rotherham business news

Rotherham Council looks set to buy Forge Island, raising hopes of a long-awaited cinema in Rotherham town centre and the potential for 200 new jobs.

In 2012, the council's cabinet confirmed Forge Island as the preferred site for a town centre cinema and theatre development. The council has an option to buy the site for £1.5m when Tesco vacate and move across town to the site of former council buildings on Drummond Street.

A report on the key decision is being prepared by officers and was due to be taken to the council's cabinet next month to discuss the site of the current Tesco store as a strategic acquisition.

To be discussed in private, the report will outline the site's "short term use to support the town centre and its future redevelopment."

Council officers have held informal discussions with interested developers who have plans for potential regeneration projects anchored by a cinema with restaurants, retail, residential, other leisure uses and car parking. An "Investors Day" was planned to take place to proactively promote the site for redevelopment and an outline planning application was expected to be submitted by Rotherham Council for the creation of a 25,000 sq ft cinema complex.

Rothbiz understands that proposals under discussion for Forge Island include a mixed used development including 25,000 sq ft cinema and a 20,000 sq ft theatre and 10,000 sq ft of High Street style retail, 10,000 sq ft restaurant / café use and a 80 bed budget hotel. Such a development could create 200 jobs.

Last week saw plans announced for a nine screen cinema and six new high quality restaurants at the Alhambra Shopping Centre in nearby Barnsley as part of a multi-million pound investment by landlords F & C Reit. In Sheffield, operator, The Light has plans to open a nine screen cinema as part of the redevelopment of The Moor. Both are set to open in 2016.

The new £40m, 110,000 sq ft Tesco Extra store across Rotherham town centre is on schedule to open in November. TCN UK Ltd bought the site from Rotherham Council for £7.3m as the council invested in new premises on the former Guest & Chrimes foundry site.

The development is set to create 450 jobs (200 full time and 250 part time). 200 of these are additional to the current store on Forge Island and all staff at the current store would be guaranteed a job at the new site. A proportion of vacancies will be filled through Tesco's "Regeneration Partnership" which, in partnership with the local Job Centre Plus, ensures a proportion of vacancies are reserved for long term unemployed people.

Work on £4m worth of public realm improvements and massive revisions to road and utilities infrastructure are largely complete with the store fit-out underway.

Images: Tom Austen

Rotherham residents and businesses are being invited to attend and get involved with a special Macmillan Coffee Morning and vintage market with a twist taking place on Saturday September 27 at Wynsors World of Shoes car park on Woodhouse Green in Thurcroft.

There will be 20 stalls displaying local arts and crafts as well as displays from local businesses including Fresh n Chic Boutique, Thurcroft Emporium and Lorec Electricals. There will be a BBQ provided by the Real Steakhouse, a large bouncy castle provided by Wilk's Entertainment, face painters, mascot appearances, raffle/tombola, competitions and coffee and cakes! The event runs from 11am till 4pm.

Event organiser, Dawn Brown from Fresh n Chic Boutique says the event has two main aims. She said: "This is a family day out for all whilst raising money for the nurses that hold the hands of patients and touch the hearts of their families.

"We want lots of people to get involved spread the word and let everyone know about our event! The Macmillan Nurses need your support in whatever way you can offer, whether that be a small donation, request a stall, help out on the day - anything you can do will be much appreciated."

Any volunteers, businesses or stall holders wanting to get involved should call Dawn on 07809 895 359 or email her on Freshnchicboutique@hotmail.co.uk.

More than one in three of us will get cancer in our lifetime and it's the toughest fight most of us will ever face. Macmillan provide practical, medical and financial support and push for better cancer care.

The event started in 1990, when a local fundraising committee decided to hold a coffee morning where people came along to meet and mingle - as they might ordinarily do - but donate the cost of their coffee to Macmillan in the process.

The simple ask of getting together with family, friends or colleagues for coffee and cake last year signed up 154,000 people and raised over £20m to help Macmillan provide vital services to ensure no one faces cancer alone.

Coffee mornings taking place on September 26 in Rotherham include Wath, Ravenfield, Greasbrough and Swinton.

Fresh n Chic Boutique Facebook page
MacMillan Cancer Support website

Images: MacMillan

Mamas & Papas stores in Rotherham and Sheffield are under threat of closure if the Huddersfield-based premium nursery retailer cannot agree rent reductions with its landlords.

The company was born in 1981 by David and Luisa Scacchetti and has grown to over 60 stores in the UK and Ireland. A wider restructuring plan for the group was announced earlier this year following investment from Bluegem Capital Partners in July.

As part of the restructure, experts at Deloitte were appointed by Mamas & Papas (Retail) Limited to negotiate a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) to revise lease terms for its stores. A CVA is often used by insolvent companies to negotiate new payment terms or periods with its creditors, in this case, the rent on retail property. However, the CVA must be agreed by all creditors (the landlords) for it to be put in place. If it isn't, then there is a distinct possibility that the retailer will enter into administration.

Daniel Butters, partner at Deloitte, said: "The proposed CVA will allow the group to revise lease terms and proceed with its wider restructuring plan. The proposals put forward offer the best possible solution for Mamas & Papas (Retail) Limited and all of its stakeholders in comparison to the likely alternative outcomes. The creditors will vote on the proposals on 10 September 2014."

