News: Red Bull Stratos lands in Rotherham

Felix Baumgartner, the first human ever to break the sound barrier with his own body, is to launch a UK exclusive exhibition on his team's achievements at the Magna Science Adventure Centre in Rotherham later this year.

"Red Bull Stratos - Mission To The Edge of Space" is an exhibition dedicated to one of the most famous events of the 21st century and lands at the family attraction in July.

Red Bull Stratos was the flight test program that riveted the world in 2012, as professional BASE jumper and aerospace pioneer Baumgartner ascended 24 miles above earth with a massive helium balloon. Wearing only a spacesuit, and with a mere ten minutes of oxygen on his back, he jumped from the balloon's capsule and accelerated from 0 to 843.6 miles per hour – Mach 1.25 – in just 50 seconds before eventually parachuting to the ground.

The jump set numerous official and unofficial records for speed, altitude and distance.

From its inception, the mission was developed as a flight test program for medical and scientific advancement in human flight, and results are being shared with the scientific community.

It was also the most-watched live event in Internet history, and now visitors will be able to view the space suit and capsule used by Felix and his team to help them achieve this incredible feat. These two vessels were crucial in preserving Felix’s health and protecting him from the stratosphere's harsh environment.

An exclusive launch event for this exhibition will take place on July 23 at Magna. The audience will be treated to first hand tales of Red Bull Stratos from trio Felix Baumgartner, Art Thompson (technical project director) and Colonel Joe Kittinger (a former test pilot and inspiration for the project), as well as guest appearances from Sheffield-born astronaut Dr Helen Sharman, the first Briton in space and the first woman to visit the Mir space station, and Anu Ojha, director of education and space communications at the National Space Centre in Leicester.

Set in the former Templeborough steelworks, Magna has more than 100 hands-on exhibits. Entrance to the Red Bull Stratos exhibit, which will be in Rotherham for five weeks, is free with entry to Magna.

Another supersonic exhibit coming to Rotherham is the BLOODHOUND project, on show as part of this year's Children's Festival. The car aims to break the world land speed record by achieving the supersonic speed of 1,000mph and the project also aims to inspire future generations to take up careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by showcasing these subjects in the most exciting way possible.

The British engineering showcase will be at The New York Stadium in Rotherham from June 14 through to Saturday June 20.

Magna website

Images: Red Bull Stratos

Read more...

News: New Rotherham rail port facility

South Yorkshire's largest privately owned and most successful haulage contractors, Newell & Wright Group, has invested in a new container rail port facility in Rotherham in between Junctions 33 and 34 of the M1.

With a Templeborough base on the Sheffield/Rotherham border, the group has four divisions covering container haulage and haulage for major shipping lines, freight forwarding and specialised logistics.

The new facility is described as a "major investment project for South Yorkshire and the immediate Rotherham region" and has taken around six months to implement.

In total there are six sidings ranging from 300 to 400 metres allowing for a significant level of rolling stock and container handling. The investment has seen the introduction of reinforced concrete standings, container loaders and a hardstanding circuit for the firm's fleet to be loaded and unloaded.

Newell & Wright Group, said: "There will be further developments at the site through the summer as we see an increase in demand for container freight being transported on the UK's rail network. The Rotherham rail port is well placed near the main UK motorway in the centre of the country so we are expecting to be very busy in the coming months."

In 1974, Frank Newell and Paul Wright formed Newell & Wright Transport, operating in those early days as a very small general haulage company from rented premises. With continued expansion, the Newell & Wright Group now has an annual turnover in excess of £50m. The group employs over 300 personnel, many of whom have remained with the company as it has expanded.

Newell & Wright Group website

Images: Newell & Wright Group

Read more...

News: AMRC apprentices set locomotive challenge

A project to build a steam locomotive fit for the 21st Century is getting a helping hand from apprentices at the University of Sheffield AMRC Training Centre.

The AMRC Training Centre is a £20.5m centre on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham where the focus is on students aged from 16 upwards, taken on paid apprenticeships. Part of the The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing, apprentices have opportunities to progress on to postgraduate courses, doctorates and MBA levels. Sponsoring companies range from global leaders such as Rolls-Royce and Tata Steel to local high-tech supply-chain companies.

The team behind the "Clan Project" is building an 80 tonne British Railways Standard Class 6 locomotive using original drawings but it needs to turn these 900 microfilmed drawings into modern CAD drawings.

British Rail built ten of the locomotives in the 1950s and named them after Scottish clans. Plans to build 15 more and name the first five after Kentish warlords were abandoned due to steel shortages, followed by a switch from steam to diesel.

None of the "Clan" Class locomotives survive, but the project team has microfilmed drawings for the next engine, which would have been the 1,000th Standard Class Steam Locomotive built by British Rail and was to be named "Hengist", after a fifth century King of Kent.

All of the apprentices at the AMRC Training Centre study various aspects of engineering such as CAD, regardless of the specialist pathway they choose. Computer-aided design enables engineers create 2D or 3D graphical representations of physical objects.

Phil Yates, a project engineer with the AMRC's Integrated Manufacturing Group, who heard about the Clan Project from team member and near neighbour Geoff Turner, said: "It's an ideal challenge for the AMRC Training Centre apprentices. The original drawings could be massively complicated because they tried to get in as much detail as they could – fitting numerous separate parts onto each one.

"Taking the microfilmed drawings, constructing the parts in CAD, validating them and seeing how they fit together involves reading and interpreting the drawings and designing the parts – it's an essential skill the apprentices need."

CAD data is needed for the modern machine tools that will make the components and because the project team needs to comply with modern safety standards and wants to make Hengist more efficient.

Enhancements will include dual circuit braking, which has to be shoehorned into space in the existing design and the best way to do that will be to use a Virtual Reality model generated from the CAD drawings.

Geoff Turner said: "We are delighted that the AMRC Training Centre apprentices are involved in the project, learning valuable engineering skills from reading engineering drawings, applying current draughting standards and applying modern manufacturing techniques in the process."

Between six and ten apprentices will gain vital CAD skills by working on the project in the coming months and there is scope for AMRC Training Centre apprentices to work on other parts of the Clan Project, which is due to be completed in 2026.

AMRC Training Centre website

Images: AMRC

Read more...

News: Elected mayor for Rotherham?

An elected mayor is one of the options that could replace the previous decision-making system at Rotherham Council which created a "wholly dysfunctional" cabinet.

After a number of reports highlighted serious failings across the authority, an intervention package was announced which saw commissioners appointed to provide new leadership and take on all executive functions of the authority.

Commissioners were asked to review the governance arrangements by the Secretary of State and suggestions had been made to change the governance arrangements to make them more transparent and accountable. He asked the Commissioners for their views to see what would be the most effective and efficient form of governance.

Eric Pickles, the then Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government said in the House of Commons when announcing the intervention: "It has also been suggested that the governance of the Authority could be improved – made more transparent and accountable - if it were changed to the committee system.

"Before taking any steps to implement such a change, I will be inviting the Commissioners views as to what they see would be the most effective and efficient form of governance for the Authority. I am also open to representations from the public."

The Council has used a "strong" Leader and Cabinet form of executive which carried out all of the Council's functions that are not the responsibility of any other part of the Council, whether by law or under the Constitution. Executive functions include key decisions taken by the Cabinet that generally include decisions relating to incurring significant expenditure or are significant in terms of its effects on communities living or working in an area. Cabinet members were delegated powers to make decisions regarding council undertakings that are within their remit and a number of committees were used to deal with some of its functions.

