News: £220m transport bid agreed

Ambitious proposals for the future of the Sheffield City Region's (SCR's) transport network were agreed by the Mayoral Combined Authority this week, and will now be submitted to Government.

As reported by Rothbiz last month, the SCR has put together a bid to the Government's Transforming Cities Fund to back its new transport strategy.

The majority of the fund, to improve local transport connections, was divvied up to regions which had elected mayors, for them to control and spend as they see fit. As the SCR did not have an elected mayor at the time, the combined authority has had to bid into the remaining funds.

The bid, for up to £220m in funding, focuses on three large areas which could most benefit from significant improvements across rail, public transport and active travel schemes. The aim is to reduce journey times, cut congestion, improve punctuality and reliability, and bring about a wide range of benefits associated with active travel, such as improved health and wellbeing.

It focuses on three key transit corridors – the Don Valley, Dearne Valley and Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District (AMID).

Dan Jarvis,mayor of the Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield Combined Authority, said: "It is critical that we improve the transport system in our region, to create better access to major employment sites, reduce congestion, better integrate different modes of transport and make our transport network fit for the 21st century.

"That's why it's so important that we get this Transforming Cities Fund bid right, and why we've been working closely with partners across South Yorkshire to ensure that our bid has real potential to drive transformational change for our communities.

"Improving our transport links is crucial for growing our economy as we develop a Global Innovation Corridor, linking residents and businesses to our internationally-significant assets in areas such as advanced manufacturing, health and wellbeing, and engineering.

"I now look forward to working with the Department for Transport as we develop our detailed plans."

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Dan Jarvis, mayor of the Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield Combined Authority, said: "It is critical that we improve the transport system in our region, to create better access to major employment sites, reduce congestion, better integrate different modes of transport and make our transport network fit for the 21st century.

"That's why it's so important that we get this Transforming Cities Fund bid right, and why we've been working closely with partners across South Yorkshire to ensure that our bid has real potential to drive transformational change for our communities.

"Improving our transport links is crucial for growing our economy as we develop a Global Innovation Corridor, linking residents and businesses to our internationally-significant assets in areas such as advanced manufacturing, health and wellbeing, and engineering.

"I now look forward to working with the Department for Transport as we develop our detailed plans."

In order to develop the business case, a Project Board was then established, led by the SCR Executive Team and South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE), which considered potential schemes put forward by the four local authorities in South Yorkshire.

For Rotherham schemes include:

- connecting Maltby to Rotherham town centre with bus lanes and junction improvements
- bus priority measures on the A630
- active travel improvements between Barnsley and Rotherham town centres and the Dearne Valley
- creating a new access into Parkgate, as well as a new 300-space park and ride site
- providing a new station on the tram-train network at Magna
- low-emission buses

Cllr. Denise Lelliott, Rotherham Council's Cabinet member for Jobs and the Local Economy, said: "I welcome the Mayor's improvement plan for travel across South Yorkshire.

"In Rotherham this will include schemes to reduce traffic congestion, improving bus lanes and maximising the benefits of the tram train as well as helping people to move about more easily."

Over four years, a minimum of £180m and a maximum of £220m is being sought from the TCF. If the SCR gains the maximum funding, £48m would go towards the River Don corridor, £73m to the Dearne Valley and £99m to AMID.

SCR website

Images: SCR / Supertram

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News: Housing plan for empty call centre

A Rotherham building designed especially for a call centre operation could finally get tenants after being vacant for ten years.

At the centre of the Dearne Valley Enterprise Zone, Callflex Business Park includes a 35,000 sq ft office and four smaller buildings developed by development and finance company, Cannock Developments in 2002. It is now home to the Department for Work and Pensions, Keepmoat Regeneration, a G4S contact centre and South Yorkshire Police's Training Centre, but one unit, unit 7, has never been occupied.

Building 7 is a modern purpose built office / call centre building comprising 53,665 sq ft of Grade A offices, arranged over three floors. With little prospect of securing a contact centre operation, a planning application has now been submitted to assess if it would be permitted to convert the use from employment to residential use.

Applicants Castan Ltd are proposing that the building be subdivided into 62 separate dwellings.

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The plans state: "The unit was constructed to be a 53,000 sq ft call centre but was never occupied due to lack of demand.

"Callflex Business Park sits in the heart of a regenerated area. The location benefits from good transport links and integrated bus and rail networks. The local area provides significant amenities to the workforce with pubs, restaurants and nearby Cortonwood Retail Park.

"Unit 7 has been vacant for ten years and is ideal for subdivision into residential units in an attractive landscape setting. The unit is in the far corner of the site and noise and traffic is minimal in this location."

In 1995 the area was designated a ten year Enterprise Zone, offering employers and investors significant financial incentives to help rejuvenate the area. Since then, more than £200m of private funding has been invested in offices, light industrial and distribution schemes. It is estimated that around 10,000 jobs had been created in the area by 2002.

Images: Knight Frank / Jones Lang LaSalle

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News: Finnegan bags brief at £36m Rotherham retail project

Sheffield-based contractor JF Finnegan has been appointed by Helical Retail Limited to deliver Cortonwood Shopping Park, the £36m new retail development in Rotherham.

Work on site has started on a programme of works which will involve the demolition of a vacant 150,000 sq ft ALBA warehouse, following which site preparation works will take place ready for the development of 11 new retail units totalling 120,000 sq ft for occupiers to be trading by Autumn 2017.