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Now, Retail Week has published details of the CVA showing that Mamas & Papas stores at Parkgate Shopping in Rotherham and Meadowhall in Sheffield are considered "currently unviable." The two local stores join 23 others where the retailer is asking for a 50% reduction in rent.

British Land operates a 50/50 joint venture with Norges Bank Investment Management for Meadowhall and has Parkgate in its portfolio via the Hercules Unit Trust (HUT), the specialist retail park fund.

The news follows on from fellow retailer of baby products, Kiddicare closing its loss making stores - including the 45,000 sq ft store at Parkgate Shopping in Rotherham.

Mamas & Papas website

Images: Mamas & Papas / Facebook

Rotherham's rejuvenated High Street is set to go up against the country's best in the Great British High Street Awards, a Government-backed competition to find and celebrate the nation's best high streets.

The competition is run by the Future High Street Forum, which brings together leaders across retail, property and business to advise the Government on the challenges facing high streets and helps to develop practical policies to enable town centres to adapt and change. It was established to help accelerate the programme of local mentoring established in response to the Portas review.

The forum created the awards to "recognise the real strides that some high streets are making, and the incredible diversity and services they provide to their local community." There are separate categories for the size and type of place that the high street is in, and an overall award for the Best Great British High Street 2014.

The winners will win £50,000 of prize money and dedicated support and mentoring from industry experts. This could range from one to one coaching to advice on creating business plans to attending workshops on digital marketing.

Rotherham's Cabinet Member for Business Growth and Regeneration, Cllr. Dominic Beck heard at a recent meeting that the council will be submitting a bid by yesterday's deadline.

Rotherham will need to outline its innovative schemes aimed at regeneration of the high street, which began before, and have been extended by, the Portas Pilot initiative. This includes the business and financial support to independent retailers and the use of pop-up shops and the Makers Emporium.

Applications should outline how local people, organisations, businesses and local authorities have been mobilised and engaged. In Rotherham's case, the Future High Street Forum has already used the town as a case study in a recent report as an excellent example of a local authority, local land-owners and the business community coming together to develop their high street.

Applications should evidence how the high street has benefitted and how objectives have been met with Rotherham able to point to the reduction in empty units, the increase in footfall and increase in shopper satisfaction.

Simon Roberts, a managing director at Alliance Boots and co-chairman of the Future High Street Forum, said: "High streets and town centres form the heart of many communities. They are what many towns are defined by and provide a focal point for local populations.

"I welcome the Great British High Street Awards and the opportunity they provide to celebrate and recognise the practical management, planning and development that towns are delivering. On a personal level I am keen to see and learn from the success stories that will come through from the award entries."

Rotherham town centre website

Images: RMBC

Rotherham Council is planning to operate Forge Island, the site of the current Tesco store in the town centre, as an off street car park with free short stay parking spaces for shoppers.

Rothbiz revealed last week that the Council's cabinet is set to discuss the strategic acquisition of the site and outline its "short term use to support the town centre and its future redevelopment."

In 2012, the council's cabinet confirmed Forge Island as the preferred site for a town centre cinema and theatre development. The council has an option to buy the site for £1.5m when Tesco vacate and move across town to the site of former council buildings on Drummond Street.

Even before gaining official approval to acquire the site, the council has already given notice of its intent to amend traffic orders and introduce an off street car park on Forge Island, regulated by themselves, to serve as a "Free" and "Pay and Display" car park.

The plan includes a maximum of 70 spaces which will be free for up to an hour with the rest of the spaces available for two hours costing £1, four hours costing £2 and ten hours at £3.

Operating between 8am and 6pm, the planned car park will eventually result in free short stay car parking for shoppers at both ends of the town centre. The current Tesco store has around 300 parking spaces which are free to use for two hours and planners ensured that the new £40m Tesco Extra, which is set to open in November with 540 spaces, will provide free parking for two hours on the site for customers and non-customers.

The Forge Island site, so called as it was home to the Rotherham Forge & Rolling Mills, was severely affected by flooding in 2007 before flood alleviation work was completed. As well as providing spaces for shoppers, it should also provide spaces for workers and visitors to the nearby offices at Riverside House.

A key issue for traditional high streets, retail guru Mary Portas recommended in her report for the Government that local areas should implement free controlled parking schemes that work for their town centres. She said in the 2011 report: "I understand that to offer free parking all day is not the solution. I recognise that this would be potentially open to abuse by local workers and I want more free car parking spaces to be the privilege of local shoppers.

"To go head to head with the out-of-town offering, high streets need to have a more flexible, well communicated parking offer."

The new car park is not the only initiative in Rotherham, which is a Portas Pilot town. Parking Scratch Cards are also currently available for retailers to purchase from Rotherham Council offering two hours parking in designated off-street car parks and can be offered to shoppers to use on their next visit in exchange for their loyalty or based on a minimum spend in store.

The cards are intended as an incentive for shoppers to make a return visit to the town centre. The shopper simply brings it with them on their next visit, scratches off the date and time and enjoys two hours free parking in designated car-parks.

The scheme is currently being trialled and the town team believes that it has potential to be rolled across the whole town centre.

Previous Council schemes have included free Saturday parking during the busy festive period and "Free after Three" afternoon parking.

