rotherham business news

Crawshaws, the Rotherham-based meat focused retailer has appointed Noel Collett as the chief executive officer as it heads towards its ambitious target of 200 shops within eight years.

Crawshaw has recently moved 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. The new site will provide Crawshaw with capacity to cater for 60 retail locations and also includes a factory shop.

Collett joins Crawshaw from Lidl, having spent 16 years with the German discounter supermarket. He has held a number of senior leadership roles in the UK and Germany, and for the last 12 years has served as Lidl's Chief Operating Officer for the UK business. Noel has been widely credited as an instrumental figure in transforming Lidl from a low-cost brand to a high-quality value retailer during a decade of rapid sales growth. He has also been responsible for overseeing the Lidl portfolio growth from 200 stores to over 600 stores generating annual sales of over £4bn, whilst leading an expanding workforce of 14,000 employees. Additionally, Noel was responsible for the roll-out of the improved in-store "fresh concept", which included the fresh meat and poultry range, across all their UK stores.

Richard Rose, chairman of Crawshaws, said: "We are pleased to announce today the appointment of Noel Collett as our chief executive officer from 1st March 2015. Noel brings a wealth of value retailing experience along with expertise in business strategy, brand development and business transformation during periods of rapid portfolio and sales growth.

"We are excited by Noel's appointment and look to the future with great confidence as the business embarks on a period of accelerated store expansion throughout the UK."

Noel Collett, who will also be appointed as a director of Crawshaw, added: "The Crawshaw business model is unique with a fantastic proposition and the company has very ambitious growth plans for the future. I am really looking forward to joining a great team and I am very excited about getting started."

Crawshaw website

Images: Craw

Leading global food chain, McDonald's has registered its opposition to a proposed new planning policy that would not permit new hot food takeaways opening close to schools in Rotherham.

Rotherham Council has recently concluded consultation on the Sites and Policies document within its Local Plan which sets out the detailed sites and development management policies to deliver growth over the next 15 years.

Policy SP 25 would only allow hot food takeaways in town, district and local centres if it didn't result in more than 10% of the ground floor units becoming takeaways; result in a high concentration of these A5 classed units on the same street; or negatively impact upon the amenity of surrounding businesses or residents.

A further part of the policy states that hot food takeaways will not be permitted where they are within 800 metres of a primary school, secondary school or college, except where they are within a defined town, district or local centre and satisfy the requirements above.

Rotherham's policy states that it is guided by national planning policy which encourages local planning authorities to support local strategies to improve health and wellbeing and help create a healthier built environment. It adds: "Policy SP25 therefore seeks to ensure that new hot food takeaways do not increase the exposure of school children and young adults to these uses. Hot food takeaways will only be permitted within town, district and local centres. The Council is aware that proposals may be submitted as a departure to the plan and that other material considerations may be taken into account in determining planning applications.

"To ensure that access to hot food takeaways are controlled the policy also makes clear that such uses will only be permitted within 800 metres of a primary or secondary school or college where they are within a town, district or local centre and meet the requirements of the policy. For the purposes of this policy 800m will be measured in a direct line from the school/college gate used by pupils."

McDonald's has responded to the consultation describing the policy as ambiguous, unjustified and unsound and adds that no justification for 800m exclusion zones is provided. It adds that the policy could impede sustainable growth and states that when McDonald's looks at the economic viability of a new site, it does not factor in predicted sales from school children or proximity to schools.

The response also states that there is a lack of evidence to demonstrate that purchases in fast food outlets are any more or less healthy than purchases in other premises and highlights the major steps that McDonald's has made in recent years to expand the range of healthy offerings.

The document submitted by Planware Ltd on behalf of McDonald's Restaurant Ltd states: "As a responsible business, McDonald's recognises it has a role to play to support its staff, customers, and the communities in which it operates to live healthier lifestyles. For this reason, McDonald's has invested significantly to evolve its menu over the last ten years – both to extend the range of choice, and to reformulate our products.

"The policy does not restrict the location of new A1, A3 or A4 [shops, restaurants, cafes, pubs] uses within the 800m zones and therefore the sale of food and drink will still occur. The proposed approach is therefore not effective and is unjustified. The policy will place a moratorium against one use class of development, but will not meet the ambition of the policy."

The new policy follows on from a case in 2012 when planning permission was secured for a KFC drive thru restaurant on a site close to Canklow Woods Primary School. Rotherham Council refused permission for the 300 sq m KFC on the site of the former Canklow Hotel pub off Centenary Way due to the adverse impact on nearby residents.

The plans attracted objections from local councillors, residents and the School. Objections focused on a potential for anti social behaviour and an impact on the healthy eating ethos at the school.

However, the plans were approved on appeal when the inspector concluded: "I do not accept that the presence of a KFC restaurant/drive through would jeopardise the local healthy-eating initiatives."

McDonald's opened its latest Rotherham outlet this week, a 24-hour restaurant and drive thru on the edge of Parkgate Shopping, offering employment to 114 local people.

McDonald's operates around 1,200 restaurants in the UK and has plans to open 400 more new drive thrus over the next ten years. Over 60% of restaurants are operated as local businesses by franchisees. Due to the growing success of the company, the intention is to increase the pace of acquisitions with a target of 40 new restaurant openings per year from 2014, which will create up to 2,400 new job opportunities annually.

