News: Rotherham in line for massive jobs boost as part of Don Valley Corridor regeneration scheme

Key areas in Rotherham and Sheffield are at the heart of a flagship place-based regeneration programme for South Yorkshire that will enable over 18,000 jobs and 10,500 new homes through coordinated development.

The Don Valley Corridor will create a unified corridor for innovation, industry and neighbourhood renewal stretching from Sheffield city centre to the site of the proposed Rotherham Gateway Station.

It brings together the UK’s largest concentration of industrial research and production capability outside the South East, anchored by The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), Translational Energy Research Centre, Olympic Legacy Park and major firms including Rolls-Royce, Boeing, McLaren and ITM Power.

Proponents say that: "By unlocking brownfield sites and investing in transport, energy and flood resilience infrastructure, the Don Valley Corridor will drive inclusive, sustainable, long-term regional growth."

The corridor between Sheffield and Rotherham has always been recognised as operating as one economy but the new programme will place the Don Valley as one of the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority's (SYMCA's) regional growth areas for investment.

That priority is set to be increased with the proposed designation of the region's first Mayoral Development Zone (MDZ) for the Don Valley Corridor.

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A SYMCA paper explains: "A Mayoral Development Zone is a non-statutory entity. It differs from a Mayoral Development Corporation which is a Statutory entity with special powers which needs to follow a specific legal process to designate.

"Under these arrangements the MCA will use its existing statutory powers, in particular, its strategic economic development powers and regeneration powers, its own resources and relationships with government, infrastructure providers and the private sector, as part of an integrated place-based programme. This will provide confidence both to the market, government and the wider public sector.

"Mayoral Development Zone is a designation signalling to Government, investors, and partners that an area is a strategic priority for coordinated long-term regeneration. It maintains strategic focus and partnership commitment, strengthens Government engagement, signals readiness to explore enhanced delivery powers if required, and preserves optionality on future statutory mechanisms. This designation responds to specific challenges within the Don Valley Corridor by bringing spatial coherence across a large and complex geography."

Partners have discounted the creation of a Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC), which would have planning authority powers to acquire land, cut red tape, and accelerate high-quality housing and business. The report warns that a MDC would need a costly and rigid structure, potentially slowing progress.

Instead, a MDZ and the programme "adds strategic capacity, investment readiness and cross-boundary alignment so that separate initiatives can be sequenced and leveraged for greater impact."

Bringing together SYMCA with Rotherham Council and Sheffield Council "creates a single front door for Government, agencies and private markets" with governance and the authority's assurance framework in place. The paper adds that "there is shared commitment between SYMCA, RMBC and SCC to resource the programme collectively as a shared endeavour, including programme development capacity."

External funding is set to come from gainshare and other devolved funding pots, including funds that support renewal, housing and infrastructure. Nationally, the programme will be positioned to engage with institutions such as Homes England and the National Wealth Fund.

The Government has this week committed to providing the South Yorkshire Mayor with access to "£85m new money to support jobs and development, including in the Don Valley Corridor and Sheffield Innovation spine."

The Government's recently announced £2.3bn City Investment Fund will bring together different types of finance, deployed flexibly to accelerate projects, expand city-centre housing and office markets, and support major regeneration schemes across the North. It is expected to be used in "developing projects in the Don Valley Corridor, Sheffield city centre Innovation Spine, and Rotherham Town Centre."

Oliver Coppard, Mayor of South Yorkshire said: "We’re building a bigger and better economy across all of South Yorkshire, creating the opportunities that allow people to stay near and go far.

"For too long, South Yorkshire and the wider North have been failed, not only a by a lack of investment in our people, our businesses, our ideas and our infrastructure, but by a lack of ambition itself.

"But slowly, surely we’re beginning to see the South Yorkshire of the future taking shape - with world leading companies in industries of the future investing here, real income growth, and huge plans for the future, we’re starting to see the full potential of every part of Barnsley, Rotherham, Doncaster and Sheffield.

"The UK cannot realise its own economic renewal without places like South Yorkshire playing our full part, but together with this Government we are now making that happen."

Don Valley Corridor aligns with the South Yorkshire Investment Zone which includes Rotherham sites such as the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) at Waverley, parts of Brinsworth and Canklow, the remaining regeneration sites at Templeborough, the Meadowbank Road area along with Holmes and Masbrough, the whole of Rotherham town centre, the Greasbrough Road area, Eastwood, Barbot Hall Industrial Estate, areas of Parkgate (but not the existing retail parks or adjacent land), and land at Aldwarke (but not the existing steel works).

