News: Accelerator for ambitious freelancers and founders

Enterprising young people from Rotherham are being invited to take part in a free innovative business accelerator focused on building a personal brand.

The Self-Made in 60 Days programme is running exclusively for people in South Yorkshire aged 18-30 - those already a trading business (running for up to three years) or just thinking about starting.

Free to attend, the programme is a chance to meet like-minded people and established business owners and is delivered mostly online, with just three days in person.

The programme is headed by Sheffield-based Studio Self-Made who have used their experience of business support and helping underrepresented individuals build careers, start businesses and unlock new opportunities. It has been commissioned by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council and funded by broadband firm Quickline through its social value programme.

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The deadline for applications is Wednesday September 30 with the accelerator starting on October 5. Applications can be made online here.

The website explains: "Personal branding is your reputation by design. In 60 days, we'll help you build a personal brand that puts you in front of the right people so the opportunities come to you. It’s mostly online and just 3 days in person.

"Building a personal brand isn’t about sharing your private life; it’s about strategically sharing your story to humanise your business and help people connect with you.

"This is an interactive accelerator programme for ambitious (and aspiring) freelancers and founders who want to develop a marketing channel that brings leads and opportunities to their business.

"Take part in a mix of online sessions and in-person events in your local area where you get to meet like-minded people, learn new skills and network with established business owners in a relaxed environment (with free food!)."

Studio Self-Made website

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News: CityFibre gets to work in Wath

Work to upgrade the digital foundations in parts of North Rotherham with fast, reliable and future-proof full fibre network connectivity is now underway after CityFibre, the UK’s largest independent full fibre platform, started construction works in the Swinton area.

CityFibre is investing £31.2m in bringing this new technology to local homes and businesses, providing them with access to a network that has been designed to serve their growing data needs for decades to come.

Locally, the rollout is being completed by Heneghan & Sons who will work closely with CityFibre and Rotherham Council to ensure any disruption is managed safely and efficiently. Typically, teams will only remain in each area for a few days at a time, and residents will be contacted ahead of any work starting.

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Charles Kitchin, CityFibre’s Partnership Manager for Wath upon Dearne, said: “I’m immensely excited and proud to see work getting underway in Wath upon Dearne as it gets ready to thrive in the digital age. It’s important to remember that any short-term disruption will pay off tremendously in the long-term - once the network’s built, it will serve the community’s connectivity needs for years to come.”

Full fibre networks use 100% fibre optics to carry data at light speed all the way from the home to the point of connection. This gives users speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps for upload and download, near limitless bandwidth and reliable connectivity.   

A full fibre connection also goes far beyond simply enabling access to the latest entertainment at lightning speed. Full fibre boosts households and businesses, with experts saying it will drive a range of economic benefits, such as making us more productive and innovative. 

Recommended reading: How do UK residents spend their time online?

When the new network goes live in Wath upon Dearne, customers will be able to access full fibre enabled services via a choice of providers, including CityFibre’s UK launch partner, Vodafone, on selected Vodafone Pro Broadband plans, TalkTalk, Zen, and Giganet with other providers expected to join the network soon.  

CityFibre began work in the borough back in 2020 after Rotherham was included in the second phase of rollouts extending CityFibre's Gigabit City programme.

CityFibre website

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News: CityFibre highlights broadband boost for borough

A new report commissioned by CityFibre, the UK’s largest independent full fibre platform, has found that Rotherham will reap major economic benefits from the roll out of a faster and more reliable full fibre network.

The study by the consultancy Hatch estimates that, over a fifteen-year period, the positive impacts of CityFibre’s £29m investment in Rotherham will include £284m in productivity and innovation gains, £62m from a widened workforce, £17m in local authority efficiency savings and £145m in increased housing value.

CityFibre confirmed a £29m investment in Rotherham in 2020. Areas on the rollout map include a large area around central Rotherham plus Aston, Catcliffe, Dinnington, Maltby, Thorpe Hesley, Treeton, Wales and Wath upon Dearne.

Network construction is also predicted to create new jobs within CityFibre’s build partners and supply chain, which will also generate a boost in economic value as most will be recruited locally to support the rollout.

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Hybrid and flexible working, supported by full fibre access at home and in the office, is also unlocking access to a larger pool of talent for employers. In Rotherham this widening of the workforce is expected to unleash £62m in benefits while the productivity boost enabled by flexible working is estimated to exceed £16m.

Technological benefits are also a major focus of the report, which demonstrates that CityFibre’s network in Rotherham will help unlock £675m in growth value from 5G services, £259m from the Internet of Things and £119m from Smart City initiatives, like intelligent traffic management systems and street lighting.

The UK, as a whole, stands to benefit from over £38bn in potential economic benefits. Productivity improvements and innovation are responsible for the largest impact, contributing more than £22bn in economic value nationwide. Faster and more reliable digital connectivity boosts business productivity and innovation, increasing turnover and contributing to the formation of new businesses and business models.

Natalie Ward, Area Manager for Rotherham at CityFibre, said: “We are extremely proud of how our full fibre rollout is progressing in Rotherham. Full fibre has far-reaching benefits, encouraging growth while simultaneously providing the platform needed for innovation and investment. The report demonstrates this, as well as the tangible benefits full fibre can bring, and I look forward to witnessing the positive impact on Rotherham’s residents and businesses in the years to come.”

CityFibre website

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News: Openreach adds Rotherham to Ultrafast Full Fibre Broadband plan

Parts of the Rotherham borough are all set to benefit from Openreach's national upgrade plan, with the majority of premises gaining access to the latest Ultrafast, ultra-reliable Full Fibre broadband.

Adding 551 more towns and cities – covering some 5 million homes and businesses – the move is part of the company's £15 billion programme.

