News: Rolls-Royce Rotherham investment confirmed, £21m for casting facility

Rolls-Royce, one of the most famous names in engineering throughout the world, has confirmed that it will invest in a £21.3m expansion project at its Advanced Blade Casting Facility (ABCF) in Rotherham.

Rothbiz reported first last year that the firm was working on proposals to double the factory’s production capacity with support from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA).

The £110m facility on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham was officially opened in 2015 and is where turbine blades are manufactured for Rolls-Royce's world-leading aeroplane engines.

With a grant of £2m from SYMCA, a total of £21.3m is funding an increase in the capability and productivity of the facility, which manufactures some of the world’s most advanced turbine blades for Rolls-Royce jet engines that power long haul aircraft. Additional specialist machines funded by the investment will double output at the facility by 2030.

Nigel Bird, Executive Vice President, Turbine Systems, for Rolls-Royce, said: We’re grateful to South Yorkshire’s Mayor for his support. It’s a clear example of how regional government can generate confidence for private sector investment, helping to retain and expand this type of unique UK capability, and supporting UK exports.

“Thanks to Rolls-Royce's ongoing transformation we’re able to make this investment, which will bring benefits to the region and our customers. Our incredible team in Rotherham are making components every day that are pushing the boundaries of science. This investment is a vote of confidence in them and in the capability of the wider region to stay at the forefront of advanced manufacturing. We look forward to future collaboration that will help keep these valuable skills in the community.”

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South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard added: "South Yorkshire is home to world‑class engineering, world‑class innovation and world‑class talent.

“I’m proud that our support will help to unlock growth, keep cutting‑edge manufacturing here in South Yorkshire and further strengthen our role at the heart of the UK’s advanced manufacturing industry.”

The ABCF employs more than 300 people and casts, machines and inspects intermediate and high pressure turbine blades for the Trent XWB-84 which powers the Airbus A350-900 and the Trent 1000 XE, which powers the Boeing 787. Each high pressure turbine blade generates the power of a Formula 1 car, with between 60 and 90 inside each engine to provide enough thrust to propel some of the largest and most efficient aircraft into the sky.

Investment Zone status provides South Yorkshire with up to £160m over ten years which can be used to offer investors, developers and start-ups a combination of targeted support and financial interventions to start, scale up and relocate their businesses.

Rolls-Royce website

Images: Rolls-Royce

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News: ASD MD becomes Rotherham United's largest shareholder

Tony Stewart OBE, has ceased to be the largest share owner in the holding company that sits above ASD Lighting and Rotherham United.

The founder of the lighting business, and saviour of the football club, has transferred his shareholding to his son.

Richard Stewart, managing director of ASD and vice chairman at Rotherham United has seen his shareholding in ASD Lighting Holdings Ltd increase from 5% to 100%.

In an update, the League One club said that Richard Stewart "therefore indirectly holds 97.06% of the shares in Rotherham United Football Club.

"These changes are administrative in nature and ensure a clear ownership structure for the Club going forward.

"A. R. [Tony] Stewart will remain Chairman of Rotherham United Football Club, while R. P. Stewart will continue as Vice Chairman. Both remain fully committed to the Club and its long-term future.

"All of the aforementioned changes will be reflected on HMRC’s Companies House.

"The Board would like to thank supporters for their continued backing as the Club moves forward with a strengthened financial position and a clear ownership structure."

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The club also announced that it had completed a rights issue which has converted £550,005 of existing debt into equity. The update added: "This strengthens the Club’s balance sheet and reflects the continued commitment of the Club’s ownership to supporting Rotherham United’s long-term financial stability."

Many EFL clubs convert existing debt into equity to stabilise balance sheets and comply with Profitability and Sustainability rules.

Rothbiz reported at the start of the year that the latest accounts of fellow subsidiary ASD Lighting PLC had "included within debtors was £9,467,811 (2024: £5,204,737) due from Rotherham United Football Club (RUFC) Limited. The outstanding balance is repayable on demand."

The figure has risen from £929,150 in 2023.

Tony Stewart, who turns 81 this year, was one of a number of business people invited to the Town Hall with the aim of finding a way of resurrecting the borough's football league club after it fell into administration for the second time in 2008. He ended up going it alone and brought them out of administration via a Creditors Voluntary Agreement (CVA).

After the takeover came the decision to play home games at the now demolished Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield, after working hard to get a deal to carry on playing at Millmoor, the club's home for over 100 years.