Rothbiz reported last week that Outfit, H&M, New Look, River Island, Marks and Spencer Simply Food, Clark's, JD Sports, Wilkos, Poundland and Frankie & Benny's have all signed up to take units.

The developers believe that the new retail park will create between 279 and 372 jobs (equivalent to 186 full time jobs).

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Only passed on appeal, the planned development forms an extension to Cortonwood Retail Park which was developed by St Paul's Developments, totally transforming the site of the former Cortonwood Colliery, where the 1984 miners' strike began.

The latest contract continues JF Finnegan's long-standing involvement at the former colliery site, having constructed all 250,000 sq ft of retail units in the previous phases over the last 20 years.

Adrian Russell, of Helical Retail, said: "Our aspirations for a new retail development to enhance the existing offering at Cortonwood have been long awaited by the local residents and we are delighted to have now reached the stage where work is starting on site.

"By attracting new retailers to the area, the scheme is bringing significant capital investment and new jobs to the locality in addition to adding to the vibrancy of an already successful retail destination. We appointed JF Finnegan due to their historic involvement with Cortonwood and their strong reputation and are looking forward to seeing work progress on site."

Dawa Singh, head of pre-construction at JF Finnegan, added: "Over the years we have witnessed the transformation of Cortonwood into one of the region's most acclaimed regeneration projects and shopping destinations. We have been working alongside Helical Retail and their Project Managers PMS (Wessex) Limited for some time to develop the plans for the new extension which will ensure the continued success of the development. Our teams are now undertaking preparatory works on site."

Helical Retail has funded the development to clients of Aberdeen Asset Management for £36.3m, showing the buyer a yield of c.5.5%.

Aberdeen Asset Management PLC is a global investment management group, managing assets for institutional and retail clients from offices around the world.

JF Finnegan website

Images: Helical

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News: Rotherham business parks get broadband boost

Key business locations in Rotherham have been confirmed as areas that stand to benefit from a multimillion project to ensure 97.9% of South Yorkshire will have access to superfast broadband by the end of 2017.

Contracts were signed for a £22m project last year, developed by a partnership with the leadership of the four partners' authorities in South Yorkshire, alongside the support of the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). It is part of the government's BDUK initiative which is based on a gap funded subsidy approach, where the private sector invests alongside a public subsidy to provide broadband to areas where there is not otherwise a viable commercial market.

With further funding available by BDUK, project bosses agreed that it should be added to and used to support a proposal specifically for the South Yorkshire Enterprise Zones and key strategic business parks.

More than 30 business parks and Enterprise Zones in South Yorkshire, including Dinnington, Hellaby Industrial Estate, Dearne Valley and Gateway Industrial Park, are set to be upgraded to fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) technology - providing ultrafast broadband speeds of up to 300Mbps - thanks to the multi-million pound Superfast South Yorkshire programme.

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Natalie Ward, programme manager for Superfast South Yorkshire, said: "We understand the needs of local businesses and for several months we have been working to secure additional funding of £4.8 million to ensure that business parks and Enterprise Zones throughout South Yorkshire can benefit from ultrafast broadband. This additional work will have the knock-on effect of extending the reach of fibre broadband to 99 percent of South Yorkshire which is also fantastic news.

"Businesses are the engine room that power local economies so we have worked hard to make this happen. Faster broadband breaks down the barriers to doing business in the digital world like online trading, which helps to empower small businesses to find new markets, sell new products, try new business models and compete on an equal footing with larger businesses, not just in the UK but globally."

One business set to benefit is engineering company, Rope and Sling Specialists (RSS) Ltd which is based at the Centurion Business Park in Rotherham and supplies lifting and height safety equipment mainly for the construction industry. Angela Holmes, company accountant, said that the business sees ultrafast broadband as a key to their future growth. She said: "We need good broadband connection speeds to ensure that our customers can access our web-shop, place orders, make payments and access their invoices. For us, ultrafast is a must have technology."

More than 476,000 households and businesses in South Yorkshire now have access to high-speed fibre broadband as a result of Superfast South Yorkshire and BT's own commercial fibre broadband programme.

Superfast South Yorkshire website

Images: BT Openreach

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News: £2.1m Rotherham hydropower project

A large scale hydropower energy development in Rotherham, the first project of its kind in Yorkshire, is set to start generating renewable electricity next month.

It is one of just a handful of large low-head hydropower (LHHP) developments in the country that are the first to be built since the 1920s.

Using twin "Archimedes screw" turbines, it will extract power from the River Don at Thrybergh weir, near Kilnhurst, and supply sufficient electricity for 300 homes in perpetuity.

It also includes fish and eel passages which open up another stretch of the river and are part of an ambitious long-term plan to get salmon back up to Sheffield, where they can spawn.

Visiting the site, Wentworth and Dearne MP, John Healey, said: "The scheme is interesting and impressive, and the developers have worked very closely with anglers and conservationists. This will be a valuable, permanent, renewable and sustainable source of energy.

"I'm delighted the first scheme in Yorkshire is in the constituency and am keen to see the government put in place support and incentives to allow other similar schemes to go ahead.

"This is the type of true renewable energy project the government should be backing more strongly, because it can improve rather than intrude on the local environment."