Last year Rothbiz reported that Openreach had confirmed that market towns and villages in Rotherham are in for a full fibre boost - with exchanges in Wickersley and Thurcroft set to be upgraded has part of plans to target the UK's hardest to reach "final third."

Openreach has now updated its FTTP plans for Fibre First Towns, Cities and Boroughs and Market Towns and Villages Build Programme.

Openreach’s updated build plan will be fundamental to the UK Government achieving its target of delivering ‘gigabit capable’ broadband to 85% of UK by 2025 and it follows an extended investment commitment by its parent, BT Group – which means the company will now build Full Fibre technology to a total of 25 million premises, including more than six million in the hardest-to-serve parts of the country by the end of 2026.

The maps show that some areas in the south of the borough, such as Waverley, Treeton and Swallownest, are expected to have a full fibre network built by 2024.

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Central areas including Templeborough, the town centre, Eastwood, Moorgate, Herringthorpe, Brinsworth, Catcliffe and Whiston, are expected to have a full fibre network built by 2025.

Over in the east, areas such as Wickersley, Hellaby and Thurcroft, are expected to have a full fibre network built by 2026.

Areas in Rotherham not yet included in Openreach's plans include Swinton, Rawmarsh, Greasbrough, Kimberworth, Dalton, Thrybergh, Maltby, Aston and Dinnington.

Following a competitive tender process, partners Telent Infrastructure Services and MAP Group Ltd, were chosen by Openreach to support the upgrades and will play a crucial role in building the new network to thousands of premises in these locations.

Robert Thorburn, Openreach’s regional director for the North, said: “Nobody in the UK is building full fibre faster, further or at a higher quality than Openreach. We’re reaching more communities than ever and our team of highly-skilled engineers, alongside our build partners, are working hard to deliver some of the fastest and most reliable broadband available anywhere in the world.

“Just last month we announced dozens of rural and hard to reach locations across Yorkshire and the Humber were to benefit, so it’s great that we’re able to reveal another huge broadband boost for the region with these additional locations."

Ric Welsby, Managing Director of Telent Infrastructure Services, said; “We are very pleased to be supporting Openreach in the build of this ultrafast and ultra-reliable full fibre broadband network. The long-term contracts we have been awarded allow us to recruit the people we need to provide an excellent service to Openreach. We have many exciting roles to fill, I would encourage anyone who is interested in working on this important national infrastructure project to visit our website.”

Sarb Singh, Director of Operations, Map Group (UK) Limited, said: "MAP Group (UK) is delighted to be working alongside Openreach. We share a common goal to build the best possible network with the highest quality of service and connectivity to householders and businesses.

"The upgrade will vastly improve download speeds and the quality of video calls and streaming. We are proud to be associated with what is being seen as significant step on the road back to economic recovery after the Covid lockdown."

Openreach website

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News: CityFibre extends reach

CityFibre has identified 216 additional towns and villages that are to benefit from a Full Fibre rollout, completing the list of locations in its £4 billion nationwide investment programme.

CityFibre's Gigabit City programme has already reached Rotherham.

The leading designer, builder, owner, and operator of fibre optic infrastructure in UK towns and cities provides an alternative to BT Openreach.

CityFibre confirmed last year that a £29m investment in the borough would start in the Kimberworth area.

The latest build plans show the majority of Rotherham in CityFibre's phase 1, with Aston, Catcliffe, Dinnington, Kilnhurst, Kiveton Park, Maltby, Swinton, Thorpe Hesley, Treeton, Wales and Wath in phase 2.

The scale of CityFibre’s rollout has been made possible by the favourable regulatory environment established by Ofcom to encourage infrastructure competition, making it quicker and easier to deploy Full Fibre networks. It is expected that Ofcom’s imminent market review will support competition in the sector as the key to investment as industry accelerates to meet Government’s 2025 target.

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The nationwide build programme is expected to be substantially completed by 2025 and will address approximately a third of the UK market including up to 8 million homes, 800,000 businesses, 400,000 public sector sites and 250,000 5G access points. This will make it the largest independent Full Fibre platform in the country.

CityFibre’s strategic partners Vodafone, TalkTalk and Zen are already targeting the rapidly expanding footprint and a growing number of regional and local ISPs are offering affordable, reliable and symmetrical gigabit-speed Full Fibre broadband.

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Greg Mesch, CEO at CityFibre said: "We’re delighted to welcome so many new towns, villages and communities to our Full Fibre rollout programme. By 2025, our world-class digital infrastructure will be within reach of nearly a third of the UK market, connecting homes, businesses, schools and hospitals, and supporting 5G mobile networks. This is clear proof of the benefits of digital infrastructure competition.

“We have seen huge enthusiasm and early success from our ISP partners, both large and small. Together we’re maximising the potential of a new infrastructure build programme to stimulate demand and drive take-up. Building the network is the first step. It’s only through the use of this world-class Full Fibre infrastructure that we can derive the maximum benefit for our economic recovery and future success.”

CityFibre website

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News: CityFibre jobs boost in Rotherham

Having recently broken ground on a full fibre network that will reach almost every home and business in Rotherham, recruitment is ramping up to support the project.

Construction partner, Heneghan's, are seeking to develop its growing team, as they continue to roll out infrastructure in Doncaster and Rotherham on behalf of CityFibre.

A Recruitment Open Day has been organised for Saturday October 3 to promote the employment opportunities that are available working in Rotherham and Doncaster.

Roles include Civil Operatives, Fibre Engineers, Underground Operatives, Overground Operatives, Supervisors and more.

