News: Careers Hub plans submitted

A revolution in careers advice could be coming to Rotherham as plans are submitted for a purpose built new hub in the town.

New acts from the Government aim to ensure that schools and colleges will have access to independent and impartial careers advice and guidance.

The Manor Property Group is leading on plans to build a Qdos Careers Hub on land at Badsley Moor Lane, Clifton.

With an aim to improve careers guidance and awareness about technical and apprenticeship training routes, the Yorkshire firm has a development portfolio of £850m having developed leisure, retail, educational and residential schemes.

The plans involve demolishing the redundant NHS bungalows which used to provide residential rehabilitation accommodation in connection with the surrounding hospital site.

A new, contemporary building would replace the bungalows, creating 12,500 sq ft of space over two floors. Accommodation includes: a large central double height hall with breakout areas and meeting rooms off, café, offices, reception, plant room, and toilets. The Hub has a capacity of 150 students meaning it will attract approximately three coaches each school day.

Helping 25 local secondary schools reach new benchmarks for careers, the hub would enable employers to meet with teachers and students more easily.

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The application, drawn up by consultants, ELG, states: "The proposed development is a new type of community facility aimed at meeting current a future careers education needs in a more effective and innovative way.

"Qdos Careers Hubs are a new innovation in the delivery of Careers Advice to young people. They provide regional hubs for expert, impartial career guidance, supporting young people to make informed, aspirational career and future study choices. With Qdos Ambassadors in each Career Hub, integrated with local services, young people will be supported with:
▪ Self Development - through careers, employability and enterprise education
▪ Careers Exploration - learning about careers and the world of work
▪ Career Management - learning how to develop career management and employability.

"Career Hubs align activities to the National Curriculum, notably personal development, behaviour and welfare, and the careers of today and tomorrow."

The company wants to see 160 of these career hubs over the next five years.

Qdos Career Hubs website

Images: Manor Property Group

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News: Rotherham housing development completes

The final phase of Rotherham Council’s site cluster housing programme has now completed as Wates Construction hand over the keys to 80 new homes on Rother View Road, Canklow.

The site cluster approach to housing development was the result of over £30m invested by Rotherham Council to construct new properties across the borough. The Council partnered with Wates Construction to carry out several clusters of developments on unused land. A total of 217 properties for affordable rent and sale have been created on Braithwell Road and Gaitskell Close (Maltby), Conway Crescent and Farnworth Road (East Herringthorpe), Shakespeare Drive (Dinnington), and finally two sites on Rother View Road (Canklow).

Rotherham Council's Cabinet Member for Housing, Councillor Dominic Beck, said: “Our site clusters programme has been a key part of our plan to ensure more people in the borough get the high quality homes that they need, at a price they can afford, and at the same time has brought back to life a number of sites that had been almost abandoned for years. From council homes to shared ownership, to straightforward properties for general sale, to specially built homes meeting the needs of older people and those with disabilities, this scheme has set the standard for the kinds of communities we want to see in the future.”

“We’re committed to releasing unused Council-owned sites for residential development, which is part of our 30-year vision for housing. Our housing growth plan has identified 200 potential small sites for new housing and we’re currently seeking developers to partner with us to create new homes for local people on these sites.”

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David Wingfield, business unit director for Wates Construction in Yorkshire and the North East, said: “Remediating and regenerating underused land is a key way we can help solve the shortfall in new housing across the UK, and it’s been a pleasure to partner with Rotherham Council over the past four years to build this varied mix of homes. By working collaboratively, thinking carefully about design and the long-term sustainability of these houses, we’ve been able to support the council in delivering its innovative vision that will meet so many people’s needs.”

Rotherham’s current housing growth plan has an emphasis on housing growth and regeneration of the town centre, as well as homes for good health and independence. Developments currently in progress include three exciting town-centre developments (Westgate Riverside, Millfold Rise and Wellgate Place) which will create 171 new homes. Completing in 2022, these developments will consist of properties for affordable outright sale, shared ownership and council housing.

Images: RMBC

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News: Great Taste Awards for Rotherham firm

Superfoods from a Rotherham firm have been rocgnised with prestigious Great Taste Awards for 2020.

Out of 12,777 products sent in from 106 different countries, GO Superfoods Ltd, which trades as Green Origins and Rainforest Foods, has been awarded 1-star awards for two of its products.

Organised by the Guild of Fine Food, Great Taste is the world's largest and most trusted food and drink awards. Companies put food or drink to the test with a panel of over 500 experts as a quick way to get honest, straightforward and impartial feedback from chefs, buyers, food writers and retailers.

This year's winners have been found through a combination of remote judging and socially distanced judging sessions, after the lockdown began just one week into the schedule.

Based at Dinnington, the firm is a manufacturer and wholesaler of dietary supplements made from the finest of nature's foods.

Rainforest Food Bambeanies Super Crispies were launched last year and are made from all-natural, responsibly sourced ingredients – a blend of beans, rice, coconut flour and baobab, sweetened with coconut blossom nectar and apple juice that is shaped and baked.

