News: Opening date for Rotherham's new multimillion pound market hall

Operators, Rotherham Council, have confirmed an opening date for the new market hall in Rotherham town centre - the first phase of a £46.8m redevelopment project.

Lead contractors on behalf of Rotherham Council, Henry Boot Construction, began enabling works on the Drummond Street site in 2023. Alongside a new modern central library, the redevelopment of the markets is divided into two areas, an outdoor covered market, which is being rebuilt, and an adjacent indoor market, which is being revamped.

The New Market Hall is set to open for business on Friday July 10.

Work will continue on the library and move onto the indoor market. Traders in the current indoor market are expected to move temporarily into the New Market Hall until the revamp is complete.

The existing indoor market will remain open as usual until the move, with the last day of trading on Thursday July 2 to allow traders to relocate to the Market Hall.

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Mark Brown, Dalefarm Foods, Market Trader at Rotherham Market, said: "I’m a butcher in Rotherham Market. I’ve worked in this market since I was 16 years old, on and off for years, and I’ve been here for five or six years now.

“There’s a lot of investment going into Rotherham at this time, and moving into the new Market Hall is something we’re really looking forward to.

“We offer a lovely, fresh product at a good price, and people need to get back into the markets and support local traders.

“We do try to give people a good bargain where we can, and we’ll be putting on a lot of good offers to coax people back into Rotherham, so come down and see us on opening day.

“Let’s build Rotherham back up again."

The entrance to the Market Hall will be on Eastwood Lane (on the Rotherham College side of the building), with access through a new outdoor space where a number of market stalls will be based.

To coincide with the move, Rotherham Council has rebranded the markets, with new logos and signage, using the strapline: "More than a market.".

Cllr. John Williams, Rotherham Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, Jobs and the Local Economy, said: “This move means our traders can continue serving customers locally while improvement works to the current indoor market take place.

“We know how important the market is to Rotherham, both for shoppers and for the businesses who rely on it. The priority has been to keep that offer together, accessible and open throughout.

“The Market Hall provides a town centre location where people will still find the traders they know, supporting them while work continues.”

Rothbiz reported last month on the support being offered to traders during the redevlopment.

To complete the work, Rotherham Council's cabinet recently approved the use of various council funding pots to fill a funding gap following an increase in the total budget from £40.894m to £46.844m.

The paper included a timetable that showed that the library is planned to open later this year with the indoor market completing in Autumn 2027.

Rotherham Markets website

Images: Henry Boot / RMBC

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News: Riverside Gardens takes shape in Rotherham town centre

A transformational project is taking shape to create new public space near to Forge Island in Rotherham town centre.

A Rotherham Council scheme that has secured external government funding, work got underway last year on Riverside Gardens alongside improvements on Corporation Street.

Planning permission was approved in 2023 for a scheme using a mixture of soft and hard landscaping to create a gateway on an area extending from the demolished Riverside Precinct, covering the old abattoir site behind Market Street and passing the Old Market, Keppel Wharf and Westgate Chambers residential developments.

C R Reynolds is leading on the work which has a total budget of £8,425,749 in the council's capital programme. G & F Formwork Ltd has been on site recently creating the complex retaining walls as part of the design.

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Cllr. John Williams, Cabinet Member for Transport, Jobs and the Local Economy at Rotherham Council, said: "This is a big regeneration scheme that’s going to transform what was a previously underused area right beside the River Don, and we’re going to provide a new public garden and open space for visitors, shoppers, and residents to enjoy right here in the town centre.

"It’s a really exciting project. So what you’re going to see here is a brand new riverside walkway giving you new views overlooking the River Don and over to Forge Island. Throughout the site there’s going to be new planting, new seating, there’s going to be a children’s play area right at the top as well.

"The Riverside Gardens project is really important because regeneration isn’t just about big new buildings and infrastructure, it’s about improving and creating new public spaces for people to use and enjoy. So this new riverside walkway and public gardens is going to be here for visitors, for shoppers, for workers, for people who live and use the town centre to come and enjoy the new riverside views, to have better links to Forge Island and the rest of the town centre. And it’s just a really exciting example of the transformation that’s taking place across Rotherham town centre."

The 2017 town centre masterplan had the old abattoir site earmarked for a residential development in excess of 60 apartments. Housing plans here were also included in the 2020 hybrid planning application for Forge Island with developers including outline plans for later phases such as 50 riverside residential units on the abattoir site on the opposite side of the River Don to the cinema and hotel.

Images: Tom Austen

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News: Demolition plan for Enterprise Zone offices

There is no doubt that a Enterprise Zone designation has been transformational for the Wath and Manvers area of Rotherham but decades on and some of the commercial property seems no longer fit for a 21st century economy.

The Cyan Building, previously used by a major bank, is being lined up for demolition.

NatWest took on the large office building at Adwick Park in Manvers in 2007 when RBS Group plc, now known as NatWest Group plc, moved their Lombard business across Rotherham. NatWest moved to nearby Callflex Business Park last year and the previous building went up for sale.

A sale was recently concluded by agents at Knight Frank.

Particulars for the four acre site read: "The site is currently occupied by a 68,000 sq ft office building, formerly occupied by Natwest. The building is now available with vacant possession, with intentions to demolish the building, leaving a cleared site for the next owner.

"This will present a significant opportunity for industrial redevelopment or industrial open storage use, subject to planning."

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Local speculative commercial property developer, EV Waddington Ltd, recently submitted a planning application regarding the building with Rotherham Council approving the method of demolition.