Rotherham town centre website

Images: Imperial Civil Enforcement Solutions

Gregory Property Group has confirmed that it has agreed terms with a discount homewares store, shown to be Home Bargains, to take 15,000 sq ft at its proposed retail park on Great Eastern Way, Rotherham.

Rothbiz reported last month that the third unit at a new retail development at Parkgate in Rotherham is under offer to Home Bargains. Aldi is taking the largest unit at 16,544 sq ft and Iceland is taking the adjacent 7,000 sq ft unit.

Land owners, Ron Hull, the Rotherham recycling experts, teamed up with Leeds-based developers, Gregory Projects to secure outline approval for a 16,000 sq ft discount food store together with 30,000 sq ft of additional retail and leisure facilities along with 200 car parking spaces.

Details of the first phase of retail development on the site of a former car showroom at Parkgate have recently been approved. Plans have also been submitted for details of the smaller fourth unit of 2,500 sq ft which can be split into two. A takeaway food operator is discussing terms for one and Heads of Terms are close to being agreed on the other.

Richard Tovey, director at Gregory Property Group, said: "Securing three major operators with a fourth deal at an advanced stage gives us confidence to commence development. We hope to start work in November with a nine month build period giving completion in summer 2015.

"The development fulfils a local need for easily accessible discount food shopping as the provision was lost to the area when Netto was taken over by ASDA. The site has been vacant for years so we shall be pleased to bring it back into use for the benefit of the Parkgate community."

GVA in Leeds is advising Gregory Projects on the lettings and the Sheffield office of Knight Frank is acting for Ron Hull Jnr.

Gregory Projects website

Images: Gregory Projects

A prominent brownfield site at Eastwood, Rotherham is set to be transformed after planning permission was granted for a regeneration scheme centred around new food retail units.

The vacant one hectare site at Mushroom Roundabout was previously home to a D.C. Cook car dealership but has been empty since 2008 following demolition.

In May, Northern Retail Ltd put forward plans for a two-storey Toby Carvery pub and family restaurant, a two-storey KFC restaurant and two smaller restaurant / take away units, together with over 100 car parking spaces and vehicular access via Aldwarke Lane and Sycamore Road.

Wilton Developments and fast food specialists, QFM are also involved in the plans, which state that the development would create 73 jobs.

The land is zoned for employment use in the Council's development plan but the applicants argue that due to the previous use as a car showroom and the adjacent Gala Bingo and Iceland stores, the employment use of the site has ceased.

The planners didn't agree but were keen that this not hinder the redevelopment. The report to the council's planning board, said: "The Council do not consider that the site has no future employment prospects over the longer term, and it is clear that the immediate prospects of the site’s re-use have not been tested through marketing, however it is not considered that a refusal could be made based on the loss of employment land in this instance as there is an adequate supply of land within the Borough."

The report went on: "It is considered that proposed food and drink uses on this site would provide significant employment opportunities (49 full time positions and 18 part time). The application site at present consists of a vacant area of land which has a derelict appearance consisting of hardstanding and low barriers. The development of the site is therefore, in itself considered to be a benefit to the surrounding area by bringing the site back into use."

Applicants also stated that there are no sites or properties within the town centre that could accommodate the development in its current form and that the development is not considered to have any detrimental impact on Rotherham town centre. Travel planning and transport assessments have also been carried out, on what is a busy route in and out of Rotherham town centre.

Planners concluded: "It is considered that the proposed development is acceptable in principle and would not have a detrimental impact on Rotherham town centre or any existing or planned investment. Furthermore, the design and scale of the development is considered to be appropriate in this location and would not result in a material impact on the existing highway network."

Images: Toby Carvery

Linktagger, a digital development company based in Rotherham, is aiming to help retailers across the globe to reach potential customers by converting standard advertising hoardings into virtual stores.

Based in RiDO's Fusion @Magna business centre, the enterprise was founded by Liam Winder and is using cutting edge technology such as NFC Chips, QR Codes and iBeacon to communicate with the public. The first example was featured on Rothbiz last month with growing Rotherham health specialist, Vitalife using Linktagger to turn advertising space into shelves full of its products.

The concept is being trialled initially in Sheffield, Leeds, and Manchester Piccadilly train stations with "Smart Posters" embedded with NFC Chips and include QR Codes relating to Vitalife's products, with a view to providing an innovative way to increase sales.

Liam Winder of Linktagger (pictured, left), said: "The posters are like virtual shopping shelves. You just tap them with your phone or scan the QR code for a product and it takes you through to a "buy now" option. It's a really exciting concept which could lead to huge increases in sales for retailers like Vitalife, in locations that attract large populations, such as city centres and train stations."

Linktagger has been able to access support through RiDO's (Rotherham Investment & Development Office) European-funded Soft Landing Zone project to explore international opportunities with RiDO's Nathan Woodcock supporting Liam in the development of CAD drawings for the Linktagger product range and also with securing international patents for his innovative use of technology.

Nathan Woodcock, business development co-ordinator for RiDO (pictured, right), said: "Linktagger operates in a fast moving industry with huge opportunities and it has been fantastic to help Liam to research opportunities where his business could expand not just in the UK, but internationally. We are looking forward to seeing how his Smart Poster concept develops, but this is just one of a whole series of exciting concepts where Linktagger could secure market opportunities overseas."