The Thrybergh weir facility is being built by Barn Energy, a hydropower company working on multiple hydropower sites in Yorkshire and the East Midlands.

The project was handled fully at Spaans Babcock Ltd in Heywood, from the initial design and project management right through to the installation of the Screw Generators.

The new power station consists of two Archimedes Screw Generators over 8m in length and weighing over 22 tonnes each with their gearboxes and generators. At over 3.5m wide, each screw can take up to 6.5 tonnes of water every second.

Yorkshire Hydropower is now investigating whether similar schemes near Wakefield and Knottingley on the Aire and Calder can be built.

The project will produce 1 million kWh of electricity per year for at least 100 years. A solar farm would require ten acres to generate the same amount of energy, and would have a limited lifespan of around 30 years. The hydropower project, once completed and with proper maintenance, will generate renewable electricity indefinitely.

Mark Simon, director of Barn Energy Ltd, said: "It was a great honour to show Mr Healey the Thrybergh hydropower project – no one who visits the scheme fails to be impressed by the positive and sustainable nature of what is being built here.

"We are proud to be putting the industrial waterways of England back to work as power generators, while introducing unique environmental benefits which serve to mitigate the damage done by industrialisation.

"We hope to be supported in building many more projects of this nature on the major waterways of England."

Oliver Coppard, project manager of the Dearne Valley Eco-vision, also made the visit with Mr Healey. Mr Coppard said: "Through the Dearne Valley Eco Vision we are working to transform the Dearne into a leading low carbon community, so this hydro scheme is fantastic to see.

"We'll be working with the developers over the coming months and years to make sure that we're able to showcase the site to local schools and across the community, as an example of just how exciting our low carbon future can be."

Images: Spaans Babcock

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News: Cortonwood Shopping Park plans updated

Controversial plans for a £30m retail development in Rotherham have been amended again.

Plans for a 98,000 sq ft development, to be known as Cortonwood Shopping Park, were passed on appeal at a public inquiry in 2013 after earlier being refused by Rotherham Council.

Developer Helical Retail has been working on an extension to the existing Cortonwood Retail Park and the initial scheme would see a current distribution warehouse demolished to make way for six large units. Plans were amended in 2014 for nine new out-of-town retail stores creating around 85,000 sq ft of development together with the addition of floorspace at mezzanine level that would not exceed 60,000 sq ft of gross internal area.

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The plans are being brought forward by Budenny LLP, formerly the property division of Alba PLC who built and operated the Dearne Valley warehouse before leasing it to UPS in 2008.

A new set of plans for the development have recently been approved by Rotherham Council which include the erection of a 3,600 sq ft stand alone retail unit within the north west corner of the site. It is very similar in style and scale to the existing smaller unit on the adjacent site which is occupied by SCS.

The new unit is set to be "carved out" of the already approved retail development and members of the planning board agreed that a condition should be imposed that the developers can only create up to the amended total floorspace of 136,000 sq ft.

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The new plans are being made to address occupier requirements. Units are expected to range from approximately 7,500 sq ft to 15,000 sq ft, with the proposed mezzanine floorspace to be "called upon" up when required across the scheme.

The developers believe that the new retail park will create between 279 and 372 jobs (equivalent to 186 full time jobs).

Already home to the likes of Morrisons, Next, Argos, Asda Living, Boots and B&Q, Cortonwood Retail Park was developed by St Paul's Developments,totally transforming the site of the former Cortonwood Colliery, where the 1984 miners' strike began. It was sold to The Hercules Unit Trust for £46.5m in 2003. In 2009 the trust sold the long leasehold interest in the the park to the Kirkham Family Trust for an estimated price of £41.85m.

Helical, exchanged contracts on the adjacent site in 2012, subject to planning. The conditional purchase of the site is also subject to pre-lettings of a percentage of the retail space.

Edgerley Simpson Howe is the letting agent for Cortonwood Shopping Park.

Helical Retail website

Images: Helical Retail

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News: Manvers Lake secures enterprise funding

Local social enterprise, Manvers Lake and Dearne Valley Trust, has secured £25,000 as a winner of the Enterprising Communities Awards.

A registered charity, the Trust provides community access to a full range of sporting activities and conservation opportunities. It was formed in 2011 to look after Manvers Lake and the surrounding area, and also manages the boathouse and facilities.

The Coalfields Regeneration Trust (CRT), the South Yorkshire based regeneration organisation dedicated to improving the quality of life in Britain's former mining communities, runs a programme specifically to stimulate community enterprise and grow the social investment in those communities.

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As an organisation that has benefitted from the Enterprising Communities Programme, which offers community businesses and social enterprises access to practical support and guidance, Manvers was eligible to submit an entry to the awards.

Making it through to the shortlist of seven organisations, the team were asked to present to an independent panel of judges, where they took the opportunity to provide an insight into what the organisation would use the award money for including the construction of a storage unit to hold new equipment to support a range of extended activities for a growing membership base.

Ian Rodwell, director of Manvers Lake and Dearne Valley Trust, said: "There is no doubt that we were nervous when we were presenting but it gave us the perfect chance to showcase the wide range of opportunities and experiences that we deliver to the benefit of the community and surrounding area.

"Thanks to this award we can now invest in the club and provide the new boat and equipment store which will help us give our members even greater scope to try new things. We really do want to encourage people to try sports that they may not have considered before and to have fun while keeping fit and active."

