News: Supertram spending could leave £30m hole in transport budget

It may have opened in 1994 but spending on the building of the Supertram system in Sheffield is set to carry on until 2034 with transport bosses proposing an unusual accountancy procedure with a number of risks to try and reduce the burden for the region's local authorities.


Sheffield's Supertram system cost a reported £240m and now serves major residential and employment sites in Sheffield. One of the first group of modern tram systems to be built in the UK, the assets are owned by the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) with the services operated by Stagecoach. A £60m extension is set to see innovative tram-trains join the system between Sheffield and Parkgate via Rotherham town centre from 2016.

The SYPTE still has a deficit of £30.5m on its general reserve budget with a significant part of this relating to capital expenditure incurred by the PTE as part of the construction of the Sheffield tram network.

The SYPTE and Stagecoach Supertram are currently funding a major programme of rail replacement works on the network, with the majority of work being undertaken during the next five years at an estimated capital cost of £32m.

The deficit means that around £3m of the executive's £84m total annual budget is being spent on covering the debt and, at a time of budget cuts, a new accountancy procedure is set to reduce this burden.

The South Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority (SYITA) is the locally accountable body responsible for the strategic direction of transport planning and delivery. The SYPTE works in partnership with the local councils and transport service operators to manage public transport infrastructure, run the local bus, train and tram services and provide walking and cycling routes. Funding comes from the government and levies from South Yorkshire's four local authorities.

The SYITA has this week approved proposals to make a £30.5m capital grant to the SYPTE to cover the deficit with the aim of reducing the levies that councils pay each year.

Steve Pick, clerk and treasurer at the South Yorkshire Joint Secretariat explained at the authority's final meeting before its role moves to the new combined authority, that due to different accounting requirements, having the debt sit with the authority rather than the executive would enable the repayments to be extended for a further ten years, reducing the annual levy by around £1.5m.

However, the report by Howard Brier, technical and treasury services manager at the South Yorkshire Joint Secretariat, explains that advice has been sought from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and auditors from KPMG, and that further legal counsel is being sought due the risks of the grant.

The main risk is that, if for some as yet unknown reason, the £30.5m grant is deemed unlawful then it would fall to the local authorities to pick up the shortfall in funding.

This would come at a time when the SYPTE has put forward plans that aim to make savings of around 10% to their annual budget impacting on concessionary services, community transport services and free bus services in the Sheffield and Rotherham retail areas.

SYPTE website

Images: SYPTE

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News: Rycan grows by the power of apprentices

A ten year relationship with Rotherham College of Arts and Technology (RCAT) has enabled Rotherham plumbing business, Rycan Services, to grow using the power of apprentices.

Amazingly 13 out of Rycan's 14 employees have been apprentices from the college with the Eastwood firm taking on roughly one apprentice each year.

Rycan Services is a family run property services firm that specialises in fitting bathrooms for domestic homes.

RCAT was given a rating of "Good" by Ofsted inspectors last year and its construction department earned the top rating of "Outstanding."

Gary Ryan, director of Rycan Services (pictured above, far right), said: "This is one of the best colleges and that's why all of our apprentices come here. I have a fantastic relationship with the College - we both have the student’s best interests at heart and having a point of contact which gives me accountability is great.

"Employing apprentices is essential to growing the business, I have a young workforce and find that with their personality and work ethic means I can take their raw attributes, set the standards and shape their skills to suit my business."

Julie West, apprenticeship co-ordinator for construction at RCAT (pictured above, second left), added: "The partnership we have with Rycan is mutually beneficial and we can work with Gary to help his business. Rycan have also kindly helped other apprentices gain experience enabling them to sign off remaining modules when companies have suddenly gone into liquidation, which we are extremely grateful for."

Rycan is looking to diversify and grow and director Gary has been working with his daughter on a new concept serving a market they feel has been neglected, providing quality bathrooms for the less abled. The ground-breaking venture will see what they believe is the UK's first bathroom showroom aimed at the less abled. The new business will present new challenges for the employees and apprentices such as meeting anti-scald G3 regulations.

Rycan website
RCAT website

Images: RCAT

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News: Crawshaw reports strong sales

Crawshaw, the Rotherham-based meat-focused retailer, has reported that it expects to be even further ahead of market expectations after its period of strong trading continues.

The Bradmarsh Business Park group recently reported on an excellent Christmas trading period, which would result in profit for the year being "materially higher than current market expectations."

