Posts In: Clockmaking

National Apprenticeship Week

March 5, 2020 News

National Apprenticeship week 3rd Feb – 9th Feb February 3rd-9th was National Apprentice Week – celebrating all those involved within apprenticeships across England. Here at Smith of Derby we are extremely proud of all our apprentices and are delighted to celebrate the success of the program which is run in partnership with Learning Unlimited. The annual celebration, which is now in its thirteenth year, brings the whole apprenticeship community together to promote and explore the positive impact of apprenticeships on individuals, employers and the economy across the UK. Over the last five years we have employed Seven apprentices in both clock…

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Energy Efficient Clock Making

July 30, 2018 News

Here at Smith of Derby we are always looking at ways to reduce our carbon footprint and make our business more sustainable. Recently we were fortunate to receive a grant from Derbyshire Energy Efficiency Project (D2EE), this was used to help fund the installation of LED lights both in the office and workshop area of our Alfreton Road premises. The grant of £10,000 enabled a team of electricians to install the new lighting at our Derby clockmaking site. We have been informed this will reduce our electricity usage by 42,655kWh per year – enough to power over 12 houses each…

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Mitchell Eaton is proud of his achievements

May 4, 2018 Heritage, News, Personnel, Traditional

With good reason: Mitch holds the certificate that marks a key stage in his training at Smith of Derby. He has achieved Advanced Level Apprenticeship in Engineering Manufacture (Mechanical Manufacturing Engineering) along with City and Guilds Level 3 diploma and BTEC level 3 subsidiary diploma in the same subjects. His training will continue with coaching from our experienced team of clockmakers and hands-on experience. Mitch is passionate about the practical hands-on work that he does. And he is reliable, trustworthy and confident to work on his own – very important on service calls to clock towers near and far. He…

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Clocks all changed

March 29, 2018 Church, Heritage, News, Public, Time, Traditional

All has gone well with our clock altering visits. Matthew S finished the rounds in the South East at Richmond Town Hall: whilst at the other end of the UK (almost), Craig P moved time forward an hour at Leslie St. Marys Church in Fife.

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Clock servicing progress report

March 29, 2018 Church, Heritage, Public, Time, Traditional

With Spring now on our doorstep, we are pleased to report that Smith of Derby’s Clockmakers are busier than ever carrying out the annual servicing of clocks throughout the UK, ensuring the clocks remain in good working order and keep us all in touch with time. We would be delighted to hear from you if you are interested in having your clock serviced. Please call: Jane 01332 257101 jane.fenton@smithofderby.com

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Training for all our clockmakers

February 28, 2018 Heritage, Public, Time, Traditional

Whether new to clockmaking or having years of experience, all our clockmakers have a wealth of knowledge. Our training programme is designed to share the strengths of each member of the team, which builds close working relationships as well as just learning about clocks. Aaran is new to the world of clockmaking but it was no surprise that his engineering expertise enabled him to have one of our showpiece clock movements dismantled then up and running again in what seemed like no time at all, and he even found handling the delicate gold leaf a breeze. Meanwhile Steve and Gavin…

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