Liam added: "It has been fantastic to have the support of RiDO to research the market for my products internationally and also to help with securing worldwide patents. Because what we do uses the latest technology to connect the physical and digital world, it has no boundaries to what applications and countries it could be used in and so we are really excited about the future markets for our products."

A serial entrepreneur, Liam has returned from his time consulting after his experiences of running ISP, RipWire, to establish Betacities, which has the aim of helping to bring the physical and online worlds closer together. One example is HelloCity! - a new form of city guide that brings the latest information to the smartphones of visitors and shoppers. It is set to launch first in Rotherham town centre to complement the current paper-based Shop Local scheme with QR Codes mounted in 50 prominent locations around town, linking to information on shopping, places to eat, visitor attractions, events and real-time travel information.

Linktagger website
RiDO website

Images: RiDO

Administrators have been called in at Phones 4u, a leading independent mobile phone retailer, after a deal to sell phones with network operators EE was not renewed. This meant that the firm was left unable to sell products from leading operators after Vodafone and O2 had already pulled out.

With an annual turnover of £1 billion, Phones 4u has more than 700 outlets and 5,596 employees. It operated high street stores such as on Effingham Street in Rotherham town centre and at out of town centres such as Parkgate Shopping in Rotherham. It also operated from concessions in Currys / PC World stores that are now owned by its main rival - the merged Dixons and Carphone Warehouse group.

The business was acquired by investment funds advised by BC Partners from Providence Equity Partners LLC in 2011. PwC was appointed as administrators this week and will assess if any parts of the business can be sold.

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Rob Hunt, joint administrator and PwC partner, said: "This is a very sad day for the business and the many people working there. In light of our impending appointment the directors understandably took the decision to close all the shops today and sent many staff home.

"Our initial focus will be to quickly engage with parties who may be interested in acquiring all or part of the business, and to better understand the financial position and options for the company. The stores will remain closed while we have these conversations.

"We will also be talking to network operators and suppliers, and trying to access funds to pay for the costs of the business, including wages.

"These conversations will determine whether we can re-open stores and trade, and also if and when we can pay the arrears of wages to employees. Our hope is that we will be able to pay all the outstanding wages arrears."

Phones 4 U website

Images: Phones 4u

Gennaro Contaldo, respected chef and the man Jamie Oliver describes as his "Italian father", will be in town next week to reopen Jamie's Ministry of Food.

The All Saints Square premises in Rotherham town centre have undergone a refresh after being taken over by Leeds-based charity, Zest - Health for Life.

New centre staff are in place with manager Dawn Rowley and cookery trainers, Melvin Jarman and Carolyn Nicholls, set to run cookery courses and training activities. The centre will officially reopen on September 26.

As a young Essex chef, Jamie Oliver met the eccentric Italian, Gennaro Contaldo (pictured together), in the kitchen of London's Neal Street restaurant back in the early 90's. The pair bonded while cooking the beautiful Italian food that had inspired them both since childhood, and the seed of an idea was planted. Years later Oliver opened his first branch of Jamie's Italian with the help of his friend and mentor.

As well as writing cookbooks and appearances on TV with shows such as Two Greedy Italians, Gennaro is also in charge of creating the menu and training new chefs at Jamie's Italian.

The Rotherham centre was the first in the country and opened in 2008 as part of Jamie Oliver's TV series and remained open with the help of £130,000 a year from Rotherham Council. It became a social enterprise in 2010, enabling it to achieve financial stability and to bid for funding.

It was closed "temporarily" last summer amid health and safety concerns but is ready to reopen, again adding something different to Rotherham's town centre offer.

Jamie's Ministry of Food website
Zest website

Images: jamieoliver.com

Specialist retailer Hambys has taken on a new apprentice at its Rotherham High Street stores.

A family run firm, Hambys has two stores on the High Street, one selling shoes and accessories and the other just up the road which has three floors of antiques.

Alicia Caster from Rotherham, aged 17, had been looking for work when she applied for a traineeship at the Source Skills Academy.

Based at Meadowhall, The Source Skills Academy is a flagship centre providing state of the art training and development facilities with a focus on the retail and service sector.

It also has a centre on Rotherham's High Street offering advice, guidance and training services to Rotherham businesses to increase skills levels and to support trade in the town centre, attracting new investment.

During her traineeship, Alicia had the opportunity to do a work placement at Sheffield Showcase, a council funded initiative where empty shop fronts are used to display the work of local artists and promote local retailers whilst also giving young apprentices the opportunity to practice their visual merchandising skills.

The Showcase team coached Alicia on a range of retail activities whilst working at Showcase and at the scheme’s charity shop First in Best Dressed.

Andrea Cavanagh, tutor at The Source, said: "When Alicia first came to us she was quite shy but after working with our team of apprentices, her confidence began to grow and so did her communication and team working skills."

It was then that Alicia was identified as a candidate to progress onto an Apprenticeship that was available at Hambys in Rotherham.

Alicia attended the interview and impressed owners Chris and Tracy Hamby who offered her a work placement trial to see how she got on. She took to her new role instantly and has since commenced a full Retail Apprenticeship where she is studying towards her Level 2 in Retail.