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Opportunities are available for experienced construction workers and for professionals seeking career changes and training opportunities.  To register your interest or apply online please go to https://buildthenetwork.cityfibre.com/

The £29m private investment from CityFibre, the UK's third national digital infrastructure platform, will futureproof Rotherham’s digital infrastructure and provide residents and businesses with access to reliable, high speed and high capacity full fibre broadband.

Capable of Gigabit speeds (1,000 Mbps), full fibre can do much more than simply help households access the latest entertainment at lightning speed and stream from multiple devices with ease. It is a key enabler for smart home technology, supports seamless home working and lays the foundations for smart city initiatives.

City Fibre website

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News: Broadband boost for borough

Two infrastructure firms have confirmed plans to improve fibre broadband in Rotherham, investing millions in the borough.

CityFibre is well underway to build a full fibre network that will reach almost every home and business in the town.

Meanwhile, Openreach has also outlined plans to make ultra-reliable and gigabit-capable full fibre broadband available to homes and businesses in further parts of the borough.

Rothbiz reported in 2019 that Rotherham was included in the second phase of rollouts extending CityFibre's Gigabit City programme.

The leading designer, builder, owner, and operator of fibre optic infrastructure in UK towns and cities provides an alternative to BT Openreach.

CityFibre has now confirmed a contractor for the £29m investment with Heneghan's starting work in the Kimberworth area.

The full fibre network is not yet live, but once activated, services will be available from an increasing range of broadband providers. Across the UK, CityFibre is already working with launch partner, Vodafone to deliver next generation broadband services, and TalkTalk is expected to join the network soon.

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Cllr. Chris Read, leader of Rotherham Council, said: "The CityFibre investment in Rotherham is a huge boost that supports our ambitions to develop a competitive and sustainable economy that builds on our strengths in advance manufacturing and innovation.

"Rotherham has so much going for it as a business location and having the full fibre network makes it the ideal place for any company to grow or locate. Having a full fibre gigabit capable infrastructure will meet the ever increasing digital demands of those living and working in Rotherham now and in the future."

Natalie Ward, city manager for Rotherham at CityFibre, added: "This is such an exciting time for people across Rotherham as work is now underway to build the Full Fibre broadband network which will digitally transform the town. Not only will this bring lightning fast speeds to both households and businesses, it will open up much deeper benefits such as enabling smart home technologies and giving people the freedom to work from home with ease.

"Our £29m investment also supports the innovative business community that helps drive the Rotherham economy. Through the adoption of next generation Full Fibre connectivity, more innovation and productivity will be driven, ultimately giving businesses the platform they need to realise their growth ambitions. Creating a level playing field for local businesses is vital as they seek to compete and sell internationally."

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Targeting 3.2 million premises in the UK's hardest to reach "final third," Openreach has confirmed that market towns and villages are in for a full fibre boost - with exchanges in Wickersley and Thurcroft set to be upgraded.

Robert Thorburn, partnership director in the North of England at Openreach, said: "I'd encourage everyone to check if they can switch to the new technology, and if you can, get in touch with your broadband provider to find out more about the many benefits. "Full fibre" is more reliable and more resilient meaning fewer faults and more predictable, consistent speeds. It is also "future-proof" to easily meet the growing data demands of future technologies."

Last year, Superfast South Yorkshire (SFSY) completed a £27m contract to deliver faster broadband to residents and businesses across South Yorkshire.

City Fibre website
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News: Rotherham broadband provider launching Origin TV

A shared vision has seen Origin Broadband and Netgem join forces to offer Origin TV, a new multiscreen service.

The new product is designed to complement Origin Broadband's "customer first" model – offering a superb entertainment experience at a great price and as a genuine alternative to the traditional expensive broadband TV offerings.

Launching in 2011, Origin has developed its own infrastructure and now host the sixth largest broadband network in the UK. Supplying phone and internet services to businesses and homes across the UK, it is based in Rotherham town centre.

Origin TV combines a wealth of free live and On-demand content from public broadcasters, YouTube and YouTube Kids, genre based "go to" channels, along with premium sport content through Premier Sports, with access to Spanish and Italian top football matches exclusively from LaLiga and the Serie A.

No less than 150 games will broadcast live in HD and be included in the bundle price in the coming weeks as LaLiga, Serie A and the UK Premier League resume. Additionally, Origin customers can also use their Amazon Prime accounts to watch unlimited series and movies, sign up to Britbox, or even watch the latest cinema releases on Rakuten TV – all through one unique discovery and search experience, powered by Netgem TV.

Origin plans for further product and customer growth throughout 2021 with Origin TV being a key part of the growth strategy, offering customers more choice, better value and an upgraded service.

Netgem TV, whose service was named "Most Advanced TV service" at the 2019 Video Tech Awards, and who offers "the best 2020 Freeview Play set-top box in the UK" as awarded by Expert Review, was selected as the perfect partner to deliver Origin’s ambitious plans.

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Oliver Bryssau, CEO at Origin Broadband, said: "Origin has enjoyed double-digit growth in a highly competitive marketplace, and the low-cost yet high-quality and flexible television service provided by Netgem was the perfect tool to continue to drive that growth forwards.

"Netgem allows us to provide a genuine value broadband and video package alternative to the £50/m and upwards routinely charged by our competitors, and has allowed us to do so quickly and with very little capital exposure."

The Netgem TV service is designed for maximum consumer convenience, acting as a "one stop shop" for all their video content needs, whether that is free-to-air television, YouTube, or any one of the app-based premium services that can be accessed on a convenient and flexible month-to-month basis. As such it is a perfect fit for the agile altnets that are flourishing in the UK and Ireland and transforming the landscape of ultra-fast broadband provision.