The Commissioners also exercise other functions of the council "where there can be no confidence in the council's ability to act responsibly."

Now details of a Governance Review have been published with the first step to bring together elected members to review and examine the issue and report the views of the political parties and of the independent councillors to the Commissioners.

The earliest a new decision-making system could be implemented in Rotherham would be at the Annual Meeting in May 2016, after the all out elections.

The options include continuing with the Leader and Cabinet system or changing to a mayoral system with a directly elected executive mayor, who appoints a cabinet made up of other councillors, who may also have decision making powers. The third option is to switch to a committee system where most decisions are made by committees, which comprise a range of councillors, to reflect the political balance of the Council.

Variations and hybrid models could also be adopted and the review group of current councillors will assess the options and make recommendations on the way forward for the Council by December 2015 at the latest.

Opposition councillors in Rotherham have long called for a change to the committee system.

A new managerial structure at the local authority is also being proposed by the Commissioners. It involves creating a new directorate called Community Well-being and Housing and creating the senior posts of strategic director finance and corporate services and assistant chief executive (focusing on Human Resources, Democratic Services, Communications, Partnerships, Policy and Performance). A number of new assistant director posts are also proposed.

A new corporate performance team is set to be established, as is the creation of the Equalities function to include responsibilities for helping to support cohesion.

The current Environment and Development Services directorate is set to continue with responsibility for the management of commercial and service property and the Licensing function will remain permanently in its new home in Streetpride. With the new Community Well-being and Housing Directorate to include Adults Services and most of Housing and Neighbourhoods Services, directors in Environment and Development Services will be able spend more time on strategies for job creation and skills.

Advertising for a new chief executive of the council is expected to take place in Autumn 2015.

Rotherham Council website

Images: proAV

Read more...

News: Korean visit welcomed

Trade delegates from South Korea signed Memorandums of Understanding with the University of Sheffield and the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) on a recent visit to the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham.

The visit was the first time a business delegation led by a representative of the South Korean government has visited a British region outside London. The 30-strong group was in Rotherham and Sheffield and led by Mr Han Junghwa, who heads the Republic of Korea's (RoK) Small and Medium Business Administration, a government department with a £4.7bn budget.

Delegates held meetings with representatives of local government, business and academia in the Knowledge Transfer Centre at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing, before visiting the Nuclear AMRC, where they signed Memorandums of Understanding with the University of Sheffield and the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership.

They then toured the Factory of the Future and the Composite Centre, also on the AMP.

Professor Sir Keith Burnett, vice chancellor at the University of Sheffield, said: "We greatly admire the manufacturing prowess of Korea. It has done the most extraordinary and wonderful things across a whole range of activities. We believe we have here something to offer to your Korean colleagues. We would love to be your partners in the next generation of products."

Jounghwan Lee from the AMRC Composite Centre played a key role in helping to facilitate the visit which was conceived and delivered by INKE, the International Network of Korean Entrepreneurs – with 1,500 member companies in 49 countries worldwide – and the Rotherham-based chairman of its UK chapter, Dabriel Choi.

Andrew Denniff, chief executive at Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber of Commerce met with the delegation at the AMP (pictured, right). He said: "This is exactly the type of visit from overseas businesses that we should be hosting and encouraging more of in the future. The reputation of the Advanced Manufacturing Park at Waverley in Rotherham is spreading worldwide and we should not shrink back from using that as an attraction to bring foreign investment into the region.

"The kind of organisations and businesses that want to come and talk to us with a view to doing business across South Yorkshire is increasing. The opportunities for inward investment into the "Sheffield-Rotherham" corridor over the next few years has to welcomed and supported, whilst not forgetting the potential for our own local businesses to benefit from an increase in supply chain engagement and the chances for trading into new foreign markets."

AMRC website

Images: AMRC / Barnsley & Rotherham Chamber

Read more...

News: Strategic Hub planned to drive transport agenda

The South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) is set to hand over responsibility for the co-ordination, development and delivery of transport strategy and policy functions in the Sheffield city region (SCR) to a newly-established Strategic Hub.

The SYPTE works in partnership with the local councils and transport service operators to manage public transport infrastructure, run the local bus, train and tram services and provide walking and cycling routes.

The proposals have been endorsed by the SCR Combined Authority, the legal body that brings together an integrated transport authority (ITA) and an economic prosperity board (EPB) in order to align political decision making around strategic economic development and transport.

The new Strategic Hub will sit within the Sheffield City Region Executive Team, led by Ben Still, the former interim director general at SYPTE.

The move follows the SCR's £320m Growth Deal and Sheffield devolution agreement secured last Autumn, and is focused on making the strategic case for investment in SCR, and the delivery of the region's transport element of the Northern Powerhouse and other key national transport agenda.

The SYPTE will be responsible for the development and delivery of a new public transport customer strategy. Under its new remit, the organisation will focus on public transport and customer service operations at interchanges and sites, and deliver the plans and strategies of the SCR Executive to the travelling public.

David Young, interim director general at SYPTE, said: "Plans for the Strategic Hub necessitate a new focus for SYPTE. It will enable SYPTE and the SCR Executive Team to capitalise on our respective strengths, assets and expertise to empower and improve the local transport and customer offer to boost economic growth.

"We will lead public transport delivery in South Yorkshire and be responsible for making the transport plans and strategies of the City Region a reality. And we will continue to be an organisation dedicated to putting our customers first, to offer the best possible experience when using local public transport services."

Ben Still, executive director of the Sheffield City Region Executive Team, added: "These important changes will further integrate transport strategy and wider City Region economic planning activities. The Sheffield City Region Executive Team is focused on delivering our Growth Deal which brings funding and influence over strategic skills, business growth and transport strategy under the control of local leaders."

SYPTE website
Sheffield city region website

Images: SYPTE

Read more...

News: Making it: The advanced manufacturing economy in Sheffield and Rotherham

Attracting a new global large-scale production facility, improving the ability of companies to innovate and improving connectivity are key interventions that would strengthen the first Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District, set to be created around the Sheffield-Rotherham corridor.

For Sheffield and Rotherham to develop Europe's largest research-led advanced manufacturing cluster, a strategy needs to be put in place that supports existing businesses as well as attracts new businesses; strengthens linkages in the "innovation ecosystem" and isn't limited by boundaries; and sets priorities and determine which interventions will achieve the best impacts.

In January, Bruce Katz, co-author of The Rise of Innovation Districts and director of the Metropolitan Programme at the US Brookings Institution, and Kelly Kline, economic development director of the City of Fremont, California, visited the city region to explore how the principles of an Innovation District might be relevant for the cluster of innovation in high value manufacturing concentrated in the area.

The Sheffield-Rotherham area is already home to the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing and the wider Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) at Waverley in Rotherham.

Recognising that high value manufacturing can be key to driving innovation, productivity and exports, civic leaders have committed to the idea of "supercharging" the advanced manufacturing cluster and the Sheffield-Rotherham Economic Corridor. A masterplan for the potential Innovation District is being produced that will be used as a bidding document for accessing monies through the Government's Growth Deal and other funding sources.

Now the influential Centre for Cities, a UK urban policy research unit, has published its commissioned paper on how the Innovation District strategy can be taken forward. The report is written by Louise McGough a policy officer at the think tank.