Alicia (pictured with George Elliott, account manager at The Source), said: "I'm really enjoying my role at Hambys - I like working in both the Hambys stores as they’re quite different so it keeps things interesting."

Tracy Hamby, added: "Alicia has definitely settled in to her new role now and it feels like she's always been here. She’s very helpful and pleasant with the customers; it was a real bonus that she had retail experience through her traineeship as she already knew how to use a till and how to talk to the customers. She is fast becoming a key member of the team."

Hambys website
The Source website

Images: The Source

Parkgate Shopping, the popular Rotherham retail destination, is 100% let but the closure of the large Kiddicare store has left a large whole in the portfolio of leading stores.

Owned by Hercules Unit Trust(HUT), which is advised by British Land and managed by Schroders, Parkgate Shopping is one of the largest retail parks in the UK, home to over 40 shops and attracting around seven million visitors a year. It is valued at over £100m to the trust via a subsidiary, the Rotherham Unit Trust.

As Rothbiz reported first, discount retailer, Poundland, has opened a 9,900 sq ft unit and Wilkinson, the value general merchandise retailer, recently took over the 20,000 sq ft, former Comet store.

British Land has now revealed that both retailers have taken ten year leases. Smith Young and Cushman & Wakefield acted for HUT.

Matthew Reed, senior asset manager for British Land, said: "We are delighted that Parkgate Shopping is now fully let, demonstrating the scheme's appeal to a broad range of occupiers. The addition of Wilko and Poundland enhances the attraction of the park, delivers more brands to our shoppers, and helps drive footfall."

The recent lettings follow on from Nike Factory Store and fashion retailers, USC & Blue Inc opening new stores.

In contrast, one of the largest units on the park, the 45,000 sq ft store occupied by Kiddicare, the retailer of baby products, recently closed. The award-winning online retailer was acquired by Morrisons in 2011 for £70m and was the first step in developing the Morrisons online business. However, the business was sold earlier this year for £2m to Endless LLP, a leading investor in non-core acquisitions, who promptly closed all but the original store.

Morrisons retains the leases in the former Best Buy stores and recently said that it is currently working to dispose of ten store leases.

The small Phones4u store also closed as the retailer entered administration this month.

Future plans at Parkgate, which is coming under threat from new out of town developments at nearby Great Eastern Way and at Cortonwood, include a new 4,000 sq ft Nando's restaurant to replace the current Pizza Hut.

Parkgate Shopping website

Images: British Land

The retail vacancy rate in Rotherham town centre has risen for the first time since 2010, according to research by retail experts at commercial real estate advisers, Colliers International.

The National Retail Barometer provides a unique perspective on the outlook for the country's retail property market as it tracks vacancy rates/voids in 15 key locations, including Rotherham.

Before the recession, Colliers recorded the vacancy rate (the percentage of empty ground floor units in the retail centre) in Rotherham as low as 6.1% in 2006, rising to 28.2% in 2010, the highest of the 15 research locations. The economic downturn saw a number of high profile national retailers, such as Woolworths and Ethel Austin, close their Rotherham stores and developments stall.

The evolution of the retail sector and the rise of discount retailers has helped to fill many of those voids. In addition, the council's focus on creating a different retail offer in the face of stiff nearby competition by supporting new, independent shops with financial support has also proved successful. Over 80 businesses have opened up in the town centre since 2010.

Rotherham is a "Portas Pilot" using government and private sector funding to support retail which has helped to reduce vacancy rates, boost footfall and increase shopper satisfaction.

Colliers tracked the trend, which saw vacancy rates go from 28% down to 18.1% in October 2013. Now though, the research has the rate at 19.7% for April 2014. Since then, the innovative Maker's Emporium has opened on the High Street with work underway next door at La Bella Lingerie. Heritage regeneration over the road is set to complete in December, bringing dilapidated listed buildings back into use.

Another trend has seen short team leases on large premises on College Street and Bridgegate but national retailers continue to close. Phose4U is the latest casualty as it entered administration with NatWest closing its Corporation Street branch this week. The large former Co-Op Travel store remains empty but growing retailers like CeX have opened in the town and FEXCO's No 1 Currency is set to open on Effingham Street.

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The report said: "With high street retail having seemingly weathered the worst of the economic downturn, rafts of retailer administrations and rapid technological and consumer change, we are seeing evidence of its new role in the retail hierarchy.

"With many modern retail high streets perfectly positioned for top-up shopping, achieving the right mix of multiple and independent retailers and leisure offers such as cafes and bars, can position a centre alongside online shopping, not against it.

"Despite the steady improvement to our vacancy rate over the last 12 months, it remains to be seen as to whether our sample centres will return to an occupancy level witnessed in October 2006."

The report also highlights the issue of "prime" retail space, recognising that, as the position of town centres has changed, UK high streets still have an oversupply of floor space.

In Rotherham, researchers reviewed what constitutes the prime retail space in light of new developments, key tenants and changing footfall trends. It concluded that many units were not fit for purpose and that prime retail space was reduced by 60%.

The massive new Tesco is due to open in November and the council's cabinet meets tomorrow to discuss the next steps for the development of Forge Island as a potential cinema-led development site or site for car parking. Both could have a big impact on the continued evolution of Rotherham town centre.