The Mayoral Combined Authority Board is set to discuss the Don Valley Corridor next week.

SYMCA website

Images: Harworth Group / SYMCA

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News: Rotherham Council highlights impact of events as it finds funds for more

Rotherham Council has set aside over £500,000 to continue to put on a range of events that boost footfall, support the local economy and help foster pride in place.

In recent years the focus has been on supporting events of different scales that have boosted participation as well as visitor numbers.

Supporting the hosting of national events such as the Women's Euros at the AESSEAL New York Stadium in 2022, The Reytons’ homecoming gig at Clifton Park in 2024 and the Children’s Capital of Culture Festival Year in 2025, have added to a programme of annual civic events and the Rotherham Show.

An update from Rotherham Council shows how the authority uses events to increase civic pride, improve the profile and reputation of Rotherham and promote community cohesion.

It adds that participation in the borough tracked at 10% below the national average in 2019, and Children’s Capital of Culture say that they have achieved 83,743 "active participations" in activities during the 2025 festival year.

For borough events last year, poor weather for the Christmas Lights saw a drop in audience, but better weather for Rotherham Show saw a significant increase in attendees. The region's biggest free cultural festival reached its largest audience to date in 2025 with 95,500. It meant that the Rotherham Show generated a return of £13.06 for every £1 invested by the council.

Linked to the Children’s Capital of Culture, a number of town centre events have been held with the aim of attracting specific demographics back to the town centre, increasing footfall, improving perceptions of safety, reconnecting communities and the town centre, and supporting local businesses.

Roots: Rotherham Street Carnival, WOW Rotherham and the UPLIFT Festival had a combined attendance of around 30,000. Audiences for town centre events have increased by 13% year-on-year from 2021 to 2025 with organisers stating that in terms of economic impact, the events generate an average of £3.64 for every £1 the council invests.

The impact of these events is set to continue with Rotherham Council recently approving £119,000 to support the council's events team, increasing capacity to focus on compliance, safety, security and risk management of events. Rothbiz reported earlier this month that the council was setting aside £424,219 for a further programme of events delivered throughout the next financial year.

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Cllr. Lynda Marshall, Cabinet Member for Street Scene and Green Spaces at Rotherham Council, said: "Both local and national events support increased footfall across the borough, boost community engagement and strengthen Rotherham's cultural identity. Over the past five years, the events team has successfully expanded the programme by securing external funding and grants, however, the demand associated with securing and managing this level of funding, combined with the evolving safety legislation, is increasing pressure on staff capacity - the team can no longer sustain both the fundraising workload and the high safety standards required for delivering our events.

"To protect the continued growth and the success of our events, we urgently need additional staffing. Without this investment, we risk having to scale back local events for residents and may be unable to host national events in the future."

Visit Rotherham recently reported on which Children’s Capital of Culture events could continue in 2026.

A Rotherham Council report shows that Signals Music Festival and the Festival of Stories will continue, with UPLIFT Urban Sports Festival continuing on a Friday evening and one day (reduced down from the original three days). Otherham is set to be refocused, possibly in the guise of the recent Winter Lights Festival, but its game over for Plug In & Play as it is not set to continue.

The council's own events that are set to continue include the Rotherham Show, Bonfire Night at Clifton Park and the Christmas Lights Switch On in the town centre. A new event planned for April will celebrate St George's Day. The programme is also set to include WoW Rotherham, the Mayor's Parade, Armed Forces Day Armistice & Remembrance Day Parade, Reclaim the Night and Holocaust Memorial Day.

The Council's target for 2026/7 shows an uplift in visitor numbers of 3% (a target of 140,284) which acknowledges growth but also accounts for no major events planned this financial year.

Images: Children’s Capital of Culture

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News: Administrator's report highlights £46m debts at stricken Rotherham firm, CF Booth

With the announcement of the sale of historic Rotherham firm, CF Booth Limited’s business and assets to Hu11 Limited, a subsidiary of Ron Hull Jnr Limited, an administrator's report shows how trade creditors are owed over £8m and are unlikely to see any of it.

James Lumb and Howard Smith from Interpath were appointed joint administrators to CF Booth Limited, one of the UK’s leading metal recycling companies, on 16 January 2026 and subsequently appointed Joint Administrators at a further five of the company’s subsidiaries on 20 January 2026.