The paper picks out the innovation assets that have clustered in the area, from the world leading research centres at the AMRC, innovate firms based in the AMP Technology Centre, to international firms such as Rolls-Royce and Tata Steel. Whilst less dense than clustering in innovation districts that exist around business and professional financial services, a pattern of nodes and networks with anchor points was identified.

Writing after their visit, Bruce Katz and Kelly Kline, said: "A tour of Sheffield revealed the existence of an "innovation triangle" connecting the park [AMP], key companies in the broader Don Valley, and the city centre's downtown area—with its ample amenities, university campuses, and focus on creative design. To this end, the Advanced Manufacturing Park appears to be the fulcrum of a broader innovation district rather than the sum total."

Other parts of the strategy should focus on skills, building on the business-led approach to apprenticeships and upskilling at the AMRC Training Centre, whilst it is acknowledged that connectivity needs to be improved - even between the AMP and the Sheffield Business Park over the Parkway, where the AMRC is set to continue to grow.

Many Innovation Districts have urban characteristics but the report considers that the more dispersed geography of innovation and the requirements of firms in advanced manufacturing means that residential or mixed-use development would not support growth and innovation in the same way as in more densely populated city centre Innovation Districts.

To support existing businesses as well as attracting new businesses, the region will need to establish if companies on the AMP are benefiting from being located in the fledgling innovation district or simply by being in the wider Sheffield-Rotherham advanced manufacturing corridor. It is also recognised that attracting a new global large-scale production facility, or "OEM", would be a game-changer for the district, boosting jobs and economic growth by attracting further inward investment.

To strengthen linkages between innovation drivers and "cultivators" across the innovation geography, means looking closely at the AMRC and AMP and how it acts as an anchor and links with the local supply chain. The report adds that it is important to recognise that the district is not a defined area but made up of nodes, anchored at the AMP and Sheffield Business Park site and including businesses and stakeholders in the wider advanced manufacturing corridor, Sheffield city centre and Rotherham town centre.

The report concludes: "Partners should focus on building a robust evidence base to inform the vision for an Innovation District and make the case for investment, identify private sector and industry champions who can be the voice for innovation in advanced manufacturing locally, and deliver improvements that support and strengthen innovation.

"The challenge and opportunity for local partners is to support this business and innovation led cluster, and realise an ambitious vision, capitalising on what is already there."

Julie Kenny, commissioner at Rotherham Council, said: "Our work on the Innovation District is a clear example of how Rotherham and Sheffield – in collaboration with our colleagues across the rest of the city region – are equipped to take on the world in advanced manufacturing. We've already made significant strides but the involvement and endorsement of global leaders like Bruce Katz, and the increased profile that inevitably brings, can only boost our efforts.

"It's fantastic that our work is being recognised by those who know what excellence in this field really means. This can only help our efforts to translate our vision for the Innovation District into the economic growth and sustainable increase in new skilled jobs that will make the real difference to our communities."

Centre for Cities website

Images: Harworth Estates / AMRC / Bond Bryan

Read more...

News: Five pre lets at Tradeworld development

The first phase of the £5m Tradeworld retail development in Rotherham is fully let as plans go in to provide flexibility for future phases.

Planning permission was granted conditionally last year for the Parkgate development where the plan is to create ten units totalling 45,000 sq ft. The plans, drawn up by Sheffield architects, Bond Bryan, show the units, ranging in size from 2,200 sq ft to 5,200 sq ft, complete with 111 standard car parking spaces and access from a new entrance from Rotherham Road.

Litton Properties purchased the Ruscon engineering works in 2003 but plans for a DIY retail store and garden centre were refused in 2005. Outline planning permission was granted in 2006 for a warehouse development with 20% of the floorspace approved for retail use. Detailed plans for seven units were approved in 2008 but were not developed out.

Advertisement

Plans have now been submitted by consultants, DPP Planning that would enable the developer to get on site and complete the first phase of five trade counter units and amend the approve plans to enable different options to come forward for the remainder of the site.

The plans state: "Occupiers have now been identified for units 1-5 and the developer is therefore keen to progress with the development for this part of the site. However, until occupiers are identified for the remaining units we request that this would form a later phase of development to provide some flexibility to the developer.

"The proposed changes to the approved scheme are considered to be minor and will assist the developer in the successful marketing of the remainder of the units as well as bringing forward the units that already have identified occupiers in a timely manner. The proposed changes to the scheme will not result in any adverse impacts."

Plans for the second phase include creating three units rather than four and merging two units to assist with marketing the site. Units would range from 3,000 to 9,000 sq ft.

Occupiers signing up already include a ceramic tile retailer and an tyre and MOT centre with three further units under offer. Agents Fernie Greaves believes that the completion for the first phase is due in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Litton Properties website

Images: Litton Properties

Read more...

News: Custom Metal Products looking to boost exports

Custom Metal Products, a specialist manufacturing firm based in Rotherham, is looking to take its expertise into new overseas markets.

With a 10,000 sq ft facility in Masborough, the family-owned business offers bespoke general fabrications, sheet metal work, high definition plasma profiling and general engineering services.

Celebrating its fifth year in business, Custom Metal Products wanted a more targeted approach to its marketing and approached Rotherham Council's investment and development office (RiDO) to assist with a market research project and a review of their export communications.

The market research identified new sectors for the company's metal fabrication services in the oil and gas and energy sectors, with opportunities in Norway, Poland and across the UK.

The Export Communication Review included a number of recommendations for the company to develop a website that would target customers both in the UK and overseas.

Howard Hughes, managing director at Custom Metal Products, said: "It has been fantastic to have RiDO's help in researching new market sectors for our services. As a relatively small business, we would not have had the resources in-house to dedicate to this and we see many opportunities for growth in these markets. The Export Communication Review has also proved invaluable for us to develop our website and we now feel we are on the right track to be able to do this."

Julia Millea, business development co-ordinator for RiDO, added: "The market research project has identified new markets that Custom Metal Products had not considered before. They are in a great position to take advantage of the international opportunities that we have identified and have an exciting future ahead of them."

As a Rotherham business, Custom Metal Products Ltd was able to secure support through RiDO's Growth and Prosperity in Rotherham (Soft Landing Zone) project, which secured funding from the European Regional Development Fund and aims to assist Rotherham companies in accessing international markets and also helps foreign inward investors who choose to locate to RiDO's business centres.

Custom Metal Products website
RiDO website

Images: RiDO

Read more...

News: Inditherm to scale up with £7.2m reverse acquisition

Innovative Rotherham company, Inditherm, is proposing the acquisition of Inspiration Healthcare Limited, a privately owned global medical device distribution company, allowing the medical business to grow with fewer constraints.

Manvers-based Inditherm has developed products using low voltage carbon polymer technology to provide heat. Its systems are used for patients undergoing operations which carry risk of inadvertent hypothermia and in neonatal wards.

Inspiration was founded in Leicestershire in 2003 as a medical device distribution company focused on innovative products for critical care. It holds a number of distribution agreements and also has a range of own-branded products focused on critical care which are sold in over 40 countries. In the year ended January 31 2015, Inspiration recorded revenue of £9.5m, with adjusted earnings of £800k.

Advertisement

AIM-listed Inditherm shifted its focus to the medical market and scored sizeable NHS contracts in 2013 but revenue in 2014 reduced by 10% compared to 2013 to £1.8m and this resulted in an operating loss of £356k.