A bowl of the vegan alternative cereal provides 11% less sugar than Rice Krispies, as well as 285% more fibre, 85% more protein and 98% less salt.

Also gaining recognition was the Organic 70% Dark Chocolate Drops with Turmeric and Maca made for allergen free brand, Before Chocolate.

Through Green Origins, the Rotherham firm operates a "Private Label" service where it manufactures products for start-up companies through to multinational blue chip organisations.

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The judges comments for the chocolate included: "What a stunning aroma of rich dark decadent chocolate, followed by hints of earthy turmeric spice and brassica scents from the maca. The flavour profile delivers sweet dark cacao along with turmeric and maca, and the coconut sugar lightens the bitter notes from the single origin chocolate."⁠

⁠ "Subtly sweet, gently spicy, and deeply satisfying, these little gems melt in the mouth leaving a long, lingering and lively taste. Dissolved in hot milk, they would produce a very comforting and soothing bedtime drink, we're sure, or they would make the most delicious choc chip cookie with a difference."⁠

The products can now display a badge of honour, the unmistakeable black and gold Great Taste label is a signpost to an outstanding product, which has been discovered through hours and hours of blind tasting.

GO Superfoods was started in 2009 by Hardip Singh after completing an MBA when he chose the superfood sector due to personal interest, the growth potential, and the opportunity to work with producers from around the world.

In 2018, the company won the Queen’s Award for International Trade for its outstanding overseas sales growth.

Rainforest Foods website

Images: Before Chocolate

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News: Deal being wrapped up for Rotherham print facility

The owner of The Daily Mail is pressing ahead with a deal to acquire a state-of-the-art printing facility in Rotherham.

The facility was created by Johnston Press at a cost of £60m on the site of the former Dinnington colliery and it includes one of the most modern and fastest presses in the world. It has the capacity to print 192 pages in full colour, 120,000 newspapers an hour in full colour and 75 titles per week.

The site has printed everything from the Daily Express, Daily Star and The Sun to the Yorkshire Post and Sheffield Star. Other major customers included regional publications and many niche publications.

dmg media has now reached an agreement to acquire print operations at Dinnington, Portsmouth and Carn in Northern Ireland from JPI Media.

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JPIMedia Ltd was founded in 2018 when it took over the assets of debt-laden Johnston Press following the sale of the company to its creditors.

As well as The Mail, dmg media is the holding company that owns the Metro and i newspapers and websites.

dmg media said that the three printing plants will enable it to better manage the printing of its national newspapers across the UK. As well as dmg media's newspapers, the plants will continue to print JPI Media's newspapers and other publishers' titles.

Julia Palmer-Poucher, group production director, dmg media, said: “This acquisition reflects our intention to protect and grow the reach of quality journalism through our print media. It better positions us to provide the best quality printing capacity from ideal locations to serve our retailers and readers."

This transaction follows dmg media’s acquisition of the i from JPI in November 2019.

Images: Johnston Press

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News: £42m for Parkway widening

£42m is finally coming up the road from the Government for a long-planned transport scheme in Rotherham.

The local council has had a scheme to widen the Parkway at J33 of the M1 in its capital programme for five years and now Roads Minister Baroness Vere has announced today £42m to upgrade the A630.

Acting as a key route between Rotherham and Sheffield while providing access to the M1, the major road has around 65,000 vehicles use it a day. This makes it one of the busiest in the region and a vital part of Yorkshire’s road network, helping connect businesses conveniently with economic powerhouses such as Leeds to the north and London to the south.

The £42m being invested by the government will transform the existing road into a dual 3-lane carriageway, markedly increasing capacity on the road. Junction 33 on the intersecting M1 will also benefit from carriageway widening and resurfacing, reducing congestion, cutting carbon (CO2) emissions, and further boosting capacity to help road users move about more easily.

Plans have recently been approved for new commercial units and a large motorway service area close to the road network.

Upgrades to the road will also help boost the region’s economy, acting as another example of the government’s pledge to build back better while boosting the quality of northern transport infrastructure. The increased capacity will mean more commuters and businesses will be able to easily use the route to travel between the key centres of Rotherham and Sheffield.

Rotherham Council signed a delivery agreement with Balfour Beatty for the design and build works for the scheme in 2018.

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Roads Minister Baroness Vere said: "The funding announced today will make a real difference to thousands of commuters’ journeys in the region every day, and further demonstrates our ongoing commitment to levelling up transport infrastructure in the North.

"By boosting the capacity on this vital A-road, and delivering this scheme in good time, we’ll help improve connectivity, cut journey times and boost local economies in South Yorkshire."

The main works are set to start soon and the new road is scheduled to open in summer 2022, with the Department for Transport’s funding contribution forming the majority of the total scheme cost of £46m.

The announcement of the funding package comes after the Northern Transport Acceleration Council was established earlier this year. The council was created with the desire to speed up the delivery of Northern transport projects, cut bureaucracy and red tape and give Northern mayors and council leaders a direct line to ministers.

Images: Google Maps

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