The club was charged with returning to play home games in its home town within four seasons by the Football League and Stewart, with the backing of his directors at ASD and the club, threw his drive, energy, business sense and money into creating the £20m New York Stadium on the edge of Rotherham town centre.

The iconic stadium hosted its first game in July 2012 and under Tony's tenure the club has enjoyed promotions, Play-off final victories and cup wins at Wembley Stadium, plus a number of relegations, in a period of sensible financial management not always replicated across the league.

ASD Lighting website
RUFC website

Images: RUFC

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News: Magna tram train stop given opening date

South Yorkshire’s newest tram train station is scheduled to open at Magna in Rotherham next month.

The £10m station and Park & Ride at Templeborough will serve the route between Sheffield and Rotherham - improving access for residents, businesses and the Magna Science Adventure Centre, reducing congestion and pollution within the Lower Don Valley, and supporting wider regeneration in the area.

Now SYMCA has confirmed that the new stop will be open on April 9.

Oliver Coppard, the Mayor of South Yorkshire, said: "So here we are at the almost ready Magna tram-train station. I'm really pleased to say it'll be open to passengers to use from Thursday the 9th of April.

"This new station is all part of our plan to build a fully-integrated transport network across South Yorkshire—the South Yorkshire People's Network.

"We can't wait to welcome you onto the platform when the first tram-train services start picking up passengers here next month."

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AmcoGiffen is the principal contractor of the station, which features fully accessible platforms, step-free access via lifts, and a pedestrian overbridge connecting both sides of the tracks.

Cllr Chris Read, Leader of Rotherham Council, said: “It’s great that the new Tram Train stop is now in sight. Rotherham residents and people across the region will benefit from better, greener transport, improving access to jobs in the Templeborough area and beyond.

“And of course it fits into the bigger plan for the Don Valley Corridor between Rotherham and Sheffield; more jobs, more investment, and a transport system that supports it all. The proposed Templeborough Business Zone, which will be within a short walk of this stop, will be an early beneficiary.

Magna is also two short stops from Rotherham’s proposed Gateway station, which will connect businesses and residents in the Templeborough area to mainline rail services in the next few years. It’s a welcome boost, and we’re glad to have worked with partners to get it over the line."

The project is being delivered by SYMCA in partnership with Network Rail and Supertram, with £8.1m in funding from the UK Government’s Transforming Cities Fund.

When South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) signed a funding agreement for the project, it forecasted a completion and entry into service of Autumn/Winter 2024.

Rothbiz reported last year that legal issues and delays associated with obtaining the necessary railway consents had pushed the completion date to November 2025. This was then pushed back to "early 2026."

The £100m+ tram train project launched in 2018 with innovative vehicles running on both rail and tram networks, using the freight route from Rotherham and then joining the Sheffield Supertram network at Meadowhall South. The service runs between Parkgate and Sheffield Cathedral.

A further tram train stop is in the proposals for the new Rotherham Gateway Station.

Supertram website

Images: Sheffield City Council

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News: Harworth Group completes new landmark Rotherham HQ

One of the UK's leading land and property regeneration companies, Harworth Group, has confirmed that it has taken the 18,500 sq ft landmark office building that has recently been completed at the listed firm's flagship Waverley site in Rotherham.

Rothbiz reported in 2024 on plans for one of the final parcels of development land at the former Orgreave coal mining site that is Yorkshire’s largest ever mixed-use development and also includes the iconic Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP).

Between the AMP and the housing development is an area known as Highfield Commercial. Close to the AMRC Training Centre, the area includes residential development, a public house, a primary school, the Highwall Park, the mixed use centre known as Olive Lane, and the Courtyard by Marriott hotel.

The new two and half storey office building for Harworth forms a landmark building fronting Highfield Spring and has a design centred on the site's past and mining heritage as well as the local steel and development industries.

In an update to the stock exchange, Harworth said that the investment in a new headquarters completed early in 2026, adding that: "alongside creating a fit for purpose sustainable workspace, this enables the future development or sale of our previous head office site and provides an anchor to open up the development of Highfield as one of the final phases of the Waverley site."

Harworth has previously been based in nearby Advantage House.

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The update also confirms that Harworth has sold the McLaren unit at AMP, a Grade A unit it built in 2018 and leased to the supercar manufacturer for its Composites Technology Centre (MCTC). Harworth sold the 75,000 sq ft Rotherham unit has 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%.

