News: High interest in Howard Building

The Howard Building, the prominent former college building in Rotherham town centre, has been given a guide price of £250,000 and is being sold as a development opportunity.

Rotherham College of Arts and Technology (RCAT) put the four storey building up for sale in 2012 with Rotherham Council acting as marketing agents but there hasn't been any takers. It is now due to go up for auction on September 16.

The building covers around 58,000 sq ft and includes classrooms, offices, common room, library and meeting rooms. Part of the basement floor has more recently been used as a nursery.

The site is being sold freehold with vacant possession and was advertised as having potential for alternative uses subject to planning permission which could include office, retail, hotel and residential use.

Opened in the 1930's on Howard Street in the heart of the town centre, it operated as part of the college and also housed the council's environmental health teams. It was deemed surplus to requirements and was vacated in September 2012. The college has gone on to invest over £15m in the last three years improving the facilities in the town centre after securing government funding and a £5m loan from the council.

Local auctioneers, Mark Jenkinson & son said that "the clients [RCAT] are mindful to sell prior to auction having already received a good level of interest."

Also going under the hammer is the water damaged offices at 26 Moorgate Street in Rotherham town centre. The 2,000 sq ft property has been given a guide price of just £30,000 but requires a "comprehensive scheme of refurbishment."

Mark Jenkinson & son website

Images: Mark Jenkinson & son

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News: Webb appointed for Chamber awards fixture

2010 World Cup Final referee, Rotherham's Howard Webb MBE, has been confirmed as the host of this year's Barnsley and Rotherham Business Awards taking place in October. 

Howard, who has recently ended his 25 year refereeing career after being appointed as the technical director of the Professional Game Match Officials Board, will host the evening and keep the awards ceremony and guests in check.

Andrew Denniff, chief executive of Barnsley & Rotherham Chamber, himself a former match official, said: "We are honoured that one of Howards' first official engagements following his return from Brazil and subsequent retirement is to host this year's Barnsley and Rotherham Business Awards.

"Howard is a local man who has achieved great heights in his profession and it is fitting he will pass on this year's accolades to businesses and individuals who achieve the same in their respective industries."

Webb is a Rotherham United fan and an Honorary Freeman of the Borough. The former police sergeant has refereed the FIFA World Cup Final, UEFA Champions League Final and the FA Cup Final. Howard will talk about how he achieved his lifetime goals and what was required to achieve his ambitions and the challenges he faced during this time. He is an experienced after-dinner speaker and brings humour, stories and demonstrates his passion for the game and determination to succeed. 

Howard said: "The relationship between business and sport is vital for both and it is a privilege to host these awards which recognise the best in business from Barnsley and Rotherham."

The Award ceremony takes place on Friday, October 17 at the Barnsley Metrodome. Companies still have a short time to enter the ten award categories with the deadline for entries on Friday, September 12.

Barnsley & Rotherham Chamber website

Images: The FA

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News: Vintage market for Macmillan

Rotherham residents and businesses are being invited to attend and get involved with a special Macmillan Coffee Morning and vintage market with a twist taking place on Saturday September 27 at Wynsors World of Shoes car park on Woodhouse Green in Thurcroft.

There will be 20 stalls displaying local arts and crafts as well as displays from local businesses including Fresh n Chic Boutique, Thurcroft Emporium and Lorec Electricals. There will be a BBQ provided by the Real Steakhouse, a large bouncy castle provided by Wilk's Entertainment, face painters, mascot appearances, raffle/tombola, competitions and coffee and cakes! The event runs from 11am till 4pm.

Event organiser, Dawn Brown from Fresh n Chic Boutique says the event has two main aims. She said: "This is a family day out for all whilst raising money for the nurses that hold the hands of patients and touch the hearts of their families.

"We want lots of people to get involved spread the word and let everyone know about our event! The Macmillan Nurses need your support in whatever way you can offer, whether that be a small donation, request a stall, help out on the day - anything you can do will be much appreciated."

Any volunteers, businesses or stall holders wanting to get involved should call Dawn on 07809 895 359 or email her on Freshnchicboutique@hotmail.co.uk.

More than one in three of us will get cancer in our lifetime and it's the toughest fight most of us will ever face. Macmillan provide practical, medical and financial support and push for better cancer care.

The event started in 1990, when a local fundraising committee decided to hold a coffee morning where people came along to meet and mingle - as they might ordinarily do - but donate the cost of their coffee to Macmillan in the process.

The simple ask of getting together with family, friends or colleagues for coffee and cake last year signed up 154,000 people and raised over £20m to help Macmillan provide vital services to ensure no one faces cancer alone.

Coffee mornings taking place on September 26 in Rotherham include Wath, Ravenfield, Greasbrough and Swinton.

Fresh n Chic Boutique Facebook page
MacMillan Cancer Support website

Images: MacMillan

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News: Council set to acquire Forge Island

Rotherham Council looks set to buy Forge Island, raising hopes of a long-awaited cinema in Rotherham town centre and the potential for 200 new jobs.

In 2012, the council's cabinet confirmed Forge Island as the preferred site for a town centre cinema and theatre development. The council has an option to buy the site for £1.5m when Tesco vacate and move across town to the site of former council buildings on Drummond Street.

A report on the key decision is being prepared by officers and was due to be taken to the council's cabinet next month to discuss the site of the current Tesco store as a strategic acquisition.

To be discussed in private, the report will outline the site's "short term use to support the town centre and its future redevelopment."

Council officers have held informal discussions with interested developers who have plans for potential regeneration projects anchored by a cinema with restaurants, retail, residential, other leisure uses and car parking. An "Investors Day" was planned to take place to proactively promote the site for redevelopment and an outline planning application was expected to be submitted by Rotherham Council for the creation of a 25,000 sq ft cinema complex.

Rothbiz understands that proposals under discussion for Forge Island include a mixed used development including 25,000 sq ft cinema and a 20,000 sq ft theatre and 10,000 sq ft of High Street style retail, 10,000 sq ft restaurant / café use and a 80 bed budget hotel. Such a development could create 200 jobs.

Last week saw plans announced for a nine screen cinema and six new high quality restaurants at the Alhambra Shopping Centre in nearby Barnsley as part of a multi-million pound investment by landlords F & C Reit. In Sheffield, operator, The Light has plans to open a nine screen cinema as part of the redevelopment of The Moor. Both are set to open in 2016.

The new £40m, 110,000 sq ft Tesco Extra store across Rotherham town centre is on schedule to open in November. TCN UK Ltd bought the site from Rotherham Council for £7.3m as the council invested in new premises on the former Guest & Chrimes foundry site.

The development is set to create 450 jobs (200 full time and 250 part time). 200 of these are additional to the current store on Forge Island and all staff at the current store would be guaranteed a job at the new site. A proportion of vacancies will be filled through Tesco's "Regeneration Partnership" which, in partnership with the local Job Centre Plus, ensures a proportion of vacancies are reserved for long term unemployed people.

Work on £4m worth of public realm improvements and massive revisions to road and utilities infrastructure are largely complete with the store fit-out underway.

Images: Tom Austen

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News: Darron SBO continues to take on passionate engineers

Rotherham precision machining specialist, Darron SBO has found its next apprentice through a employability programme which included an eye-opening two weeks at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) Training Centre.

Darron manufactures a range of high quality components which are supplied to the oil and gas industries. Part of the Schoeller-Bleckmann Group, its Canklow facility has modern machine tools and state of the art manufacturing capabilities. The downhole tools specialist also uses the state of the art facilities at the AMRC Training Centre on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham to help develop the apprentices it requires.