Sylvain Thevenot, chief commercial and customer officer, at Netgem TV, said: "There was no better partner than Origin Broadband to introduce the next evolution of our TV service in the UK, offering greater choice at better value to the consumer and a fast launching solution to ISPs looking to add video to their services and expand their reach,” says

"The altnets are seeing great success in the currently challenging economy and we believe that adding flexible, high quality and value-conscious video services to their offering, as Origin Broadband has just done, will help continue to drive their growth forward and increase customer loyalty.”

Origin Broadband website

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News: £27m broadband contract completes

Superfast South Yorkshire (SFSY) has celebrated the successful completion of a £27m contract to deliver faster broadband to residents and businesses across South Yorkshire.

SFSY is the partnership between the authorities of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield and BT, which secured £28m to improve the region's access to superfast broadband.

Nearly 95,000 businesses and residents can now access superfast speeds as a result of  the programme which is part of the Government's BDUK initiative and 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.

The upgrades have been well received, with more than half (55,000) of the newly enabled homes and businesses signing up for a service so far.

In addition to the success of the first phase of the roll-out, a second phase will see almost 10,000 more homes and businesses upgraded, with the majority set to benefit from Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology, capable of blistering speeds of up to 1Gbps (Gigabit per second). 1

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Matt Warman, Minister for Digital and Broadband, said: "It is fantastic to see that nearly 95,000 residents and businesses in South Yorkshire are now reaping the benefits of superfast speeds.

"Connectivity is high on the UK Government's agenda. We want to deliver world-class, gigabit-capable broadband across the country as soon as possible and have already committed more than £650m for full fibre roll-out."

Matt Gladstone, Executive Director for Place at Barnsley Council and SFSY project sponsor, added: "It's a real achievement that the first phase of Superfast South Yorkshire has been completed.

"We've seen a real appetite from a significant number of homes and businesses in South Yorkshire, and we expect that more people will want to take advantage of some of the fastest broadband speeds in the UK.

"This will enable communities across South Yorkshire to increase their connectivity and access a range of online services. It's a fantastic project that provides the opportunity for people to be digital first, not only for this generation, but also for generations to come."

The faster speeds are not automatically available when a structure is upgraded. To benefit from faster speeds, businesses and residents first need to check online to see if their area has been upgraded, before getting in touch with their broadband provider to arrange an upgrade.

Robert Thorburn, Openreach partnership director, said: "Openreach has delivered one of biggest feats of civil engineering undertaken in South Yorkshire in recent years.

"The Superfast South Yorkshire team and all the Openreach engineers who have worked alongside them should be very proud of making this happen and for the overall success of the programme so far. Our work in South Yorkshire continues and we look forward to bringing better broadband to thousands more residents and businesses."

SFSY website

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News: CityFibre progresses plans for Rotherham

The second phase of rollouts extending CityFibre's Gigabit City programme includes Rotherham and can create full fibre running all the way into the borough's properties.

The leading designer, builder, owner, and operator of fibre optic infrastructure in UK towns and cities provides an alternative to BT Openreach.

Rotherham is one of 12 new regions that join alongside the 12 cities already announced, and form the next phase in CityFibre's £2.5bn investment plan to bring competitive full fibre infrastructure to at least five million homes, more than 20% of the UK market.

CityFibre has commenced network design and is already investing in each location, extending its existing full fibre spine infrastructure serving schools, hospitals and council offices, to reach nearly every home and business.

A planning application has been submitted to convert an empty business unit in Masbrough into a data centre for CityFibre.

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Each Gigabit City design will include enough fibre capacity to serve the bandwidth demands of all market verticals far into the future. The networks, which are designed to be ready for 5G small cell densification, also provide a platform to realise Smart City ambitions.

Greg Mesch, CEO at CityFibre, said: "CityFibre's sole purpose is to deliver the future-proof digital infrastructure the UK deserves. With a new Prime Minister set to increase government's ambitions for the pace of full fibre rollout, we are delighted to welcome another 14 towns and cities to our Gigabit City Club. These Gigabit Cities will not only gain new full fibre networks that will spark their digital transformation, but also unleash the benefits that only competitive infrastructure investment can bring.

"Our rollout to five million homes is gathering momentum. We have now confirmed 26 locations and over two million homes in our programme. We are investing, we are building, and we are connecting customers to networks of the future."

CityFibre website

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News: Deal done for full fibre broadband

Superfast South Yorkshire (SFSY) has confirmed that it is working with Openreach on a £10m project which aims to make fibre broadband available to as close to 100% coverage as technically possible.

SFSY is the partnership between the authorities of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield and BT, which secured £28m to improve the region's access to superfast broadband.

Phase 2 is targeting another 9,000 homes, providing "ultrafast" connections. New speeds of up to a Gigabit (1Gbps) will be available, 24 times faster than the UK average of 46Mbps. Areas to be connected first include New Lodge in Barnsley, Bessacarr in Doncaster, Sunnyside in Rotherham, and High Green in Sheffield.

SFSY said this week that 98% of Rotherham now has access to fibre broadband.

The project 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.

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Matt Gladstone, executive director for place at Barnsley Council and SFSY project sponsor, said: "This is fantastic news for South Yorkshire and confirms our commitment to providing residents and businesses with the opportunity to access the latest technology.

"A lot of fantastic work has already taken place to make high-speed fibre broadband available to thousands of homes and businesses, many for the first time. But we're not finished yet. This next phase will connect people living in areas across the region that don't yet have access to fibre networks. Once installed full fibre will not only provide ultrafast speeds but will also future-proof the network for years to come."

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Robert Thorburn, partnership director in the North for Openreach, added: "We are delighted to have been chosen to take our partnership in South Yorkshire even further. Making sure that homes and businesses across the region have the connectivity they require is vital for the long-term prosperity and economic health of an area. This second phase of work means that thousands of local homes and businesses will soon have access to some of the fastest broadband speeds in the UK."