Now the chairman, Richard Rose has reported that in the weeks since then, leading up to the year end January 31 2014, both sales and margin were particularly strong.

The performance follows from the financial results for the six months to the end of July 2013 when Crawshaws reported an increase in sales and profit indicating that it has established its recovery in difficult High Street trading conditions and is overcoming government changes to the rules on VAT.

This week the AIM-listed group added that they expect profits for the full year to January 31 2014 to be further ahead of current market expectations and that strong growth has continued into its new financial year.

Established in 1954, the firm has been trading on the stock market since 2004. It was acquired by Felix Group plc in 2008. It has 20 retail outlets throughout Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Humberside and two distribution centres, in Rotherham and Grimsby.

Crawshaw said last year that it was considering restarting its store expansion programme on the back of increases in gross profit, profit before tax and overall sales. A new store on the redeveloped Moor in Sheffield city centre is set to open at the end of March.

Crawshaw website

Images: Crawshaw

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News: Millers extend shirt deal with Parkgate Shopping

Rotherham United has agreed a further two-year extension to their partnership with Parkgate Shopping.

The deal will see the Parkgate Shopping name stay on the Millers home shirt for at least the next two years with the shopping park continuing as the club's home shirt sponsor. At the end of the latest extension Parkgate will have been the club's main sponsor for nine years.

Steve Coakley, commercial director at Rotherham United, said: "We have had a long association with Parkgate Shopping and it gives me great pleasure to see that partnership continue to at least the summer of 2016.

"It has been an absolute pleasure working with both Denis Copeland and Billy Smith over the years, two men who equally passionate about Rotherham United and our local community.

"We have agreed a two-year extension but I am sure that we will be working together for many years to come."

Denis Copeland, regional manager at Parkgate Shopping, added: "We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with the football club as it is poised for yet another push for promotion.

"This really is a great time to be associated with everyone at New York Stadium, and we are proud to be on board for another two years during what is fast becoming a golden era for the club and the town as a whole.

"Our first two years saw the club in a precarious situation, and we are pleased that our support contributed to its reinvigoration, which under Tony Stewart's chairmanship has seen it grow from strength to strength.

"We are particularly proud of the work we have done with the club's Community Sports Trust to promote training and job opportunities in the town."

Rotherham United website
Parkgate Shopping website

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News: Manufacturing bosses go back to the floor at AMRC Training Centre

As part of National Apprenticeship Week, directors and executives of local manufacturing firms have taken the opportunity to go back to the floor and find out what life is like for the new breed of apprentices at the recently opened AMRC Training Centre in Rotherham.

Part of the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing, the AMRC Training Centre is a £20.5m centre on the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham where the focus is on 250 students aged from 16 upwards, taken on paid apprenticeships with opportunities to progress on to postgraduate courses.

The centre delivers high-level training, concentrating on sectors such as aerospace, energy and Formula One. It also hosts part time CPD courses with the training schedule guided by industrial partners and participating companies.

The first batch of 150 advanced apprentices began their training in January and are sponsored by employers ranging from smaller manufacturing companies to major companies such as Rolls-Royce.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg MP also made a private visit to the centre where the Sheffield Hallam MP was guided around the state of the art facilities by the apprentices themselves, hearing at first hand their experiences of hands-on education within a world-class University research centre.

Alison Bettac, training centre director at the AMRC, said: "The apprentices were really pleased to tell the Deputy Prime Minister what this earn-as-you-learn approach means to them, and to share their enthusiasm for this unique and growing opportunity.

"We were also able to discuss with Nick Clegg the way that this wonderful facility is challenging ideas about apprenticeships and lifting people's expectations of what apprenticeships can be.

"We want people to see the superb facilities we have here, and to understand what this can mean for young people and for businesses. That is why this week we are also welcomed employers to take part in a "back to the floor" day, to experience life as an apprentice in this environment. We know they are incredibly impressed by what we do, and what a skilled workforce trained in this high-tech environment can offer to their businesses in future."

Those becoming apprentices for the day included Clive Porter of Darron SBO, Mark Webber from Tinsley Bridge, Craig McKay from Evenort, David O'Hara from MTL, Vince Middleton from Newburgh Engineering (pictured top, left), Charles Robertson from Helix Tools and Mick Hood from Tata Steel.

AMRC Training Centre website

Images: AMRC / Facebook

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