15 out of work 20 to 25 year olds took part in the JobCentre Plus programme which included time in the AMRC Training Centre workshop, getting a feel for what apprenticeships and engineering are all about, in addition to improving their interview, CV writing and personal skills with the Sheffield-based, employer-led Work-Wise Foundation.

Sam Jackson (22) enjoyed his two weeks at the Training Centre so much that he decided to apply for an apprenticeship through the Centre. He said: "It was a really, really life changing opportunity and pointed me in the right direction. Two weeks at the AMRC Training Centre made my mind up. It was something I definitely wanted to do. It was brilliant."

After successfully attending one of the centre's rigorous assessment days he secured an interview with Darron SBO, where he went on to impress.

Denis Smith, head of quality control at Darron SBO, said: "We saw four or five candidates and Sam definitely stood out.

"Engineering is all about passion. All the experienced machinists we have got on site have a passion about their work and a pride in what they do.

"Sam brought examples of the work he had done at the AMRC Training Centre, explained how he had made them and was glowing with pride for what he had achieved."

Sam begins his Darron SBO sponsored AMRC apprenticeship next month and will begin working to secure a Level 2 NVQ in Performing Engineering Operations on the way to studying for a Level 3 Extended Diploma in Engineering as an Advanced Apprentice before joining Darron SBO's 80-strong shop floor workforce.

Kerry Featherstone, head of operations at the AMRC Training Centre, said: "We were delighted to be able to work with JobCentre Plus and Work-Wise to give these young people an understanding of the opportunities that are available in engineering.

"Sam's success shows that even if you left school some time ago and have been out of work for a while, you could still become an apprentice and work towards a career in the advanced manufacturing sector.

"We were able to run the two week engineering taster while our full time apprentices were taking a summer break. We hope to be able to repeat the exercise in future so that more people out of work and in their 20s can learn about the possibilities in engineering."

Darron SBO website
AMRC Training Centre

Images: AMRC

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News: Gala Tent's new product selling like hot stones

Rotherham-based Gala Tent, one of the UK's leading manufacturers of marquees and gazebos, is seeing an increase in orders for its latest product - an innovative method of hot stone cooking.

"Real Steak on the Stones" allows users to cook their own food on a hot stone, to their preferred taste and the Manvers firm believes that the concept has huge benefits for restaurants, hotels and outdoor catering companies as it provides added excitement for diners, creates a unique selling point for a venue and enables the customers to control exactly how they want their food to be cooked.

Made from volcanic granite rock that is thermal shock resistant, the stones can be heated to extremely high temperatures, retaining heat for a significant amount of time and enabling even the thickest cuts of meat to be cooked. They are used successfully by the Real Steakhouse at Thurcroft, Rotherham, the popular restaurant which was transformed after it was acquired by Jason Mace of Gala Tent.

Jason Mace, managing director of Gala Tent, said: "We were delighted to become one of the UK's first retailer of Real Steakstones. It is a really exciting concept for restaurants and others in the highly competitive catering trade to offer totally different. There are major advantages for both the customer and the dining outlet and we're looking forward to introducing the concept to restaurants and hotels around the country in the coming months."

The concept is also proving popular for home diners keen to avoid the health risk of food not being cooked correctly at barbecues.

Mace added: "We introduced the Real Steak on the Stone method to meet demand from those who love dining outdoors, but do not want the safety risks of using barbecues. The method offers a healthier, more exciting way of cooking food outdoors, whilst significantly decreasing the risk of food poisoning, by cooking food more consistently throughout."

Real Steakstones website
Gala Tent website

Images: Gala Tent

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News: Waverley masterplan set for approval

The planning board at Rotherham Council are being recommended to approve changes to the masterplan for the £100m Waverley development.

Approved in 2010, the largest, most complex, planning application ever considered by Rotherham Council gave outline approval for South Yorkshire's largest ever brownfield development, creating a new 3,890 home community across 741 acres. The development is also set to have a hotel and wide range of shops, cafés, health, leisure and educational facilities.

Now, developer and land owner, Harworth Estates, the company created to realise the property assets of what was UK Coal, has applied to vary a number of conditions of a follow up application, approved in 2013, to allow development to continue on the site.

Housebuilding began in 2012 on the first of four planned phases in character areas called Highfield Spring and Highfield Place, across from the expanding Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP). The new plans centre around the next character area, now known as Waverley Central, where approximately 600 dwellings will be built. This development would be located in the central part of the site, adjacent to Highfield Spring.

Harworth Estates has recently sold the second allocation of development land to Taylor Wimpey, Harron Homes and Barratt Homes for further house building. The 500th home at Waverley is expected to be built by the end of 2014.

The development that has come forward to date has been notably different to that which was expressed in the original masterplan and the opportunity has been taken to submit an application for a number of changes.

Updating key urban design and spatial design principles is expected to guide future development on the site without altering the fundamental outputs of the approved scheme.

One of the main changes is the proposed housing density in the central area, which is set to be reduced from 55 to 45 dwellings per hectare. The phase of housing currently under construction, mainly two to five bedroom new houses, is around 35 dwellings per hectare. Whilst it is acknowledged that the density has been reduced, planners believe that it is not "considered that it will be detrimental to the new community as a whole or deviate from the wider vision for the development as a whole."

Amendments to housing density and phasing also mean that changes are proposed to the conditions imposed on the original application relating to financing transport schemes, schools and green space.

The planner's report concluded that the new plans clarify the changes proposed to the next phase of development and explain how it ties in with the wider new community scheme. "On this basis the replacement of the design and access statement with the Framework Document is considered to be acceptable as it does not amend the fundamental outputs of the approved development."

Harworth Estates, which itself is based in offices on the Waverley development, has also recently secured planning permission for housing at two more of its sites - Measham, Leicestershire and Pontefract, West Yorkshire.

Tim Love, director of Harworth Estates' Strategic Land division, said: "We've enjoyed a huge amount of success working closely with housebuilders and local authorities to achieve planning consents that provide regeneration benefits for local communities.

"Housing is in short supply in the UK. By helping to bring forward land for high-quality new homes, we're continuing to support efforts to rebalance the UK economy whilst providing great places for people to live."

Waverley website

Images: Harworth Estates

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News: Moorhead Savage marks fifth birthday with new appointments

Rotherham insolvency practice, Moorhead Savage is celebrating its fifth anniversary by welcoming two new faces to the team.

Established in RiDO's Moorgate Crofts business centre, the award-winning firm is headed by Paul Moorhead who leads a team offering high quality, professional, impartial and ethical help and debt advice to both companies and individuals.

Saira Final (pictured, left) joins the company as marketing executive after graduating from the University of Sheffield.

She will be developing the company's marketing tools, organising events and working on social media, including the creation of a new website.

Saira comes to Moorhead Savage as part of the RISE project, created to increase graduate employment in small and medium sized enterprises.

RISE is a collaboration between city partners, Sheffield City Council, Sheffield Hallam University, The University of Sheffield and the private sector.

Paul Moorhead, managing director at Moorhead Savage, said: "We are delighted to welcome Saira to the team. We are particularly pleased to be part of RISE and although the scheme covers an initial six month period we will be looking at the possibility of making this a permanent appointment."

Saira is joined at Moorhead Savage by a new insolvency administrator Linda Norburn (pictured, right).

Linda started her career at the Official Receiver's Office and has had a long career in insolvency, most recently with Leeds insolvency practice Chamberlains.