Subsequently, on March 10, the same joint administrators were appointed to Demex Limited and Albion Jones Limited, also subsidiaries of CF Booth. Immediately following these appointments, the joint administrators completed a sale of substantially all the assets of all eight companies to Hu11 Limited. The transactions for Demex and Albion Jones were going concern sales, allowing the demolition business to continue operations.

In January, 54 members of staff were retained to assist the administrators with 114 members of staff made redundant. The administrators only mentioned that 29 members of staff employed by Demex and Albion Jones have transferred to Hu11 Limited.

On entering administration there were 169 staff, 149 employed by CF Booth Ltd.

A February report from Interpath showed that staff members are preferential creditors and should share £144,022.

One of the group's largest debt is with IGF, which only provided a £20m asset-based lending facility in 2025. The debt totalled £14.2m and administrators expect IGF will be repaid in full.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is listed as a secondary preferential creditor in respect of £1.2m in outstanding VAT, PAYE and National Insurance Contributions with Interpath expecting that they should receive a dividend.

£30.6m is owed to unsecured creditors. Administrators said before the sale that: "Based on present estimates, there may be a return to unsecured creditors. However, this is dependent on the value achieved from the sale of business and assets (which is not yet known), and the final costs of the administration which are also presently uncertain."

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Unsecured creditors in administration are suppliers, customers, or contractors without security for their debt, ranking at the bottom of the repayment priority list.

The unsecured creditors list include £3.5m - Employees, £14.3m - Intercompany creditors and another £2.2m - Other HMRC and HSE Fines & Penalties.

Company trade creditors are listed in a new update and the total owed is £8.2m.

The update also shows that the company had trade debtors owing them £12.8m when it went into administration, and that it owned property with a book value of around £3m that administrators now estimate could be realised at £11.5m. The company's main operation was at a 35-acre site at Armer Street, Masbrough.

Overall, administrators say that there is £17,319,045 as the estimated total assets available for preferential creditors, namely IGF and the HMRC. It goes on to say that when it comes to unsecured creditors, there is a deficit of £14,627,408.

In the unaudited management accounts for the year ended 31 March 2025, CF Booth Ltd recorded turnover of £107.3m and a loss of £5.3m. The company had recorded losses in each of the previous three years.

The February report explains: "Over recent months, the business experienced substantial operational and financial headwinds, including sharp rises in energy costs and pronounced volatility in copper prices. These market pressures materially undermined margins and generated a level of cost volatility that the business was unable to absorb.

"In addition, the company faced escalating cost burdens arising from increases to the National Living Wage and growing environmental compliance obligations. Additional strain was caused by VAT liabilities and penalties imposed by the Health and Safety Executive, all of which compounded the deterioration in cashflow and further weakened the Company's financial resilience."

CF Booth received notice that its appeal against an historical VAT Penalty assessment dating back a decade was unsuccessful resulting in a penalty of £1.4m becoming payable to HMRC. C F Booth Ltd was then fined £1.2m by the HSE after an investigation following the death of an employee on site.

Images: Google Maps

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News: Flying start for fundraising for Wentworth Woodhouse holiday let

A fundraising appeal to support the restoration of the South Tower at Wentworth Woodhouse has reached £240,000 in a matter of weeks.

Rothbiz reported last month on the Landmark Trust launching a campaign to restore a secluded eyrie and a rare survival of 18th century feminine taste within the monumental Rotherham mansion.

The charity works to save historic buildings in danger of being lost forever. Sensitive restoration offers "landmarks" a new future by making them available to everyone for self-catering holidays. The lettings income from the 200+ extraordinary buildings in the charity's care supports their maintenance and survival in our landscape, culture and society.

Following years of decay, the derelict Grade I mansion was bought in 2017 by the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust (WWPT), who have embarked on the herculean task of restoring the place back to its former glory in a multi-phase project.

The Landmark Trust are now working with WWPT to save the South Tower, which sits at the most southerly tip of the building’s vast frontage. The tower’s fine upper chamber offers outstanding vistas of house and grounds and is reached via its own private footbridge.

WWPT carried out urgent external repairs to the South Tower in 2022. Yet inside this quiet hideaway, the once opulent plasterwork is crumbling, an exquisitely decorated ceiling has been lost and an elegant staircase is undermined by dry rot.