With detailed planning and survey work already underway the first full fibre connections will be live for 2020. Over 9,000 properties will be fully connected by spring 2021.

SFSY website

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News: Origin Broadband needs support of creditors and investors

Origin Broadband has been hit by high costs and bad debts as it tries to press ahead with ambitious growth plans.

Reports claim that a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) is being arranged with its creditors in order to keep the company trading, but redundancies are expected.

Launching in 2011, Origin has developed its own infrastructure and now host the sixth largest broadband network in the UK. Supplying phone and internet services to businesses and homes across the UK, Origin aims to reach 250,000 customers by 2020.

As part of the growth plans, earlier this year the firm moved from Doncaster to the 53,665 sq ft Unit 7 at Callflex Business Park, Manvers which the firm said offers an even bigger opportunity for growth.

Financial statements filed with Companies House show that the company posted a full year loss to March 31 2018 of £7m but funding of £6.75m was secured from investors during and after the financial year to return the business "to a positive net asset position combined with increased cash funds."

Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Venture Capital Trust (VCT) specialist, Calculus, first invested £3m in December 2016 and has gone on to invest a total of £6.5m into Origin Broadband.

Trade website, ISP Review, is reporting that Origin have appointed business recovery professionals, Chamberlain & Co, and that creditors have been informed over a proposed CVA. It added that Origin is also proposing to cut their staff count by approximately 42%.

Struggling companies can use a CVA to pay creditors over a fixed period. 75% approval from unsecured creditors is needed to complete a CVA which enables the company to continue trading.

Trade creditors were owed £4.8m at the end of the year to March 31 2018.

The company continues to undergo work to secure further funding to support "significant potential growth plans."

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The financial results state: "Origin Broadband saw significant growth in 2017/18, with 117% growth in revenue combined with 192% growth in customer numbers. Having established a residential customer base, the company spent the second half of 17/18 focused on system and process improvement to support future growth in the following financial year.

"The high growth experienced by the company has seen significant up-front costs combined with overhead costs and prudent bad debt assumptions leading to a full year loss to 31 March 2018 of £7.0m. During 2017/18 the company raised £3.5m investment from our institutional EIS investor, combined with a £3.25m raise in May 2018 that return us to a positive net asset position combined with increased cash funds. This final investment tranche was a combined investment between our incumbent EIS investor with a new VC based investor.

"The company is currently working with this new VC investor to provide significant capital funding against subscriber targets which will give the business headroom to operate in the longterm."

Directors have drawn up financial forecasts based on the new investment being delivered and scaled back plans based on no new investment. Signed off in September, the directors state that "they have a reasonable expectation that the company will have adequate resources to continue to operate for the foreseeable future."

But company auditors warn that: "On the basis that major suppliers and investors continue to support the company it can be considered a going concern and we have not seen anything to suggest that this is not the case.

"However should support from creditors end or continued support from investors fail to materialise, the company does not have the cash generative ability to continue trading in its current form."

Origin Broadband website

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News: Council uploads plan for free Wi-Fi in Rotherham town centre

Rotherham Council is pushing ahead with plans to get up to speed and offer free Wi-Fi in the town centre.

Rothbiz reported first at the end of 2017 that the authority was looking at free Wi-Fi as part of a range of measures to try and stimulate footfall and support existing businesses as they wait for the catalyst projects in the new masterplan to revive the town centre.

Currently free Wi-Fi in the town centre is only available in specific buildings or retail / leisure outlets. For example, at Rotherham Council's Riverside House and the library, Tesco, McDonald's and Wetherspoons.

Sheffield Council recently confirmed the implementation of free, public-access Wi-Fi as part of the Business Improvement District (BID) plans for encouraging visitors, residents and employees to spend more time in the city. It has selected Idaq Networks to provide the service.

Rotherham is hoping to follow suit with a scheme designed to include no or minimal upfront or ongoing investment by the authority. A concession contract would see a private company install superfast and ultrafast broadband equipment in exchange for providing the bidder with exclusive use of council-owned street lights and street furniture for wireless communications.

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As well as covering the main town centre shopping district, the proposal would also cover public open spaces such as Clifton Park.

As opposed to a council funded public access Wi-Fi service, the concession contract requires no investment from the authority and "enables the Council to provide a public access Wi-Fi service and to use limited budgets elsewhere."

Schemes in other areas, such as York and Leeds, have secured external funding for similar projects, but these funding pots no longer exist.

Rotherham Council's cabinet and commissioners are set to consider the proposal at their decision-making meeting on May 21 and if approved, tendering could start in June. The service is timetabled to be online in March 2019.

Soft market testing has been carried out and identified that there is interest and that the Council can expect to receive bids.

Cllr. Denise Lelliott, cabinet member for jobs and the local economy at Rotherham Council, said: "In our increasingly digital age, people like to use social media and the internet on the go. A key priority for the Council is to extend prosperity and as the town centre repositions itself as a leisure destination, there will be more people living and socialising in the town centre.

"Free Wi-Fi in public spaces and public buildings will really help residents and tourists connect with each other and stay in touch with local events, making the town centre a more vibrant destination and supporting local businesses to thrive and grow."

Other ideas being developed to support the town centre include parking incentives, proposals to incentivise new shop traders to move into the town, the introduction of a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO), marketing and promotion and opportunities for "meanwhile uses" and window/frontage treatments.

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News: Origin Broadband dialing up conditions for growth with Rotherham move

Origin Broadband has announced a £2.5m investment in new premises in Manvers, Rotherham as the company continues to compete with the top five players in the UK telecommunications market.