Mark Phillipson, head of retail at Colliers International, said: "For retail landlords, the challenge is to provide a key point of difference which will attract shoppers. In this respect, an attractive leisure element and free or cheap parking is essential.

"All shopping environments need to continue to develop initiatives which will drive footfall and inevitably lead to greater retailer demand for shops."

Images: La Bella Lingerie

Recruitment has begun for some of the 450 staff at the new £40m Tesco Extra store in Rotherham town centre which is set to open on November 13.

South Yorkshire's largest property investment deal for the past two years has seen developers TCN UK Ltd, bring forward the 110,000 sq ft superstore, which also includes 540 parking spaces and a petrol filling station, on a five-acre site that was previously home to a number of council buildings.

ISG, the international construction services company, secured the £19m contract to build the new store and the project also includes £4m worth of public realm improvements and massive revisions to road and utilities infrastructure.

TCN UK Ltd bought the site from Rotherham Council for £7.3m and private property investor fund Osprey Income and Growth 2 LP purchased the development with the backing of £16.9m of equity from private investors and £23.75m of debt from HSBC Bank.

The development is set to create 450 jobs (200 full time and 250 part time). 200 of these are additional to the current store on Forge Island and all staff at the current store would be guaranteed a job at the new site. A proportion of vacancies will be filled through Tesco's "Regeneration Partnership" which, in partnership with the local Job Centre Plus, ensures a proportion of vacancies are reserved for long term unemployed people.

Rotherham jobs listed on the Tesco Careers website include customer assistants for the shop floor including the clothing section and the meat counter.

Moving from the current Tesco store on Forge Island, the new store will create an additional 3,362 sq m of floorspace which is split into 1,301 sq m of convenience and 2,061 sq m of comparison goods. The development will be restricted in terms of the concessions that can be included alongside the Tesco store. It is set to include a pharmacy, photo processing lab and mobile phone shop, but not an opticians, doctors, dry cleaning facility or post office.

It has been a difficult week for Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, as it issued its fourth profits warning of the year on Monday following the discovery of an accounting error which overstated its first-half profit by £250m.

In Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, it has been reported that Tesco has "mothballed" a £22m, 47,000 sq ft store just weeks before it was due to open as it slows down its store opening programme.

Tesco Careers website

Images: Tesco / twitter

Crawshaws, the Rotherham-based meat focused retailer whose share price has increased by 750% since November 2013, has reported increases in like for like sales and total sales, helping to increase profits by 21%.

The AIM-listed company has established its recovery in difficult High Street trading conditions and has recently signed a ten year lease on a new manufacturing and distribution facility at Hellaby. In July it announced details of the placing of new shares in a bid to raise nearly £9m to support the acceleration of its store opening programme.

In its financial results for the six months to July 31 2014, Crawshaw reported that trading remains strong with like for like sales up 12% in the half year as compared to a 5% increase in the same period the previous year. In addition, total sales for the first half have increased to £11.8m, up from £9.8m in 2013.

Despite further spending on new stores, margins improved. Gross profit increased by 21% to £5.2m (2013: £4.3m) and EBITDA (earning before taxes) increased to £0.9m (2013: £0.5m). Profit before tax more than doubled to £0.7m.

Established in 1954, the AIM-listed firm has been trading on the stock market since 2004. It was acquired by Felix Group plc in 2008. Previously based at Templeborough, it has 21 retail outlets throughout Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Humberside and two distribution centres, in Rotherham and Grimsby.

Crawshaw is moving onto Sandbeck Industrial Estate at Hellaby, occupying a 12,000 sq ft unit for the manufacture and distribution of specialist foods, utilising the existing facilities that were previously occupied by Buxton Foods.

The new factory and distribution centre in Rotherham will consolidate the two existing sites in Grimsby and Rotherham into the new facility. Crawshaw believe that the space at the new site will give it additional capacity and is better located, leading to a more productive and efficient operation. It will also include a factory shop that is set to open at the beginning of November.

The new site will provide Crawshaw with capacity to cater for 60 retail locations with the ambitious firm targeting 200 shops within eight years.

Richard Rose, chairman of Grawshaw Group, said: "Looking towards the second half of the year our core business is performing in line with expectations with like for like sales for the first eight weeks of the second half are up 5% and gross margin higher than our first half performance.

"The Board are very excited about our accelerated store opening programme and we are starting to build our resource and capability so that we are in a position to deliver opportunities through 2015."

The profitable company is now operating debt free and announced that the share placing generated net cash of £8.6m. A dividend of 10p per share is being proposed.

Crawhsaw website

Images: Crawhsaw

Online discount food and drink retailer, Approved Food, has completed its move into larger premises, the fourth time the company has expanded since launching in 2009.

The online service offers deals that no supermarket can compete with by selling over 1,000 long dated, short dated or out of date "best before" products from many well-loved brands.

Since moving to premises on the North Anston Trading Estate in Dinnington, Rotherham in 2010, the company continued to grow quickly. In 2012 UK Steel Enterprise Ltd and Finance Yorkshire put together an undisclosed finance package to enable Approved Food to invest further to underpin the company's rapid growth. It has now taken on a 60,000 sq ft warehouse on Parkway Close just off The Parkway in Sheffield.

Dan Cluderay started the business six years ago as a side-line to his small market stall, operating from the garage and based in his back bedroom. It now has 50 staff helping thousands of customers save up to 70% off their food bills. The company delivered over 110,000 orders last year with a turnover in excess of £4m.