McDonald's website

Images: McDonald's

Rotherham-based United Carpets, the second largest chain of specialist retail carpet and floor covering stores in the UK, has reported an increase in profit before tax of 18.1% against the comparable six month period last year.

In August 2012, the Bramley-based, AIM-listed company had its shares temporarily suspended after admitting it would not be able to publish its full-year results on time. In October 2012, a pre-pack administration deal saw United Carpets Group acquire the business and assets of its trading subsidiary United Carpets (Northern) Limited.

The restructuring, which saw a number of under-performing stores and franchises close, helped to improve profit margins and reduce distribution costs and administrative expenses including rent, rates and staff costs.

Like-for-like sales increased by 0.3% in the six months to the end of September but network sales fell to £25.6m from £28m and revenue dropped to £9.1m from £10.3m a year ago. This meant that pre-tax profit rose 18.1% to £534,000.

Today, the network of stores totals 60, down from more than 80 stores just over two years ago, of which 48 are franchised and 12 are run as corporate stores. The group said that the changes to the portfolio of stores resulted in a stronger core network which is reflected in the current trading performance. Leases have been re-negotiated for nearly all of the stores and the cost base has been reduced.

The group added that there may be a small number of store closures in the future but six concept stores have also opened in smaller units on the traditional High Street, working well with the store network.

Paul Eyre, chief executive of United Carpets, said: "I am pleased to be able to report a good performance by the Group. We have been helped, to some extent, by an improving housing market with slightly higher average transaction values which we believe reflects an improvement in consumer confidence. More recent like for like sales figures have been more positive and I believe we are well placed to deliver a good result for the year.

"We continue to benefit from our restructuring programme as we operate from a lower cost base giving the opportunity to invest in developing the business and providing the basis for the Board's confidence in the future."

United Carpets website

Images: United Carpets

New outlets for Costa, KFC and Hey Potato! are planning to join the Toby Carvery at a new retail development in Rotherham.

A prominent brownfield site at Eastwood is set to be transformed by 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 September, Northern Retail Ltd secure planning permsiion 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.

Now a new planning application has been submitted for signage at the scheme which shows that the remaining units are set to operate as franchises of Costa coffee and Hey Potato!

Sheffield-based QFM, specialise in fast food retail developments. It operates a number of franchises in the area and brought forward similar developments at Manvers and Canklow.

A licence application has recently been submitted by Mitchells and Butlers for its planned Toby Carvery pub restaurant on the site.

Images: Costa

Every Little Helps. Especially when your central grant from the Government is cut by £19m.

Rotherham Council has received an additional £2.934m as part of the sale of the site of the former civic buildings on Drummond Street - now home to a new £40m town centre Tesco Extra store.

The council agreed the £7.3m sale of its former town centre civic site with developers, TCN UK in 2013 which enabled the £41m required for a new Tesco development to be secured.

Following the land deal, real estate investment specialists, Osprey Equity Partners finalised its Osprey Income and Growth 2 LP fund, having raised £16.9m of equity from private investors and £23.75m of debt from HSBC Bank. It forward funded the food superstore which was pre-let to Tesco on a 30 year unbroken lease.

The new Tesco includes 66,000 sq ft of retail space with planning permission granted for an additional 36,000 sq ft of floorspace from the old store on Forge Island. The plans showed 14,000 sq ft of convenience and 22,000 sq ft of comparison goods with the additional floorspace allowing for a greater range of products such as clothing, books, CDs and household electrical goods to be sold from the new store.

The new supermarket opened in November triggering an overage payment of £2.9m due to the council. An overage is an additional payment made after the original deal and is often used when certain conditions are met - securing planning permission, practical completion of the development, sale or lease of the development. They are often used by the public sector to ensure that they secure "best value" when selling land and take into account the increase in value of the land when commercial development subsequently occurs.

The figure was revealed at a recent council meeting and comes as central Government announces the Local Government Finance Settlement, which will see local councils receive 8.8% less funding from Government to run local services in April 2015. Rotherham's Settlement Funding Assessment (SFA) - the amount allocated to each council - is £19.5m (15.2%) less than in 2014/15 compared with a national decrease of 12.4%. Councils are being expected to rely on non-guaranteed income from elsewhere, such as increases in business rates and the New Homes Bonus.

Rotherham Council secured over £15m by selling off assets in the last two years. Rotherham Council's latest budget included a £23m savings package put together in response to further massive reductions in Government funding. £70m has been cut from its budget since 2010 with £20m plus savings needed next year too.

A recent scrutiny review by borough councillors into how the council can support the local economy outlines its first recommendation as ensuring that the emerging Growth Plan is focused around two key objectives – income generation and employment creation.

In addition to creating jobs for local people and the regeneration of deprived communities the plan should look at generating income via an increase for the Council in business rates and council tax.

Images: Tesco

Vivid Jewellery has put down recent sparkling sales figures to a new online marketing strategy, developed with support from experts at The Source Skills Academy.

Owner Deborah Pearson started the jewellery business on an outdoor market stall with husband Richard in 2009 with £250 in her pocket. Now she has two indoor stores at Rotherham and Barnsley markets selling fashion jewellery and accessories with prices ranging from £1 to £65 to suit a range of customers.

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.

A Rotherham base opened on the High Street in 2011 with support from Rotherham Council and the Skills Funding Agency.

