.
“NFU was founded in Lincolnshire in 1904 to represent farmers’ interests and later in 1910, NFU Mutual was formed to provide an insurance service for the farming industry and has more recently grown to help customers outside farming with commercial and personal insurance solutions. Since the early days, the two organisations have worked together providing both representation and insurance products from one local office – it provides an excellent working relationship for both farmers, insurance customers and for both organisations in and around Derby.”
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