Uncertainties in the NHS resulted in the performance with Inditherm believing that the apparent slowing of growth is caused in the UK by ever-tightening financial constraints, particularly with regard to capital expenditure in the NHS, rather than a dampening of enthusiasm for its products. A trend that is set to continue.

In a report to the stock exchange Indtherm said: "The company's lack of scale has meant that the level of overheads has prevented profitable trading in any full year. The overheads include, inter alia, costs associated with the public company status, management costs and development costs.

"Accordingly, the Inditherm directors identified the need to make the business part of a larger entity, thereby allowing the medical business to grow with fewer constraints. As a result, in September 2014 the company announced that it was reviewing strategic options with the objective of creating shareholder value.

"The Inditherm directors have reviewed many potential options, most of which have now been eliminated. Of those remaining, the Inditherm directors are of the opinion that the proposed Acquisition is substantially the most attractive with regard to potential shareholder value."

Considered a reverse takeover, Inditherm would acquire the entire issued share capital of Inspiration with the vendors receiving 83.3% of the share capital when the new, enlarged group is readmitted to the stock market. The acquisition values the issued share capital of Inspiration at £7.2m.

A proposed new board would see Mark Abrahams, chairman of Inditherm, become non-executive chairman of the new group, which is set to see Inditherm renamed Inspiration Healthcare Group plc. Nick Bettles, who joined Inditherm in 2004, is set to stand down as chief executive of the company.

The new group is set to strengthen its market position in the UK and overseas through organic growth, new distribution arrangements and introducing new own-branded products. The group will also be in a position to offer more products to distributors, gaining economies of scale and competitive advantages.

Mark Abrahams, chairman of Inditherm, said: "We have believed for some time that there is underlying value in Inditherm, but the combination of small scale and overhead costs have been a constraint. This transaction has the potential to unlock shareholder value and represents an excellent outcome to our review of strategic options which we have undertaken over the last year."

The proposals are set to be approved at the company's general meeting in June.

Inditherm website

Images: Inditherm

Read more...

News: Council seeks views of businesses

Businesses are to be asked for their views about Rotherham – what's good, bad and what needs to change – as part of a consultation which will shape future services in the borough.


The "Views from Rotherham" consultation is launched online this month and will be accompanied by a number of roadshows visiting organisations and community groups.

Barnsley & Rotherham Chamber of Commerce is hosting the first business-focused event on June 16, hosted by the leader of the council, and will have a commissioner attending.

After a number of reports highlighted serious failings across the authority, an intervention package was announced and saw commissioners appointed who will provide new leadership and take on all executive functions of the authority.

An unprecedented step, the five commissioners have been appointed for a period of up to four years and could be in charge of the Council until March 2019.

Each of the commissioners will consider significant decisions in their own areas of responsibility, working alongside elected members and senior managers.

Cllr. Chris Read, leader of Rotherham Council, said: "In rebuilding our town, and trust and confidence in local services, we need to listen to local people.

"We need to get things right on how we address the issue of child sexual exploitation - but that’s just the beginning. How do we go about providing security for elderly people in retirement? How do we secure the jobs that young people need to give them a prosperous future? What's the council's role in all of that?

"We want to hear from as many people as possible – your hopes, your concerns, what we need to do more of and, where we've gone wrong, what we need to do about it."

Based around providing "a fresh start," a draft Improvement Plan for Rotherham Council was discussed at a recent full council meeting.

RMBC website
Barnsley & Rotherham Chamber website

Images: RMBC

Read more...

News: Mozit IT revving up for charity challenge

A driven Rotherham-based IT entrepreneur is heading out on the road to raise money for the local branch of the National Autistic Society (NAS), and it's Monte Carlo or bust.

Colin O'Donnell, who runs Mozit IT in Parkgate, is gearing up to take part in a "Banger Rally Adventure," crossing Europe with co-driver Richard Hessey from ASC Metals, a friend from university, in a car that cost just £300.

The 1994 Toyota Celica will set off from Belgium on June 4 on "Operation Black Forest Gateau" alongside an assortment of other bangers and their teams kitted out in fancy dress. Taking part in challenges along the way, the teams will drive to Freiburg and then Lake Como, before ending in Monte Carlo on June 7.

The firm has received generous support from businesses in Rotherham and Sheffield with sponsors signing up to have their company name on the side of the car.

Rotherham-based AP Tyres, Brampton MOT and Frontier Diagnostics have been instrumental in getting the car onto the start line.

Colin O'Donnell, managing director at Mozit IT (pictured, centre), said: "Mozit is funding the cost of the event and all sponsorship money will be donated to the Rotherham National Autistic Society charity who we have helped with website and IT for the last six years.

"The challenge was to source a car for no more than £300 (we are allowed to spend more to ensure its road worthiness!) and drive through four countries in three days."

The NAS Rotherham branch launched in October 2008 and is run on a voluntary basis by parents, carers and also adults with autism spectrum conditions. The branch relies on donations to run monthly peer support meetings and activities for both families and adults with autism, in addition to raising awareness of autism and supporting and encouraging the development of autism services in Rotherham.

Colin and Richard's "Lizard King" team is hoping to raise £3,000 for NAS Rotherham with sponsorship opportunities still available.

Mozit IT website

Images: Mozit IT

Read more...

News: Newbold Family's wish for Wentworth Woodhouse

The charitable trust hoping to buy Wentworth Woodhouse in Rotherham have found it difficult to raise the necessary funding.

The largest privately-owned house in Europe officially went on the market with Savills plc this week with an asking price of in excess of £8m.

The Newbold family confirmed that they had decided to sell the historic Grade I listed mansion house at the end of last year. By agreement with the family, the newly formed Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust (WWPT) began fundraising, raising pledges of £3.4m and preparing detailed plans for the future of the property.

The trust aims to acquire the property if it can raise £7m. A further £42m needs to be spent on the fabric of the house over the next twelve to fifteen years to meet the backlog of repairs and subsidence damage.

Save Britain's Heritage (SAVE), which campaigns for threatened historic buildings in Britain, has been working on the plans with leading country house experts and entrepreneurs that would see the preservation of the house and grounds on a long term basis and sustainable, sympathetic uses investigated for those parts of the property not open to the public.

Now the Newbold family has explained why the property has gone onto the open market.

A statement read: "Having made the reluctant decision to sell, it was always the plan to bring Wentworth Woodhouse to the market in the Spring of 2015.

"It is the family's greatest wish to find someone to carry on our work and see the house in safe hands and secure for the long term.

"Various discussions have taken place over the last couple of years with SAVE, while they have tried to gain support for a charitable trust to take it over.

"It has not been as easy as everyone hoped to raise the necessary funding and thus we are continuing to look for an individual or organisation to whom we can pass on the baton of stewardship for future generations to enjoy."

John Healey, MP for Wentworth and Dearne, tried to raise the issue in the House of Commons earlier this year when he put forward an early day motion for debate. It called on the Government to step in and support efforts to save Wentworth Woodhouse, alongside the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF), a fund of last resort to save items of outstanding importance to the nation's heritage.

The motion read: "That this House commends the current plans to secure the future of one of the grandest stately homes in England, Wentworth Woodhouse in South Yorkshire, by placing it in a charitable trust and opening it to the public; acknowledges the exceptional splendour of this house and recognises the work already carried out in restoring parkland, lakes, monuments and temples, as well as repairs to the house itself; underlines the huge potential stimulus to economic regeneration in South Yorkshire; and calls on the Government and the National Heritage Memorial Fund to recognise the imperative to give strong and urgent support to these efforts."