Launching in 2011, Origin has developed its own infrastructure and now host the sixth largest broadband network in the UK. Supplying phone and internet services to businesses and homes across the UK, clients include Amazon – where Origin is the preferred provider for all new warehouse and corporate sites, NHS Sheffield and various UK universities.

Origin aims to reach 250,000 customers by 2020.

Taking on the 53,665 sq ft Unit 7 at Callflex Business Park, the firm believes that it offers an even bigger opportunity for growth. The building, which has been empty ever since it was built, has the capacity to seat up to 700 people across all three floors.

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Oliver Bryssau, CEO of Origin Broadband (pictured third from left), said: "We are really excited about Origins' Head Office moving to Manvers. Doncaster has been a fantastic home for us, but our two current sites are no longer big enough to accommodate our future growth plans. Having both our Residential and Business divisions under one roof will help us share best practice across the whole of Origin.

"Trips have been put on for colleagues to visit the new building and everyone has been impressed with its size and the opportunity it provides for future growth."

The firm, which had to contend with the closure of the publically funded Digital Region network in 2014, has raised finance to support growth plans from the likes of Finance Yorkshire and Calculus Capital.

Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Venture Capital Trust (VCT) specialist, Calculus, invested £3m in December 2016. With trading volumes at four times the level anticipated in the business plan that secured the initial funding, a further £2m was invested via Calculus with a new round of funding in August 2017.

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Cllr. Denise Lelliott, Cabinet Member for Jobs and the Local Economy at Rotherham Council, said: "We would like to welcome Origin Broadband to Rotherham - with plans to create many hundreds of jobs over the coming years the company will make a huge contribution to our growing local economy here in the borough.

"Rotherham's flexible and skilled workforce is proving irresistible to service sector and manufacturing companies alike, and we look forward to building on the relationship between the Council and this exciting new investor in our borough as their new operation expands."

Last year Rothbiz reported on Rotherham Council approving a business rates incentive to a potential inward investor that could move into the Manvers area and create 1,000 new jobs.

With some redundancies recently reported, Origin said that 98% of current employees have confirmed they will be moving to the new site and that CV workshops will be offered to those who will have to look for work elsewhere.

Bryssau added: "We want to make the move as easy as possible for our colleagues. Exciting announcements have been made about contract changes; including shorter working hours and increased holiday allowances, with salaries remaining the same.

"The next phase for Origin is to continue our work on enhancing the customer experience. We set out to offer a better standard of broadband service nationwide and we will continue to do just this. Our values still remain the same, we will still offer industry leading prices and outstanding value for money, without ever outsourcing any of our operations overseas."

Oliver Bryssau and Henri Wust launched Origin Broadband in 2011 during their final year at the University of Hull after Oliver became frustrated with the "rubbish" network access he received from his supplier.

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News: £6m subsidy for Superfast Broadband phase 2

A £6m contract is on offer to further extend Superfast Broadband across South Yorkshire in order to make fibre broadband available to as close to 100% coverage as technically possible.

Rothbiz reported in June on plans that were being developed for the "white areas" of South Yorkshire that struggle to receive decent broadband speeds.

Superfast South Yorkshire is a partnership between the authorities of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield and BT, which secured £22m to ensure 97.9% of South Yorkshire had access to superfast broadband by the end of 2017. Securing additional funding, plans are in place to reach 98.7% by 2018.

The project 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.

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In December, the Government confirmed that universal high speed broadband will be delivered by a regulatory Universal Service Obligation (USO), giving everyone in the UK access to speeds of at least 10 Mbps by 2020. BT had previously offered to deliver universal broadband through a voluntary agreement but this is not being pursued in favour of providing a "legal right" to broadband.

The Chancellor announced at the Autumn Budget that local bodies could start applying for funding from the Local Full Fibre Networks (LFFN) Challenge Fund. The aim of the fund is to help locally led projects across the UK leverage local and commercial investment in full fibre.

South Yorkshire is already targeting the estimated 30,000 premises in South Yorkshire that will be without broadband up to 30 Mbps when phase 1 of the Superfast South Yorkshire project is completed.

The latest tender again shows a gap funding approach as the partners look to procure a wholesale broadband network solution that retail service providers can use to provide business consumers, residential consumers, and public sector organisations with a range of broadband services for the term.

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A new intervention area is being confirmed and the tender document states that the key aims are "to deliver business growth and new jobs, deliver a range of social benefits across its rural and urban communities and support delivery of public services through digital channels."

Successful bidders are expected to provide substantial investment into the broadband network and must declare what investment it is prepared to make before the subsidy is applied.

Rothbiz reported in December that the four South Yorkshire councils and the Sheffield City Region were planning on using £3.5m of National Productivity Investment Funding (the LFF Challenge Fund mentioned above is part of this fund) for the project. It would allow the councils to utilise transport levy savings to fund the financing costs of the £3.5m capital investment in broadband on a cost neutral basis.

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News: Council considering free Wi-Fi plan for Rotherham town centre

Shoppers and visitors could soon be offered a free Wi-Fi service in Rotherham town centre as the local council considers ways to stimulate footfall.

Rothbiz reported in September on how the local authority planned to support existing businesses as they wait for the catalyst projects in the new masterplan to revive the town centre.

These include parking incentives, the introduction of a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO), marketing and promotion and opportunities for "meanwhile uses" and window/frontage treatments.

Now Rotherham Council is looking to get up to speed and offer free Wi-Fi in the town centre.

Having been asked by Liberal Democrat Cllr. Adam Carter about support for the digital economy in Rotherham at a recent full council meeting, Cllr. Denise Lelliott, Cabinet Member for Jobs and the Local Economy at Rotherham Council, said: "There are a number of measures for the digital economy in Rotherham. We are dealing with programmes and workshops for new start ups and growing businesses. You might have seen the Google Bus out and about as we have been teaming up with partners in Sheffield, and obviously Google, and taking it to where businesses are.