Manvers Lake is central to the massive Waterfront regeneration project which includes 450 homes, business parks, hotel, retail outlets and neighbourhood facilities.

Developers TCN UK provided a 3,600 sq ft boathouse for the local boat club, which operates flat water canoeing to Olympic standard, sailing, dragon boating, model boating as well as coarse angling.

A new equipment store is being built with the help of grant funding from the CRT, with Sport England and the Veolia Environmental Trust, that will provide storage for up to 500 kayaks, canoes and sailboards plus associated kit such as paddles and buoyancy aids and also for safety boats and other vital equipment.

Manvers will also become a champion organisation of the Coalfields Regeneration Trust and used as an example of best practice to other community and social organisations in the coalfields.

Manvers Lake and Dearne Valley Trust website
Coalfields Regeneration Trust website

Images: Coalfields Regeneration Trust

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News: Alkane submits plans for test drilling in Manvers

Alkane Energy plc, one of the UK's fastest growing independent power generators, has submitted a planning application that would allow it to drill into the previous coal mine workings in the Dearne Valley in the search of a potential energy source.

Regent Park Energy Limited, previously called Green Park Energy before it was acquired by Alkane in 2012, operates Manvers Energy Park off Golden Smithies Lane at Swinton, where energy is generated from coal mine methane (CMM). As a power response site, electricity is produced at times of high electrical demand through peak running, or in order to balance the electricity grid through participation in the National Grid's short term operating reserve programme (STOR).

Now, the applicants are hoping to tap into another energy source by assessing if heat can be recovered from minewater to heat nearby buildings.

Ground source heat pumps are increasingly being considered as a means to provide heating and cooling for buildings. Technology allows the upgrade of ambient heat from the ground (in this case minewater) to high-temperature heat suitable for space heating. Abandoned mine voids, at depth, often contain relatively warm water, which is typically at between 12º C to 20º C.

The water is pumped from underground and used in heat exchangers and heat pumps, which will be able to operate at significantly higher efficiencies than would normally be the case with a variable heat source. The water is returned cooler to the mine workings at another point.

Planning permission is being sought to drill a temporary water abstraction borehole into the coal mine workings of the Meltonfield Seam, the base of which is around 110m deep.

Controlled abstraction and evaluation for ground source heating / cooling purposes would be carried out over a three year period and consideration is being given to the possible future utilisation of ground source heat pumps from minewater in the adjacent commercial buildings.

A similar scheme operates at Alkane's site at the former Markham Colliery where minewater is extracted and used to heat part of an adjacent depot building at Markham Vale.

The land is adjacent to the existing Maltby Energy Park and is within the Green Belt.

Alkane Energy is one of the UK's largest independent power producers providing both base load generation from coal mine methane and a network of peak pricing power response assets using bought in natural gas. Output has increased to 195GWh in 2014 which is enough to supply circa 75,000 homes.

The Mansfield firm paid £7.5m to buy CMM assets at the former Maltby Colliery in Rotherham from operators Hargreaves Services. Energy from the assets could be generated for an estimated period of up to 15 years. In June 2014 Alkane transferred its shale gas interests to Egdon Resources plc. It received 40 million Egdon shares making it the largest shareholder in Egdon, the UK's third largest shale operator.

Alkane's pre-tax profit for the year to December 31 2014 rose to £3.2m from £2.6m a year earlier. Revenues fell by 22% to £16m.

Alkane website

Images: Alkane

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News: Concerns for Rotherham jobs as O2 takeover talks confirmed

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) is seeking assurances over job security for UK employees as talks begin over the potential takeover of O2 UK, a move that affects hundreds of contact centre staff in Rotherham.

Hutchison Whampoa Limited, an investment holding company based in Hong Kong and parent company of UK telecom operator Three UK, announced last week that it has entered into exclusive negotiations with Spain's Telefónica for the potential acquisition of UK subsidiary, O2 UK. The deal could be worth up to £10.25 billion.

The CWU is the biggest union for the communications industry in the UK, with 201,900 members, and represents over 3,400 staff working in call centres, support and engineering roles across O2 and the associated Capita workforce. It has worked closely with O2, especially when Telefónica UK (O2) announced that Capita was their preferred bidder to form a ten year, £1.2 billion strategic partnership for customer management services in 2013. As well as Manvers, O2's UK call centres can be found in Leeds, Bury, Preston Brook and Glasgow.

O2 has had an operation in Rotherham for over 20 years. In 1992, Ventura signed a customer service contract to support the launch of BTCellnet into the consumer mobile phone market. The contact centre operation in Manvers went live with 40 staff and has grown to a capacity for 2,000 staff. Capita, the UK's leading outsourcing company, purchased Ventura and the Rotherham site in 2011 as part of a £65m deal. It currently operates contracts for British Gas, BMW, William Hill and The Department for Work and Pensions in the Dearne Valley.

Press reports in 2013 speculated that O2 was planning to outsource thousands of call centre jobs and make hundreds redundant. The union has criticised recent plans to axe over 100 roles providing back-office support and offshore much of the work to India and South Africa. A move it described as "ill-considered, over-hurried and could be viewed as a violation of previous agreements."

Andy Kerr, deputy general secretary of the CWU, said: "We hope that any takeover of Telefonica UK will protect UK jobs and maintain service standards for customers. O2 has been through a great deal of operational change in the last two years with the biggest outsourcing deal in the UK when staff and services were outsourced to Capita.