Wentworth Woodhouse website

Images: Savills

Read more...

News: New sponsorship deals for Millers

Balreed, a provider of document and print technology, has been announced as a new shirt sponsor of Rotherham United football club.

The new deal will see the Kent company's name across the front of the away shirt for the forthcoming Sky Bet Championship season. Balreed are no strangers to the club having put their name to the AESSEAL New York Stadium scoreboard, as well as sponsoring the back of the home and away shorts throughout the 2014/2015 campaign.

Steve Coakley, commercial director at Rotherham United, said: "We are thrilled to continue to develop a very successful collaboration between Rotherham United Football Club and Balreed. Since our move into the AESSEAL New York Stadium our partnership with Balreed has flourished and the sponsorship of the away shirt for the forthcoming Sky Bet Championship is a fantastic deal for both parties."

Richard Brewin, director of Balreed, added: "I'm excited about the new shirt sponsorship. Like Rotherham United, we grew rapidly last year and opened a number of new offices. We now have a large team in the north who continue to deliver superb levels of care to our clients. Working with local organisations, like Rotherham United, is very important to us and we are looking forward to continuing to raise our profiles together through our partnership."

Balreed, established in 1977, is one of the UK's leading independent providers of document and print technology and services. They have a rich history in supporting sporting clubs and/or events across the country which includes Kent County Cricket Club and Warwickshire County Cricket Club amongst others.

The Millers have also announced that they have extended their partnership with Westfield Health which will see the disabled enclosures at the AESSEAL New York Stadium continue to be branded for the 2015/16 campaign.

Coakley added: "Rotherham United are proud to extend our affiliation with Westfield Health that will see disabled areas carry their name for another season.

"We have worked with Westfield in a number of commercial areas for many years now, so I am personally delighted that this will continue into the future."

Westfield Health is a Sheffield-based not for profit health insurance company formed almost a century ago.

Rotherham United have also extended their partnership with Broadsword UK, as the official print and signage partner for the club, for a further year.

Broadsword UK have been responsible for a number of visual improvements in and around AESSEAL New York Stadium over the past 18 months, after formally agreeing to be a club partner at the start of 2014.

Dave Race, managing director of Broadsword, and long time Millers supporter, added: "We have really enjoyed working with Rotherham United over the past 18 months and we are excited about the future opportunities we have as we look towards another season of Championship football.

"It is fantastic to see the club doing so well and everyone at Broadsword are extremely proud of the association during what is turning out to be a real golden period in the club's history."

Rotherham United website
Balreed website
Westfield Health website
Broadsword UK website

Images: RUFC

Read more...

News: Chamber stars in movie spectacular

Thousands of pounds have been raised for the Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber president's charity fund thanks to the movies-inspired Annual Ball which took place at Elsecar Heritage Centre earlier this month.

The "Saturday Night at the Movies" annual ball welcomed guests from across the region to experience movies through the decades with entertainment displaying a 100 years of movies.

The event increased the total funds in the president's charity pot to over £5,000 which will be donated to local member charities at this year's Barnsley and Rotherham Business Awards. Charities will have the opportunity to apply to become the Chamber's charity of the year and receive a cash prize as a donation to their charity. Of the shortlisted five charities, all will receive a donation.

The president's annual ball was hosted for the first time by current president, Paul Jagger MBE. He said: "I am overwhelmed by the support we have received from local businesses coming together to raise thousands for the president's charity fund. There are many charitable organisations in our region in need of support and guests of the event should be proud their contributions will go to supporting worthy causes."

The Gillian Banks Theatre School once again provided outstanding entertainment and took guests on a journey through time with performances from the 1920's through to the noughties. Guests were treated to performances from Snow White, The Wizard of Oz, Star Wars and the Saturday Night Fever to name a few.

Last year's funds raised went to supporting five charities announced at the 2014 Barnsley and Rotherham Business Awards – City Hearts, Health Deafinitions, The Lindley Educational Trust and Shiloh Rotherham, with The Pippa Jones Little Treasure Trust being named charity of the year and receiving the top prize.

Charities will be encouraged to enter the 2015 Business Awards with the chance to receive the prize monies and be names the new charity of the year for 2015.

Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber website

Images: Gillian Banks Theatre School / twitter

Read more...

News: Wentworth Woodhouse on the market

Wentworth Woodhouse in Rotherham, the largest privately-owned house in Europe, has gone on the market with Savills plc with an asking price of in excess of £8m.

The Newbold family confirmed that they had decided to sell the historic Grade I listed mansion house at the end of last year.

The East Front of the house (pictured, top) measures 615 feet and its courts and buildings cover three acres or more of ground. It is thought to have 365 rooms but given its sheer size it is difficult to know what constitutes a corridor and what constitutes a room.

The estate extends to some 82 acres of gardens, parkland and woodland surrounded by the greater park and farmland of the Fitzwilliam Estate.

By agreement with the Newbold family, who bought the house for a reported £2m, the newly formed Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust (WWPT) began fundraising last year and raised pledges of £3.4m and prepared detailed plans for the future of the property. The trust aims to acquire the property if it can raise £7m. A further £42m needs to be spent on the fabric of the house over the next twelve to fifteen years to meet the backlog of repairs and subsidence damage.

Plans prepared for the trust include continuing to offer tours to the public which would be carried out by the National Trust, using the building for events, creating holiday lets and apartments for rent, and converting the stables for use by enterprising businesses.

Earlier this month, the Newbold Family announced the death of Mr Clifford James Newbold, the man who saved Wentworth Woodhouse and invested millions after acquiring it in 1999, later opening up to the public in 2012.

Now, Savills has begun advertising the property for sale, describing it as "one of the finest and grandest Georgian houses in England."

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, over 600 ft long, in the later palladian style.

It includes notable rooms including the pillared hall, the marble saloon (pictured, above), the Whistlejacket Room, the Ante drawing room and Van Dyke room.

The West Front (pictured, below) contains the oldest elements of the house and the ground floor contains a suite of rooms which were formally part of the services area. On the first floor, where the Newbold family have apartments, include some very fine interiors from various periods and further state rooms. The agents point out: "Of particular note is the Long Gallery which has been beautifully restored by the present owners."

The south wing, known as "bedlam" due to its use by students, has lost much of its original character having been significantly adapted for use as Lady Mabel College.

The property also includes the impressive stable block, designed by John Carr, to provide the 84 racehorses owned Second Marquess of Rockingham with their own palatial surroundings.

A 1970s halls of residence, redundant teaching rooms and a swimming pool are also on site as are Camellia House, the 19th century glazed conservatory, the remaining gardens that are in need of full restoration and the impressive South Terrace.

New owners would also be taking on a lengthy multimillion pound legal battle with the Coal Authority, that should come to a head in 2016.

Wentworth Woodhouse website
Savills website

Images: Savills

Read more...

News: Fishing Republic looking to catch investors' eyes

Eastwood-based Fishing Republic, one of the largest retailers of fishing tackle in the UK, is set to be the latest Rotherham firm to venture on to the stock market and raise significant funding for growth.

