News: Where next in Rotherham for McDonald's?

Early stage plans are being prepared for a new development on the edge of a town in Rotherham, featuring a new petrol station, McDonald's restaurant and a drive thru coffee shop.

The most recent McDonald's in Rotherham opened in Dinnington last year, creating 70 full time equivalent jobs.

Now a planning enquiry has been made to Rotherham Council regarding an unused piece of land close to Wath town centre.

Feasability plans from Valli Forecourts show a mixed-use development comprising a Petrol Filling Station (PFS), a drive-thru coffee shop and a drive-thru restaurant on land adjacent to the A633 Station Road near Wath roundabout.

On the opposite side of the road to the recreation ground, and backing on to the Cross Keys pub, the brownfield site is currently occupied by a Cadent gas works and undeveloped land, bounded to the north by commercial uses and undeveloped land to the east and south.

The plans, seen by Rothbiz, are for the construction of a twelve filling bay PFS, ancillary retail kiosk and associated parking provision, including six-bay Electric Vehicle (EV) charging hub, as well as jet washing bays and rollover car wash.

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The proposals would also see the provision of a 3,300 sq ft drive-thru restaurant to the east of the site (identified on plans as a McDonald's), and a 2,150 sq ft drive-thru coffee shop to the south of the site (an operator is not shown on the plans). Separate dedicated parking provisions would be included within each plot.

The proposals would see a new access constructed into the site off Station Road, to the northwest of the site, including a new pedestrian refuge island.

The land is part of a much larger area designated as Industrial & Business Use in the borough's local plan.

Rotherham Council planners recommended that the planning board reject the Dinnington proposals stating that: "by virtue of its range and quality of employment opportunities, it has little positive contribution to the borough and would not meet the criteria [for industrial use]."

Planning permission was approved when the planning board at Rotherham Council went against the recommendation of officers.

Valli Forecourts website

Images: McDonald's / Google Maps

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News: Rotherham engineering firm acquired

Mechanical engineering specialist Fluid Sealing & Engineering (FSE) has been acquired by RSK.

Based at Parkgate, FSE was established in 1986 and works across the UK for water authorities and other industries, specialising in the supply and installation of pipework and process equipment.

Chesire-based RSK has already executed one of the most successful buy and build strategies in the environmental services sector, bringing together more than 200 businesses and more than 17,000 talented employees.

RSK said that the deal, for an undisclosed sum, would enhance the group’s water sector expertise with the business’s extensive experience in wastewater and water treatment infrastructure.

The FSE business specialises in the supply and installation of integrated mechanical systems encompassing design, off-site fabrication and on-site installation of complex fluid conveyance and pumping infrastructure within live water and wastewater treatment assets. This includes the associated structural and access steelwork that enables FSE to deliver single-package mechanical solutions.

The business operates within various water industry and national specifications – Water Industry Mechanical and Electrical Specifications (WIMES), individual water company specifications and British Standards – and holds a comprehensive suite of industry accreditations, including ISO 9001, Achilles UVDB, UKAS product certification and SSIP Worksafe.

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FSE Managing Director Lee Sanderson, who will continue to lead the business, said: “Joining the RSK Group marks a pivotal milestone in FSE’s 40-year history. Since our founding in 1986, we have taken great pride in delivering complex mechanical engineering solutions for the UK’s most critical infrastructure, and finding a partner that shares our deep-rooted commitment to safety and long-term client relationships was paramount.

“This acquisition comes at a defining moment for the water industry. Now that we are in the AMP8 cycle, the scale of investment required to modernise wastewater and water treatment assets is unprecedented. FSE is now uniquely positioned to meet this demand. With the backing of RSK, we have the enhanced capacity and resources to scale our operations, driving significant growth while continuing to support our core water authority partners and Tier 1 contractors.

“Our mission remains the same: to provide the technical excellence FSE is known for, now with the global strength of RSK behind us.”

RSK Group Chief Executive Officer Alan Ryder added: “RSK is proud of its ongoing contribution to the UK water industry, made possible by the integrated, multidisciplinary skills of colleagues across RSK businesses working together in this crucial sector. Our work to help advance water sector infrastructure development continues at pace, supported by businesses such as FSE, which bring strong regulatory credentials and clear alignment with AMP8 demand. RSK Group and FSE share a strong safety culture and a commitment to long-standing client relationships, which is extremely important to me, and I am very pleased to welcome our new colleagues onboard.”