"Staff working for both O2 and Capita will be concerned about what these latest ownership talks mean for their jobs and the future of the company.

"We will be meeting with the CEO where we will be seeking assurances over the long-term job security of our members in Telefonica UK. We will also be seeking a meeting with Capita to discuss job security for those workers who have recently been outsourced."

Capita website

Images: Capita

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News: From contact centre to contact sport

A project manager at Webhelp UK has pushed herself to the limits by competing in a world-famous boxing event at Barnsley Metrodome, raising over £3,000 for Cancer Research UK.

Christy Winfield, 35 from Barnsley, who works at the Manvers site of leading customer experience provider, Webhelp UK, undertook a gruelling eight week professional boxing training schedule in preparation for the Ultra White Collar Boxing event.

On the night, 600 spectators watched Christy hold her own in the ring against an opponent who was a stone heavier and 6 inches taller. What's more, Christy won with the judges announcing a unanimous win to the red corner.

Christy said: "This was such a fantastic event to be part of. Reaching the £3,000 mark in donations and tickets sold for the event, is unbelievable – everyone has been so generous, especially my colleagues at Webhelp. People that know me know I like to push myself to the limits, but this time I really wanted to do something that would benefit such a worthy cause."

Fellow Webhelp Project Manager; Dan Wiernicki added: "We were all very impressed with Christy's performance on the night. She was 100% committed to the cause and trained very hard for it. It’s great to see that everyone has been so supportive and generous with donations."

White Collar Boxing originated in the legendary Gleason’s gym in New York in 1988. The first contest was held between Dr Richard Novak, a lawyer, and Dr David Lawrence, who held a PhD in English Literature. Since then, white collar boxing has been the fastest growing corporate contact sport in the world.

Webhelp acquired the Dearne Valley site in 2013 when it bought leading contact centre operator, HEROtsc. When HEROtsc took over the former T-Mobile site at Manvers in 2004, staff numbers had dwindled to less than 300. Today the thriving Dearne Valley centre has over 830 employees working for leading trade names such as Vodafone, E.ON and Office Depot – with an ongoing recruitment and training programme to bring new jobs to the area.

At the end of 2013, the Paris-headquartered Webhelp Group announced plans to recruit over 600 new people throughout its UK network with 150 new permanent positions at its Dearne Valley site.

Webhelp UK website
Ultra White Collar Boxing website

Images: UWCB / Facebook

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News: Where's the next Dearne Valley?

A council "Task Force" with the key purpose of providing a coordinated approach to generating investment and economic growth in Rotherham, will need to identify "the next Dearne Valley."

A scrutiny review by borough councillors into how the council can support the local economy identified that land supply is a key issue and that the emerging economic growth plan should be integrated with the recently signed off Local Plan.

Declared sound by the government, Rotherham's local plan states that 235 hectares of land in Rotherham will be needed over the next 15 years to meet the broad requirements of 12 - 15,000 additional jobs. Areas highlighted include the town centre, Dinnington, Waverley, the Dearne Valley. The only "new" area is Bassingthorpe Farm. However, of the sites identified for employment land in the local plan only 12% are deliverable.

The scrutiny review states: "The aim is to provide adequate land in the right location to attract development. Rotherham's Growth plan and the Local Plan should be integrated.

"Supporting a dynamic economy is one of the seven broad aims of the Local Plan but there is currently no spatial element to the Sheffield City Region Growth Plan. There is therefore conflict between planning and economic regeneration.

"Planning are currently looking at employment land and asking where is the next Dearne Valley?"

In the Dearne Valley, historic job losses in the coal industry added to substantial pre-existing unemployment problems. It is estimated that 10,000 jobs were lost in the area alone. With regeneration schemes such as land reclamation and the Enterprise Zone, private sector job growth to 2008 offset the job losses and helped the Rotherham economy become more resilient. The old Wath ward alone experienced an increase of 10,000 jobs since 1998.

With a strategy of creating jobs for local people and regeneration of deprived communities, and generating income via an increase in business rates and Council Tax, the review requests that the Council needs to know what its "top ten" sites are. It discusses locations such as Chesterfield and Markham Vale that compete with Rotherham in terms of location and worries that sites could become home to just distribution and warehousing rather than area based regeneration initiatives.

Instead, the council needs to play a role in a multi agency approach such as that seen at the Waverley site that has safeguarded the vision of the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) as a centre for high tech firms at the cutting edge of technology.

The reviewers also discusses the potential for the council to use capital and borrowing to develop sites and premises as there continues to be a lack of external funding. This was seen recently with the council's £4.3m forward funding purchase of units at the R-evolution development on the AMP.

One recommendation of the scrutiny review is for the Council to "identify, in the first instance, its top ten development sites and focus on these in its policies and plans. Within this the identification and delivery of a strategically important site should be the number 1 priority for Rotherham to remain competitive."

Images: CPP

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News: The state of the coalfields

Regeneration in former coalfield areas like Rotherham is happening, but on many indicators they lag badly behind national and regional averages.

30 years on from the events at Orgreave, a new report by academics from Sheffield Hallam University takes stock of social and economic conditions in former coalfields. Commissioned by regeneration organisation, the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, the report looks at a wide range of official statistics in 16 coalfield areas, including Yorkshire.