Lureflash International Ltd was launched in May 1985 and grew steadily, branching out into wholesale and broadening its sales lines from fly fishing tackle to fishing tackle in general. In June 2005 the company launched Fishing Republic, its retail arm which was specifically designed to appeal to all types of anglers.

It operates seven stores in the North of England including its Rotherham store on Chesterton Road, which incorporates the company's head office and over 30,000 sq ft of warehouse capacity. The online operation gives access to 16,500 different angling products.

Advertisement

Fishing Republic has now signified its intention to float on AIM, the London Stock Exchange's international market for smaller growing companies.

Documents announcing the intentions state: "As part of its growth strategy, the group is looking to act as a consolidator in the sector by acquiring other fishing tackle retailers and also open new stores. In line with this strategy, Fishing Republic is considering various acquisition opportunities and is planning on opening a new store in Birmingham."

The firm was established in Rotherham by Steve Gross, a director and board member of the Angling Trade Association (ATA) and the Angling Foundation and an accomplished angler who represented England in competition, when he was 13 years old, selling fishing flies and fly tying materials to fishing tackle wholesalers.

In 1988 the business moved into rented premises in Mexborough and opened its first retail outlet and mail order operation in 1999. New stores and continued expansion saw the business move to a large warehouse in Rotherham in 2005. Fishing Republic has also developed a range of own brand products, including Klobba for clothing and Theseus for fishing tackle.

Northland Capital Partners Limited are the nominated advisors with shares in Fishing Republic set to begin trading on June 4. The number of shares, share price and amount of capital that the company hopes to raise through floating has not yet been disclosed.

With James Newman, chairman of Finance Yorkshire and chairman of the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, on board as an independent non-executive chairman, Fishing Republic will do well to replicate the recent success of another Rotherham retailer, Crawshaw. The AIM-listed butchery firm currently has 23 retail outlets and last year raised £9m through shares to support the acceleration of its store opening programme which aims to reach 200 stores within eight years.

Other Rotherham firms on the stock market include the innovative Xeros Technology Group; Harworth, the leading regeneration specialist and developer of brownfield land; United Carpets, the UK's largest franchised carpet retailer; and Inditherm, the supplier of innovative medical products.

Fishing Republic website

Images: Fishing Republic

Read more...

News: Harworth continues to make good progress

Rotherham-based Harworth Group, one of the largest property and regeneration companies across the North of England and the Midlands, has made good progress across its portfolio of sites and is set to bring forward capital investment at the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham.

The company, which is based on its own flagship Waverley development, manages around 31,370 acres across some 200 projects, with consent for 8,000 new homes. It was created through the complex restructure of what was UK Coal.

Today the listed company holds its Annual General Meeting and will report on current trading, financial performance and the outlook for the current financial year.

Progress has been made during the first four months of the year with house building underway at the Prince of Wales site in Pontefract and the Torne Park development at the site of the former Rossington Colliery in Doncaster, where more plots of land for sale to additional housebuilders are available.

Industrial development continues at the Logistics North site in Bolton and at Rockingham in Barnsley, where the three units, together totaling 65,000 square feet, are under construction and all of which are pre-let.

Owen Michaelson, chief executive of Harworth Group, said: "Activity in the housing market in the regions in which we operate remains strong.

"Given the strength of the group's balance sheet, and following careful consideration by the Board, we have brought forward capital investment at Logistics North in Greater Manchester and the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham to ensure we have land available for immediate occupation on the next phases of these developments to take advantage of positive market conditions, which we believe will create long-term value for shareholders.

"As usual, we expect residential and commercial sales for the year to be weighted towards the second half and our performance continues to be in line with management's expectations."

The recent restructure enabled the group to secure a new £65m, five year bank facility (£60m revolving credit facility and £5m bond facility) with Royal Bank of Scotland which paid off existing bank facilities and should allow more financing flexibility.

The directors believe that the new structure will allow the group to access capital on better terms than it has in the past, accelerating existing investment opportunities and increasing the potential to acquire new land for redevelopment.

Harworth Group website

Images: Harworth Group

Read more...

News: Tata's turnaround at European operations

Indian-owned Tata Steel has seen steady improvements in European performance over the year leading to a reported profit of £109.8m.

Reporting its financial results for the 2014-15 financial year, and the quarter which ended on ending March 31 2015, the group reported a £8.11 billion annual turnover for its European operations, 8.2% down on the previous year. However, the operation's profitability (EBIT / earnings before taxes) was reported at £109.8m, a turnaround from the £16m loss in the previous year.

Tata Steel Europe saw relatively stable levels of production and deliveries in the year but profits were boosted by differentiated products. An objective of supporting customer success in their own markets through product and service improvement is being pursued. This means introducing new products and in Rotherham and Stocksbridge, which make up an important production base for aerospace steels, sites have been benefiting from significant investment and a focus on a high-quality portfolio programme.

35 new products were added in the year taking the total to 113 now in the European portfolio. Sales of new products increased by 16% and more than a third of company's overall sales are now differentiated steels.

Profits for the last quarter of the financial year were £30.3m for the European operation, down on the previous quarter but up from the breakeven reported in the same quarter of the previous year.

Karl Koehler, chief executive of Tata Steel's European operations, said: "We continued to make steady progress on our strategic transformation to become a customer-orientated, financially sustainable company despite weakening market conditions in the last six months.

"Our financial performance improved due to our market differentiation strategy, as well as wider market spreads and continued cost control. We launched 35 new products for customers during the year, including a premium quality surface finish for car body panels, a lighter-weight construction steel and a new steel grade for tractor wheels.

"In the coming year we see opportunities to further improve sales through higher precision. EU demand is forecast to grow modestly again and the EU steel industry is in a stronger position to benefit than it was pre-crisis. But surging Chinese exports look set to remain a serious concern."

Tata said that EU steel demand is expected to grow by +1.8% in 2015 as market conditions improve. The depreciated euro is expected to boost competitiveness in the European mainland though UK manufacturers are facing "currency headwinds."

The declining steel demand and increased production in China is expected to result in continued high exports levels to Europe with knock-on margin pressure for European producers like Tata.

After the year end, Tata Steel reported a write down of £500m mainly relating to the Long Products UK business in Tata Steel Europe. The under performing arm is up for sale.

This week it was announced that Unite, the country's largest union, will ballot its 6,000 members at Tata Steel UK for industrial action over its proposal to close the British Steel pension scheme. Community, GMB, and UCATT gave official legal notice to Tata Steel UK Ltd about their intentions to ballot earlier in May.

As the first national industrial action in the industry for 30 years looms, Tata Steel said that it "remains open to unconditional talks with the unions to find resolutions to the challenges facing the pension scheme."

Tata Steel website

Images: Tata Steel

Read more...

News: Rotherham hoping for Korea boost

Officials from South Korea have been on a trade visit to Rotherham this week, the first time a business delegation led by a representative of the South Korean government has visited a British region outside London.

The 30-strong group is in Rotherham and Sheffield and is led by Mr Han Junghwa, who heads the Republic of Korea's (RoK) Small and Medium Business Administration, a government department with a £4.7bn budget. It is hoped the visit to Yorkshire could lead to more two-way trade and investment in the UK.

Trade between the two countries in 2014 totalled £8.4bn, 21% up on 2013. The UK is now South Korea's second-largest trading partner among EU countries. Exports of UK goods increased 82 per cent year-on-year in 2012, making South Korea the single largest growth market for UK exports. The country's SME sector generates some £63.3bn-worth of exports a year.