FSE has a client base that includes Laing O’Rourke, Kier, Tilbury Douglas, JN Bentley, Murphy Group, Alfa Laval, Galliford Try, C2V, Esh Construction and GSE. FSE has also worked with the RSK Group business MWH Treatment.

Water sector clients include Scottish Water, Northumbrian Water, United Utilities, Yorkshire Water, Southern Water, Severn Trent Water, Thames Water, South West Water and Jersey Water.

Fluid Sealing & Engineering website
RSK website

Images: RSK

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News: Capital&Centric awarded £100m Rotherham regeneration contract

Leading social impact developer Capital&Centric, is set to play a key role in delivering "high quality, legacy developments" in Rotherham town centre.

Rothbiz reported in March that Rotherham Council was appointing a private sector developer for the next phase of large scale house-building in the town centre.

The contract, which could reach up to £100m in value, has been awarded to Capital&Centric.

The Manchester company specialises in unlocking and transforming "unloved" brownfield sites into vibrant, design-led neighbourhoods. It is currently working on £2bn of development across commercial, residential, hotel and leisure sectors. In neighbouring Sheffield it has secured millions to progress plans at the Cannon Brewery site.

Rothbiz reported last month on John Moffat, joint managing director of Capital&Centric taking part in a panel at UKREiiF – The UK’s Real Estate Investment & Infrastructure Forum, which was entitled: "Next Stop Rotherham - The Gateway To The Future."

In Rotherham town centre, the first phase of the contract will involve the creation of Strategic Regeneration Plans which will then be used to identify the methodology to bring various council-owned sites forward.

The sites include:

- the cleared site of the burnt-out buildings on Corporation Street
- Snail Yard - the cleared site of the former Primark store on High Street, currently a small pocket park
- The Statutes - the cleared site of the former Magistrates Court, currently used as a car park
- two sites along Sheffield Road in the area designated as Riverside Residential.

To be completed by next month, the contract for stage one is worth £397,442.

The second phase involves the creation of full business cases for each site and stage three is the actual development.

Tender documents show that a total estimated contract value across all stages is given at £100,000,000 but add "however this final sum will be determined as approvals to progress into Stages 2 and 3 are agreed." A total contract duration at this stage is not yet known and will also be determined by the first two stages.

Tender documents state: "This arrangement relates to the appointment of an experienced developer to work in partnership to accelerate the development of key town centre sites in the pursuance of the physical, social and economic regeneration of Rotherham town centre. The chosen partner will be expected to bring a commercial skill set, excellent track record and innovative concept and vision to enable the development of these strategic sites at pace.

"The partner requires a strong track record of working in similar locations and share the Council's vision to create a legacy of high-quality mixed-use developments. This will mean a commitment to creating communities, not just homes and demonstrable evidence of embedding a social value approach in all activity to ensure local people and businesses will benefit from this investment."

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

South Yorkshire has also secured £85m from a new City Densification Fund.

The projects stem from the Rotherham town centre masterplan of 2017 which confirmed the need for more housing and leisure uses as a way to develop economic vitality, bringing more life, activity and spending back into the town centre, moving away from the traditional retail market. It also highlighted the need for derelict and long-term vacant sites to be brought into public ownership.

The aim is "to bring forward new development, diversify the town centre offer and establish a new residential community" with the latest plans leading "to the development of a pipeline of detailed and deliverable schemes which align with market demand and secure the Council’s ambitions for high quality, legacy developments."

Rothbiz reported in 2024 on the potential sites and funding for redevelopment. The Council's most recent major housing development was the £30m+ "Trilogy Collection" - Westgate Riverside, Wellgate Place and Millfold Rise - that has seen 171 new homes built in partnership with Willmott Dixon. However, a previous tender exercise for the £6m scheme on Corporation Street received no interest, likely due to the smaller size of the scheme.

Capital & Centric website

Images: RMBC / ESH

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News: Opening date for Rotherham's new multimillion pound market hall

Operators, Rotherham Council, have confirmed an opening date for the new market hall in Rotherham town centre - the first phase of a £46.8m redevelopment project.