The fact is that, the UK coal industry has shed around 250,000 jobs since the start of the 1980s, often adding to substantial pre-existing unemployment problems. It is estimated that 10,000 jobs were lost in the Dearne Valley alone.

In many areas, the job growth in other sectors of the local economy had, by 2008, been sufficient to offset all the coal job losses. The old Wath ward alone experienced an increase of 10,000 jobs since 1998.

However, the report's authors argue that the recorded unemployment in the coalfields was held in check only by the very large increase in economic inactivity and people moving to incapacity benefits (8.4% claim IB in coalfield areas compared to 6.2% GB average and 4.4% in the south east of England).

The report states: "The evidence on pre-recession trends is that there was real progress in rebuilding the economy of the coalfields but that the unemployment problem was still a long way from being solved."

Since 2008, figures in the report suggest that coalfield areas were on average hit rather harder than the national average by the recession, with reductions in employment and economic output.

The employment rate – the share of adults of working age in employment – is one of the most telling of all statistics. The rate, excluding students, in coalfields is between two and seven percentage points behind the England and Wales average, and between five and ten percentage points behind the average in South East England.

The report also shows that coalfield areas have higher proportions of workers with few or no formal qualifications and the business stock and business formation rates in the coalfields are significantly lower than the rest of the country. The effect of being adrift of the national average on many indicators is that, on average, the coalfields have significantly above-average levels of deprivation.

Professor Steve Fothergill from the University's Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research, who led the research, said: "The miners' strike of 1984/85 may now be receding into history but the job losses that followed in its wake are still part of the everyday economic reality of most mining communities.

"The consequences are still all too visible in statistics on jobs, unemployment, welfare benefits and health.

"The evidence provides a compelling case that most of the coalfield communities of England, Scotland and Wales still require support."

Peter McNestry Chair of the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, added: "This report really brings home the scale of the deprivation that has been faced by 5.5 million people, more than Scotland’s total population. What’s more, these coalfields communities have had to endure this for well over a quarter of a century.

"The tough reality for coalfields residents is that these problems will not go away overnight."

"We cannot simply turn our backs on more than 5 million people. We have worked for 15 years to support these communities and to provide them with access to the resources, practical advice and funding that they need to help themselves. We have come some way to improving the situation in the coalfields but this report proves there is still a great deal of work to be done."

Coalfields Regeneration Trust

Images: RiDO

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News: Fore sale - Waterfront Golf

Eagle-eyed investors are being invited to putt in an offer for Waterfront Golf, the popular 9 hole golf course in the heart of the Manvers regeneration area in Rotherham, that has recently gone up for sale.

Located between Manvers Lake and Old Moor Nature Reserve, the 64.5 hectares (159.4 acres) site includes a 9 hole golf course designed by Simon Gidman with 18 different tees measuring over 6,500 yards, one of the longest of its kind in the UK. The greens and tees throughout the course have been constructed to USPGA specification.

The club opened in 2008 and also includes a 32 bay floodlit golf driving range, practice facilities, club house and retail space. It is a major part of the Manvers Waterfront development, the 285-acre mixed-use regeneration of the former Manvers Colliery by Anglo-Dutch developers, TCN UK.

Commercial property agents GVA is instructed by Stirling Investment Properties LLP to offer Waterfront Golf Club to the market. It has been given a guide price of £475,000.

The 250 year leasehold interest is being sold to enable the Leeds-based directors to focus on their principal business interests.

A spokesperson for GVA said: "Waterfront Golf Club is a highly regarded golf facility and benefits from an established trading record. Since opening in September 2008 the business has been operated by the current owners, who are based in Leeds, as part of a much wider property and business portfolio.

"Despite the Club's established trading record, it is considered that the current proprietors' remote management of the business (coupled with the non-core nature of this golf business) means that the club has not been fully exploited, and hence offers scope for further commercialisation."

Waterfront Golf website
GVA website

Images: Waterfront Golf

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News: TK Maxx planning new Rotherham store

TK Maxx, the fashion, brand and value specialist retailer, is planning to open another store in Rotherham - at the Cortonwood Retail Park.

The off-price retailer specialises in apparel and home fashions, buying opportunistically from thousands of vendors, meaning that it can sell brand name merchandise at up to 60% less than prices at traditional department or high street retailers.

A planning application has been submitted for new signage at Unit 2 of the popular Dearne Valley retail park. Part of St Paul's Developments' fourth expansion phase in 2012, the 10,000 sq ft store was previously occupied by bed retailer, Dreams, before the branch closed as it was not part of the deal to buy the chain out of administration.

On average, a TK Maxx store has about 50,000 items and typically 10,000 new items arrive every week. With a modern and stylish, but no frills store environment, further savings can be passed on to customers.

Part of the American, $27.4 billion group, The TJX Companies, Inc, TK Maxx launched in 1994 introducing off-price retailing to the UK and Ireland. Today, with additional operations in Germany and Poland, it operates around 375 stores. It currently has a Rotherham store at Parkgate Shopping.

Adjacent to the current retail park on the former colliery site, details are being finalised for another £30m development. The Cortonwood Shopping Park is set to see a current distribution warehouse demolished to make way for eight new out-of-town retail stores, totalling around 85,000 sq ft.

TK Maxx website

Images: TK Maxx

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News: Changes to Cortonwood plans

Developer, Helical Retail, is making slight amendments to its planned £30m retail park at Cortonwood in Rotherham.