Paul added: "As we celebrate our fifth anniversary, both these appointments show that we are continuing to develop and grow stronger.

"The past five years have been tough for many businesses and quite tough for the insolvency profession too because, contrary to popular belief, the number of businesses getting into difficulties and seeking help has been relatively low and certainly lower than were forecast at the start of the recession in 2009, which is when we launched.

"At Moorhead Savage, though, we do not want to see businesses failing and we have spent much of our time helping people to find ways to survive and grow into a more prosperous future.

"There will always be businesses that are simply not viable but for all those companies that are still having a tough time the advice is always to seek expert advice right now because things are seldom as bad as they might seem and there really can be light at the end of the tunnel."

Moorhead Savage website

Images: Moorhead Savage

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News: Hire purchase for Rotherham haulage firm

Rotherham haulage business T and R T Wasteney has bought a new lorry after obtaining funding support from NatWest and the bank's asset finance partner Lombard.

The family-owned firm provides haulage services and skip hire to builders and construction firms in and around South Yorkshire.

The business was started more than four decades ago as a skip hire company but has expanded to include haulage services due to demand.

Robert Wasteney, partner at T and R T Wasteney, said: "As the industry has changed we have adapted the business to include haulage. This has proved very popular with our customers who know they can depend on us and our services."

The company found it could no longer operate with only one lorry and turned to NatWest relationship manager Pam Goodison for support on the purchase of a second vehicle. Pam worked with Lombard on acquiring a loan for the lorry.

Pam said: "I was delighted to support T and R T Wasteney on the purchase of the new lorry which will assist the business with further growth and development. I wish the business every success for the future."

Lombard, the UK's largest asset finance provider, recently celebrated its 150 years in business since it began hiring out rolling stock to the railways as the North Central Wagon and Finance Company in Rotherham in 1861. It still has around 600 staff in Manvers and specialises in products such as hire purchase, operating lease and sale and leaseback.

The deal follows on from a similar deal for fellow Rotherham firm, N M Logistics, that added three new lorries to its fleet of trucks thanks to joint funding facilities provided by NatWest and Lombard.

NatWest website
Lombard website

Images: NatWest

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News: Nuclear AMRC measures up for Rolls-Royce

The Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (Nuclear AMRC) has worked with Rolls-Royce to significantly reduce the time it takes to manufacture a complex nuclear component.

With state of the art facilities on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham, the £25m Nuclear AMRC is a joint initiative with industry, The University of Sheffield and The University of Manchester's Dalton Nuclear Institute, and is designed to help build and enhance the UK's civil nuclear new build industry.

The project focused on a baffle cage, a complex and precise arrangement of 5,000 six-metre tubes, all of which must be inserted through 11 plates and then expanded and welded into position.

In nuclear power plants that use pressurised water reactors, special large heat exchangers pass heat from the primary system to the secondary system, producing steam from water in the process. The exchangers use baffles to hold tubes in place and direct the flow of liquid.

Hugo Lobato, technical programme manager in Rolls-Royce's new build and nuclear projects team, said: "Traditional approaches to building baffle cage assemblies, which make up about 20 per cent of a heat exchanger, rely on manual alignment of the baffle plates. We have replaced the manual approach with the introduction of laser tracking to build in a much higher degree of accuracy when inserting the tubes."

The team used the Nuclear AMRC's Leica laser tracking system to create a real-time model of the whole assembly, allowing the position of each plate to be precisely mapped. The process was developed on a full-size assembly in the Nuclear AMRC's workshop.

The centre's engineers procured or manufactured all parts of the test assembly, and provided engineering support to develop assembly instructions and risk assessments. The team also worked with specialist design engineers at the Nuclear AMRC's sister centre, the AMRC with Boeing, to create new assembly fixturing and devices to improve safety for the workers loading and positioning the plates.

The techniques are widely used in the aerospace sector, but are not commonly found in the manufacture of heat exchangers. It could reduce assembly time by up to 80 per cent across a range of heat exchanger assemblies. In this example, it will help Rolls-Royce achieve its strategic target of reducing its domestic civil new build manufacturing and engineering costs by around half.

Lobato added: "Using this method, we are confident we can consistently cut by half the time needed for the process. Furthermore, ensuring that tube placement is right first time further reduces delays and eliminates the potential for re-work and the cost associated with it. This yields predictable and consistent lead times, which is of great benefit to Rolls-Royce because it enhances the level of service we are able to deliver to our customer.

"As a result of this work, which has had the highest focus on quality, we are able to confidently deliver to our customer a product that is right first time and within a much shorter lead-time. This outcome has only been achievable through innovative thinking and the application of state-of-the-art measuring tools and techniques."

Outline plans have been approved for a 21,000 sq m "Project PoWeR" facility on the AMP for manufacturing and assembling power vessels for the next generation of nuclear power stations being built at home and potentially overseas. It will bring another 180 of the initial 360 jobs from Rolls-Royce and work will start when the world-renowned engineers receive the first orders for its nuclear components.

Rolls-Royce website
Nuclear AMRC website

Images: Nuclear AMRC

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News: EU funding fight could go to Supreme Court

Local authorities battling the government over the way it decided how millions of EU funding was allocated have been given the chance to take their appeal to the Supreme Court.

The government last year announced that the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (which includes South Yorkshire along with north Nottingham and north Derbyshire districts) can expect €203m for 2014 to 2020 as part of €6.2bn (£5.3bn) of EU Structural and Investment Funds to boost growth under a simplified "Growth Programme."

In the previous settlement, South Yorkshire received €410m. From 2014-2020 this will be cut to €180m.

The legal challenge focused on the appropriate treatment of the consequences of the former status of South Yorkshire as a "phasing in" region in the 2007-2013 funding period and that this allegedly gave rise to an unfair allocation for South Yorkshire, which is now classified as a "transition region" for 2014-2020.

The High Court rejected these substantive grounds of challenge and said that the methodology adopted by the Secretary of State was lawful and rational. However, the Court quashed Ministers decisions after ruling they were unlawful as they had been taken in breach of the Public Sector Equality Duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010.

The Government only carried out an Equality Impact Assessment after the decision was taken to protect Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales from a cut of more than a five per cent. The decision meant that the Government had to reconsider its decision, taking into account proper equalities information.

Led by Rotherham Council, the authorities in South Yorkshire and Merseyside appealed against the High Court rejection. That appeal was dismissed in June when the judge decided that, due to the complex nature of the funding, Vince Cable should be afforded a wide margin of discretion and that the courts should not interfere.

The Court also refused permission to appeal but representatives escalated the case to the Supreme Court which has granted permission to appeal.

The leaders of the local authorities in South Yorkshire are now considering whether to proceed with the appeal alongside Merseyside. If they do, the case is set to be heard in October.

European programmes such as the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) have supported projects in Rotherham such as The Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), the Nuclear AMRC, the redevelopment of Rotherham Railway Station, the Rotherham Renaissance Flood Alleviation Scheme (pictured), the award-winning enterprise education programme Rotherham Ready, and business support programmes for high growth companies and enterprising exporters.

Images: Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust

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News: Mid-sized businesses reluctant to export despite renewed confidence

UK mid-sized businesses are being too conservative in their export ambitions and are not considering key growth markets overseas, even though they are aware of the benefits, new research from Lloyds Bank shows.

Almost three out of five firms (58%), turning over between £25m and £750m, said that they do not currently export and less than one in ten (7%) are looking to do so within the next five years, indicating that over half of mid-sized businesses are still cautious in considering their long-term export strategy.

