News: Rotherham sorting office still standing nine years post-masterplan

There are no signs that a key regeneration site in Rotherham town centre will be redeveloped anytime soon, nine years after the council's own masterplan said it was a high priority that the authority should help Royal Mail to relocate.

Details of a land swap between Rotherham Council and Royal Mail show that the postal service will continue to use the site on Main Street and Westgate and are carrying out new infrastructure works.

Progress has been made on the Riverside Residential Quarter, with the council leading on housing schemes on land it owns, as well as carriyng out further land acquisitions and enabling works to open up areas for redevelopment.

However, the large plot currently home to the Royal Mail sorting office remains out of reach despite being ripe for redevelopment and earmarked for a mix of uses, predominately housing, a decade ago.

On the site of the former Westgate station, the sorting office and wider area has a long planning history with previous owners, Satnam Urban Regeneration putting forward plans for a food store to rival those being put forward for Tesco. A long running legal battle with the council came to an end in 2009.

Rotherham Council went on to buy significant landholdings from Satnam in 2023.

The town centre masterplan of 2017 stated that after the redevelopment of the former Sheffield Road baths site, "the Council shall work positively to facilitate the relocation of the Royal Mail Depot elsewhere in the Borough to deliver up the second phase of the waterside project.

"The relocation of the Royal Mail Depot is a high priority. This site, with the former baths site, will prove the market and enable future phased deliver of land along the riverside to be secured.

"The present [sorting office] building is underutilised and large parts of the building are not used. The hard standing parking area is though wellused. The Council will take a pro-active approach by assisting in the site search for replacement facilities for this Royal Mail depot function and are aware of Royal Mail’s requirement. This site will then be redeveloped to deliver the second phase of the Residential Riverside. The future use and value of the site should be explored through a development capacity study alongside any site search, building on the masterplan."

Any relocation would need to be on a commercial basis and the delivery programme in the masterplan had construction starting on new developments on the sorting office in 2020.

With little sign of a relocation, the council and Royal Mail has now agreed on a land swap for two parcels of land around the site. The authority is acquiring a strip of land between the sorting office and the river so that enabling works can be completed. In exchange, Royal Mail will acquire a piece of land to the south, behind the former MOT centre and the remains of the Alma Tavern.

A council report reads: "The agreed swap will enable continuation of works to the river wall and the creation of public access along the river and into the town centre. It will also allow the Royal Mail to accept delivery of a fleet of electric vehicles once infrastructure works are completed within their new yard layout.

"The exchange of land parcels allows the River Walk to be developed as planned and Royal Mail to continue to operate from the Main Street site whilst meeting the same operational requirements as prior to the exchange of land."

Having secured £6.59m from the Government's Pathfinder grant to deliver infrastructure improvements in preparation for future residential redevelopment within the town centre, a £4.4m scheme delivered by Esh Construction on behalf of Rotherham Council completed last year. It included the construction of a new access road and a riverside footpath linking Water Lane to the town centre, alongside extensive landscaping and infrastructure upgrades.

Images: Esh / Google Maps

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News: Magtec delivers for Royal Mail

Rotherham-based Magtec and Royal Mail have announced that they are trialling cutting-edge electric truck technology, supporting the continued expansion of the UK's largest electric delivery fleet. Supported by an £800,000 grant from Innovate UK, the trial will put the two new 19-tonne vehicles through their paces in real-world conditions, comparing their performance with Royal Mail's existing fleet.

Built in the UK and featuring the iconic Royal Mail red livery, the company’s first ever electric truck will be based at the Greenford Mail Centre in North West London. It will deliver and collect mail to and from nearby delivery offices. Flexible battery options mean that the truck can cover up to 125 miles on a single charge – enough to cover most urban delivery routes. The powerful electric motor delivers the strength needed for heavy loads, while maintaining highway speeds of up to 56mph.

The results of the trial will help Royal Mail and other fleet operators understand the real-world benefits and practicalities of switching to electric vehicles.

Magtec, a leader in electric vehicle components and driveline systems with facilities at Templeborough, brings significant experience to the project, with its electric vehicles already covering over 2.5 million miles on UK roads. It has successfully delivered previous government-backed innovation programmes through the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC) and Small Business Research Initiative (SBRi). The new Gen2 system builds on this proven expertise, offering improved efficiency and reliability for everyday delivery operations.

Smaller electric vans are already an important part of Royal Mail’s fleet strategy. By July 2025, Royal Mail will have over 7,000 electric vans in use across the UK. Most of the vans will be charged on-site at Royal Mail’s delivery offices via a purchased 100% renewable electricity supply, meaning they will be zero-emission.

Royal Mail already has the lowest reported carbon emissions per parcel of any UK delivery company* and aims to maintain this position in the long term. The company’s ‘Steps to Zero’ environment strategy set a goal of achieving Net-Zero by 2040. The company has already reduced Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 18% in two years, with a target to achieve a 50% reduction by 2030.