Lead contractors on behalf of Rotherham Council, Henry Boot Construction, began enabling works on the Drummond Street site in 2023. Alongside a new modern central library, the redevelopment of the markets is divided into two areas, an outdoor covered market, which is being rebuilt, and an adjacent indoor market, which is being revamped.

The New Market Hall is set to open for business on Friday July 10.

Work will continue on the library and move onto the indoor market. Traders in the current indoor market are expected to move temporarily into the New Market Hall until the revamp is complete.

The existing indoor market will remain open as usual until the move, with the last day of trading on Thursday July 2 to allow traders to relocate to the Market Hall.

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Mark Brown, Dalefarm Foods, Market Trader at Rotherham Market, said: "I’m a butcher in Rotherham Market. I’ve worked in this market since I was 16 years old, on and off for years, and I’ve been here for five or six years now.

“There’s a lot of investment going into Rotherham at this time, and moving into the new Market Hall is something we’re really looking forward to.

“We offer a lovely, fresh product at a good price, and people need to get back into the markets and support local traders.

“We do try to give people a good bargain where we can, and we’ll be putting on a lot of good offers to coax people back into Rotherham, so come down and see us on opening day.

“Let’s build Rotherham back up again."

The entrance to the Market Hall will be on Eastwood Lane (on the Rotherham College side of the building), with access through a new outdoor space where a number of market stalls will be based.

To coincide with the move, Rotherham Council has rebranded the markets, with new logos and signage, using the strapline: "More than a market.".

Cllr. John Williams, Rotherham Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, Jobs and the Local Economy, said: “This move means our traders can continue serving customers locally while improvement works to the current indoor market take place.

“We know how important the market is to Rotherham, both for shoppers and for the businesses who rely on it. The priority has been to keep that offer together, accessible and open throughout.

“The Market Hall provides a town centre location where people will still find the traders they know, supporting them while work continues.”

Rothbiz reported last month on the support being offered to traders during the redevlopment.

To complete the work, Rotherham Council's cabinet recently approved the use of various council funding pots to fill a funding gap following an increase in the total budget from £40.894m to £46.844m.

The paper included a timetable that showed that the library is planned to open later this year with the indoor market completing in Autumn 2027.

Rotherham Markets website

Images: Henry Boot / RMBC

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News: Riverside Gardens takes shape in Rotherham town centre

A transformational project is taking shape to create new public space near to Forge Island in Rotherham town centre.

A Rotherham Council scheme that has secured external government funding, work got underway last year on Riverside Gardens alongside improvements on Corporation Street.

Planning permission was approved in 2023 for a scheme using a mixture of soft and hard landscaping to create a gateway on an area extending from the demolished Riverside Precinct, covering the old abattoir site behind Market Street and passing the Old Market, Keppel Wharf and Westgate Chambers residential developments.

C R Reynolds is leading on the work which has a total budget of £8,425,749 in the council's capital programme. G & F Formwork Ltd has been on site recently creating the complex retaining walls as part of the design.

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Cllr. John Williams, Cabinet Member for Transport, Jobs and the Local Economy at Rotherham Council, said: "This is a big regeneration scheme that’s going to transform what was a previously underused area right beside the River Don, and we’re going to provide a new public garden and open space for visitors, shoppers, and residents to enjoy right here in the town centre.

"It’s a really exciting project. So what you’re going to see here is a brand new riverside walkway giving you new views overlooking the River Don and over to Forge Island. Throughout the site there’s going to be new planting, new seating, there’s going to be a children’s play area right at the top as well.

"The Riverside Gardens project is really important because regeneration isn’t just about big new buildings and infrastructure, it’s about improving and creating new public spaces for people to use and enjoy. So this new riverside walkway and public gardens is going to be here for visitors, for shoppers, for workers, for people who live and use the town centre to come and enjoy the new riverside views, to have better links to Forge Island and the rest of the town centre. And it’s just a really exciting example of the transformation that’s taking place across Rotherham town centre."

The 2017 town centre masterplan had the old abattoir site earmarked for a residential development in excess of 60 apartments. Housing plans here were also included in the 2020 hybrid planning application for Forge Island with developers including outline plans for later phases such as 50 riverside residential units on the abattoir site on the opposite side of the River Don to the cinema and hotel.

Images: Tom Austen

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