News: McLaren planning to expand its Rotherham manufacturing site

McLaren Automotive is set to create additional operational capacity at its multimillion pound facility on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham, if plans are approved.

Opened in 2018 in Rotherham, the McLaren Composites Technology Centre (MCTC) has established itself as a world-leader in lightweight carbon fibre construction for the automotive industry.

The company’s cars are designed and produced in-house through their production facilities, including Rotherham, which produces the carbon fibre monocoque chassis for their road cars. The MCTC is where the McLaren carbon lightweight architecture for the McLaren Artura high-performance hybrid supercar is constructed.

A planning application has now been submitted that would enable McLaren to erect a temporary building within the existing service yard on the AMP.

Plans, drawn up by agents at tor&co explain: "The building is intended as a temporary operational solution for a period of up to five years to enable the continued effective operation of the Composites Technology Centre whilst longer-term proposals for a permanent solution is secured.

"The temporary storage building is therefore required to address an immediate operational need arising from existing activities whilst allowing sufficient time for the design, funding, and delivery of a permanent building solution within the locality as part of the wider / longer term site operations strategy.

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"Whilst the proposal would not directly create additional employment, it would support the continued efficient operation of an existing advanced manufacturing facility within one of the Borough’s key economic growth locations. The development would continue to support the operational resilience and longterm functionality of an established advanced manufacturing business."

The temporary storage area would provide the 75,000 sq ft purpose built unit with an extra 7,265sq ft which would contain storage racking together with a small ancillary office cabin.

Rothbiz reported in March that Harworth, master developer for the AMP, had sold the McLaren unit that it built for the supercar manufacturer. Harworth sold the Rotherham unit as one of five assets totalling 800,000 sq ft for a headline sales value of £47.7m, reflecting a blended net initial yield of 7.6%.

McLaren Automotive website

Images: Google Maps

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News: Spotlight on Maltby High Street

Work is underway to convert a large vacant former retail store in Rotherham.

Operators of Drinks & Ink, an independent bar in Maltby, has taken on the unit at the heart of the High Stree that was previously The Original Factory Shop (TOFS).

TOFS, which took over from The Co-op, has closed all its stores since entering administration. A planning applicaion and premises licence have recently been submitted that would bring the 9,000 sq ft unit back to life as a new licensed bar and restaurant.

Owners say that they are aiming to create another space for music, snooker, pool and darts, in addition to creating a new area for an events room to move all the live entertainment and functions from Drinks & Ink to the new venue which is set to be called The Spotlight Bar.

The planning application states: "The applicant is also the owner and manager of Drinks & ink located at 86 High Street Maltby which has enjoyed huge success since opening in late 2024 with its live entertainment and quiz nights proving particularly popular. As such they are rapidly outgrowing their current premises and see the larger premises at 102 High Street as being better suited to serve the local and wider community as a live entertainment, games and events venue going forward.

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"Should this change of use be granted then these activities will predominantly shift from Drinks & Ink to the new premises allowing Drinks & Ink to provide a quieter and more sociable environment."

The opening hours would be 9am-1am, seven days a week to allow for extended opening hours at weekends, bank holidays and other non-standard opening times such as new year’s eve. In reality the opening hours will be less than this (Typically 9am to 12pm Monday to Thursday and 9am to 1am Friday to Sunday).

Proposals also include work to make the large car park safe with new lighting and CCTV. The applicant said that the car park of approximately 60 parking spaces in total would remain free to use for all High Street business customers and staff.

If approved, the new bar would create eight jobs - a mix of full time and part time posts.

The application adds: "Maltby High Street continues to struggle to replace businesses leaving the area with vacant units leading to neglected premises, prolific littering and anti-social behaviour. Buoyed by the success of Drinks and Ink and local optimism surrounding the ongoing Pride in Place Programme, the applicant believes that this change of use, if granted, will provide an opportunity to address this High Street decline by bringing another vacant unit back in to use as well as remove local uncertainty as to the future of the town’s main car park."

Drinks & Ink facebook page

Images: Brackenridge Hanson Tate

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News: Council u-turn as Rotherham cycle lane scheme scrapped

A multimillion pound active travel scheme in Rotherham will not now go ahead, the leader of the council has confirmed.

