News: Economic projects promote pride for partnership

Economic regeneration and high profile business investments have been the main highlights showing how far Rotherham has come in a short space of time.

Projects such as the £12m improvements at the bus station, Gulliver's Valley, the new university centre and the £50m McLaren investment were all used to show how a shared ambition for the borough is becoming reality.

The Rotherham Together Partnership was launched in September 2015 and the Rotherham Plan 2025 was officially launched in 2017. It provides a framework for partners' joint efforts to create a borough that "is better for everyone who wants to live, work, invest or visit here."

The plan is based around five "game changers": building stronger communities, skills and employment, integrated health and social care, a place to be proud of and the town centre.

The partnership brings together a wide range of organisations, including major public bodies. Its Business Growth Board is responsible for the delivery of strategies which feeds into the overarching plan and includes indicators on business starts, employment and skill levels. The Rotherham Employment and Skills Strategy has recently been endorsed by the Council's cabinet.

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At a partnership event at New York Stadium, Council leader Cllr. Chris Read, who is also the partnership chair, said: "We said that our game changers would alter people's lives and today we can see those ambitions transformed into reality with much more still to come.

"Then we had secured £12m to refurbish the bus station, but the building was still falling down.

"Then McLaren has announced a £50m investment in the borough, but we hadn' t actually seen so much as a JCB, let alone a Royal visit.

"Then we had a plan for a higher education building in the town centre, and planning permission for a theme park, a tram extension that seemed like it might never be finished, and a social care challenge that stretched as far as the eye could see.

"And today? Our University Centre Rotherham open, with the first students studying. The bus station rebuilt and reopened. Tram train up and running, with more than half a million journeys taken already. Rotherham has been the fastest growing local economy in Yorkshire for over a year now.

"What began as words and commitments two years ago is taking shape, in bricks and mortar and jobs, in opportunities realised, and in a different way of working."

Cllr. Read also discussed the importance of the devolution deal and how Rotherham continues to benefit from being part of the Sheffield city region (SCR).

He said: "Two years ago it was quite common for people to say to me that we shouldn't bother, because we would only lose out to our neighbours anyway. Other places were cynical about whether the deals were really worth doing at all.

"Today every single local authority in the region – every single one - wants to do a devo deal. The TUC, CBI and Institute of Directors issue joint statements on the subject.

"Last week we secured £7m to complete the retail centre at Waverley, and saw announcements that the UK Atomic Energy Agency will bring some of its work to develop fusion technology – the holy grail of limitless energy – to the borough, alongside a potential £10m investment in battery technology in the McLaren supply chain.

"At the same time we are asking the government for up to £40m of investment to support better public transport and walking and cycling as part of the Transforming Cities Fund. It would be the biggest single investment in sustainable transport for years.

"No one seriously says we shouldn't bother any longer. The reality has changed the perception. Just imagine what we could do if we actually got on and implemented the actual deal!

"That's how much things can change in two years. Attitudes shift. Rotherham is finding its way in the world again. By challenging the established order of things."

Rotherham Together Partnership website

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News: Commissioners to be removed from Rotherham Council

The Government has confirmed that it is concluding its intervention in Rotherham Council and returning all powers to the authority.

As part of a Government intervention package, commissioners were appointed in 2015 to provide leadership, taking over the roles of the cabinet that was deemed "wholly dysfunctional" following a Government review that came after a 2014 report into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham that described how vulnerable children had been repeatedly failed by the Council.

In February 2016, a year after commissioners were brought in, a third of decision making responsibilities were returned to the Council and the majority of services came back under the Council's democratic control last year.

The Council will have full democratic control of all its services when the decision to return powers comes into force from next Monday. This is on condition that the Council commissions an independent progress review of delivery of services before the directions expire on March 31 2019.

Lead commissioner Mary Ney said: "The Commissioners are pleased that the continuous hard work of members, officers and partners in Rotherham has resulted in sufficient improvement for democratic decision-making to be restored to the Council.

"Whilst the Council still faces challenges we have confidence that the leadership of the Council is strong and will work hard to address these. We would like to thank the Council and all of the members and staff we have worked with for their efforts and commitment and we wish the Council, its partners and Rotherham well for the future."