In August, Deborah was approached by account manager at The Source, George Fullerton, who told her about a course that The Source offer which is fully funded to businesses who meet certain criteria.

After attending the first of three sessions, Deborah started making changes to their online strategy straight away. Whilst they were already using some social media platforms, Deborah was inspired to start using twitter and the business soon had over 600 followers. She also set up a Google plus page which was seen by 7,500 people in the first week.

Deborah Pearson, owner of Vivid Jewellery, said: "We knew the course was worth going on as soon as we looked at our October sales. Our October 2014 sales were up 40% compared to October 2013 and we know that isn't a coincidence."

The new tools helped Vivid Jewellery sell over 2,000 rhinestone encrusted poppies in the run up to Remembrance Sunday. Deborah added: "I wasn't sure how many we would sell so only ordered 500 limited edition ones with the wording 1914-2014, but they sold out within days with people travelling from across the region just to see them. 10% of the proceeds went to The Royal British Legion which amounted to £2300. This donation will go to the local serving and ex-Service community and their families.

"We took so much away from the course that has helped us build the business, not only from the fantastic trainer Dina Holland but also from being around other small businesses; learning what they do differently and sharing best practice."

The Digital High Street Skills programme is split into three modules which look at different aspects of digital communications; from websites to Social Media and from e-commerce to eBay, these modules will help businesses strategise their way to new customers.

The programme has been developed with the help of the Employer Ownership Fund and with co-financing from the European Social Fund, the National Skills Academy for Retail can offer training and mentoring for small retail businesses at substantially reduced rates. The fund is accessible to all businesses in the Retail, Hospitality, Leisure & Tourism sectors with fewer than 250 employees and in the Sheffield city region.

Vivid Jewellery website
The Source website

Images: The Source

Crawshaws, the meat focused retailer has reported a great start for its new factory shop at its new site in Rotherham.

The AIM-listed firm recently moved 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 consolidates 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. The new site will provide Crawshaw with capacity to cater for 60 retail locations and also includes a factory shop.

Established in 1954, the firm has been trading on the stock market since 2004. It was acquired by Felix Group plc in 2008. It has 21 retail outlets throughout Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Humberside.

In an update to the stock exchange, Crawshaw reported that trading for the nine weeks to December 28 was in line with management expectations. Like for like sales for the period were down 3%, but the company had budgeted for this small decrease given that sales for the comparable period last year were particularly strong, rising by 21%.

Gross margin in the period has showed a further improvement of 1% over the prior year and therefore the Company's cash margin has increased year on year. Year to date like for like sales are up 6%.

Richard Rose, chairman of Crawshaw, said: "Our customers continue to appreciate our quality and value and so customer satisfaction remains high. Our new factory shop has got off to a great start and is trading above expectation giving us much confidence as we plan our accelerated store opening program.

Crawshaw recently appointed Noel Collett, formerly Lidl's chief operating officer for the UK business, as the chief executive officer as it heads towards its ambitious target of 200 shops within eight years. Last year 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.

The company has also appointed Peel Hunt LLP as corporate finance advisers.

Crawshaw website

Images: Crawshaw

The popular Tuesday street market in Rotherham town centre is set to be extended in a bid to drive footfall and benefit from Tesco's relocation.

The National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA) awarded Rotherham first prize in the category of "Best Street / Outdoor Market" at their national awards ceremony in 2012. Since then, the outdoor market has added a fresh produce section and Rotherham Council's Markets Service has recently undertaken consultation with current traders and customers to establish the potential for extending the Tuesday street market from 62 to 95 stalls.

The proposals include extending the market to Effingham Square, which was revamped as part of the £40m Tesco development, and is intended to attract customers and draw them from Tesco into the town centre retail area.

Future extensions could see further stalls on both Upper Millgate and College Street creating better links to Corporation Street and High Street and ensure maximum benefit to these areas on market days.

Cabinet Member and Advisers for Business Growth and Regeneration met this week to approve the initial capital expenditure of £48,000 and increased staffing costs needed to extend the market. The money is set to be borrowed from the Public Loan Board with an estimated £25,000- £53,000 of income from renting the new stalls per annum.

The cabinet report stated that there is a trader waiting list and six additional stalls are required immediately with significant interest expected following advertisement of the new opportunities. In addition existing retailers and indoor market traders are also expected to take the opportunity to trade on-street as part of the market.

The Market Service is confident that the additional stalls will be fully occupied within three months of being introduced.

The report from Bernadette Rushton, retail investment manager and Dean Thurlow, the new markets operations manager, stated: "Historically Tuesdays were one of the quietest footfall days in the town centre, the introduction of the street market provided a much needed boost and Tuesday is now consistently one of the busiest days of the week with retailers repeatedly highlighting the positive impact that the market has on both footfall and trade.

"Markets are clearly a unique selling point for the town and a key focus of our strategy to differentiate our offer from our competitors; the Tuesday market is the most visible of all the markets that operate and brings vibrancy and colour to the primary shopping streets.

Tesco opened its 110,000 sq ft superstore before Christmas, moving to the site of former council buildings on Drummond Street from a smaller, outdated store on Forge Island.