It follows from the announcement in January that mid-sized businesses in Yorkshire will be some of the first to be personally offered tailored trade advice and an intensive programme of support from UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) to help them start exporting or break into new markets.

A pilot study was set to be conducted in Yorkshire and the South East followed by a full national roll out.

According to the findings of the Llyods report, just under a fifth (17%) of firms stated that selling overseas is one of their top three business objectives for the next twelve months. This contrasts with two out of five firms (43%) who said that focusing on growing their UK market is their top priority and three out of five mid-sized firms (60%) who are focused on increasing turnover.

This lack of focus on exports is despite businesses being aware of the benefits. Around three-quarters (73%) said that the main advantages of overseas trade were expanding their customer base while just over three-quarters (77%) linked it to increasing sales and profit.

Tim Hinton, managing director for SME and Mid-markets Banking at Lloyds Bank, said: "Although business confidence has reached a record high, mid-sized firms often appear to be overlooking the benefits of exporting.

"Businesses are focusing their efforts on their UK operations first, looking to reduce their costs and increase productivity before embarking on global growth opportunities."

Last week, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and DHL Express published new research which identified that members who exported were confident of boosting turnover. Measuring UK exporting activity and business confidence of more than 2,300 exporting firms, it showed that more than two thirds (70%) believe their turnover will improve in the next 12 months – up 10% on the same time last year.

Export Britain website

Images: British Chambers of Commerce

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News: Private sector to help with 10,000 new jobs aim

A multinational medical company with the potential for 1,200 new jobs and a Korean boiler manufacturer aiming to open on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) are two key prospects for the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) as they hope to foster the creation of 10,000 new jobs over the next decade through inward investment.

LEPs are the government's new model to promote economic development. The private sector led boards provide the strategic leadership required to set out local economic priorities, and better reflect the natural economic geography of the areas they serve.

A combined inward investment team for the Sheffield city region (SCR) called SCRInvest has been working alongside local authorities and national bodies such as UKTI to generate more leads from new investments. Since SCRinvest became operational in 2011, there have been 23 investment successes sourced by the LEP/UKTI, resulting in 1,264 new jobs.

The Strategic Economic Plan for the region sets ambitious targets for private sector growth and includes the ambition to attract 10,000 jobs over the next ten years from organisations based (owned) outside of the city region, including at least one internationally significant investment by a major original equipment manufacturer.

The SCR economic development budget is reliant on receiving cash from business rates growth in Enterprise Zones. This cash will be used to repay the £1.1m inward investment "loan" that was advanced to the LEP by the districts between 2012/13 and 2013/14.

The work of the inward investment team involves flying the flag for the city region at high profile events like the commercial property expo, MIPIM in France and tradeshows such as OMTEC in America and the Singapore Air Show. Closer working with UKTI, the government organisation that supports UK exporters and encourages overseas investment in the UK, has seen the number of project leads for investments from UKTI go from three in 2011 to 48 active projects in the SCR's pipeline.

For example, a multinational medical company has shortlisted a number of sites across the SCR for three expansion sites, with a potential for 1,200 new jobs. The project was identified through UKTI and a competitive proposal was gathered with input from across the region. During the site visit, leaders and chief executives from shortlisted sites met with the company and support was also provided by the Master Cutler and many members of the Universities and private sector.

Another inward investment has seen a Korean boiler manufacturer entering lease negotiations following a visit to a number of sites in the region. It is looking to set up temporarily for the first two years and aims to relocate to the AMP in Rotherham. The company was strongly considering London as a first option due to the Korean community, but have now decided on the Sheffield city region.

The inward investment experts are now set to work more closely with members of the region's private sector, who have experience of dealing with overseas ownership or have multiple sites, in order to develop high profile connections, improve branding awareness outside the region and identify and engage with large organisations capable of making large investments.

Ellen Cutler, inward investment director for the SCR, said in a report to the Sheffield City Region Combined Authority: "Although the initiatives have delivered several notable successes for the city region in recent years, it is recognised greater coordination and private sector engagement is needed to enhance the effectiveness of inward investment activities going forward. In addition, strong governance of inward investment activity will improve outputs.

"An Inward Investment Board is proposed to be established, tasked with agreeing a medium to long term vision for inward investment growth within the SCR, and advising the LEP Board on appropriate initiatives to achieve this."

SCRInvest website

Images: Harworth Estates

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News: Work starts on £5m road scheme

Work is underway on a major road improvement scheme to reduce congestion and open up sites for development in Rotherham.

£3.4m was secured last year from the government's £190m Local Pinch Point Fund to convert Pool Green roundabout (Liquid roundabout) on the edge of the town centre into signalised crossroads.

The junction of A630 Centenary Way and Main Street currently experiences significant congestion and the council has previously investigated options to improve the capacity of the junction in order to improve journey time reliability and reduce delay.

With £500k of funding from Local Transport Plan (LTP) and £1m of capital funding from the council, the scheme would also remove the barriers currently restricting the development at important sites such as the New York Stadium, the Guest & Chrimes site, Forge Island, Liquid nightclub and the wider town centre.

The scheme will take nine months to complete, during which a traffic management scheme will be put in place that will allow traffic to travel in both directions along Centenary Way - but on only one lane in each direction.

Traffic will also be allowed to turn off Centenary Way into both Masbrough and Main Streets. However, drivers are being warned there will be no access onto Centenary Way from both Masbrough and Main Streets and there will be no access across the junction.

The improvements are also expected to have a significant impact on unlocking Rotherham's "urban extension" at Bassingthorpe Farm where the council hopes that 2,400 new residential homes and 11 hectares of employment land will be located.

Development plots on the west side of the junction would also be created, which would be in the Council's ownership, and offer a future capital receipt, which initial views suggest could be worth up to £600k.

The scheme had to be redesigned after traffic surveys revealed a significant increase in flow at the junction since the previous surveys in 2010, which were used to develop the original design for the Pinch Point Scheme.

The scheme involves the widening of the busy Centenary Way to three lanes as it approaches the new junction. However, to keep the traffic flowing, vehicles wishing to turn right from Centenary Way towards either Masbrough or the town centre will now need to go straight ahead at the crossroads, use the signal controlled U-Turn facilities within the wide central reservation to come back on themselves, and then turn left at the crossroads.

The right turn from Masbrough Street onto Centenary Way has been retained.

Eurovia Contracting UK secured the £4m contract to carry out the work which was due to be completed by March 2015.

Rotherham Council website

Images: RMBC

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News: Kickstart support for specialist accountant

A Cameroonian entrepreneur who moved to South Yorkshire in 2011 and launched her accountancy business a year later is looking at doubling her customer base in the next 12 months with specialist translation and accountancy services.

Nelly Tchoudi from Swallownest in Rotherham set up Tchoudi Accountancy Services Ltd with a grant from UK Steel Enterprise's Kickstart Fund and business planning support from Rotherham Youth Enterprise in 2012.

Since then she has secured a number of small and medium sized enterprise clients across the UK that need bookkeeping, payroll and taxation services. She also specialises in French credit control, import and export documentation services, as French is her first language. Nelly also provides French secretariat or administration services offering clients travel bookings, preparation of dairies for meetings.

UK Steel Enterprise is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Steel. Its Kickstart Fund provides grants of up to £500 to start-up businesses to purchase essential equipment and or services that can get them trading. Its main investment fund provides business finance in amounts from £25,000 up to £750,000 to companies in South Yorkshire and other areas affected by changes in the steel industry.