Also on the AMP, Harworth completed an 80,000 sq ft pre-let development to Sheffield-based Technicut, a global leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance components for the aerospace industry. This advanced manufacturing facility included the incorporation of renewable energy through an innovative green lease structure.

Overall, with recent deals for Technicut, Vulcan Seals and Danieli, Harworth only has around 200,000 sq ft of the total 2.1 million sq ft of consented development space remaining at the AMP. A completion of the park is expected in 2027.

Harworth Group owns, develops, and manages a portfolio of over 15,000 acres of Strategic Land over 100 sites located throughout the North of England and Midlands. With a focus on Grade A industrial and logistics (I&L) space and emerging opportunities in the data centre market, the company says that it is on track for its target £1bn of EPRA NDV - EPRA NDV is how Harworth measures the value of the its assets. Although timeframes have been extended to between end 2028 and end 2029 "to reflect the impact of ongoing macroeconomic weakness and resulting investor and business uncertainty, which has lengthened timings to complete deals."

In its full-year results for the period ending December 31 2025, the group saw its portfolio value grow by 9.1% to £937.2m.

Lynda Shillaw, Chief Executive of Harworth, commented: "I am pleased with the performance of our teams and our operational execution throughout 2025, positioning the portfolio to realise future upside potential and delivering a total property return of 8.4%.

"Harworth is at the intersection of some of the UK's most powerful trends, including data, advanced technologies, reindustrialisation and clean growth. Our land bank provides both strategic levers and optionality to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns, and the Harworth Platform underpinned by our specialist skills and ability to deliver successful serviced land and developments for world-leading businesses is central to stimulating and supporting economic growth in our regions."

Harworth Group website

Images: Tom Austen

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News: Board approves housing plans for safeguarded Rotherham greenbelt site

Rotherham Council has approved plans for 228 new houses on farming land.

It is one of the first instances of "safeguarded land" being approved for development rather than land specifically allocated for residential use in the borough's local plan.

A number of applications have been submitted for safeguarded land across the borough. The 2018 local plan set out that they may be needed in the future and taken out of the greenbelt after the end of the plan period in 2028.

Planning consultants are hoping to convince the local planning authority that the land should be used now to address the borough's housing needs. The council agrees in policy terms, admitting that it is no longer able to demonstrate a Five-Year Land Supply given the changes at a national level that have increased housing targets. The target for new house building per annum in Rotherham has increased from circa 560 dpa (Dwellings Per Annum) to 1,111 dpa.

This means that the council will need to support windfall planning applications on land allocated or designated for other uses within urban areas.

The most recently approved plans are for 12.12 hectares of land currently in agricultural use located to the north of Rawmarsh, off Priestley Avenue.

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Led by Taylor Wimpey, 228 houses are sought to be delivered in conjunction with Vico Homes (previously Wakefield District Housing), a Registered Provider. The development proposes a range of dwelling types and sizes, from two to two and a half storey scale in height and a mix of 2 bed (25%) 3 bed (70%) and 4 bed (5%) properties.

The main access to the proposed development will be via an extension of the existing stub off Priestley Avenue between properties 71 and 73.

44 representations were received, raising concerns regarding the use of the land, access and local infrastructure.

The plans were approved unanimously by the planning board at Rotherham Council and come with a number of conditions.

A Section 106 agreement (a mechanism which makes a development proposal acceptable in planning terms, that would not otherwise be acceptable) includes financial contributions for things like Primary School places, greenspaces, bus stops and traffic measures. For example work between the developer and council will address the junction of the A633 and Haugh Road.

The whole scheme is scheduled to be developed in conjunction with Vico Homes who are a Registered Social Landlord. However, a policy compliant scheme with formally allocated Affordable Housing is being proposed.

Vico argued that rigidly sticking to the policy was not viable in the current market and asked for a reduced proportion of 4- bedroom homes, with increased provision of 2- and 3- bedroom family housing, and a higher proportion of rented tenure in place of intermediate tenures, reflecting affordability barriers in the current mortgage market.

Vico and Taylor Wimpey worked together on the £28m housing development at nearby Kilnhurst Road which includes 135 homes, available for a mix of affordable rent, rent to buy and shared ownership. "St Mary's Field" was backed by grant funding from Homes England, the Government’s housing and regeneration agency.

Vico Homes website
Taylor Wimpey website

Images: Taylor Wimpey / Google Maps

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