Plans for a 98,000 sq ft development, to be known as Cortonwood Shopping Park, were passed on appeal last year after earlier being refused by Rotherham Council.

The new scheme will form a £30m extension to the existing Cortonwood Retail Park and will see a current distribution warehouse demolished to make way for eight new out-of-town retail stores. The approved plans were for six larger units.

The plans are being brought forward by Budenny LLP, formerly the property division of Alba PLC who built and operated the Dearne Valley warehouse before leasing it to UPS in 2008. They are working with developers, Helical Retail, a joint venture between Helical Bar plc and Oswin Developments Limited.

If approved, the amended plans would involve around 85,000 sq ft of development together with the addition of floorspace at mezzanine level that would not exceed 60,000 sq ft of gross internal area.

The new plans are set to provide flexibility for the owners and potential occupiers. Units are expected to range from approximately 7,500 sq ft to 15,000 sq ft, with the proposed mezzanine floorspace to be "called upon" up when required across the scheme.

The developers believe that the new retail park will create between 279 and 372 jobs (equivalent to 186 full time jobs).

Already home to the likes of Morrisons, Next, Argos, Asda Living, Boots and B&Q Cortonwood Retail Park was developed by St Paul's Developments,totally transforming the site of the former Cortonwood Colliery, where the 1984 miners' strike began. It was sold to The Hercules Unit Trust for £46.5m in 2003. In 2009 the trust sold the long leasehold interest in the the park to the Kirkham Family Trust for an estimated price of £41.85m.

Helical, exchanged contracts on the adjacent site in 2012, subject to planning. The conditional purchase of the site is also subject to pre-lettings of a percentage of the retail space.

Edgerley Simpson Howe is the letting agent for Cortonwood Shopping Park.

Helical Retail website

Images: Budenny LLP / Helical Retail

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News: New contract for Webhelp UK at Dearne Valley

Customer experience company Webhelp UK has secured a significant new contract with creative IT solutions provider, Jigsaw24, creating 50 new jobs at its contact centre in Rotherham.

The Manvers based team will provide sales support to the provider of Apple and Adobe business solutions, and will manage customer enquiries across multiple channels including inbound calls, emails and webchat facilities.

The first 16 employees to complete the rigorous four-week training programme began work on the contract earlier this month.

With offices in Nottingham and Manchester, Jigsaw24 provides creative technology solutions for more than 25,000 businesses, large and small, across the UK.

Mike Purvis, sales & marketing director at Webhelp UK, said: "This is a significant new partnership for Webhelp UK. With a breadth of experience in managing B2B customer relationships, Webhelp looks forward to supporting Jigsaw24 as it continues to develop its business across the UK."

Nikki Ratcliffe, general manager, marketing at Jigsaw24, added: "Jigsaw24 is pleased to be working with Webhelp UK on what is one of our key growth initiatives.

"We're confident the skills of their talented team members will complement our existing in-house sales team. It was this cultural fit that sealed our partnership in the aim to deliver a superior customer experience for our clients and boost revenues."

Webhelp acquired the Dearne Valley site last year when it bought leading contact centre operator, HEROtsc. When HEROtsc took over the former T-Mobile site at Manvers in 2004, staff numbers had dwindled to less than 300. Today the thriving Dearne Valley centre has over 830 employees working for leading trade names such as Vodafone, E.ON and Office Depot – with an ongoing recruitment and training programme to bring new jobs to the area.

At the end of 2013, the Paris-headquartered Webhelp Group announced plans to recruit over 600 new people throughout its UK network with 150 new permanent positions at its Dearne Valley site.

Webhelp UK website

Images: Webhelp UK

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News: Aviva acquires Capita call centre for £30.5m

Aviva Investors' Lime Property Fund has purchased the long leasehold interest in Capita Park, Rotherham for in excess of £30.5m from a private investor.

Capita, the UK's leading outsourcing company, purchased Ventura and the Manvers site in 2011. In two buildings at Brookfield's Park, Capita has capacity for 2,000 staff and operates a number of contracts including British Gas, William Hill and RSPCA.

Aviva Investors is the global asset management business of Aviva plc. With a portfolio of over 50 properties, its Lime Property Fund reached the milestone of £1 billion in assets under management last year.

An open-ended Jersey Property Unit Trust investing in property in the UK, the fund targets secure, inflation-linked income streams, with low volatility of returns. It was created to meet the growing demand of UK pension funds wanting to invest in lower-risk property assets with the aim of offering an investment return in excess of that available from investing in fixed income assets.

Let to Capita on a long lease, the building was last sold in 2011 to another private investor for £22m. The passing rent then was £2.1m per annum.

Renos Booth, manager of the Lime Property Fund, said: "Having reached the £1bn assets under management threshold for the fund in 2013, we continue to invest in high quality secure property investments and the fund moves from strength to strength in its ability to secure appropriate long term income streams for our clients."

Hanover Green acted for Aviva Investors and the deal follows on from Legal & General's purchase of the adjacent Capita House in 2012 for £23.165m.

Capita also operates a contact centre at the Dearne Valley site on behalf of Telefonica and O2 and last year The Telegraph reported that Capita had plans to close customer service facilities in Bury and Glasgow and reduce the number of roles in Rotherham from 2,000 to 730 in 2015.