Nelly Tchoudi, owner of Tchoudi Accountancy Services (pictured, centre), said: "I'm very happy with the way the business is going. I go to networking events to meet people to try and get across to them how they can get help with translations services for important documentation. Import and export documents to any French speaking country can be difficult to understand for a normal UK based company, but I of course can interpret them perfectly and prevent any problems that may happen, which in turn can improve their own businesses success."

Hayely Middlebrook, regional secretary for UK Steel Enterprise (pictured, right), added: "At UK Steel Enterprise we believe in working with business owners to help them grow: but providing finance is just one part of that. We often work with other specialists to assist our clients so that they get the support they need.

"Nelly is offering a problem-solving service that goes beyond accountancy to an area that can make a substantial difference to one of her clients and we wish her all the best in reaching her business goals."

Jackie Frost, manager of Rotherham Youth Enterprise,added: "When we worked with Nelly to produce a business plan for the grant application it became clear that she has the right kind of qualifications and experience to make a real go of self-employment. We hope to support Nelly over the coming years as she works to establish herself as a specialist in her field."

UK Steel Enterprise website

Images: UK Steel Enterprise

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News: Wentworth Woodhouse - Makers, Miners and Money

Wentworth Woodhouse in Rotherham, the largest privately-owned house in Europe, has been highlighted as a key site in an international project to promote tourism around famous industrial heritage.

The European Route of Industrial Heritage brings together anchor points and key sites on various themes across North West Europe, "the cradle of the Industrial Revolution." Securing finance from the EU, member states joined together to encourage the appreciation, understanding, protection and promotion of their common history as a means of achieving economic growth.

This week saw the official launch of a new route between Huddersfield, Sheffield and Barnsley - the heart of Yorkshire's Industrial Revolution. Called "Makers, Miners and Money" the route highlights the huge contribution this region played in shaping Europe's industrial past, and includes anchor points at the National Coal Mining Museum of England, Kelham Island Industrial Museum and the village of Elsecar.

Also included are Wentworth Woodhouse, Wentworth Castle Gardens and seven other sites in the region that reflect the wealth, power and enterprise of a great industrial age of coal, iron and steel.

Wentworth Woodhouse is a symbol of the wealth and ambition of the Fitzwilliam family, with much of the wealth coming from the local coal mining operations that they owned. It actually includes two houses of totally different architectural styles, built by The First Marquess of Rockingham between 1725 and 1750. The west front of the house in the baroque style and the east front, some 615 ft long, in the later palladian style.

The stunning house, which is now open to tours, is also part of the project's route charting the mining industry in Europe alongside sites in Westphalia in Germany, and Liège and Mons in Belgium.

The Fitzwilliams owned the ironworks and workshops at Elsecar as well as other iron works and collieries between Barnsley and Rotherham. Vastly wealthy, the family also built the railway line and works housing adjoining Elsecar.

To celebrate the newly announced heritage route, the Earl of Fitzwilliam's 1913 Simplex car, made the journey from its home at Kelham Island Museum back to the village of Elsecar. As a director of the company, The 7th Earl "Billy Fitzbilly" brought production of Brotherhood-Crocker cars from Peterborough to a factory at Tinsley in Sheffield.

Wentworth Woodhouse website
Makers, Miners and Money website
European Route of Industrial Heritage website

Images: Johnson Cameraface on flickr, used under Creative Commons license / ERIH

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News: Rotherham agrees to pay up in Trading Standards dispute

The inter council dispute over the multimillion pound liabilities for the former South Yorkshire Trading Standards Unit (SYTSU) looks to have avoided formal litigation.

Established in 1985, the unit was effectively part of Sheffield Council and provided specialist services to businesses and the four local authorities. It was managed by a joint committee comprising of councillors from the four councils: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield.

Following the sudden death of the head of the former unit, Mike Buckley, in December 2005, substantial financial irregularities came to light with net losses amounting to approximately £13.5m.

The unit calibrated weights and measures and associated equipment, mainly for industry. SYTSU operated as a traded service, and its reported turnover prior to the discovery of these financial irregularities was £3.5m per annum. It had reported a small surplus in its latter years, which has been distributed amongst the four local authorities.

The unit was closed in 2006 and independent reviews have been carried out into the irregularities. A criminal investigation was also carried out by the Serious Fraud Office, in conjunction with South Yorkshire Police, and proceedings were brought against three defendants, who ran companies used by the unit in a complex fraud to cover losses.

Discussion between the councils on settling the outstanding financial position of the unit have been ongoing ever since.

Sheffield Council have been seeking to recover funds of up to £3m each from Doncaster, Barnsley and Rotherham for a number of years. The councils agreed that the costs should be shared but agreement could not be reached on the amounts as Sheffield originally wanted payment in full whilst the other councils felt that Sheffield, as lead authority, accountable body and having had the responsibilities for audit and accounting, should have identified the problems earlier and thus limited the size of the losses.

In fact, Rotherham Council began to query the cost of the unit as early as 1994 and gave early warning that they were considering withdrawing from the consortium. In the event they did not do so.

Now the cabinet at Rotherham Council has approved a settlement of the potential claim by Sheffield City Council. The settlement, along with similar agreements with Doncaster and Barnsley councils, will avoid them entering into formal legal dispute with Sheffield Council and the associated costs, delays and risks.

A report to Doncaster Council's cabinet shows that it has agreed to pay £2.5m but Rotherham's settlement is not yet known as its cabinet report was heard in private as it contained "information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings."

Images: Trading Standards Institute

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News: Rotherham retailers urged to enter digital world

The Source Skills Academy is hosting a new programme to help local retailers close the "digital divide" that exists between the larger brand name multiples and the smaller businesses on the High Street.

Based at Meadowhall, The Source Skills Academy is a flagship centre providing state of the art training and development facilities with a focus on the retail and service sector.

A Rotherham base opened on the High Street in 2011 with support from Rotherham Council and the Skills Funding Agency.

The Digital High Street Skills programme is split into three modules which look at different aspects of digital communications; from websites to Social Media and from e-commerce to eBay, these modules will help businesses strategise their way to new customers.

The programme has been developed with the help of the Employer Ownership Fund and with co-financing from the European Social Fund, the National Skills Academy for Retail can offer training and mentoring for small retail businesses at substantially reduced rates. The fund is accessible to all businesses in the Retail, Hospitality, Leisure & Tourism sectors with fewer than 250 employees and in the Sheffield city region.

The Future High Streets Forum, established by the government to bring together leaders across retail, property and business, is developing a strong approach to combining technology with the traditional high street to ensure that they remain commercially viable and locally relevant; and bringing together a range of examples of successful technology initiatives to create a best practice guide.

Paul Alton, training and development manager at The Source Skills Academy, said: "We are delighted to be able to offer the Digital High Street Skills programme to businesses in Sheffield and the surrounding areas. It will provide so many opportunities for those businesses that, for whatever reason, haven't yet engaged their customers through a digital platform.

"Digital High Street Skills is unique in that the content is easy to digest, whilst being a potential game changer for SMEs wanting to step into the mobile digital age."

The importance of using the digital world was highlighted at the last Retail Matters conference held at The Source. The next event, to be held on September 17, will look at improving business performance by investing in staff as ambassadors.

The Source website

Images: The Source

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News: Businesses continue to thrive in Rotherham

New enterprises setting up in one of Rotherham's dedicated business centres are being given a great chance to thrive and survive the crucial first three years.

Rotherham Investment & Development Office (RiDO) is the regeneration arm of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. RiDO now operate four modern business incubation centres across the borough offering support and assistance to local and international businesses.