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Marcus Jenkins, CTO at Magtec, commented: “This collaboration represents a significant milestone in advancing EV technology for medium-duty trucks. By addressing the challenges of power inefficiencies and range anxiety, we aim to provide fleet operators with a reliable, cost-effective solution that supports their decarbonisation goals while maintaining operational reliability.”

Anna Pearson, Fleet Innovation and Environment Manager at Royal Mail, said: “We’re excited to welcome the Magtec truck to the Royal Mail fleet. We’ve been rolling out electric vans in our ‘final mile’ fleet for a number of years, and now we want to learn more about how we can decarbonise our national distribution fleet of over 4,000 trucks. This trial will help strengthen our position as the UK's largest electric delivery fleet operator, while ensuring we have the reliability we need for the challenge of delivering to every single one of the UK’s 32 million addresses.”

Martin Welch, Senior Project Delivery Lead at the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC), said: “Magtec’s high-performance electric drive train technology is now excellently positioned to seize a growth market opportunity. As demand for electric vehicles increases both for first-build and re-power applications, so does the need for versatile and effective powertrain systems like those offered by Magtec.

“APC is delighted to see the results of its collaborative R&D projects delivering products to the automotive sector at scale. Making these systems efficient and affordable is essential to enable decarbonisation of the range of commercial vehicles currently in use, while still delivering customer priorities like drivability, range, and efficiency.”

Magtec website

Images: Royal Mail

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News: Rotherham mail depot acquired

InfraRed Capital Partners has been confirmed as the new owners of a large urban logistics asset in Rotherham - the Parcelforce depot at Templeborough.

Rothbiz reported in June that LondonMetric had completed the £13.3m disposal of a large warehouse at a net initial yield of 5.0%.

The 152,000 sq ft regional distribution warehouse was acquired in 2014 for £10.3m and is let to the Royal Mail Group (Parcelforce) for a further eight years at a rent of £4.70 psf.

The site is the largest and busiest Parcelforce depot in the UK, handling c. 20,000 parcels per day.

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The asset has been added InfraRed Urban Logistics Income Fund (IULIF), which targets high-quality urban logistics assets located within a 20-minute drive time of the UK's top 10 city centres. The Fund is seeking to capitalise on the growing demand/supply imbalance that exists in favour of owners of urban logistics assets in city fringe locations, and which is anticipated to accentuate as e-commerce and urban decentralisation activities continue to expand.

Dean Harrison, investment director at InfraRed Capital Partners, said: "Located within a short drive of Sheffield city centre and benefitting from immediate access to the M1 motorway, the unit’s suitability for e-commerce driven occupiers has underpinned the investment rationale. We continue to see our urban logistics assets benefit from densification trends and the accelerating adoption of e-commerce among consumers, particularly in the wake of COVID-19.

"We will look to expand our urban logistic holdings in the UK and Western Europe throughout 2020 and beyond with substantial capital available for deployment."

InfraRed Capital Partners website

Images: InfraRed Capital Partners

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News: Local companies pitch in for Bluebell Wood

A team from Stelrad in Rotherham, the UK's leading manufacturer of radiators for the heating sector, recently took on a team from the Royal Mail in a charity football match where the net result was a funding boost for Bluebell Wood Children's Hospice.

Lexi Kelly from the Mexborough company's marketing team, with the help of workmates Dean Holdsworth in maintenance and Adam Mars in production, organised the event for the morning of the day England played Sweden in the World Cup.

Based at North Anston in Rotherham, Bluebell Wood provides care and support to families who have a child who has a life limiting condition and is not expected to live into adulthood. It has to raise over £4m each year to continue its work, and receives less than 10% statutory funding.

The game was between Stelrad and the HR services team at Royal Mail, at Mexborough Athletic Football Ground. It ended in a narrow 5-4 victory for the Stelrad team.

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There was a bucket collection for spectators on the day, along with a raffle – with bottles and tickets to Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday games and to a Yorkshire Cricket Club match amongst the other prizes on offer. In total £850 was raised on the day and Stelrad kindly agreed to match the funds raised at the event, doubling that total to an impressive £1,700.

Lexi Kelly, from Stelrad, said: "I'd like to thank everyone who supported the event and who contributed to this excellent total. It was a lot of work but it all came together really well in the end! I'm really grateful to Stelrad for doubling the amount we raised on the morning of the event – its made the final amount we can donate to the charity very worthwhile!"

Julie Hampson, corporate fundraiser for Bluebell Wood Children's Hospice, added: "We'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone at Stelrad and the Royal Mail for their support on the day of the game. The amount raised will make a real difference to what we do here."

Stelrad website
Bluebell Wood website

Images: Stelrad

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News: Royal Mail stamps its feet

Royal Mail has no plans to close or relocate its sorting office in Rotherham town centre even though it has been earmarked as a key regeneration site.

On the site of the former Westgate station, the sorting office and wider area has a long planning history with owners, Satnam Urban Regeneration putting forward plans for a food store to rival those being put forward for Tesco. A long running legal battle with the Council came to an end in 2009.