Sir Derek Myers was the initial lead commissioner with commissioner Stella Manzie CBE installed in a managing director role before a new chief exec, Sharon Kemp, began in post in 2016. Julie Kenny CBE DL was brought in as a supporting commissioner. Commissioner Malcolm Newsam left in May 2016 and was replaced by Patricia Bradwell.

The estimated £1m costs of the intervention has been borne by the authority. The actual commissioner days used was 448 days plus a full time managing director commissioner in 2015/16, 248 days in 2016/17 and 114 days in 2017/18 and a final estimated 40 days to the end of the intervention.

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Cllr. Chris Read, leader of Rotherham Council said that the early departure of Commissioners was "testimony to the hard work of many people over the last few years."

He added: "The announcement comes on the back of our "Good" Ofsted report for children’s services earlier in the year. That our Children's Services have been transformed has been a critical indicator of the changes that we have made. But it has only been one part of challenging, re-examining, and improving the way we work and the culture of the Council.

"We could not be where we are today if it wasn't for the dedication of lots of people – our staff, partner agencies, Commissioners and councillors – who were all united in determination that the people of Rotherham should be better served than they had been in the past. My thanks go to all those people today.

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"I'm delighted with the progress that we have made. Whilst the work is never complete and we continue to face significant challenges I hope that residents will be able to take assurance that we are firmly on the right track."

Sharon Kemp, chief executive at Rotherham Council added: "Over the past four years there have been significant changes here at the Council, including changes across the leadership.

"Today's announcement is pleasing however we continue to focus on constantly improving outcomes for all our residents and stakeholders."

In writing to the Government, lead commissioner Mary Ney said the most critical issue for the authority was its budget with growing demand in adults and children's social care leading to significant overspends, as well as bearing additional costs arising from the NCA Operation Stovewood investigations.

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News: Game-changing progress being made in Rotherham

The business-focused aspects of The Rotherham Plan have made significant progress since the launch of a long-term strategy for the borough last year.

Business numbers, employment figures and GVA growth is all on the up, coupled with over £100m of inward investment and progress on large scale projects such as the new University Centre Rotherham and across the town centre.

The Rotherham Together Partnership was launched in September 2015 and the Rotherham Plan 2025 was officially launched last year. It provides a framework for partners' joint efforts to create a borough that "is better for everyone who wants to live, work, invest or visit here."

The plan is based around five "game changers": building stronger communities, skills and employment, integrated health and social care, a place to be proud of and the town centre.

The partnership brings together a wide range of organisations, including major public bodies. Its Business Growth Board is responsible for the delivery of the ten-year Rotherham Economic Growth Plan which feeds into the overarching plan and includes indicators on business starts, employment, skill levels and vacant units in the town centre.

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The number of businesses in the borough has risen from 6,810 in December 2016 to 7,230 at the end of 2017.

There were 104,000 jobs in Rotherham at the end of 2016, (measure reported by Office of National Statistics (ONS) Business Register and Employment Survey, and is reported annually but a year in "arrears") which shows an increase of 4,000 jobs since the end of 2015, well ahead of the target of 1,000 new jobs per year.

More than £130m of new business investment came into Rotherham in 2017. Not least, supercar manufactuer, McLaren, who recently got the keys to its new £50m facility on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP).

Rotherham's £4.3 billion a year economy was a top performer in 2017 according to recent research from Irwin Mitchell and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), staying near the top of the UK Powerhouse rankings for GVA growth. For quarter 4 of 2017, the Rotherham economy continued to grow with a rate of 1.4%, and ranked at 13th, well within the top third of the regional economies in the study.

Cllr. Chris Read, leader of Rotherham Council and chair of the Rotherham Together Partnership, said: "We called our Partnership Plan "A New Perspective", because we knew that we needed to take a different point of view, to get that outside world to take a fresh look at us.

"This is the first year of our plan that takes us through to 2025 and we are looking forward with confidence to the coming years."

Given that it is one of just five "game changers" in the plan, much of the emphasis is on delivering the masterplan which places much more focus on new housing and leisure uses to revitalise the town. It comes a time when aggregate quarterly footfall figures continue to decline and nearly a quarter of properties are vacant.

One town centre project where progress has been rapid is the new £10.5m University Centre Rotherham (UCR) on Docaster Gate.

Phil Sayles, deputy principal of the RNN Group, said: "One of the things that is really important to Rotherham is to have more people with higher skills, that's what employers in the area, and moving into the area, need.