The report added: "The Tesco relocation has undoubtedly changed footfall patterns across the town centre: a key objective is to ensure the wider town centre benefits from the increased footfall and widened customer base. Encouraging customers to make the trip across Drummond Street and to utilise the wider town centre retail offer is paramount."

Work is also continuing on options for this redevelopment of the markets complex which may range from improvements to the entrances and signage, all the way through to a major redevelopment and reconfiguring of the outdoor markets plus works to the indoor section.

Rotherham town centre website

Images: RMBC

Gregory Projects Limited has submitted a planning application to progress phase two of its Rotherham retail development at Parkgate with charity Barnardo's and Formula One Autocentres the latest potential occupiers to show an interest.

The land owner, Rotherham recycling experts, Ron Hull, teamed up with Leeds-based developers, Gregory Projects to bring forward a potential retail development on the site of a former car showroom at Great Eastern Way. With funding from Bramall Properties Ltd, construction of the fully let 40,000 sq ft phase one is well underway with completion expected by July 2015. Aldi, Iceland and Home Bargains are all committed.

The plans for phase two, via Colliers International, are a change to the outline plans and would enable half of the 10,000 sq ft of space to be used as an auto centre rather than for retail. Incorporating workshop bays for carrying out vehicle repair and services, the centre is expected to attract "additional employment opportunities and indeed a range of jobs different from those on the rest of the retail development."

Richard Tovey, director at Gregory Projects (which is part of the Gregory Property Group) said: "We are pleased to progress to a planning application for phase two on the strength of an exceptional record of lettings for phase one. We have brought much needed discount retailers back to the area for the benefit of the Parkgate community."

Slight amendments are also being proposed that would enable one of the smaller, 1,250 sq ft units on Phase One to be taken by the children's charity, Barnardo's.

The Leeds office of GVA has advised Gregory on the pre-lettings and is marketing the remaining accommodation. Sheffield-based JF Finnegan is the main contractor with the development is due to be completed by July 2015 at which stage units will be handed over for occupier fit out.

Gregory Projects website

Images: Gregory Projects / Harris Partnership

More of Rotherham's young people say they are visiting the town centre regularly but more work needs to be done to address negative perceptions and safety fears.

The findings of a recent survey carried out in the borough's schools found that more young people said they visited Rotherham town centre regularly (at least once a week), up to 40% from 34% in 2013, but only 10% of young people said they felt safe in the town centre, reduced from 12% in 2013.

The 2014 Borough Wide Lifestyle Survey has been carried out since 2006 and this year saw 4,123 pupils take part from 16 schools. It is considered a valuable tool by the Council, helping to provide an idea of what young people understand and can enable the council to tailor services towards young people. Issues covered include food and drink, education, sexual health, bullying and safety.

Regarding the town centre, the survey showed that overwhelmingly, the main reason that young people go into the town centre is for shopping (71% of year 7 pupils and 62% of year 10). Meeting friends (around 30%) was the second most popular answer and watching football and visiting the park also stood out.

With such a low percentage of respondents saying that they felt safe in Rotherham town centre, further questions were added to the survey this year.

Only 10% of pupils said they usually feel safe in Rotherham town centre. 9% said they feel safe at the bus station and 7% at the train station. Last year this was phrased "waiting for local transport" where just 14% said that they felt safe.

Pupils who said that they didn't feel safe were also asked what their top three reasons were for this. The main reasons why pupils didn't feel safe in the town centre, bus interchange or train station were being approached by strangers (26%), gang fear (18%) and being approached by drunks (15%). 14% of pupils also said that there was a lack of visible security such as a police officer or a warden.

Interestingly, of the 40% who said that they regularly go into the town centre, a higher percentage said they felt safe compared to those that said they were not regular visitors - 15% said they felt safe there compared to 7% of the 60% who are not regular visitors. The council and partners believe that this is further evidence that there is work to be done with young people on the perception of safety in and around town centre.

Crime statistics support this, crime rates from town centre for overall crime have declined. Total reported crime for area in the last 12 months was 2,613, down from 2,674 in the previous 12 months. Recorded incidents of antisocial behaivour across the borough are at a five year low.

The results of the survey were discussed at the Council's cabinet meeting this week with members agreeing that whilst it was encouraging that more young people are visiting the town centre regularly, more work needs to be done on addressing young people's perception of safety. Council boards are set to meet on the issues raised in the survey and following last year's results the town's Youth Cabinet established a group specifically to discuss the town centre.

Plans alongside the Police safer neighbourhood teams and the SYPTE, who operate the interchange, include actions targeting crime and anti social behaviour in the bus station.

Operation Civilise is a recent initiative that sees a large police presence in Rotherham town centre to provide reassurance and to deter crime. A business crime portal is also being used to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in the town centre by giving business owners the knowledge of known or unknown offenders.

Images: RMBC

The relocation of Rotherham retailer, Fosters Cycles, sees part of the iconic former Effingham Works on the edge of the town centre put up for auction for a quick sale.

Fosters Cycles has recently closed its Thames Street branch and moved to the head office site on Doncaster Road, Thrybergh, alongside sister business, Fosters Garden Centre. Here the adjacent petrol station had been up for sale.

The move means that the 10,818 sq ft former premises will go under the hammer on January 27 with local auctioneers, Mark Jenkinson & Son. It has been given a guide price of £100,000, having previously been available for £200,000.