The centres at Moorgate Crofts, Templeborough, Manvers and Dinnington provide over 180 offices and workshops at easy-in/easy-out terms on a monthly licence basis.

In the 13 years since Century Business Centre was opened in Manvers, RiDO has helped over 540 companies start up and the create over 1,800 jobs.

Further support includes on site business adviser support, access to training, marketing, supply chain linkages, plus access to other partner organisations who can contribute to achieving the growth aspirations of your business. Space is also reserved for young entrepreneurs through the successful Rotherham Youth Enterprise programme.

It is this support that means that businesses located in the centres have a three year survival rate of 85.4 per cent, well above the national average.

Following a recent visit to the centres, Cllr. Dominic Beck, Cabinet Member for Business Growth and Regeneration at Rotherham Council, said: "By any standards RiDO has been an incredible success story.

"Even in our current economic climate early stage companies have thrived with a three year survival rate of 85.4 per cent against a national average of 44 per cent.

"Once again Rotherham is bucking the national trend and the support offered to companies has been invaluable in cementing their success.

"I thoroughly enjoyed my visit, meeting and chatting with the businesses, occupants and staff there. I was impressed at both the quality of the Business Centres and the support offered to start up and small businesses.

"It was great to hear that even in this tough economic climate businesses were healthy and on a growth path.

"I have nothing but praise for the fantastic folk who are making the centre a haven for local growth and investment. It is essential that Rotherham encourages new business and I cannot praise the work that is taking place here too highly."

RiDO Business Centres website

Images: RiDO

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News: Cannon goes up against PR industry's big guns

Rotherham-based Cannon PR has been shortlisted in four categories at this year's Chartered Institute of Public Relations PRide awards, the only UK-wide awards scheme to recognise excellence in public relations and communications work.

It is the highest number of nominations to be received by any South Yorkshire-based PR consultancy and will see Cannon PR's work, go head-to-head with some of the largest brands and communications teams in Yorkshire.

Based on the High Street in Rotherham town centre, Cannon PR has been shortlisted in two categories, Best Event and Best Regional Campaign, for its work with the Rotherham Real and Music Festival, whilst The Legal, the official publication of the Sheffield & District Law Society has reached the finals of the Best Publication category.

Completing the quartet, founder of the company, Matthew Ridsdale has been shortlisted in the category of Outstanding Freelance PR Practitioner.

Matthew founded Cannon PR in September 2011 and since that time Cannon PR has worked with a growing number of businesses within the professional services, technology and not-for-profit sectors as well as working with some of Britain's best known brands including Disney and telecoms giant EE.

The nationwide awards scheme received approximately 1,100 entries received nationally from PR teams, consultancies and individuals across the UK of which approximately 350 entries were shortlisted.

Matthew began his PR career in 2001, after successfully completing an MSc in Public Relations at the University of Stirling. During his career he has worked with wide range of businesses, successfully developing creative communications campaigns including the first BingOlympics, building the World's Largest Popcorn Sculpture and the re-opening of the Barnsley Civic.

Matthew Ridsdale, founder of Cannon PR said: "The past three years have been the most exciting, challenging and rewarding ones of my career to date. There have been many highs and of course some lows. The PRide Awards are judged by experienced fellow practitioners working in the Public Relations industry. To be shortlisted in one category is a a great achievement for any consultancy, but to reach the finals shortlisted in four different categories is the highlight of my career to date."

The winners of the awards will be announced in November during an awards ceremony taking place in Leeds.

Cannon PR website

Images: CIPR

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News: Sheffield City Region Breakfast Club moves to the AMP

Hart Shaw Chartered Accountants and Reynolds Trade Credit are taking their Sheffield City Region Breakfast Club to the next level by moving to a new venue.

The Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham will now be hosting the monthly networking group, with the first event taking place at the new venue on Tuesday September 9.

The breakfast club was set up in October 2013 by Brendan Hall of Hart Shaw and Paul Stewart of Reynolds Trade Credit with a view to supporting and promoting the Sheffield city region and presents a different discussion topic each month from group members. The event has enjoyed rapid growth since inception, with the latest event attracting around 60 people from local businesses and professional service firms.

Brendan Hall, marketing co-ordinator at Hart Shaw, said: "Due to the excellent support we have had from our members we felt the need to move to a larger venue and will be taking up residence at the Advanced Manufacturing Park from September. The AMP ticks all the boxes for us and keeps us right in the heart of the city region."

Paul Stewart, business development manager at Reynolds Trade Credit, added: "The new venue of the AMP gives us the platform to expand and welcome more people from the Sheffield City Region to our Breakfast Club, thank you all for your support."

The September meeting welcomes a new guest speaker in Matthew Chenery, relationship director – Corporate Bank at Barclays who will be discussing access to finance.

Matthew will be covering the role of bank funding for SME businesses in 2014, what has changed over recent years, and how businesses can ensure their bank relationship delivers maximum value. There will also be information about an increasing array of other non-bank sources of funding available to SMEs.

The breakfast club is free to attend and runs between at 8:00am and 9:15am. It is aimed at Directors and Managers of local SMEs and professionals who manage a similar client base.

Hart Shaw website

Images: Hart Shaw

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News: Sheffield to Rotherham tram train delayed

Passengers will have to wait longer to travel on the innovative tram train scheme between Sheffield and Rotherham as the first project of its kind in the country is suffering from delays.

With funding from the government, the £60m pilot scheme will see flexible vehicles run on both rail and tram networks, using the freight route from Rotherham and then joining the Sheffield Supertram network at Meadowhall South. Operated by Stagecoach, three trams an hour would run all day from Sheffield city centre through the redeveloped Rotherham Central station to Parkgate retail park.

The pilot is expected to be up and running in 2016 and is set to run for two years with a view to permanent operation. If it is successful, it opens the way for tram trains to be introduced in other parts of the country.

First announced in 2009, transport leaders in the Sheffield city region have now been forced to write to the Transport Secretary, Baroness Kramer, to express some concerns about the delays to this project and to seek a way to resolve them.

Rothbiz understands that the Network Rail led works on the heavy rail network are behind programme and will be the constraint on the opening of the system.

Contractors, Carillion have been working on design and establishment works which will involve a stop at Stonerow Way, the road that runs behind Parkgate Shopping retail park, and the lowering of tracks at three bridges to accommodate overhead power lines. At the redeveloped station in Rotherham town centre, additional platforms and access ramps will also be constructed.

The project is being led by the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE), the organisation that takes the lead to develop the region's transport network through targeted, value for money investment and services. The SYPTE said that it was "awaiting clarification from Network Rail towards the end of August regarding the likely future programme."

It is hoped that the delays won't be as long as the much-needed improvements to Rotherham Central Station that came in two years late. Work began on the £8.5m redevelopment in February 2010 and contractors, Galliford Try were initially set to complete the development by Christmas 2010. The station opened in 2012.

It is a similar story for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) scheme, where the Northern route of the scheme aims to improve the links between Rotherham and Sheffield passing Meadowhall, the Lower Don Valley and Templeborough.

The £34.3m project aims help to foster economic growth along the corridor by helping people access jobs and opportunities. The scheme involves a high-frequency, limited stop bus service with new state-of-the-art vehicles. The main feature is a £20m alternative, all transport route which bypasses the congested M1 junction 34 South by providing a new section of highway beneath the Tinsley Viaduct. It is currently under construction.

The SYPTE recently reported that there had been some delays to the project and that there was also a potential increase in budget due to two unforeseen events: firstly the removal of asbestos, and secondly, the need to divert a sewer.