"Our great contribution to that is the University Centre Rotherham. It's at the heart of the town and over the next five years over a 1,000 extra people will get degrees from studying here."

Rotherham Together Partnership website

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News: Rotherham recruiting a "place manager"

A place manager is being recruited to lead on the business-to-business marketing of Rotherham as a place to invest.

The move follows the successful launch of the Rotherham Pioneers - an exclusive group for Rotherham businesses who want to promote the town, celebrate all that is good, and grow the Rotherham business community.

A major exercise was launched earlier this year using "The Rotherham Story" as a way of promoting the borough. Businesses will act as ambassadors - so-called Rotherham Pioneers - armed with the story and an outward looking mentality. The aim is to change perceptions of Rotherham and raise its profile.

Now a place manager is set to be appointed with responsibility for the Rotherham Pioneer Programme, working to the recently set up Rotherham Place Board, part of the structure of the Rotherham Together Partnership which brings together a wide range of organisations, including major public bodies.

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Hosted by Rotherham Council, and initially temporary for two years, the job, which comes with a salary of £41,025 - £43,821, has the key role of "building relationships with new and existing businesses to gain their "buy-in" to the Rotherham Story; develop and deliver a Rotherham Place Plan in conjunction with the Place Board and develop a strategic marketing plan to raise the profile of Rotherham as a place for businesses to locate and invest."

The first major theme of the Rotherham Story focuses on "Engineering Excellence" highlighting the major assets such as the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) and the ethos of major occupiers such as Boeing, Rolls-Royce, and soon-to-be McLaren, and the new enterprises like Xeros and PES that are pioneering disruptive technologies.

The second major focus is on "Living Green" and the perception of the borough as an industrial town but one that is in fact 70% rural. It highlights the quality of life for residents and abundance of country parks, urban parks and green space that can sell the location.

The Rotherham Story culminates in "Pushing Boundaries" - being confident and raising the bar in regeneration and education.

Rotherham Pioneers pay to gain exclusive access to high quality networking events, hear first-hand about new developments and find out about business opportunities. Insights are be given into Rotherham success stories and invitations to company tours are set to follow. Events have already been held at leading manufacturer, AESSEAL, and at Wentworth Woodhouse.

The place board hopes to raise over £100,000 from business contributions.

The job advert reads: "Rotherham is poised to enter a fast-paced and exciting new phase of regeneration and growth. Recent major investment announcements from world-leading businesses such as McLaren, new multi-million pound leisure and tourism investments underway at Gulliver's Valley and Wentworth Woodhouse and completion of a town centre masterplan set the context for an ambitious and motivated person, with experience in place marketing, to join our team."

Rotherham Pioneers website
Rotherham Together Partnership website

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News: Rotherham Pioneers hold first event

The first meeting has been held of the Rotherham Pioneers - an exclusive group for Rotherham businesses who want to promote the town, celebrate all that is good, and grow the Rotherham business community.

A major exercise was launched last month using "The Rotherham Story" as a way of promoting the borough. Businesses will act as ambassadors - so-called Rotherham Pioneers - armed with the story and an outward looking mentality. The aim is to change perceptions of Rotherham and raise its profile.

The first major theme of the Rotherham Story focuses on "Engineering Excellence" highlighting the major assets such as the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) and the ethos of major occupiers such as Boeing, Rolls-Royce, and soon-to-be McLaren, and the new enterprises like Xeros and PES that are pioneering disruptive technologies.

The second major focus is on "Living Green" and the perception of the borough as an industrial town but one that is in fact 70% rural. It highlights the quality of life for residents and abundance of country parks, urban parks and green space that can sell the location.

The Rotherham Story culminates in "Pushing Boundaries" - being confident and raising the bar in regeneration and education.

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Rotherham Pioneers will gain exclusive access to high quality networking events, will hear first-hand about new developments and will find out about business opportunities. An insight will be given into Rotherham success stories and invitations to company tours are set to follow.

Held at the global headquarters of award-winning Rotherham manufacturer, AESSEAL, the first event heard the success story of the company and its continued growth. Damien Wilson, strategic director of Regeneration & Environment at Rotherham Council provided an update on exciting inward investment projects such as Gulliver's Valley and the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District, whilst Andrew Clarke of WYG provided an exclusive first glance of the draft town centre masterplan, not due for release until next month.