The Main Street and Sheffield Road site has been seen as key to realising the Rotherham Renaissance objective to make the most of the adjacent River Don but plans have stalled since the global recession despite the developments of new civic offices and Rotherham United's stadium on the nearby Guest & Chrimes site.

As the Council finalises its local plan, the final draft of the borough's Sites and Policies document has the site earmarked for a mix of uses. The plans state: "The area remains suitable for a mix of uses, however it is considered appropriate to define land between the River Don and Sheffield Road / Westgate separately given its riverside location. The area is considered to be suitable for B1 office and hotel uses given its proximity to Rotherham town centre and public transport interchanges. Housing is also considered suitable in view of the Council's aspiration to increase urban living close to the town centre. It is also considered suitable for non-residential institution and assembly and leisure uses given its location, existing uses and proximity to Rotherham town centre."

However, the plans add that whilst it should remain as mixed use, the land should only be proposed as a residential development site. The site is allocated an indicative number of 143 homes to be delivered between 2021 and 2026.

In 2011 Satnam Urban Regeneration Limited continued to push for the land that they own on Westgate to be earmarked for retail development (food and non-food).

In response to latest site allocation, the Royal Mail Group has instructed consultants at Cushman & Wakefield to put forward its views. It said: "The delivery office operates antisocial hours and generates noise through vehicle movements and loading operations which could impact on the amenity of nearby residential occupiers. If new housing is permitted it will be essential that the local authority requires and enforces measures to satisfactorily mitigate the impact of noise within the development without detriment to Royal Mail's operations or business, in order for the plan to be considered effective.

"It should be noted that at present, the above site is operational and Royal Mail currently have no plans to close or relocate it. Should the site come forward as a redevelopment site, then it is essential that as the site is operational, the policies and/or supporting text to the inclusion of the site explicitly states that the re-provision / relocation of Royal Mail's operations will be required prior to redevelopment."

It adds that any relocation would need to be "commercially attractive" to Royal Mail and that the proceeds of the disposal of the site will need to yield sufficient value to fund the purchase and fit-out of a new site.

Royal Mail Group's express parcels business, Parcelforce Worldwide, opened its new depot in Rotherham at the end of 2013. The operation relocated across Rotherham to a massive 152,421 sq ft unit at Magna 34 at Templeborough.

Images: Google

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News: Research reveals that Rotherham is a new business boom town

Royal Mail's latest business start-up barometer reveals that Rotherham is a hot spot for enterprise.

The report found that 1.86% of all the businesses in Rotherham are start up businesses, a figure that is second only to Sunderland in the whole of the UK.

The barometer, which is compiled every six months using Royal Mail's Business Changes File, reveals a 13 per cent rise in new companies in the UK, with 4,400 more small businesses being set up between the beginning of March and the end of August 2010 than in the previous six months.

Keith Jones, Head of Data Strategy at Royal Mail, said: "The picture for start-up companies in the UK is optimistic and we should take this as a good sign that throughout the UK there is a lot of opportunity and entrepreneurial spirit despite the difficult economic climate."

The data used in the barometer also showed that the percentage of start up businesses has increased in Rotherham, with the latest figure higher than the same period last year (1.36%) and even before the economic downturn (1.51%).

Recent projects established to further boost enterprise levels in the borough are making an impact.

The Rotherham Enterprise Project offers professional support for businesses and is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). It is being delivered by RiDO, RYE, VAR and the chamber. The project has been running for 14 months and the Community Businesses Coaches have had 780 enquiries, which has lead to 119 new start-ups, which has created 141 jobs.

Tim O'Connell, Business and Retail Investment Manager for Rotherham Investment and Development Office (RiDO), said the figures proved that Rotherham was on the right track in attracting and nurturing people who have the ambition and drive to start up on their own.

He said: "We are delighted that the Royal Mail's figures on the number of new businesses starts in Rotherham reflect our own findings and indicate that our hard work is bearing fruit.

"We know there are plenty of people out there with great business ideas and we like to think that with our help and experience we can help them set up in business, and more importantly, grow their business."

The Enterprise Board in Rotherham, also funded by the ERDF, provides the strategic direction to enterprise support in the borough, with the aim of driving up local enterprise levels. Made up of Rotherham entrepreneurs who want to give something back to the community, the Board's focus is to make the borough a centre of sustainable, diverse and growing businesses and a place where anyone wishing to start a business can get all the support and help needed.

John Wainwright, Chair of Rotherham Enterprise Board welcomed the findings of the Royal Mail research. He said: "This is excellent news for Rotherham and I'm sure it is a trend that will continue as the Enterprise Board and its partners work to drive the entrepreneurial spirit of the borough even further.

"The Board have had the pleasure of engaging with many pre start and early stage businesses over the past months as a result of its innovative events and mentor programmes and without a doubt their drive and enthusiasm to succeed has been awe-inspiring."

In addition, Rotherham Ready, the project that works with schools and colleges to embed enterprise in education from 4-19 and beyond, is representing Rotherham in the Enterprising Britain competition for 2010, where they have reached the final three.

Rotherham Enterprise project website
Rotherham Enterprise Board website
Rotherham Ready website

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