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The Landmark Trust plans to repair the grandest room with traditional 18th-century skills using the finest craftspeople and their apprentices. As of now, the plaster ceiling has come down and black plastic sheeting fills its place, a marble panel by the brilliant English sculptor Joseph Nollekens had been removed for safety and dry rot is already engulfing the timber floor.

The Landmark Trust are now poised to act - to take on a long lease for £135,000 from the WWPT and develop a holiday let for two.

The parlour would become the drawing and dining room, and a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom would be created in the adjacent rooms. The approach would be, as it was from the first, via a handsome private footbridge from the elevated rear terrace.

Within the parlour, traditional 18th-century techniques would be used to re-create the Marchioness’s lost ceiling, guided by historic photographs, and drawing on the inventory to furnish her elegant chamber to evoke its character in its prime.

Without Landmark’s intervention, the South Tower will linger in dangerous deterioration at the furthest reach of the building, as this elegant room succumbs to damp and decay. This upper chamber is describes as a rare and exciting survival of undiluted female taste in the 18th century.

Dr Anna Keay OBE, Director of the Landmark Trust, said: "There really is nowhere that compares to Wentworth Woodhouse. This monumental Palladian palace in South Yorkshire is a miraculous survival. When I first saw this fascinating room a few years ago, I was struck by its combination of grandeur and intimacy, the glorious views south and west from its soaring sash windows, and by the perilous condition in which it stood. Two things were immediately clear: it needed urgent action to arrest its decay and – if we could just raise the necessary funds – it would make the most spell-binding place to stay."

Funding has already been made available to the project thanks to the H B Allen Charitable Trust and generous donations from early project Guardians means that over 70% of the necessary funds have already been secured.

Landmark Trust website
Wentworth Woodhouse website

Images: WWPT / Landmark Trust / Olivia Brabbs

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News: CF Booth Ltd sold out of admin to the Ron Hull Group

The joint administrators of historic Rotherham firm, CF Booth Limited have announced that they have concluded a sale of the company’s business and assets to Hu11 Limited, a subsidiary of Ron Hull Jnr Limited.

James Lumb and Howard Smith from Interpath were appointed joint administrators to CF Booth Limited, one of the UK’s leading metal recycling companies, on 16 January 2026 and subsequently appointed Joint Administrators over a further five of the Company’s subsidiaries on 20 January 2026.

As reported by Rothbiz, subsequently, on March 10, James Lumb and Howard Smith were appointed joint administrators to Demex Limited and Albion Jones Limited, also subsidiaries of CF Booth. Immediately following these appointments, the joint administrators completed a sale of substantially all the assets of all eight Companies to Hu11 Limited. The transactions for Demex and Albion Jones were going concern sales, allowing the demolition business to continue operations.

An earlier update from administrators showed that there were six shortlisted bidders for the group.

Headquartered and founded in Rotherham in the 1920s, CF Booth grew from a local metal trader into one of the largest independently run metal recycling companies in Europe. With its 35-acre site at Armer Street, Masbrough, the business has been family owned and operated and once employed over 200 staff, trading both ferrous and non-ferrous metals and processes recycled materials for a wide range of customers across the UK and beyond.

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Founded in Rotherham in 1976, Ron Hull Group has grown to become one of Yorkshire’s most recognisable companies providing a range of metal recovery and waste recycling services. Its Ron Hull Jnr division is one of the largest scrap metal traders in the North of England, buying and selling all grades of ferrous and non-ferrous metals. It operates from large sites on the Barbot Hall Industrial Estate.

As part of the transaction, all 29 members of staff employed by Demex and Albion Jones have transferred to Hu11 Limited.

James Lumb, managing director at Interpath and joint administrator, said: “CF Booth is a big part of both the regional community and the UK and European metal recycling sector. The Ron Hull name is synonymous across South Yorkshire for scrap metal trading, so we are pleased to have concluded these transactions which not only preserve jobs for employees of Demex and Albion Jones but which we hope, in due course, will also see operations recommence at CF Booth’s sites in Rotherham.”

Nigel and Mark Hull, directors of Ron Hull Jr Limited, said: “As a business which has operated in Rotherham for 50 years, we’re pleased to have been able to secure this transaction which reaffirms our commitment and support to the local area. We are incredibly proud of what our father Ron Hull has achieved, and look forward to building upon this success as we welcome the Demex and Albion Jones team to the Ron Hull family.”

Ron Hull Group website

Images: Google Maps

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