The three storey property makes up a large portion of the former Effingham Works, a rare surviving piece of industrial architecture in Rotherham. The imposing building was built in 1855 for stove grate manufacturers, Yates and Haywood, in front and around their original building. It was reputed at the time it was built to be the largest factory of its kind in the world.

James Yates trained as a model-maker for the famous Walker family but in 1823 he took over the Walkers' Foundry business and went into partnership with Charles Samuel Roberts Sandford at the Phoenix Works. The partnership was dissolved in 1838 and Yates took the Rotherham Foundry which specialised in stove grate work. He also acquired the premises of the Masbrough Flax Works upon the site of which the Effingham Works was later erected.

Yates remained on his own until 1846 when George Haywood and John Drabble were taken into partnership and the company took the name Yates, Haywood and Co. Having received considerable praise for their work at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in Hyde Park, the firm went on to prosper from its new premises. In the end, the company was taken over by William Heaton Holdings Ltd in 1967 and closed down in 1970.

The building has since been home to a number of uses including, retail and trade counters, a printers, a nightclub and dance studio.

Mark Jenkinson & Son website

Images: Mark Jenkinson & Son

Independent retailers in Rotherham are being urged to enter the Best Small Shops Competition, a UK initiative backed by MPs.

Returning after a hiatus of four years, the Best Small Shops Competition is run by the All Party Parliamentary Small Shops Group and administered by the Independent Retailers Confederation. The competition is designed to bring small retailers to the attention of parliamentarians and the local community.

MPs have been asked to promote retailers from their constituencies to participate and all "small shops", i.e. independents and specialist retailers, whether selling goods or services in the UK, are invited to apply to be recognised as The Best Small Shop 2015. (Applicants must operate from a physical, business rated premises).

The Best Small Shop will be selected based on a number of criteria including innovation within the business, engagement with the community and entrepreneurial activities.

Sarah Champion, Member of Parliament for Rotherham, said: "I really do believe that Rotherham has some of the best independent retailers in the country and I hope that they take this opportunity to prove it.

"Rotherham's High Street in particular has seen a huge transformation. It now offers a fantastic experience for shoppers in the town and is attracting more and more visitors from other areas. It has been incredibly difficult in recent times for independent retailers and I am proud of the way those in Rotherham have stuck it out and made a success of their business.

"I want those retailers to now show exactly what they and Rotherham have to offer by entering this competition, and getting the recognition they deserve for the brilliant work they do supporting the community and creating jobs all year round."

Rotherham town centre was named as a "Portas Pilot" by the Government in 2012 and compiled a pot of £350,000 to support the council and its town team partners in realising its vision to create a vibrant and thriving town centre with a different retail offer by fostering new, independent businesses.

Applications must be submitted by 4pm on January 30 2015 via the Best Small Shops Competition website

Images: RMBC

Popular flame-grilled peri-peri chicken specialists, Nando's, is set to open its first outlet in Rotherham later this year.

A planning application was approved in the Summer for a new restaurant at Parkgate Shopping, which was recently ranked as the fifth best retail park in the UK, attracting an estimated 9.3 million visitors a year.

The plans, drawn up by Archial Norr and Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners, involve the demolition of the current Pizza Hut restaurant to be replaced by a new building to include a 372 sq m, 128 cover Nando's and a 93 sq m Subway. The new building would also include a cash machine and new toilet facilities. The proposal is for "a very modest uplift" in floorspace of just 250 sq m.

The park owners, British Land, together with potential operators and visitors have all shown an interest in an improved food and drink offer at Parkgate. A 377 sq m Frankie & Benny's restaurant opened in 2012 to complement to the existing instore cafés and fast food outlets.

This month saw Pizza Hut close its doors after 25 years on the park, serving an estimated five million pizzas. Manager Martin Jowett will be managing a Pizza Hut branch in Lincoln, and other staff have been relocated to Pizza Hut outlets in South Yorkshire.

Denis Copeland, manager at Parkgate Shopping (pictured back, right), said: "Pizza Hut has served local people very well over many years and will be missed. We wish all the staff very well in their new jobs, and look forward to welcoming Nando's when it opens later in the year."

Founded in South Africa in 1987, Nando's operates a casual dining restaurant group with 1,000 outlets specialising in chicken with influences from Portugal and South Africa.

The first UK restaurant opened in 1992 and there are now over 340 restaurants in the UK. Nando's Group Holdings, which runs the chain in the UK and Ireland, says that it serves half a million chickens a week and wants to add around 30 new restaurants a year. Ultimately owned by South African tycoon Richard Enthoven and Capricorn Ventures International, latest UK sales figures are a reported £535m for the year ending in February 2014. An outlet at Doncaster's Lakeside opened earlier this month.

Nando's website
Parkgate Shopping website

Images: Nando's / Archial Norr / Parkgate Shopping

Leading tool manufacturer, Hilti is upgrading the protection for its employees from workplace incidents through the use of latest Identicom lone worker protection from Rotherham company, Connexion2.

Hilti provides leading-edge technology to the global construction industry and has been a customer of Dinnington-based Connexion2 and long-term Identicom user since 2010, has now upgraded to using the 8 series Identicom lone worker device with additional functionality to improve safety, give peace of mind to staﬀ, and increase ﬂexibility.