The high-profile event is a success conceived and delivered by INKE, the International Network of Korean Entrepreneurs – with 1,500 member companies in 49 countries worldwide – and the Rotherham-based chairman of its UK chapter, Dabriel Choi.

Main support for the visit is from Rotherham Investment and Development Office (RiDO) and the University of Sheffield. RiDO – the regeneration arm of the Council – had previously helped Mr. Choi locate his trade-and-investment support company, TRoom, in Rotherham.

Earlier this year it was announced that South Korean multinational KD Navien had chosen Rotherham for its UK HQ. The leading manufacturer of condensing boilers also plans to open training centres and a research and development (R&D) facility in the Sheffield city region. It was entering lease negotiations following a visit to a number of sites in the region and was looking to set up temporarily for the first two years. The potential is to relocate to the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham.

Mr Choi, managing director of TRoom, said: "This is a massively significant visit, all the more so because it is led by Mr Han, whose role is equivalent in the UK to the most senior departmental civil servant, Permanent Secretary.

"A major attraction for the delegation is Rotherham's Advanced Manufacturing Park and the thrust of advanced manufacturing within Sheffield City Region.

"The visit will raise South Yorkshire's profile in South Korea as a manufacturing base and introduce innovative, entrepreneurial Korean companies to the region to create mutually advantageous co-operation."

Cllr. Chris Read, leader of Rotherham Council, added: "Our South Korean visitors are aware of advanced manufacturing here and our proposed Innovation District – a cluster of hi-tech firms in the Sheffield City Region. They want to talk to companies they could partner and we're showing them we are supportive and active in bringing investment and quality long-term jobs into the region."

Tim O'Connell, business and retail investment manager at RiDO, added: "We want to build a relationship with South Korea and get on the radar of investors – show them we have a strong manufacturing supply chain and that we're well positioned for those wanting to get into the European market."

RiDO website

Images: Harworth Estates

Read more...

News: MGB invests in Rotherham facility

Manufacturing firm, MGB Plastics, has made a seven figure investment in new machinery at its Rotherham facility to help increase production and target new markets.

MGB Plastics is the UK's leading manufacturer of wheeled bins and kitchen caddies and its 5,000 sq m Barbot Hall facility has been expanded a number of times and now has the manufacturing capacity of two million wheeled bins per annum.

A deal concluded last year saw Dublin-based One51plc, the owner of MGB, acquire Yorkshire firm Straight plc for £10.7m. The parent company brought together seven businesses under a new brand called OnePlastics Group, created with a vision to be the leading provider of plastics products to a variety of sectors.

As it looks to post a record-breaking year, the company has already secured a number of contracts with local authorities, including multi-million pound contracts from Birmingham City Council as part of the largest roll-out of bins ever seen in Western Europe and a four year contract to supply wheeled bins and containers to Rotherham Council.

The group has shown commitment to UK manufacturing by bolstering its business with a new 2700t Krauss Maffei injection moulding machine at its Rotherham factory.

The recent addition - its fourth investment in as many years - will complement its existing portfolio of equipment to allow the company to manufacture more products, cope with extra demand and boost sales as it targets a growing share of the market.

Karl Stillman, group sales director at OnePlastics, said: "We are delighted to have acquired this new machine which is central to our long-term plans and a perfect complement to our existing portfolio. It will fulfil our immediate requirements of existing clients while giving us that extra production capacity to cope with extra demand as we look to increase our client base.

"We are seeing a strong order intake from clients within all of our chosen market sectors and are expecting a record breaking year in 2015. 

"The investment programme fits perfectly with the strategic goal of OnePlastics parent company One51 Plc to grow both organically and through acquisition."

The new Krauss Maffei 2700t injection moulding machine tool will mean reduced setup times leading to increased flexibility and energy efficiency combined with shorter production lead times.

Alongside recent purchases of 2300t and 2700t Krauss Maffei machines, MGB Plastics now operates one of the largest selections of heavy tonnage injection moulding machines in the UK.

MGB Plastics website

Images: MGB Plastics

Read more...

News: Steel firm sentenced over injury

A Rotherham steel processing company admitted safety failings after one of its workers had his arm crushed in machinery.

Roger Marshall had his arm amputated after it was crushed by a machine he was using to straighten steel coils before cutting them into lengths at Hi-Tech Special Steels Ltd in Dinnington.

Rotherham Magistrates' Court heard the machine was still being set up to draw the steel coil at the time of the incident, and the worker had only drawn two lengths before stopping because the bars were coming out unevenly.

The employee bent over to examine the die and could see that one of the small pieces of metal offcuts positioned to assist in the straightening process had fallen out of position.

While repositioning the displaced metal he was struck by the clamp head of the machine ram which crushed his left arm against the die block.

The company admitted that they had failed to carryout a suitable and sufficient risk assessment that may have helped to identify the shortcomings in machinery guarding.

Although Mr Marshall was an experienced operator, the training he received did not cover health and safety issues. Had these gaps in guarding been identified and Mr Marshall had been trained for health and safety purposes that accident would not have happened.

Hi-Tech Special Steels Ltd, from Rotherham Road, Dinnington, South Sheffield S25 3RF pleaded guilty after a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found the "drawbench" machine to be inadequately guarded, with ready access to dangerous parts.

The firm was fined £10,000 with a £1000 victim surcharge and £2167 costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Read more...

News: Opportunities arise at Eadon

Engineering design consultancy, Eadon Consulting, continues to grow by finding the right talent and developing them through internships.

The company works across a number of sectors, with expertise in mechanical, control, hydraulic and structural design and has has moved office four times in six years within the AMP Technology Centre on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham due to the growing nature of the business.

Operating within a very specialist field, recruitment has always been a challenge and graduate internships has been the solution for the business that needs talented, skilled people with an enthusiasm and thirst for more in-depth industry knowledge.

Now with 15 staff, Eadon has worked with the RISE project since it launched in 2012, taking four graduates and employing three on a permanent basis.

RISE is an initiative between Sheffield City Council, Sheffield Hallam University and University of Sheffield that connects businesses with graduates. It was set up in response to SME feedback around recruiting graduates, which highlighted issues such as not having a training framework for a graduate employee and assessment centre style recruitment processes to find the "right" candidate being too expensive. Graduates also had concerns around employment opportunities.

James Hill, director at Eadon Consulting (pictured, right), said: "In the past it was common for engineers to undergo some form of apprenticeship as part of their formal training. In today's world most engineers leave university having really enjoyed the academic side; in which case they often follow an employment path that allows them to specialise in calculations. Or, having developed a love of the creative aspects, they follow a design route into the workplace. We wanted an internship because this would allow us to marry these two skill sets with the more traditional in-house training of manufacturing methods and "drafting", something which we just wouldn't be able to achieve in the same way by employing a graduate without a period of mentorship.

"I honestly believe that we need schemes like RISE to secure our future. Engineering is a rapidly evolving industry but we must not lose the skill set and knowledge of our most experienced practitioners. Internships, much like apprenticeships, enable us to train the next generation of engineers so that knowledge is advanced rather than exchanged. It bridges the gap between academia and working practice."

RISE has gone from strength to strength, recruiting a further four rounds of graduates into SMEs and announcing its seventh intake to commence in June - RISE 7.