George Buchanan, director of the Hodsock Priory Estate and chair of the North Notts Place Board discussed the journey started in North Nottinghamshire in 2013 and the success of the North Notts Envoys initiative, a precursor that the Rotherham Pioneers are looking to emulate.

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Fresh from signing the deal to save Wentworth Woodhouse, Julie Kenny CBE DL concluded the event with a "call to arms," explaining that Rotherham businesses need to sign up and back the initiative financially. Founder Pioneers include AESSEAL, Pyronix, the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust and Harworth Estates, who see the value in signing up.

A place board already exists in Rotherham and the plan is to appoint a place manager to co-ordinate the efforts and put on more events and networking opportunities. It hopes to raise over £100,000 from business contributions.

Kenny said: " Pioneers will bring together the knowledge, networks and influences locally to promote Rotherham as a great place to do business. Rotherham Pioneers came about as a result of businesses wanting to give something back to Rotherham and support an improved Rotherham for all.

"Pioneers will be proactive advocates for the town and area both nationally and intertnationally, with the power to influence how it is marketed, portrayed in the media and at events; to get it known and recognised by the people that matter."

The next event is set to be held at Wentworth Woodhouse.

Rotherham Pioneers website

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News: Partnership launch long-term strategy for Rotherham

High profile economic development and regeneration projects are helping to create a new perspective for Rotherham.

Developed as Rotherham Together Partnership's long-term strategy for the borough, the Rotherham Plan 2025 has been officially launched this week. It provides a framework for partners' joint efforts to create a borough that "is better for everyone who wants to live, work, invest or visit here."

The plan is based around five "game changers": building stronger communities, skills and employment, integrated health and social care, a place to be proud of and the town centre.

The new Rotherham Together Partnership was launched in September 2015. It brings together a wide range of organisations, including major public bodies. Its Business Growth Board is responsible for the delivery of the ten-year Rotherham Economic Growth Plan which feeds into this new plan and includes indicators on business starts, employment, skill levels and vacant units in the town centre.

The skills and employment section describes how partners across Rotherham and the wider city region will develop a work and health programme that provides comprehensive support to help people secure, sustain and thrive in employment.

Key to improving skill levels will be the development of a £12m university campus in the town centre. Rotherham College, part of RNN Group, is moving fast having secured funding and will open the centre to students in Autumn 2018, offering a new programme of degrees and degree apprenticeships.

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The section on creating a place to be proud of references the approach to "place shaping", overseen by the new, business-led place board, that will help to create a new identity for Rotherham. The Rotherham Story was launched last month as the first step in marketing and repositioning the borough with ambassadors or "pioneers" selling Rotherham as a place to live and do business.

The town centre has been given high status in the plan, mainly due to the strength of feeling from a range of residents during the consultation where "people were positive about parts of the town centre, particularly the Minster Gardens and High Street, but these were outweighed by the negatives."

The regeneration programme based on the new town centre masterplan, is set to be key in delivering a town centre that more people want to visit.

Cllr. Chris Read, leader of Rotherham Council was at the launch event where he discussed the £160m of additional investment coming to Rotherham over the next few years - projects like Forge Island, the HE Campus, the Interchange, tram-train, Gulliver's Valley and Wentworth Woodhouse - and inward investment from the likes of McLaren and Liberty House.

The UK's first Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District (AMID), set to be created in the Sheffield-Rotherham economic corridor, is used as a case study in the plan. AMID will be a nucleus of innovation and research in advanced manufacturing, with strengthened connections across new and existing firms and knowledge institutions that will benefit from close proximity to world-class technology facilities.

Cllr. Read said: "Rotherham people are resilient people. Year after year, decade after decade, we've faced down challenges and we've dealt with difficulty.

"In fact, if we've had a flaw, it’s that we've kept our heads down too much. We haven't understood why the rest of the world can't see all the brilliant things about our borough, when they stare us in the face. If folks down south wanted to think of us as smoggy and grey, that was their loss.

"We called the Plan we're launching today "A New Perspective" because it requires us to take a different point of view, to get the outside world to take a new look at us."

Rotherham Together Partnership website

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News: The Rotherham Story

A major place marketing exercise has been launched using "The Rotherham Story" as a way of promoting the borough.