"We have been working with the Sheffield city region on implementing an action digital plan, and that is being drafted at the minute. We have also been working with Superfast Broadband which is across the four local authorities.

"Then we are planning to roll out free Wi-Fi in the town centre as part of our strategy for 2018, but that will be the back end of 2018.

"Via our RiDO team and other council initiatives, we are doing a lot to promote the digital economy in Rotherham."

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Currently free Wi-Fi in the town centre is only available in specific buildings or retail / leisure outlets. For example, at Rotherham Council's Riverside House and the library, Tesco, McDonald's and Wetherspoons.

Sheffield Council recently confirmed the implementation of free, public-access Wi-Fi as part of the Business Improvement District (BID) plans for encouraging visitors, residents and employees to spend more time in the city.

Selecting Idaq Networks, Sheffield Council designed the scheme to include no upfront or ongoing investment by the authority. A concession contract sees the private company install superfast and ultrafast broadband equipment to council-owned street lights and street furniture.

Similar schemes have been progressed in Doncaster and Barnsley town centres.

Rotherham Council's Corporate Plan sets out the priorities for serving local residents and communities. It includes a target based on the aggregate pedestrian footfall in the town centre over the course of the year.

For the quarter between July and September 2017 the footfall was recorded by the Council as 4,820,432. This is slightly down on the April and June 2017 quarter when the footfall figure was 4,875,248 but it is a 15.07% decrease on the summer months of July and September 2016 which peaked at 5,898,148.

The percentage of vacant floor space in the town centre area reduced from 19.3% in the quarter April - June 2017, to 18.4% in the quarter July - September 2017. The demolition of the empty Tesco store on Forge Island accounts for a major part of the decrease but with the 33,100 sq ft Primark unit becoming empty during November, the percentage for the next quarter looks set to increase.

The percentage of total vacant units in the town centre has increased. Going from 25.9% in Q1 (April - June) to 27.2% in Q2 (July - September). The Local Data Company (LDC) calculated that the average vacancy rate in the UK at the end of Q2 rose to 12.2%.

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On declining footfall, Cllr. Lelliott, said: "We acknowledge the fact that footfall is down and we've got problems with empty units. We are doing a lot of work around the town centre to increase footfall and we have set up an officer task group.

"In addition to that, obviously there's our masterplan development and Forge Island, and we have applied to the Sheffield city region with some funding bids to help enable developments to happen.

"We are working with town centre businesses to have a look at what we can do to address empty units, dress them and make them look more attractive to people who are coming in."

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News: Funding proposal for extending South Yorkshire broadband project

Finance from local authorities is being finalised for a proposal to further extend Superfast Broadband across South Yorkshire.

Rothbiz reported in June on plans that were being developed for the "white areas" of South Yorkshire that struggle to receive decent broadband speeds.


Superfast South Yorkshire is a partnership between the authorities of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield and BT, which secured £22m to ensure 97.9% of South Yorkshire will have access to superfast broadband by the end of 2017. Securing additional funding, plans are in place to reach 98.7% by 2018.

The project 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.

Following a review, it is estimated that 30,897 premises in South Yorkshire will be without broadband up to 30MPS when phase 1 ends and now Superfast South Yorkshire intends to conduct a further procurement in respect of the remaining areas without next-generation access (NGA) broadband infrastructure.

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The four South Yorkshire Councils and the Sheffield City Region have identified that a further £4.3m is needed in order to make fibre broadband available to as close to 100% coverage as technically possible.

£800,000 is available from external funding leaving a £3.5m match funding requirement for the South Yorkshire councils to contribute.

Rotherham Council's cabinet is being asked to approve its part of the funding on a basis of it being cost neutral to the Council.

The funding of the proposal revolves around £3.5m of National Product Investment Funding being used by SCR to replace borrowing costs within the existing Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) capital programme and the cost savings released being used to reduce the PTE levy payable by the councils.

The SYPTE works in partnership with the local councils and transport service operators to manage public transport infrastructure, run the local bus, train and tram services and provide walking and cycling routes. Funding comes from the Government and levies from South Yorkshire's four local authorities.

The Government announced the £23 billion National Productivity Investment Fund in the Autumn Statement 2016 to fund infrastructure and innovation projects over the following five years.

The proposal allows the councils to utilise the levy savings to fund the financing costs of the £3.5m capital investment in broadband match funding on a cost neutral basis.

Rotherham Council's share of the levy reduction would be £45,000 which is sufficient to fund the annual financing costs of the Council's £670,000 capital share of the broadband proposal.

In November, the Government announced a £200m Challenge Fund under the Local Full Fibre Networks (LFFN) Programme which aims to stimulate commercial investment in full fibre networks.

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News: Councils look to end broadband disparity

There may be light at the end of the tunnel for the "white areas" of South Yorkshire that struggle to receive decent broadband speeds as another multimillion pound project is in development.

Superfast South Yorkshire is a partnership between the authorities of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield and BT, which secured £22m to ensure 97.9% of South Yorkshire will have access to superfast broadband by the end of 2017. Securing additional funding, plans are in place to reach 98.7% by 2018.

The project 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.

There are an estimated 30,897 premises in South Yorkshire that will be without broadband up to 30MPS when phase 1 ends and now Superfast South Yorkshire intends to conduct a further procurement in respect of the remaining areas without next-generation access (NGA) broadband infrastructure.

It comes after BDUK received approval from the European Commission on a new National Broadband Scheme for the UK. Following scrutiny over how BT secured almost all of the tenders for the work up and down the country, a new approach has been developed that includes a number of measures to support competition at tender stage, as well as promote open access networks intended to encourage long term competition on the state sponsored network.