In addition to managing the recruitment and placement process, RISE provides six months on-going support and a wage subsidy of £1,000 for employers to use with their first newly appointed graduate. It is open to businesses with less than 250 employees and their own premises in Sheffield city region.

Other Rotherham firms benefiting from the RISE scheme include HBM nCode, Massarella Catering and Moorhead Savage.

Eadon Consulting website

Images: Sheffield City Council

Read more...

News: Revenues and profits up at Greencore

Leading convenience food manufacturer, Greencore, has reported strong half year results, despite what it calls a "difficult" UK market which saw one quiche customer move manufacturing in house.

The Irish group has 28 sites in the UK and employs around 3,000 people in Yorkshire. Greencore Prepared Meals at Wales Bar in Rotherham is one of five sites in the Prepared Meals division and prepares quiches, ready meals and soups.

For the 26 weeks ended March 27 2015, Greencore reported revenue of £639.8m, up 3.2% on the same period last year. Operating profit of £40.1m increased by 7.8% and was driven by the increase in revenue, continued operational improvements and focus on cost control.

Greencore said its revenue growth continues to be driven by the food-to-go business, which demonstrated like-for-like growth of 8.7%.

Greencore's Prepared Meals business produces chilled ready meals, chilled sauces, chilled soup and quiche for the major retailers in the UK. The business, like most of the categories in which it operates, is largely "own brand" label, although products are produced under license for the Weight Watchers brand. It represents approximately 20% of group revenue.

The financial results stated that the chilled ready meals market grew by 2.5% in the period whilst the principal sub-category, Italian chilled ready meals, experienced robust growth of 8.9%. The quiche market grew at 0.4% in the period whilst the chilled soup market grew by 3.2%.

It added: "The Prepared Meals business grew by 2.4% in the period. Our ready meals activity performed well in the period, ahead of the overall ready meals market due to customer specific activity in Italian meals. Soup also outperformed its market following new product launches. However, quiche sales were lower year on year as one customer moved the manufacture of some lines in house during 2014."

The Rotherham facility bakes over a hundred thousand quiche a day and uses over 35 million eggs a year.

Over the past number of years, Greencore has invested in the former Hazlewood Foods facility, increasing ready meals, quiche and soup capacity. These investments were largely driven by secured business wins, supplemented by incremental investments in capacity to support future growth with existing and new customers.

The investments are aligned with the strategy to have market leading positions in convenience food categories that are complementary to the food to go category.

The current focus of investment is to support growth in food to go in both the UK and US markets.

Greencore website

Images: Greencore

Read more...

News: Recruitment for Growth Hub

Recruitment is underway for the "core team" at the Growth Hub - the clear model for coordinating and simplifying business support so that it joins up national, local, public and private business provisions across the Sheffield city region.

"The most ambitious, business-led Growth Hub in the country" is seen as central to the business-facing elements of the Local Enteprise Partnership's (LEP's) Strategic Economic Plan, which set an ambitious target of creating 70,000 new jobs in the Sheffield City Region by 2023.

£4.5m of existing Local Growth Fund allocation will be used to set up the hub which is then expected to be backed by £83.5m of European funding. £500,000 has been secured to pilot the project in the next financial year with initial work undertaken to assess what support is already available.

The head of Growth Hub will be responsible for driving the vision outlined in the strategic plan and "operationalising" the Growth Hub in order to grow the region's businesses. With a salary of £54,100 - £58,437, it is described as a strategically significant role and will entail working with senior officials in national and local government and the private sector.

Advertisement

Designed by business leaders for business leaders, the Growth Hub aims to remove internal boundaries within the city region, so that every growing business gets the support it needs to thrive.

Growth Accelerator, the Manufacturing Advisory Service and other national services will be aligned with local business support through the hub, so that businesses get a joined up service which meets their needs. With one website and one phone number, this will include co-location, referrals, marketing, diagnostics, evaluation, customer acquisition and the simplification of local and national business support.

Other vacancies for the Growth Hub include policy and business intelligence officer and gateway and communications officers. A head of performance on a salary of £48,583 - £52,816 is also being recruited to focus on ensuring that the LEPs and combined authority's investments are developed, delivered and implemented in line with the approved Strategic Economic Plan.

The long term aim is for the Growth Hub to have a "core" of first line support and a pool of business advisors, allocated to a "patch" but managed centrally. The actual delivery of services to businesses is still set to be carried out by the different agencies focusing on aspects such as access to finance, export, innovation, and skills - the "spokes" to the Growth Hub model - but all brought together as one central "Growth Deal" for the individual businesses.

The Growth Hub is also set to commission products that are accessible to any business regardless of location, ending the postcode lottery of support in the city region.

£2m of LEP funding is set to be used to fund the small "core" of the Growth Hub up to 2020/21 and £2m is set to be made available to the "spokes" of the Growth Hub to fund activity.

Sheffield City Region LEP website

Images: Sheffield City Region LEP

Read more...

News: Titans to be taken forward by new owners

Nick Cragg and Martin Jenkinson have announced that they would like to step back from their custodianship of Rotherham Titans, the borough's rugby union club, and are inviting interested parties and individuals to come forward and take Titans to the next level.

The successful Rotherham businessmen were part of a consortium that saved the club in 2004 after the previous owner withdrew their financial backing.

Nick Cragg established Stafforce Recruitment in 1977 and with a head office on Percy Street in Rotherham town centre and a UK-wide network of 28 sites, Stafforce offers a range of services to clients through its Stafforce Recruitment and Nicholas Associates brands.

Martin Jenkinson founded Jenkinson Insurance, a large, owner-managed commercial insurance brokerage, in 1988. It recently had plans approved to move its operations to Hellaby due to expansion.

The pair, who both played for the club, said in a statement that the Titans are now searching for "the right calibre of new ownership that can accelerate the club's objectives and who will provide both leadership and support benefiting the interests of the club, the players and the supporters."

The Championship club, who ended the season in the playoffs to reach English Rugby's Premiership again this year, have encountered difficulties with the landlords of their Clifton Lane ground, the Rotherham Athletic Company, and ground sharing Rotherham Town cricket club.

The statement continued: "Cragg and Jenkinson are passionate about the club's prospects and firmly believe the Titans represent an exciting opportunity for new owners with vision, passion and funding to take the club to the next level. Without any doubt, the prospective new owners can capitalise on the club's solid foundations and drive the Titans toward promotion to the Premiership."

Nick Cragg, chairman of Rotherham Titans, said: "We are immensely proud of our achievements in taking the Titans to a top four Championship club over the last ten years. The club's journey doesn't end here; with the anticipation of the Rugby World Cup in England in September, plus the announcement of additional financial support from the Rugby Football Union for the forthcoming season, there has never been a better time for the next generation to come forward and take the reins.

"It appears that many professional clubs, both Premiership and Championship, are striving to find a model which is sustainable and we are no different. It could be that this proposition rests on the shoulders of the many rather than the shoulders of the few. Now is the time for Titans to take that exciting step into the future."

Martin Jenkinson, director at Rotherham Titans, added: "Running a Championship level club in Rotherham has required commitment and hard work; this is neither an affluent nor a traditional rugby area. Over the last ten years we have built solid and lasting relationships with the business community, the local authority and the amateur club overcoming many of the challenges we faced upon taking ownership. We now need fresh ideas and support if the club is to continue to produce the level of rugby that we all love to see."

Rotherham Titans website

Images: Rotherham Titans / Select Images Photography

Read more...