Plans for what might replace the Cyan Building have not yet been submitted.

South Yorkshire, and especially Rotherham, has a long history of policies designed to aid investment into areas formerly centred around heavy industry. Enterprise Zones established in the 1990's were influential in the regeneration of former coalfield ares such as Manvers, and ealier Enterprise Zones led to the creation of Parkgate Shopping without the need for local planning approval.

Between 1995 and 2005, Manvers saw a boom in call centres and office space thanks to generous tax reliefs and a simplified Enterprise Zone Planning Scheme. As the economy changed, distribution became a popular industrial use in the area and Rothbiz has reported previously on plans to demolish purpose built call centres.

Agents at Knight Frank have previously explained the reason for the circumstances: "Historically these larger scale call centre buildings had been built during a period of the historic enterprise zone status and where there had been good demand from back office/call centre operations and substantial offers available – rates free periods and large incentive packages. A lot of the traditional call centre market moved off shore, and in more recent times due to the pandemic a lot of businesses have now adopted home working policies in the UK."

Images: Northcap

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News: Smoke & Pepper to open new Rotherham restaurant

A fast-growing food brand is opening a new store in Rotherham, according to Visit Rotherham, promising a modern, vibrant, and flavour-driven restaurant.

What started in Leyton in 2022 as a burger joint has now turned into a raved-about restaurant. Smoke & Pepper has crafted a unique dining experience that seamlessly blends the allure of an Instagrammable restaurant with the convenience of fast-food dining.

Visit Rotherham reports that the brand has begun work on its new Rotherham location at Forge Island.

Delivered by Rotherham Council in partnership with Muse, the £47m Forge Island development in Rotherham town centre includes an 8-screen boutique cinema operated by The Arc Cinema, a 69-roomed Travelodge Hotel. Food outlets include Vetro Lounge and Heavenly Desserts.

The menu includes top chef-quality burgers and succulent flame grilled chicken, famous flavourful loaded fries and crispy fried wings and tenders tossed in signature sauces. Smoke & Pepper is also known for bringing the thickest shakes in town, thirst quenching mojitos and freshly baked divine milk cakes.

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The business is fast growing thanks to its franchise model. It has 16 stores currently trading with more in the pipeline.

Heavenly Desserts franchisee, Daoud Tahir, who recently picked up an award for his work on the Rotherham location, recently announced that he was looking to add a Smoke & Pepper franchise.

Smoke & Pepper is working on Unit 1 at Forge Island, a 2,500 sq ft unit next door to Arc Cinema.

Recruitment is underway with the restaurant currently looking for General Team Members and Back of House Kitchen Staff.

Social media posts for the brand explain: "Food is at the heart of Smoke & Pepper. Our menu centres on comfort food favourites such as smash burgers, grilled chicken, loaded fries, smoked meats and signature in house sauces, all built around carefully sourced ingredients and strong operational discipline.

"The Smoke & Pepper experience is about more than food. Our restaurants are designed to feel distinctive and engaging, so customers feel they have been somewhere, not just eaten somewhere.

"From design and music to service and flow, we focus on creating an environment people want to spend time in and return to. Every customer who chooses Smoke & Pepper is a privilege. They could have gone anywhere, and that choice is never taken lightly. We celebrate that trust by delivering great food, strong service and an experience that feels reliable, enjoyable and worth repeating."

Rothbiz reported last month that Sygnature Dish, an independent restaurant set up by local entrepreneurs had closed within a year of opening at Forge Island.

Smoke & Pepper website
Forge Island website

Images: Tom Austen

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News: Plans drafted for new events and sports venue in Rotherham

A former works sporting facility tied to one of Rotherham's most famous companies could be brought back into use under ambitious new plans.

A licence application has been submitted to Rotherham Council for the site of the Guest & Chrimes pitches on Bassingthorpe Lane near Greasbrough.

The former iron and brass foundry of Guest & Chrimes once employed 400 people on the edge of Rotherham town centre. Sports clubs and pitches were often made available by large companies.

Having been out of use as sports facilities, the site's owners have tested the water with car boot sales in recent years. Now plans drafted for the licensing application show a new future for the site which is in the middle of the proposed Bassingthorpe residential development scheme.

The new application for a premises licence is from SME Enviromental Holdings LTD, the company behind a number of regeneration projects in Rotherham town centre, including The Empire and The Bunka.

If approved, it would enable the Bassingthorpe site to allow the outdoor provision of the following licensable activities:

- Live & Recorded Music, Plays, Films, & Dance;
- Late Night Refreshment; and the
- Sale of Alcohol

The application would be for between May and September and limits the provision licensable activities to a maximum of 16 occasions between 11am and 12 midnight on any day of the week.

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Bassingthorpe Meadows is advertised as having seven acres of space for events.

Plans show a large venue space complemented with a pavilion and café, plus 77 to 110 car parking spaces.

The plans also show seven padel courts and an area for golfing activities - a netted driving range with 13 bays, a chipping area, and a putting area.

Last year, a masterplan was approved for Bassingthorpe - a proposed 2,000 home development on former greenbelt land where the vision is to create a "well-connected 21st century garden community" close to the proposed new mainline station at Parkgate.

The masterplan included a new neighbourhood park and sports facilities at the heart of Bassingthorpe and stated that Bassingthorpe Lane "has potential to become a key active travel route between Greasbrough and Rotherham Town Centre and the new mainline station."

Images: Google Maps

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