Designed to look like a normal ID badge, the Identicom system allows lone workers to raise an alarm, make an emergency phone call or send a text message. It is part of the lone worker solution SoloProtect, which includes the device, 24/7 manned monitoring, SIM card, mobile network usage, training, inclusive billing and monthly reporting.

Hilti are continuing to equip lone workers with Identicom in their retail stores, nationwide. The company, whose trademark red power tools are used on construction sites around the world, operate a direct sales model which includes 21 Hilti Centres across the UK.

Stuart Lamb, National Hilti Centre Manager, said: "The protection of staff is paramount, and having experience using the device, we know that it works, and we've always received great customer support from SoloProtect. In the past we have had an incident where a member of staﬀ has been threatened, we also know that staff can be happy and comfortable with their device and this is why we have chosen to upgrade and expand our Identicom units."

Identicom and SoloProtect provide an innovative solution to the problems of verbal abuse and physical assault in a retail setting, by enabling the lone worker to discreetly obtain help at the push of a button, without breaking eye contact with an aggressor. Once an alert has been raised this then goes through to an approved 24/7 Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) where a dedicated member of the lone worker team can listen into and access the situation, and escalate to police if necessary.

Identicom also has a "Man Down" function that raises the alarm automatically should a worker lose consciousness due to a slip or fall, or an unknown health issue.

Craig Swallow, managing director of Connexion2, said: "We're really pleased that Hilti continue to see considerable value in the SoloProtect service we provide to their lone workers. Retail continues to be a sector that is increasingly waking-up to the risks facing staﬀ working alone, whether it be for a limited time or the majority of a working day."

Connexion2 website

Images: Connexion2

Gilder Group has expanded its iconic Rotherham garage by adding a Mitsubishi dealership to its operation.

Based at the landmark Mushroom Garage on Doncaster Road, the new dealership is part of the Gilder Group, a family-run dealership group that was first formed in Sheffield by William Gilder in 1938.

Employing more than 70 people across the company, there are two other dealerships in Chesterfield and Sheffield and 18 people employed at the site in Rotherham. A Mitsubishi dealership is also opening at its existing site in Chesterfield in February.

Bradford-based JCT600 acquired Gilder Group, including its Volkswagen dealership in Wickersley, Rotherham, in 2013, but outgoing CEO Garry Scotting retained the Gilder Honda sites, including the dealership at Mushroom Garage in Rotherham.

Darren Stolz, sales manager at Gilder Mitsubishi Rotherham (pictured, left), said: "Gilder Group has been going for more than 70 years now and we are confident that our excellent reputation, together with Mitsubishi's fantastic range of vehicles, will make this a successful partnership. This is a very exciting time for everyone at Gilder and we are really looking forward to opening with Mitsubishi."

Lance Bradley, managing director of Mitsubishi Motors in the UK, added: "We are really pleased Gilder has joined the Mitsubishi family and we wish them every success. The Rotherham dealership is based in a local landmark and the team are well known in the area for delivering great customer service, which is something that is vitally important to everyone here at Mitsubishi."

With 18 new Mitsubishi dealerships opening in 2014, the company saw sales growth in passenger cars of 75% compared with the previous year, against an overall market up by 9.3% according to year-end sales results released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Gilder Group website

Images: Mitsubishi Motors

One the UK's largest importer and exporter of tents, marquees and pop up awnings, Gala Tent, has secured the contract to refresh the award-winning street market in Rotherham town centre.

The National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA) awarded Rotherham first prize in the category of "Best Street / Outdoor Market" at their national awards ceremony in 2012. Since then, the outdoor market has added a fresh produce section and Rotherham Council's Markets Service has recently undertaken consultation with current traders and customers to establish the potential for extending the Tuesday street market from 62 to 95 stalls.

Following approval last month, the market will extend into Effingham Square, which is situated directly opposite to the new £40m Tesco store.

Founded in 1999, Gala Tent has grown to sell over 10,000 tents and marquees each year, along with around 90,000 event accessories and furniture products. In the UK, the Manvers-based company is a preferred supplier for organisations including the military, NHS, the South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service, South Yorkshire Police Service, St John's Ambulance and AA.

To cover the cost of the street market extension the authority is to borrow from the Public Loans Board over a five year period, with the repayment being covered by the estimated additional income generated from the market. The initial capital expenditure is around £48,000 with an estimated £25,000- £53,000 of income from renting the new stalls per annum.

The existing 62 gazebos will be replaced and an additional 33 will be purchased to create 95 trading areas. Following a competitive tender process the new gazebos are to be bought from Gala Tent.

Jason Mace, managing director of Gala Tent, said: "We believe the Council has definitely got the the right idea for generating new business in Rotherham as the increase in footfall from the new Tesco is a huge benefit to Rotherham markets."

Cllr Dominic Beck, Cabinet Member for Business Growth and Regeneration at Rotherham Council, added: "In 2012 the number of stalls was increased from 40 to 62 and here we are again, three years later, increasing that number again because there is a constant waiting list of traders. We believe that this investment in Rotherham's Market Service will be of huge benefit to both the town and to shoppers alike."

Future extensions on both Upper Millgate and College Street creating better links to Corporation Street and High Street will ensure maximum benefit.

Work is also continuing on options for this redevelopment of the markets complex which may range from improvements to the entrances and signage, all the way through to a major redevelopment and reconfiguring of the outdoor markets plus works to the indoor section.