At an event held at Rotherham United's New York Stadium, Julie Kenny CBE DL, Chair of the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust and a commissioner at Rotherham Council explained that the new initiative will be used to market and reposition the borough with ambassadors or "pioneers" selling Rotherham as a place to live and do business.

The first major theme of the Rotherham Story focuses on "Engineering Excellence" highlighting the major assets such as the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) and the ethos of major occupiers such as Boeing, Rolls-Royce, and soon-to-be McLaren, and the new enterprises like Xeros and PES that are pioneering disruptive technologies.

The second major focus is on "Living Green" and the perception of the borough as an industrial town but one that is in fact 70% rural. It highlights the quality of life for residents and abundance of country parks, urban parks and green space that can sell the location.

The Rotherham Story culminates in "Pushing Boundaries" - being confident and raising the bar in regeneration and education.

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The Rotherham Together Partnership event also heard from George Buchanan, chair of the North Notts. Place Board which underwent a similar place shaping initiative beginning in 2013. He explained the successful partnership that evolved from first setting out a shared story. The area now has a private sector place board and fee-paying "North Notts Envoys" that bring together "the knowledge, networks and influences locally to promote North Nottinghamshire as a great place to work, live and visit."

Regular events enable the envoys to hear first hand about the positive initiatives in the area, backed up by marketing material. North Notts. is also aiming to create a Business Improvement District - the first in the UK to cover the whole District.

Julie Kenny, who founded Rotherham manufacturing success story, Pyronix, said: "I am proud to be a part of this initiative which starts with the publishing of the Rotherham Story book. This is not a marketing tool, but sets out what we are about and what we are trying to achieve.

"We will back this up by a toolkit containing powerful imagery and a place plan. This is important. It is not about spending lots of money, because we haven't got any, but it is about creating a shared story and partners from the private sector and other sectors working together."

Kenny added that businesses will act as ambassadors - so-called Rotherham pioneers - armed with the story and an outward looking mentality.

She told businesses: "Your role is to be sales people. We live in a competitive world and Rotherham needs this narrative and clarity about what it wants to be.

"To achieve our ambitions we need a "Team Rotherham" approach with everyone on board. There will be a real focus in reaching out to businesses to fully engage them in the journey of creating a thriving place.

"The private sector has a huge role to play in developing the town and area and shouting about what it has to offer around the world."

Rotherham Together Partnership website

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News: Rotherham: a new perspective

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A major place marketing exercise has been carried out in Rotherham as part of a strategy that signals a new business led approach to drive investment, transformation and growth.

Consultants from Thinkingplace have been engaged by the Rotherham Together Partnership to create a consistent narrative for Rotherham - "the Rotherham story" - as a way of promoting the borough. It comes as progress continues on a number of positive projects such as the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP), developments in the town centre, Gulliver's Valley and the Yorkshire Man of Steel.

An event marking the start of the "transformational journey towards a more successful Rotherham" is taking place at Rotherham United's New York Stadium next month where the results of the exercise will be discussed and there will be the opportunity to hear from the place marketing specialists, as well as from businesses and individuals on how they intend to take this initiative forward.

Julie Kenny CBE DL, Chair of the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust will host the event on February 15 alongside business leaders.

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Kenny is also a commissioner at Rotherham Council, leading on growing the local economy and ensuring the Council is working with others to improve jobs and housing opportunities. She has also been overseeing the Council's relationships with partners, and the voluntary and community sector.

The founder of successful Rotherham manufacturer, Pyronix, explained the initiative at a recent council meeting. She said: "A significant piece of work has been commissioned this year by the Partnership to develop a place-shaping strategy for Rotherham. This has involved a comprehensive programme of stakeholder engagement to identify distinctive themes, ideas and imagery that help to tell the Rotherham story as a way of promoting the borough to potential investors, visitors and workers.

"The themes will be introduced in February and March 2017."

The new Rotherham Together Partnership was launched in September 2015. It brings together a wide range of organisations, including major public bodies. Its Business Growth Board is responsible for the delivery of the ten-year Rotherham Economic Growth Plan.

Private sector led, but including the Council and other partners, the Board is particularly focused on skills, employment and developing the town centre, as well as providing a link to the Sheffield City Region and the opportunities presented to Rotherham through devolution of economic powers and funding.

Rotherham Together Partnership website

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