Knight Frank secured the five year lease for landlord MCR after works were undertaken to bring the 1980s premises up to standard. Approved Food will be paying £176,000 pa in rent.

Andy Needham, director at Approved Food, said: "Occupying premises such as this means we can now satisfy a greater demand across the UK. It will also allow us to significantly expand our product range and add further on-line shops to expand our market for example in confectionery, pet products, continental foods and gluten free products. We were extremely pleased with the efforts of the Knight Frank team."

Approved Food website

Images: Knight Frank

JD Sports Fashion plc, the leading retailer and distributor of branded sportswear, fashionwear and outdoor clothing and equipment, has taken on the lease of the vacant 45,000 sq ft store at Parkgate Shopping in Rotherham, with industry insiders predicting that it is part of the expansion for the Bury firm's new Ultimate Outdoors fascia.

Kiddicare, the retailer of baby products, recently closed its Rotherham store at Parkgate. The award-winning online retailer was acquired by Morrisons in 2011 for £70m and was the first step in developing the Morrisons online business. However, the business was sold earlier this year for £2m to Endless LLP, a leading investor in non-core acquisitions, who promptly closed all but the original store. Endless recently offloaded Kiddicare for an undisclosed sum to Worldstores, the UK's largest pure play online retailer in the home and garden category.

Morrisons retained the leases in the former Best Buy stores and recently said that it was working to dispose of ten store leases. Now seven off-market transactions on former Kiddicare stores have taken place which has seen an agreement by Next to acquire stores in Hayes and Enfield with JD Sports agreeing to acquire units in Rotherham, Nottingham, Southampton, Merry Hill and Aintree.

Retail Week reports that JD will add more than 200,000 sq ft to its specialist outdoors fascia, which at present only trades from one store in Preston and online.

The JD group reported profits of nearly £20m as sales increased 27% to £721m in the six months to August 2. It owns outdoor retail specialists Blacks and Millets and acquired Ultimate Outdoors Limited, which previously operated as an independent setup, for £835,000 in February. The first store opened in July bringing outdoor brands under one roof providing customers with a one stop shop for outdoor clothing and equipment. In addition to Blacks and Ultimate Outdoor own name brands, Tiso and Alpine Bikes also stock their range in store along with Trek Cycles who operate a concession.

Peter Cowgill, executive chairman at JD Sports Fashion plc, said last month: "As the name suggests, we believe that this fascia and website can be the destination of choice for any outdoor consumer as it provides easy access to our full Outdoor offer, both technical and casual.

"We believe that, where possible, consumers' decision making benefits from having access, both instore and online, to a broad product range both in terms of price points and technical specification as different products are designed for different performance levels. We believe that our new Ultimate Outdoors proposition provides the customer with this access and choice.

"To date we are still only trialling one store in Preston, together with a trading website, and it is too early to make an assessment of performance. However, we are looking at options to extend the store base subject to the availability of cost effective property in appropriate destinations."

Owned by Hercules Unit Trust (HUT), which is advised by British Land and managed by Schroders, Parkgate Shopping is one of the largest retail parks in the UK, home to over 40 shops and attracting around seven million visitors a year. It is 100% let with recent openings by Poundland and Wilkinson. The unit operated by collapsed mobile phone retailer, Phones4u has been taken over by network operator, EE.

Ultimate Outdoors website
Parkgate Shopping website

Images: Ultimate Outdoors / Facebook

The prominent building on Corporation Street in Rotherham town centre that is currently occupied by Wilkinson, the value general merchandise retailer, is due to be sold at auction later this month.

Advertised as a retail investment, the freehold of the 20,423 sq ft building has been given a guide price of £700,000 by auctioneers, Acuitus and follows on from their sale of the adjacent Mecca Bingo to an investor for £880,000 at their February auction.

The Worksop-based High Street chain has recently taken over the large unit that was vacated by electrical retailer, Comet at Parkgate Shopping in Rotherham. An agreement was reached with Rotherham Council to keep the Corporation Street store open for at least five years if plans for Parkgate were approved.

Wilko operates town centre and out of town stores in a number of locations and believes that out of centre locations attract a different customer base, and rather than compete with existing in centre stores, complement them.

A unilateral undertaking was agreed to ensure that the store "is not decanting from a town centre location to occupy a less sequentially preferable site in an out of centre shopping centre leaving a vacant unit in the town centre."

Wilko signed a five year lease paying around £87,500 or £4.28 per sq ft.

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As part of major redevelopment, Corporation Street was constructed in 1913. More recently it was earmarked for riverside regeneration under the Rotherham Renaissance programme which saw the council acquire a number of properties including the Chantry Buildings and the former Lloyd's bank.

At the previous auction in May, Acuitus sold the 1,000 sq ft property on Effingham Street that is home to Carphone Warehouse as a retail investment for £179,000.

Richard Auterac, chairman and auctioneer at Acuitus, said: "During the tail-end of the recession there were a number of false dawns for the retail property sector but the message from the auction rooms is that we are now moving into a period of stabilisation and growth in selected locations."

Acuitus website

Images: Acuitus

Growing Yorkshire-based card retailer, Card Factory is planning to open another store in Rotherham as part of its ambitious expansion plans.

