How Sheffield's pursuit of growth is paying off

Article guest written by Tim Heatley for publication in React News 06.06.23

The South Yorkshire city is in a prime position to make the most of regeneration

For too long, Sheffield’s growth potential has gone under the radar. Its renaissance journey from industrialised steel city to modern, multicultural metropolis has – I’d argue incorrectly – been overshadowed in the UK’s national media by northern neighbours such as Manchester and Leeds.

Having been quietly getting on with the job of change, the city is now on a mission to make waves. It’s embracing a more confident, unashamed approach to growth – and it’s all the better for it.

A city of two halves

A big part of Sheffield’s pull is its duality. It’s one part post-industrial cityscape, with areas – once the epitome of northern grit – now becoming hipster magnets (see Kelham Island’s inclusion in the Sunday Times’ round-up of best postcodes). And it’s another part the UK’s greenest city, with unrivalled access to green spaces, parks and stunning countryside – way more than Manchester, Liverpool or Leeds.

That potent mix means it’s in a prime position, post-Covid, to make the most of regeneration. Spiralling property prices in the capital and the rise of hybrid working is pushing those previously boarding trains for London to the northbound platforms instead. Meanwhile, start-ups are making the most of the city’s transport links, lower cost base and local skillsets to establish, secure investment and rapidly scale up. Earlier this year it took pole position as the best place to start a business outside of London, for those reasons.

A creative approach to placemaking must propel this growth. You can see that now with the city council taking the decisive lead, working with the likes of Homes England to identify neighbourhoods in Sheffield that could act as major accelerators for new development and investment. That sense of urgency and drive to establish new districts and get more and more people living in the city is palpable – no doubt in part driven by the need to keep pace with places like

Manchester, where the city centre population has increased by twice the average UK growth rate and is forecast to swell by a further 10% by 2025.

There have been incremental investments in Sheffield in the past, but it’s tended to be in pockets, joining to form a patchwork. Today’s approach has a coherence.

One of the identified neighbourhoods, Neepsend, is where we’re working on plans for the former Cannon Brewery site, where the last ales were poured in the 1990s. Currently more zombie apocalypse film set than edgy urban district, it’s got bags of potential. We want to deliver a design-led neighbourhood there with hundreds of homes, shops, workspaces, and, of course, green community spaces. We’re working with Homes England, the council, the Combined Authority and surrounding communities to make that happen, with the first applications going in this summer.

When done, it will be a worthy extension of Kelham Island to form a really compelling northern district for the city, very much made in its identity rather than a pastiche of what’s been done in other cities.

Brain drain versus brain gain

There is, naturally, stuff Sheffield still needs to crack. Brain drain versus brain gain being one of them. Ask any Sheffield student and they talk with a deep fondness for the place, but too often speaking from a different settled city. While retention rates are competitive, they should, and can be, higher. The solution is twofold – deliver more and better housing choice in the city centre, one that appeals to people in their 20s and 30s, alongside increased opportunities for rewarding, well-paid work. Do that and Sheffield becomes a major player with a combined total offer against which few northern cities could compete.

Of course there are development challenges too. The competitive property values that make it more accessible can pose viability challenges against a backdrop of rocketing material and labour costs. But those willing to invest in the city’s future will see even stronger returns as it doubles down on maintaining upward momentum.

Having seen its fair share of TV and film action over the years, don’t call this an underdog story. Sheffield is sick of being the sidekick and ready to be the headliner.