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Superfast South Yorkshire has already conducted a review, consulting with prospective or current broadband infrastructure providers, to establish existing and planned coverage of NGA broadband infrastructure across the South Yorkshire region in the next three years.

Public consultation is now taking place on the intervention areas for the next phase of the superfast scheme. Public intervention can only take place in white NGA areas - those in which there are no NGA networks and none likely to be deployed in the next three years.

The consultation explains: "The four local authorities of South Yorkshire Region (Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster), with support from the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (SCR LEP) are striving to further extend the availability of NGA broadband infrastructure in the region to improve the quality of life for residents and create a connected region for businesses. In our region we already have plans in place to reach 98.7% of superfast broadband connectivity by 2018.

"To extend coverage to as many of the remaining areas as possible, Superfast South Yorkshire which is led by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council (on behalf of the South Yorkshire authorities namely Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield) intends to procure further coverage of NGA broadband infrastructure (capable of delivering speeds of at least 30Mbps) in areas within its programme area where such broadband is currently unavailable by the end of 2020."

A gap funding investment model approach, similar to the first phase, is set to be used for phase 2 which will seek to commit an overall investment of public funding up to £10m.

£795,000 is available as residual funding from the existing Superfast South Yorkshire contract and a further, minimum amount of £770,000 is being sought from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. Further additional funding is being sought from a variety of local, national and European sources to secure the investments identified.

The consultation adds: "The intention is to award a contract at the end of 2017. The related extended deployment plans for broadband infrastructure must begin early 2018."

Superfast South Yorkshire website

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News: 28 South Yorkshire areas to get ultrafast broadband

Superfast South Yorkshire (SFSY) has targeted 28 business locations across the region which will be upgraded to fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) technology - providing ultrafast broadband speeds of up to 300Mbps.

The multimillion project was established with the aim that 97.9% of South Yorkshire will have access to superfast broadband by the end of 2017.

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), contracts were signed for a £22m project in 2015. 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.

A further £4.8m in additional funding was secured, which will extend the reach of fibre broadband to 99% of South Yorkshire. The phased roll out is now due to complete in 2019.

The project is jointly funded by Sheffield City Region LEP, BDUK, BT and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

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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.

The work is underway and the first area to benefit was Attercliffe in Sheffield, with premises along Brightside Lane able to access download speeds in excess of 300mpbs.

The new fibre-based network installed by Openreach will be open to all Internet Service Providers. Openreach, BT's local network business, announced last year that it will more than double the speeds available over its ultrafast FTTP network, boosting the maximum download speeds available from 330 megabits per second (Mbps) to up to one gigabit per second (Gbps).

Prominent Enterprise Zones and business parks in Rotherham are set to be included. The Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) is currently listed as "FTTP planning in progress."

The SFSY Connection and Innovation Vouchers Scheme has also recently launched offering vouchers to encourage small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to take-up faster digital connectivity, and to further support SMEs to introduce transformational innovations to the business that can improve business performance through faster digital connections. Vouchers will have a maximum value which will be 50% of the actual cost for the connection or innovation provided.

Connection Vouchers will support actual connection costs between £1,000 and £5,000 (voucher values would be between £500 and £2,500) and innovation vouchers support actual innovation costs between £5,000 and £24,999 (voucher values would be between £2,500 and £12,499.50).

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News: Broadband connection vouchers coming back to Sheffield city region

A scheme to encourage small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to take-up faster digital connectivity in the Sheffield city region (SCR) is set to be launched soon.

A national Broadband Connection Voucher Scheme ran from December 2013 until October 2015 where up to £3,000 was made available to businesses to help them connect to a broadband service.

Funded via the Government, more than 40,000 SMEs across the UK benefited from the vouchers on a "first come, first served" basis - 7,377 companies in Yorkshire and Humber.

Available in 50 UK cities, Sheffield joined the scheme in April 2015 but the funds were all spent by October 2015.

Now Superfast South Yorkshire is set to launch a similar scheme with the backing of European funding.

Superfast South Yorkshire is a partnership between the authorities of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield and BT, which secured £22m to ensure 97.9% of South Yorkshire will have access to superfast broadband by the end of 2017.

The "Connection and Innovation Voucher Scheme" across the Sheffield city region will provide vouchers to encourage SMEs to take-up faster digital connectivity (connection vouchers) and / or introduce enhanced ICT systems and / or process that can improve business performance through the faster digital connection (innovation vouchers). The innovation vouchers will only be available in South Yorkshire.

Vouchers will have a maximum value which will be 50% of the actual cost for the connection or innovation provided, excluding VAT.

The scheme is set to launch "early in the New Year."

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Funding has been secured from the England European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.

A call was put out in 2015 to allocate £500,000 of ERDF money to a project to encourage a wider use of superfast broadband across SCR businesses and help them use Information and Communication Technology products and services appropriate for their business.

The previous £90m Digital Region project failed in part due to a lack of promotion and the lack of a robust and coherent sales and marketing plan, especially early in the process.

The ERDF call stated: "All existing and potential new businesses in South Yorkshire should be equipped with the knowledge and understanding of what the benefits and opportunities of using digital technology, enabled by superfast broadband, can bring and are encouraged to be creative and innovative in its adoption.

"The current investment in broadband infrastructure across Sheffield City Region will significantly contribute to GVA, the region wishes to realise the benefits and opportunities for business. This will be done by ensuring that the availability of superfast broadband is promoted, that the opportunities for digital transformation and innovation are realised, the benefits are shared and that outcomes for business growth achieved."

Superfast South Yorkshire website

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