Rothbiz has previously reported on a £16.5m scheme that includes bike lanes, bus lanes and a built up roundabout at Eastwood, on the edge of Rotherham town centre. A similar £10.7m cycle lane and roundabout scheme is proposed for Stag Roundabout and Wickersley / Broom Road.

The schemes follow on from the £6.4m Sheffield Road Cycleways and Maltby Bus Corridor schemes and the £3.6m Broom Road Cycleways scheme.

After another period of consultation, Rotherham Labour Councillors have now said that the scheme designed for the Broom Road / Wickersley Road proposed Extension Corridor has been scrapped.

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Cllr. Chris Read, leader of Rotherham Council, said: "We said at the last council elections that we would only proceed with those schemes where they had the support of the communities most affected and that's why those consultations are really important and we really appreciate your feedback.

"And we've had two different sets of feedback. So for the Broom Road / Moorgate scheme ... residents told us that they didn't support any of the proposals that we were putting forward. The cycle lane, the road crossings or any of the road safety measures.

"So I want to be really clear that when the council brings forward proposals for that we will not be taking forward any of those proposals.

"On the other scheme on Fitzwilliam Road we got broad support from the community for those proposals and when we looked at that more closely there were particular parts of that in some of those side streets, some of the measures to deal with parking, some of the things to do with helping people to cross the road that got more support.

"So we've tasked council staff with looking at that feedback to look at the look at what could be the best scheme that we could take forward in the Fitzwilliam Road area where we keep the benefits of those things for pedestrians in particular but also for parking, and where we might take out those cycle lanes if we don't need to take that forward."

The Eastwood scheme centres on St Ann's Roundabout and replacing the subways with signalised crossings. New street level pedestrian and cycle routes would then be created with new traffic lights with cyclist and pedestrian crossings.

On Fitzwilliam Road, new cycle lanes would be created all the way from St Ann's Roundabout to the fire station. A new bus lane would also be created on the approach to the roundabout.

The scheme is also expected to link to the Rotherham Gateway mainline station at Parkgate.

At Stag Roundabout, segregated cycle routes and controlled crossing facilities would have been introduced on each arm of the roundabout, replacing the current zebra crossings.

The council was considering a number of options for the roads such as a cycle lane to be shared by bikes and buses which would split on the approach to Stag Roundabout. A second option was for a separate bus lane and a separate cycle lane along Wickersley Road, from the junction with Middle Lane South to Stag Roundabout. The third proposal would only introduce a cycle lane, with no bus lane.

For the second option, some trees would need to be removed.

Neighbourhood streets were set for investment in this area too, including Broom Lane where a zebra crossing close to Sitwell school was proposed to be replaced by a controlled traffic signal crossing.

The majority of funding for the latest schemes is coming from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) through the City Regional Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS), a government funding stream.

Rotherham Council website

Images: RMBC

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News: Council moving ahead with Rotherham town centre health hub plan

Work to create a new Health Hub in Rotherham town centre is progressing with the conversion of the empty former Boots building.

Rothbiz reported last year on the authority's plans to introduce "Health on the High Street" in a bid to improve access to health services and increase footfall. For phase 1, Morris and Spottiswood Ltd started work in January on a £843,580 contract to carry out ground floor internal modifications and a potential fit-out to accommodate the relocation of Abbey Pharmacy.

The completed relocation and opening of Abbey Pharmacy's new location links to the wider regeneration of the nearby markets.

Now, early stage work is underway on phase 2 of the health hub project and establishing which services can occupy the rest of the 25,985 sq ft property that was acquired by Rotherham Council in 2023.

It is expected that Connect Healthcare Rotherham will play a major role. The community interest company was formed by all 28 GP practices in Rotherham as shareholders and provides primary care services at scale. They are said to be keen to relocate their services into a centrally located hub.

A new health hub is expected to enable more same day services and extended access (weekend and out of hours) for services such as GP, nurse and other appointments. Phsyio, NHS Health Checks and stop smoking and weight management services could also operate from the hub.

The council has identified that 80,000 additional people are within 30 minutes of the town centre site using public transport compared to current facilities at Rawmarsh.