SYPTE website

Images: Network Rail

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News: UKCG to invest in Rotherham sites

The UK Carbon & Graphite Company Limited (UKCG) is set to expand its two Rotherham factories after securing £7m in funding from Santander Corporate & Commercial.

With head offices in Belper, Derbyshire, UKCG specialises in the controlled manufacture, machining, testing and global distribution of carbon and graphite products that are used in a range of industrial applications.

The funding from Santander will help the business to expand operations and grow market share in European and North and South American key markets and will also be used to expand production facilities at Coke Lane and on Meadowbank Industrial Estate in Rotherham.

Exporting to over 30 countries across the world, the firm was awarded the Queen's Award for International Trade in 2011. UKCG specialises in graphite electrodes which are used for the recycling of steel in the electric arc furnace industry and turnover was £23.8m in the financial year ending June 2013.

Keith McGhee, managing director at UKCG, said: "These are exciting times for the business as we increase our presence in key regions such as North and South America, as well as building on our local presence in the UK."

Jon Bennett, relationship director at Santander, added: "The management team at UKCG have a clear vision for the business. This is a true local success story, which has grown enormously internationally and I'm wholly confident that they will continue to succeed in this endeavour."

UKCG website

Images: UKCG

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News: Onyx hosting Big Data event

IT infrastructure providers, Onyx Group, is hosting an event at its Rotherham data centre to show businesses how best to get the most out of data.

"Big Data: Intelligence and Infrastructure" is being organised by the Onyx Group, in partnership with Rotherham company Biz-ICT.

The aim of the free event on September 9 is to address the subject of Big Data and Business Intelligence, putting the power to exploit the vast amount of data that flows through a business back into the hands of the senior management team.

Neil Stephenson, chief executive of Onyx Group, said: "This event will provide South Yorkshire businesses with a unique opportunity to discuss the impact of "Big Data" and to view the modern infrastructure we have available at our site in Rotherham.

"Most organisations have many years of historical data that is both strategically and tactically valuable. The wider question is how to manage that Big Data for the long-term benefit of the business.

"We understand that many companies lack the internal capability to manage big data themselves, so this event will address the issues many businesses are concerned about. Our session in Rotherham will present the benefits of real-time business intelligence and explore the bigger picture around big data infrastructure, now and for the future.

"Delegates will hear and get practical advice with a modern approach to big data that illustrates how organisations can furnish themselves with the power to exploit the vast amounts of information that flows through their business, without the need for in-house business intelligence experts or expensive systems."

Stockton-based Onyx opened its Rotherham facility at Pioneer Close, Manvers in 2012 where it delivers Cloud hosting and backup, colocation, IT support and security.

Also based at Manvers, Biz-ICT is an accredited Microsoft SharePoint specialist, providing integrated collaboration and business process applications, such as human resources, training, health and safety and intranets.

Mark Walsh, managing director of Biz-ICT, said: "We are pleased to join forces with Onyx Group for this event. At Biz-ICT our senior management team has 25-years’ experience in designing, delivering and supporting software solutions for businesses.

"We are therefore well placed to showcase and demonstrate the benefits of SharePoint to businesses leaders from many sectors who don't need to be IT experts to understand its use. The software solution is ideally suited for infrastructure planning and creating the right platform for them to analyse the performance of their business easily and quickly."

Onyx Group website
Biz-ICT website

Images: Onyx Group

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News: AMP at the "heart of the North’s economic renaissance"

The strategic economic importance of the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham has been highlighted at the official launch of Peel Logistics.

Harworth Estates, the company created to realise the property assets of what was UK Coal, entered into a strategic marketing alliance with The Peel Group earlier this year with the aim of becoming a key player in the logistics market.

Based on the AMP at Waverley, Harworth Estates is one of the largest landowners in the UK with access to over 30,000 acres of land. Key sites include Rotherham (Waverley), Bolton (Logistics North), Nottinghamshire (Harworth) and Pontefract (Prince of Wales).

Leading infrastructure, transport and real estate investment company, Peel, has a 32.82% share in Coalfield Resources plc, which in turn owns 24.9% of Harworth Estates Property Group Limited.

The newly created Peel Logistics brings together 66 sites across almost 6,000 acres of land. 17 sites are brought to market through Peel's strategic alliance with Harworth Estates. The companies will continue to market their own sites individually, with Peel Logistics providing a marketing umbrella for the UK-wide portfolio.

Local sites that come under the Peel Logistics portfolio include AMP and Waverley in Rotherham (pictured), Sheffield Business Park and Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

Approved in 2010, the largest, most complex, planning application ever considered by Rotherham Council gave outline approval for South Yorkshire's largest ever brownfield development at Waverley, creating a new 3,890 home community across 741 acres.

Developed first on the site of the former Orgreave colliery, over half of the AMP's 150 acres has been developed over the past ten years and is home to global manufacturers such as Rolls-Royce and Boeing, alongside high-value SMEs including Dormer Tools and Sandvik. Products developed and built at Waverley include parts for the Dreamliner and Bloodhound SSC – the British-built car bidding to become the first land-based 1,000 mph vehicle.

Iain Thomson, partnerships manager for Harworth Estates, said: "Logistics needs to be thought of as going beyond simply "storage and distribution for retail" and to encompass the supply chain requirements of high-value local economies. AMP will enable "just in time" supply chain management to support the growing automotive and aeronautical engineering sector.

"The AMP also sits within one of the most successful Enterprise Zones in the UK. The Sheffield City Region Enterprise Zone was ranked as number 1 for foreign direct investment (fDi) strategy in March by the Financial Times and sits alongside others such as the Discovery Park Enterprise Zone in Kent at being at the heart of the Country's improving economic growth.

"Demand for space is extremely high and we are now bringing forward plans on a further 27 acres. By the time it is fully built out, Waverley will have over 5,000 people employed on the site with an estimated GVA of £300m per annum.

"We are confident that the development of the Advanced Manufacturing Park at Waverley will become a site at the heart of the North's economic renaissance."

Waverley website

Images: Harworth Estates

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News: Efficiency North starts new era in Rotherham

The consortium that leads on procurement for millions of pounds worth of construction services in the region has taken space in Rotherham as it evolves into a new company format.

Social housing providers joined together in 2006 to work collaboratively to generate long term sustainable efficiency savings in the construction and maintenance supply chain. Since then, Efficiency North has delivered over £100m of efficiencies for its members whilst maintaining a strong focus on its other core themes of employment and skills, economic regeneration, environment and sustainability.

The organisation has now been incorporated as a private company in public sector ownership, limited by guarantee, with no share capital. After eight years being located in Sheffield City Council, Efficiency North Limited will be moving to its own premises at Magna 34 Business Park, Templeborough.

The move is expected to enable the business to be more efficient in its operations and respond more quickly to membership demands and opportunities for service enhancement.

Lee Parkinson will continue to lead Efficiency North Limited as its chief executive officer and statutory processes are already underway to transfer existing staff into the new company. The Board of the company will continue to be chaired by Mick Werritt of St Leger Homes of Doncaster Limited with a shadow board consisting of legacy board members, however additional new board members will be recruited from the consortia's membership towards the end of the year.

Mick Werritt, director of property services at St Leger Homes, said: "Moving from a management committee model to a limited company is a significant step for the consortium and one that all of the board believe will bring about significant operating and service improvements to our membership.

"On behalf of the Board I would like to thank Sheffield City Council for their support over the years as the host for the consortium and we very much look forward to continuing the strong development curve that the management team of the consortium have achieved in recent years."