Card Factory is the UK's leading specialist retailer of greeting cards. Having opened its first store in Wakefield in 1997, it has grown consistently year on year and now operates from over 700 stores across the UK.

The company floated on the London Stock Exchange earlier in 2014 with the aim of opening up to 1,200 stores in total over the next ten years.

Now, the Wakefield-based firm has submitted a planning application for alterations to a vacant unit at the Tanyard in Wickersley that would see the second Card Factory in the borough, following the first on College Street in Rotherham town centre.

Card Factory is a multi-price point value retailer principally offering single cards at various price points of less than £1. The high returns business model means that stores can operate profitably in a wide range of locations and demographics from major centres, retail parks, suburbs of major urban areas and affluent towns.

Although new store opening opportunities are expected to have, on average, lower sales potential than the average of the group's existing store locations, primarily due to the new stores typically being in lower footfall locations than the average of the existing stores, the directors believe these new stores will nevertheless enhance earnings and profits.

For the six months ended July 31, revenues rose 8.9% to £149.4m with underlying profit rising 9.3% to £26.1m for the period.

In announcing the results last month, Richard Hayes, CEO at Card Factory, said: "In the first half of this year, 37 new stores were opened and one closed, bringing the total estate to 749 stores as at 31 July 2014. Five stores were relocated during the period.

"We are pleased with the quality of our new store openings and their performance to date.

"The Group continues to have a strong pipeline of additional new store opportunities and remains confident of opening a total of approximately 50 net new stores in the current financial year, in line with the average historic opening rate over the last decade.

"The Board remains confident of the potential to expand the store portfolio to up to 1,200 stores in total."

Card Factory website

Images: Card Factory

The development of the new £40m Tesco Extra store in Rotherham town centre has prompted council planners to redraw the boundary of Rotherham's retail centre.

Consultation has begun on the final draft of the borough's Sites and Policies document as the council finalises its local plan. In accordance with national planning policies, the new local plan needs to identify the town centre areas where it is preferable that uses such as retail, offices and leisure are located - the so-called "town centre first" approach.

Rotherham town centre is given the highest standing as the principal town centre, followed by outlying town centres, district centres and local centres.

For the town centre, amendments are being proposed to extend the town centre boundary north to include the new 10,000 sq m Tesco and car park at Walker Place, and existing car park at Drummond Street, to better define the area where retail development is concentrated.

Also required is the street by street definition of primary and secondary frontages. In primary areas, policies are being proposed that would ensure that the main planning use comes under the retail (A1) planning class. Other uses would be permitted, but only if they add to the attractiveness and liveliness of the town centre. Planners are keen for there not to be a dilution of the concentration of A1 shops below 70% and for there not be three or more non-retail uses in adjoining premises. In Rotherham town centre, primary frontages would be on Effingham Street, College Street, Frederick Street, Drummond Street and All Saints Square.

Secondary frontages would be on High Street, Bridgegate and the Centenary Markets. Here further uses such as restaurants, cafes, pubs, leisure, would be permitted and the concentration of retail shops could be as low as 25%. Any proposals would need to make a positive contribution to the vitality of the main shopping area.

Also within the town centre, the affect of having Tesco move from Forge Island to Drummond Street means that the current car park on Drummond Street and the site out of the outdoor market have been identified as potential development sites for new retail.

The planning documents state that "the car park is adjacent to the new Tesco store and forms part of the proposed town centre extension. Whilst the site has some topographical issues it is considered to represent an opportunity for further town centre development." 5,000 sq m of new retail space could be created here, and the same amount could be created on the site of the outdoor markets complex.

The planning documents add: "The markets are an important asset in Rotherham town centre however the outdoor market is underutilised and there is potential for these stalls to be relocated should a redevelopment opportunity come forward. Redevelopment to include new retail units has the potential to enhance the vitality of the markets complex."

The site of burnt-out buildings on Corporation Street has also been included as potential site for 1,000 sq m of retail development.

The three sites also have the potential for redevelopment as other town centre uses, including offices, assembly and leisure uses or hotels.

Interestingly the future of Forge Island remains uncertain. Set to be acquired by the council when Tesco relocates, the council envisages that the site could accommodate a cinema and potentially office uses in the future. "However the future of the site is uncertain, as are any constraints (such as land contamination). As such it is not identified as a leisure or office development site." The site is still earmarked for retail in the current plan with the council progressing plans to operate the current car park in the short term.

On the edge of the town centre, the large area of land at New York, which includes Riverside House, New York Stadium, the former Guest & Chrimes foundry, a former nightclub and vacant land used for parking, is being put forward for a mix of uses with the area "considered to be suitable for B1 office and hotel uses given its gateway location and proximity to Rotherham town centre and public transport interchanges. It is also considered suitable for assembly and leisure uses given its location, existing uses and proximity to Rotherham town centre."

The now cleared site of the former Doncaster Gate hospital is also earmarked for a mix of uses including office use, housing and residential and nonresidential institutions.

The prominent Westgate site of the sorting office and car parking where developers Satnam have long harboured a desire for bulky retail, is also being put forward for a mix of uses, with the riverside site specifically 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." The planned mix of uses however, does not include D2 assembly and leisure.

Images: RMBC

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