Gala Tent website
Rotherham town centre website

Images: RMBC

It is a mixed picture in Rotherham town centre where independent retailers are expanding but bigger names are closing outlets.

This week saw Cooplands, the Doncaster-based artisan bakery undergo a pre-pack administration with the loss of 300 jobs. Joint administrators, Adrian Berry and Daniel Butters, partners of Deloitte had been working on a deal for some time and restructuring specialists, Resolve, announced that they had acquired half of the stores and the entire mobile sandwich "Bapvan" fleet, preserving over 260 jobs across the local area.

The deal means that 39 stores will close along with the head office in Doncaster, resulting in the overall loss of 303 jobs.

A published list from the administrators shows that the Cooplands unit in Rotherham Interchange is set to remain open but the store in All Saints' Square looks set to close.

Out of the town centre, stores in Brinsworth, Herringthorpe and Dinnington are set to stay open with stores at Maltby and Stag set to close.

Resolve said in a statement: "ReSolve are pleased to announce the purchase of the majority of Cooplands (Doncaster) stores preserving over 260 jobs across the local area.

"Cooplands will continue to focus on providing great customer service and the best quality products at competitive prices. To celebrate the purchase, Cooplands will be introducing some great new offers from tomorrow.

"We would like to thank our loyal customers and staff for their support during Cooplands' 83 year history and your local bakery looks forward to serving you for many years to come."

The news follows on from national bakery chain, Greggs, closing its large cafe unit in the Old Town Hall in Rotherham town centre (pictured). A spokesperson for the chain, which has around 1,700 stores nationwide including two others in Rotherham town centre, said: "We do regularly review our shops and the places where they're situated. On completing our latest review, we made the decision to close this one."

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. A focus has been on creating a different and vibrant retail offer by supporting independent traders.

In 2009, Yella Brick Road was the first retailer to move into a unit in the refurbished Grade II-listed Imperial Buildings at the top of the High Street. Five years later, the arcade is thriving with independent retailers including boutiques, a cafe, an old-fashioned sweet shop and arts space.

Benefiting from an innovative grants scheme, then just funded by the Council, the fashion store secured financial help with fit out costs and up to 50% of the rental costs in year one and 25% in year two. The store's success saw the creation of "Things That Boys Like" in 2013. The sister store (brother store may be more appropriate) brought men's clothing, gadgets and gifts to the revamped High Street.

Now, the two stores are set to combine and move into a larger unit on the High Street as trader turned property developer, Chris Hamby continues with his heritage-led regeneration of empty properties.

Danii Paston, owner of Yella Brick Road said in post on Facebook: "We will be joining forces with our brother shop Things That Boys Like. Initially we will be situated in the existing 21 High Street shop, before moving to huge premises in April right next door (the current Hambys shoe shop).

"We've been in our Imperial Buildings shop for five years now and it's time to expand. It's going to be wrench to leave our fabulous little shop, but in order to offer all the ranges we want to offer, we need more space."

Grants for new and existing traders continue to be approved. One example is market traders, John Norris Greengrocers taking space in the former JJB Sports unit in the Old Town Hall.

Last year, the retail vacancy rate in Rotherham town centre rose for the first time since 2010, according to research by retail experts at commercial real estate advisers, Colliers International. The vacancy rate (the percentage of empty ground floor units in the retail centre) in Rotherham has been as low as 6.1% in 2006, rising to 28.2% in 2010. Colliers measured a rate of 19.7% for April 2014, up from 18.1% in October 2013.

Rotherham Council's own figures for 2014 had 93 out of 412 town centre units vacant, giving a rate of 22.6%, up from 20% the previous year and in 2010. Council analysis also shows the vacancy rate in terms of floorspace, where 18.5% of the total floorspace was vacant for 2014, the first annual increase since 2010.

Rotherham town centre website
Yella Brick Road website

Images: Tom Austen / Yella Brick Road / Facebook

Martyn Benson, a start-up adviser working with Rotherham Investment and Development Office (RiDO) in Rotherham, has been named as one of the UK's top ten business advisers as part of the Top 50 Business Advisers awards.

Small business network Enterprise Nation asked businesses to nominate an adviser that had helped them to build and grow a sustainable business. Entries were judged by a distinguished panel including the founder of Enterprise Nation, business expert and author, Emma Jones, and representatives from professional bodies. The Top 50 advisers were chosen from hundreds of entries from around the UK, with ten outstanding experts picked out as the top ten.

Martyn, who offers all-round start-up business advice to help local early stage entrepreneurs in RiDO's business centres, was picked out for his sterling 14-plus years of work in enterprise in the borough.

Martyn said: "Having a clear vision for a business and then to have a strategy that will allow the vision to be realised is vital. People often don't know what they don't know! Business operating skills are needed as well as vocational skills to build a sustainable company."

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Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation, added: "These business advisers are the unsung heroes behind Britain's booming small business culture.

"The awards have uncovered some incredible work that has helped fledgling firms take steps towards sustainability and growth by taking a strategic look at their business.

"Research shows that those firms that take advice do better than those that don't – and it stands to reason that good advice can help avoid some of the damaging, early mistakes entrepreneurs can make that can often force them to give up.

"Thanks to the Government's £30m Growth Voucher initiative, there is now an increasing interest in taking strategic advice to overcome some of these behavioural barriers and unlock growth potential.