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Cllr. John Williams, Cabinet Member for Transport, Jobs and the Local Economy, described the project as "an opportunity to bring together both regeneration and health and wellbeing objectives in a way that will benefit both our residents and our town centre."

He added: "The second phase is about that broader vision for the project and the role it could play in improving access to health and wellbeing services in a central and highly accessible location in the town centre. The vision is to create a hub that improves the access to primary health services and supports a more joined up approach between health, local government, the voluntary sector, to help tackle health inequalities and contribute to the vibrancy and footfall of the town centre.

"In terms of the council, it is being led by regeneration. It is a regeneration project but pursuing those wider health and wellbeing benefits for the town centre. It is benefiting the town centre by bringing those alternative uses in. We know that's what we need to do for regeneration and the future of our town centre - we can't rely purely on a retail offer. That's why we are doing the new town centre housing, the new library and markets project, and this is another big key project."

Lorna Vertigan, head of regeneration at Rotherham Council, said: "It's location is really, really important in developing that service strategy - a reason for people to come into the town centre. It sits directly opposite the markets and where the library is going to be open soon. You've got the proximity there of the shopping centres and the interchange right behind it, you've got Tesco and the Drummond Street car park - they are all within a really close walking distance. And when you access that building you are walking past other properties, which helps drive that footfall and give people a reason to meander and move round the town centre."

Gilly Brenner, Consultant in Public Health at Rotherham Council, added: "We really want this to improve patient experience. We do know that from other places where they have put health on the High Street we have seen people combine trips. So rather than just going for their health appointment they are then able to fit that in to their busy day - picking up their shopping or various other things, make it a bit more of a day out and link it then to the other opportunities within the town centre."

A phased approach is being used and a business case for the hub is in development. A big part of the work will be to identify and secure funding to complete phase 2.

£1.7m was secured from the Pathfinder funds (now Local Regeneration Fund) for both phases. Funding was moved away from the live music venue project to the health hub project.

Images: Tom Austen

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News: Pre-pack deal for specialist Rotherham recruitment firm

A pre-pack deal has been secured for Rotherham-based specialist engineering and manufacturing recruitment business after it entered administration.

Metalis Engineering Recruitment Limited was established in 2019 and provided specialist recruitment services to the engineering and manufacturing sectors, supporting businesses across Yorkshire, the North of England and the Midlands with permanent and temporary recruitment solutions.

The Templeborough company faced increasingly challenging trading conditions, with a slowdown in recruitment activity and continued pressure on margins contributing to significant cash-flow difficulties. Despite steps taken by management to reduce costs and restructure the business, its financial position ultimately became unsustainable, and advice was sought from CY Group.

Steve Currie and Sophie Murcott of business advisory firm CY Group were appointed Joint Administrators of the Rotherham-based company on August 3 2026.

A report from the administrators states that the company's difficulties began in late 2024 with the deterioration in market conditions. It pointed to wider economic pressure, the adoption of inhouse hiring tools by clients and increased competition from smaller agencies and independent recruiters. Late payments from a key client and a dispute with software providers were also cited.

Following COVID, demand recovered strongly and the business grew steadily for around four years. At its peak the Company employed 28 staff across two offices.

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The Joint Administrators completed a pre-packaged sale of the business and certain assets to Metalis Recruitment Group Limited, a connected company, for an undisclosed sum.

The transaction secures the future of the business and safeguards all six jobs, enabling Metalis to continue trading and supporting its customers. The sale also represents a positive outcome for creditors, with the secured creditor currently expected to be repaid in full.

Steven Currie, Joint Administrator and Managing Director of CY Group, said: “Metalis had established a strong position within a specialist recruitment market, but challenging trading conditions and increasing pressure on cash flow had created significant difficulties for the business.

“Our priority was to preserve the underlying business, protect employment and achieve the best possible outcome for creditors.

“We are pleased to have completed a sale that safeguards all six jobs, enables the business to continue supporting its customers and is expected to result in the secured creditor being repaid in full.

“This is a positive outcome in what had become a very challenging set of circumstances and demonstrates the importance of seeking professional advice at an early stage, when there may still be options available to preserve value and protect jobs.”

The business will continue to trade under Metalis Recruitment Group Limited following completion of the sale.

Metalis website

Images: Metalis

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