In November, Capita announced that over 500 jobs in its Dearne Valley and Leeds call centres would be created in the following months.

Aviva Investors website
Capita website

Images: Capita

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News: Academy success for Webhelp UK

Following the success of its pilot programme earlier this year, customer experience company, Webhelp UK, has created a further ten new roles targeted towards young people at its Rotherham site, as part of its nationwide skills initiative for young jobseekers.

Webhelp's Customer Experience Academy (CEA) was designed to bring career opportunities to young unemployed people, within the communities it operates in, who are finding it difficult to reach the first step on the career ladder.

The CEA gives vital pre-employment training to a growing number of job seekers who lack the necessary communication skills or experience to pass the standard entrance level of most employers.

Earlier this month, the Paris-headquartered Webhelp Group announced plans to recruit over 600 new people throughout its UK network with 150 new permanent positions at its Dearne Valley site.

Now in its second phase, 43 new Webhelp colleagues have not only completed the five week work skills course at Webhelp's Customer Experience Academy, but also the company's interview process.

These individuals are now not only employed full time by Webhelp UK, on standard terms and conditions, but are also supported through a 12-month modern apprenticeship.

The CEA graduates have gained a recognised Customer Service qualification to assist them in finding a job with a variety of other employers should they wish to diversify their careers in the future.

Claire Croden, head of learning innovation at Webhelp UK, said: "Webhelp's Customer Experience Academy has gone from strength to strength since launching our pilot scheme earlier this year. Phase two of the initiative has attracted over 40 new talented colleagues, who have already started a modern apprenticeship at our sites throughout the UK.

"Youth unemployment is a massive issue and more still needs to be done to create job opportunities. It's great to be getting involved and playing our part in bringing employment to a part of our society which desperately needs it.

"I'm very proud that we've been able to turn the pilot Customer Experience Academy project into a nationwide campaign."

Webhelp UK website

Images: Webhelp UK

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News: Webhelp UK to create 150 jobs in Rotherham

Customer experience company Webhelp UK, is looking to recruit 150 new permanent positions at its Dearne Valley site in Rotherham over the next two months.

The Paris-headquartered Webhelp Group is to recruit over 600 new people throughout its UK network that also includes Derby, Falkirk, Glasgow, Kilmarnock and Greenock.

The new recruits will join on a rolling programme and will be trained to deal with customer sales and service enquiries via telephone, email, webchat and social media platforms.

Webhelp acquired the Dearne Valley site earlier this year when it bought leading contact centre operator, HEROtsc. When HEROtsc took over the former T-Mobile site at Manvers in 2004, staff numbers had dwindled to less than 300. Today the thriving Dearne Valley centre has over 830 employees working for leading trade names such as Vodafone, E.ON and Office Depot – with an ongoing recruitment and training programme to bring new jobs to the area.

David Turner, chief executive at Webhelp UK, said: "This latest recruitment drive continues the steady expansion that has been such a feature of our business in recent times. We are acutely aware of how important the Webhelp UK operation is within the areas where we are based and proud that we can bring new jobs, particularly at this time of the year."

The company hopes to recruit even more people in the year ahead.

The news follows on from Capita announcing recently that over 500 jobs in its Dearne Valley and Leeds call centres will be created over the coming months.

Webhelp UK website

Images: Webhelp UK

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News: £30m for Cortonwood Shopping Park

Developers, Helical Retail, are set to invest £30m in a retail park at Cortonwood in Rotherham.

Plans for a 98,000 sq ft development, to be known as Cortonwood Shopping Park, were recently passed on appeal after earlier being refused by Rotherham Council.

The new scheme will form a £30m extension to the existing Cortonwood Retail Park and will see a current distribution warehouse demolished to make way for six new out-of-town retail stores. Those behind the plans say that it could create 250 jobs.

Developed by St Paul's Developments, Cortonwood Retail Park was sold to The Hercules Unit Trust for £46.5m in 2003. In 2009 the trust sold the long leasehold interest in the the park to the Kirkham Family Trust for an estimated price of £41.85m. Lord Kirkham, the founder of DFS, is a partner in Black Diamond Investments who objected to the plans for the new retail development.

Developed in phases, work began on 32,500 sq ft of new retail space on the park in 2011. Sheffield firm, JF Finnegan has constructed all 250,000 sq ft of retail units in the previous phases over the last 20 years, totally transforming the site of the former Cortonwood Colliery, where the 1984 miners' strike began.

The latest plans were put forward by Budenny LLP, formerly the property division of Alba PLC who built and operated the Dearne Valley warehouse before leasing it to UPS in 2008. They are working with developers, Helical Retail, a joint venture between Helical Bar plc and Oswin Developments Limited.

Cortonwood Shopping Park will comprise of retail and restaurant units, and Helical Retail expect to start work on site in early 2015.

Adrian Russell of Helical Retail said: "The existing Cortonwood Retail Park is already very successful and includes tenants such as Morrisons, Next, Argos, Asda Living, Boots and B&Q.

"[The extension] will bring more quality retailers to this vibrant destination and create much needed jobs in the area."

Helical, exchanged contracts on the site last year, subject to planning. The conditional purchase of the site is also subject to pre-lettings of a percentage of the retail space.

Edgerley Simpson Howe is the letting agent for Cortonwood Shopping Park.

Helical Retail website

Images: Budenny LLP / Helical Retail

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