Lee Parkinson, CEO of Efficiency North Limited, added: "Making the transition from a management committee to a company has taken a significant amount of effort and has required the trust and support of the Board and the existing staff. I personally would like to thank all of them for their commitment to the consortium and its members and I very much look forward to leading the consortium into the next chapter of its history and developing our service offer for the benefit of our members and their communities further."

Representing over two thirds of social housing located within Yorkshire and the Humber with innovative and intelligent procurement frameworks, an engaging programme of best practice and knowledge sharing events and funding for community projects continues to take place.

Briefing workshops for the new multi-million pound installers framework is taking place this week. Contractors have the opportunity to tender for work on the framework by region and by lot size, depending on business resource and capability.

A variety of housing provider needs will be serviced by the framework. These include kitchen and bathroom installation, heating and ventilation, electrical installation, brickwork and masonry, renewable heating and ventilation, roofing, general building works, painting, estates improvements, external works, adaptations, solar photovoltaic installations, fire precaution works, and whole house improvement works.

The nearest event takes place at The Source at Meadowhall on August 19.

Efficiency North website

Images: YORhub / Efficiency North

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News: Mesmerize voted Rotherham's independent shop of the year

Mesmerize, the Rotherham shop that features an eclectic range of goth, rock, alternative and Pagan essentials and gifts, has been voted the town's independent shop of the year.

Mesmerize first opened in 1995 with a small grant from the Prince's Trust and will be celebrating 20 years on Wellgate next spring.

The competition was launched by the council on the back of the national Independents' Day campaign. Skate store, Props, based at Eastwood Lane was in second place, and finishing third was The Whistle Stop Sweet Shop located at Imperial Buildings.

Lynda Delizium, manager of Mesmerize, said: "I would like to thank everyone who voted for Mesmerize.

"I am extremely proud in winning as the quality and service of the independent shops in Rotherham is amazing. As a small independent, trading in a recession can be very challenging and this support is astounding and well received.

"I love my job and there is never a boring day. I try to provide a hub of information for the alternative scene alongside the gifts, jewellery and clothing for sale in the shop."

Cllr. Dominic Beck, cabinet member for Business Growth and Regeneration, added: "Congratulations to all the businesses who received votes and particularly to Mesmerize. Shoppers cited the "Aladdin's cave" of unique products and fantastic customer service as reasons why they were their winner.

"It was incredibly difficult to tell who would win and with over 150 independent town centre retailers, the eclectic mix was sure to inspire debate.

"It was great to see the incredible support businesses have received from customers. It shows the public are really passionate about Rotherham's independent retail offer and had fantastic things to say about stores across the whole town centre."

Mesmerize Facebook page
Rotherham town centre website

Images: RMBC

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News: Tony Stewart to receive Rotherham honour

Local businessman and chairman of Rotherham United, Tony Stewart, is to be admitted as an Honorary Freeman of the Borough at the Town Hall today.

The owner of Rotherham firm, ASD Lighting is receiving the honour in recognition "of his eminent service to the sport of football and his long and friendly association with the Rotherham Borough."

At a special ceremony being held at Rotherham Town Hall, the Mayor of Rotherham, Cllr John Foden, will present Tony with an illuminated address bearing the Coat of Arms commemorating his enrolment. He will also receive a pendant and will be asked to sign the Roll of Honorary Freemen.

Tony is to be granted the award after members of Rotherham Borough Council approved a motion moved by the Leader, Cllr Roger Stone, at a council meeting in July.

Cllr Stone said that Rotherham was a town on the up and part of that journey has been mirrored by the amazing achievements of its football club. He added: "It is true to say that none of this success would be happening without the innovation, determination and sheer hard work that Tony has put into this club. I am sure that every Millers fan will join with me in agreeing that Tony has raised this club to an exceptional standard."

Tony Stewart becomes the 15th man to get the accolade and the third connected with the club. World Cup referee and honorary ambassador at RUFC, Howard Webb received the honour in 2011 and Brian Chapple, who works on the community side of the football club, was named as a Freeman of Rotherham in 2013.

Born in Sheffield and brought up in High Green with a twin brother and four other siblings, Stewart was a Yorkshire Champion for running the mile. After leaving High Green School he undertook an apprenticeship as an electrician before starting in business aged 26 in a fast growing electrical contracting firm.

Stewart was intrigued by infra red detectors and went on to combine them with lighting products which made them turn on "as if by magic" in 1981. After further design and development, and securing start up cash from the bank, it led to the formation of ASD Lighting, a Rotherham manufacturing success story.

The Barbot Hall company has had unrivalled success in the LED market and has invested heavily in facilities and R&D. It employs around 200 staff and the latest financial results showed that turnover was £21.4m and pre-tax profits were £3.7m in the year ending 31 December 2012.

Tony Stewart 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.

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 the Millers went on to secure promotion that season with an average attendance of just short of 8,000, the club's highest since 1982/1983. The second season, which saw even higher attendances and more sell-out games, culminated in The Millers securing promotion to the Championship in dramatic circumstances at Wembley.

The "adventure" goes on with the club set to play its first home game back in English football's second tier tomorrow.

Rotherham United Football Club now employs over 100 people and brings a wealth of benefits to the community and will contribute further wealth to the local economy with the future development of the remainder of the stadium site.

Rotherham United website

Images: themillers.co.uk

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News: Kier in line for Rotherham new school contract

Kier Construction looks to have secured the multimillion pound contract for the significant new build school on the site of Oakwood High School in Rotherham.

In 2012, the school, formerly known as Oakwood Technology College, made it onto the Priority School Building Programme (PSBP), the government's centrally managed programme set up to address the needs of the schools most in need of urgent repair.

With 1,000 children on site on a daily basis, in a building that was designed for maximum of 600 pupils, plans have been developed for a three storey school building with a sports hall to replace the current buildings at Oakwood.

A planning application has now been submitted, put together by architects at the Building Design Partnership, listing Kier Construction as the contractor. As a leading construction, services and property group, Kier has already won £153m worth of contracts through the first phase of the £2.4 billion programme that is rebuilding 261 of the schools in England in the worst condition.

A capital funded project, funded directly by the Education Funding Agency (EFA), the new building at Oakwood will be located near Moorgate Road on the site of the existing science block and lower gym. It locates the teaching accommodation in a block that runs parallel to Moorgate Road with the sports hall, PE, music and drama spaces located together to the rear of the site facing the playing fields to the south.

The teaching block comprises three storeys with classrooms located either side of a central corridor. The performance block is two storeys but as the site rises from Moorgate Road the levels allow this to be set at level 1, a full floor height above the entrance level, creating a better relationship with the adjacent sports pitches.

David Naisbitt, headteacher at Oakwood High School, said: "We very much hope to have a purpose built school projecting a strong and positive image out onto Moorgate Road. This main arterial route needs to have strong statement about what education can be and we believe that the plans for this project very much allow for that message to be communicated.

"We hope that a new build will allow for us to work beyond the core hours and we would hope to develop a building which would be used by greater numbers of our community.

"Our intention and commitment is that the building will match our high expectations for learning and academic success and very much believe that this project will add to the outstanding provision which Oakwood High School brings to this community."

With plans submitted, the applicants hope to start on site this winter with the new school building planned to be complete by July 2016.

A second round of the national PSBP has recently been announced. After missing out in the first round, Swinton Community School and St. Pius X Catholic High School are being put forward by Rotherham Council for much needed repairs.

Oakwood High School website

Images: Building Design Partnership

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