News: What is opening at Olive Lane?

The construction of Olive Lane, a retail mixed use development in Rotherham, is targeted for completion this month.

The plans proposed a new high street within the Waverley regeneration site which would incorporate retail, leisure, office, community uses, outdoor events and pop-up market stall spaces. The proposal also includes 50 residential units along with car parking, public realm and an improvement to existing public transport infrastructure.

In a scaling back of the plans, a 16,500 sq ft discount supermarket for the likes of Aldi and Lidl was taken out of the scheme and replaced by a 4,000 sq ft supermarket.

Rothbiz reported last year that Tesco Express would take the largest unit that is at the centre of the scheme which sits between the housing developments at Waverley and the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP).

Lindum Group is the lead contractor for regeneration specialists, Harworth Group.



Harworth has recently confirmed that the current occupier line up includes a Medical Centre, Tesco, Waverley Community Centre, Specsavers, Little Olives Nursery, Karobar Indian restaurant and Hall Court Vets.

A spokesperson from Harworth Group, said: "We know residents will be looking forward to making use of these amenities and enjoying what Olive Lane has to offer to the Waverley community. We are also currently in discussions with several other occupiers for the remaining few units.

"Our intention is for one of the units to be a pharmacy, to complement the medical centre at Olive Lane. We are in discussions with a pharmacy operator and they are currently in the process of securing an NHS license."

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Adjacent to Olive Lane is Sky-House Co's Waverley Central. It features 96 new homes in a series of house types based on the Sheffield house builder's concept inspired by the revival of Victorian and Georgian urban design principles.

The site includes two-bed starter homes, three and four bed mews and town houses and a range of larger detached homes with various tenures, with the first occupants already moving into their completed new homes.

Rebecca Prince, Head of Brand at Sky-House Co, said: "Waverley Central is our biggest development to date and we are delighted that we are now welcoming our first residents.

"Following the success of our two well-established Waverley sites, Waverley Central places us even more firmly at the very centre of the Waverley community."

Harworth has also provided an update on the new Marriott Hotel at Waverley where construction has stalled.

The company said: "While Harworth is the master developer of Waverley, we have not been leading on the development of this hotel. It is instead being constructed by another developer – Stapleford Ventures – which bought the piece of land where the hotel is situated from Harworth in 2021.

"We have been in discussion with Stapleford Ventures in recent months and are pleased to report that it will be resuming works on the hotel in the week commencing 27 January.

"Marriott remains committed to operating the hotel, although we are not yet able to confirm timings for the hotel being operational. We know the community will be looking forward to the hotel opening and will continue to keep residents informed on this."

Harworth website

Images: Lindum Group

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News: Specsavers Rotherham unveils expansion

Specsavers in Rotherham town centre has unveiled its brand new store refurbishment and expansion, representing a major investment in community health provision and creating new jobs.

The Specsavers store on College Street has expanded to fill another two empty units adjacent to its existing first floor space, providing three additional testing rooms equipped with state-of-the-art equipment for eye tests.

The expansion was officially opened by the Mayor, Councillor Eve Keenan, at the end of 2017.

Visitors to the store were invited to look around the new space and enjoy some refreshments. Children were handed balloons and there was even a giant pair of glasses posing for photos with members of the public.

Steve Cheshire store director at Rotherham Specsavers, where he has worked for more than 25 years, said: "We;re so grateful for our loyal customers, who have made this fantastic expansion possible. We look forward to many more years of business in Rotherham, keeping the local high street alive.

"We have been offering the very best in customer service for many years – in fact many of our staff have been here for a decade or more and are truly experts in what they do.

"We are very pleased to unveil shiny new premises with added space and modern facilities to match."

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The store has already employed a new staff member to manage the increased demand, and plans to recruit further for both entry-level customer service staff and qualified optical professionals.

The expanded shop floor allows Specsavers to stock more than 1,400 frames, giving customers more choice than ever when it comes to choosing glasses that make them feel comfortable and fashionable. There will also be a larger waiting area, so customers can wait for their appointment in comfort.

Specsavers is a partnership of nearly 2,000 locally-run businesses. operating under a joint venture partnership model similar to a franchise, a typical store has two directors who buy a 50% equity share and share the profits with Specsavers.

For 2016/17, when the group sold more than 20 million frames, 425 million contact lenses and 338,000 hearing aids worldwide, overall group revenue rose to £2.27 billion, up 6.6% on 2015/16. This includes total UK revenue of £1.32 billion, up 6.1% on the previous year.

Specsavers website

Images: Specsavers

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News: New home for Specsavers in Catcliffe

A Rotherham branch of Specsavers is set to re-open next month, providing customers with a 19-strong specialist team offering a range of eyecare advice and services.

The opticians had been based inside the Woolworths store at Catcliffe for eight years but had to close its doors in January 2009 when Woolworths went out of business.

In order to reduce the impact to employees, all 15 staff members were transferred to Specsavers' Rotherham store where they have continued to be employed by the company for the last 15 months. The opticians is set to re-launch in April at its new base at Morrisons Superstore, Catcliffe with all 15 original team members returning to their roles.

The new 180 sq m state-of-the-art modular building will be located in the supermarket car park and will house four testing rooms and the full range of frames.

The new look store also requires an additional four new recruits.

Specsavers Catcliffe store director, Phil Garbe said: "We're absolutely thrilled to be coming home and can't wait to open our new doors to customers.

"It's been a challenging time following our original store closure, but the team spirit has remained strong. Our loyal customers have stuck by us and travelled across to Rotherham in the interim.

"We'd especially like to thank the Morrisons team for their help in getting our new premises up and running. The new base, with ample free parking, puts us in an ideal position to provide the best eyecare to local residents once again. It's great to be back."

Last year, owners Stadium Ltd submitted plans to subdivide the former Big W store into six retail units and build a further eight "kiosk" units for either retail, restaurants, cafes or hot food takeaways.

Specsavers website
Rotherham

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