"The awards were designed to show this important work in action, in order to help more start-ups and small firms find out about the benefits of taking advice."

RiDO, the regeneration arm of Rotherham Council, now operate four modern business incubation centres across the borough offering support and assistance to local and international businesses. Each incubation centre has access to its own dedicated business adviser, who works with individual client companies, offering advice, guidance, mentoring and links to other partners. In addition, there are other members of RiDO and the wider Council team that can be called on as and when required. It is this support that means that the survival rate for companies for the crucial first three years is 84%, which is well above the national average of 71%.

Following 30 years in the banking sector, dealing mainly with small businesses, and with start-ups through an Enterprise Agency, Martyn has played a key role in the success of RiDO's business centres in fostering sustainable businesses and creating jobs. He has also supported a number of young entrepreneurs through Rotherham Youth Enterprise and been part of the support offered to new, independent retailers opening in Rotherham town centre.

RiDO business centre website

Images: RiDO

Property Week reports that leading retail destination, Parkgate Shopping in Rotherham, has been put up for sale by its owners.

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, it is valued at over £100m to the trust via a subsidiary, the Rotherham Unit Trust.

Writing in the national property magazine, Richard Williams reports that Hercules has appointed agents at CBRE to market a £300m portfolio comprising almost 1m sq ft across four secondary out-of-town retail parks in the UK. The largest retail park in the portfolio is Parkgate Shopping, which is 575,000 sq ft.

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In 1987, Parkgate Retail World opened as part of the regeneration of large areas of reclaimed land formerly occupied by the Park Gate Iron and Steel Co. The park has grown and is currently 100% let with recent openings by Poundland and Wilkinson, who have both taken ten year leases. Attracting over nine million visitors a year, it was ranked as the fifth best retail park in the UK by retail consultancy, Javelin Group in its latest VENUESCORE report which assesses the UK's leading 3,000+ commercial venues.

The Hercules Unit Trust is a Jersey-based property unit trust that owns and manages 19 retail warehouse and shopping parks, providing around 4.5 million sq ft and is worth around £1.5 billion.

Unit trusts are collective funds that allow private investors to pool their money in a single fund that is then managed by professional fund managers, thus spreading their risk across a range of investments. Returns are created by rental income and property sales made in response to changing market conditions.

HUT acquired Parkgate in a £260m deal from developers, the Stadium Group in 2005, representing an equivalent yield of 5.25%. As part of the same transaction, Stadium acquired Newport Retail Park from Hercules for £60m.

In 2014, British Land agreed to purchase £41m of additional units in Hercules, taking British Land's share to 54.2%, which meant that the trust would become a subsidiary of British Land.

British Land is one of the largest property development and investment companies in the UK and owns and manages a portfolio of commercial property worth £17.1 billion. This includes Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield, which it owns alongside Norwegian sovereign wealth fund Norges.

Parkgate Shopping website

Images: Parkgate Shopping

An apprentice who went from Saturday girl to managing her own store in little over a year is at the House of Commons this week, nominated for a national award.

Jenna Unwin, who lives in Rotherham, started her apprenticeship in September 2013 at the Whistle Stop Sweet Shop in the Imperial Buildings in Rotherham town centre.

Opened in 2010 selling sweets and sweet gifts, the sweet boutique expanded to larger neighbouring premises in 2013 to allow for the development of its Temperance Bar - selling traditional non-alcoholic sarsaparilla and cordials along with other fruit and sweet-based drinks.

Halfway through 17-year-old Jenna's training in Level 2 Retail Skills Diploma; Kara and Tony Chapman, the owners of the Whistle Stop Sweet Shop, were so impressed that they began to discuss the possibility of her managing her own store. In June 2014, they began to plan the new store and found the ideal location in the entrance to Orchard Square in Sheffield City Centre with Jenna involved every step of the way.

The new store opened in October when Jenna was promoted to store manager. And now she manages her own apprentice.

Jenna has now been shortlisted for a prestigious award from People 1st; the skills and workforce development charity for employers in the hospitality, tourism, leisure, travel, passenger transport and retail industries after being nominated by her tutor Jayne Wills 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. A Rotherham base opened on the High Street in 2011 with support from Rotherham Council and the Skills Funding Agency.

Keen to continue expanding on her knowledge, Jenna is hoping to study for a Level 3 Retail Management qualification with The Source to improve her strength as a manager.

Jayne Wills, tutor at The Source Skills Academy, said: "Jenna continuously astounds me with her knowledge and enthusiasm for retail. Jenna's maturity is so refreshing; she is a very caring person and she really looks after her staff. She is a very bright young woman and I look forward to following her career as I know she will go far."

Jenna Unwin, manager of the Whistle Stop Sweet Shop in Sheffield, said: "I was so excited when I received the email saying I'd been nominated and was invited to The House of Commons. I'm really enjoying my role at the new store and this news is the icing on the cake."

Kara Chapman, owner of the Whistle Stop Sweet Shop, added: "We're so proud of Jenna and she thoroughly deserves this award. Jenna is such a valuable member of the team - if Jenna sets her mind on achieving something; there is no stopping her. I'm sure she has a great career ahead of her and this award would be a fantastic accolade."

Whistle Stop Sweet Shop website
The Source website

Images: The Source

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