South Yorkshire Mayor and Sheffield City Council welcome Cannon Brewery potential as work set to start on neighbourhood

The vision to transform Sheffield’s former Cannon Brewery site in Neepsend into a new neighbourhood for the city has moved a step forward.

(L-R) Richard Spackman, Oliver Coppard, Cllr Tom Hunt, Kate Josephs & Tim Heatley

Social impact developers Capital&Centric have confirmed they’ve completed the purchase of the site, paving the way for a new chapter after more than a quarter of a century of dereliction. Initial remediation and site investigations will now begin on site this spring.

With an outline planning application submitted, work has also now started on a detailed designs for the district – set to feature over 500 rental homes, new workplaces and spaces for independent shops, delis and café-bars.

Capital&Centric are working with the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and Sheffield City Council to make the blueprint a reality. Discussing the scale of opportunity, Mayor Oliver Coppard heralded an exciting new chapter for site, where beer was brewed until the 1990s.

Locals will soon start to see activity on site, with ground investigations beginning in earnest and the dismantling of some of the buildings with no architectural merit.

It follows the Combined Authority awarding a £11.67 million grant to kick-start Cannon Brewery, with further Homes England funding also announced for other development sites in Neepsend.

South Yorkshire’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard, said:

“Cannon Brewery, which takes its design cues from Neepsend’s historic identity, is an exciting opportunity to bring an under-developed brownfield site back to life.

“Through collaboration with Capital&Centric, we want to ensure that the plans being developed set a new high bar for regeneration across South Yorkshire. The ambition is not just for more and better homes, but for the whole development to attract investment, create spaces for new businesses to establish and further cement our well-deserved reputation as being a brilliant place to live. And I’m pleased to say we’re actively looking at other places across South Yorkshire where we can unlock more opportunities.”

The plan is to retain some of the most interesting buildings from the former brewery, with a lush, urban park surrounding the existing water tower, as well as a new public square surrounded by shops and cafes, with spaces for pop-up events.

Councillor Tom Hunt, leader of Sheffield City Council, said:

“The transformation of the former Cannon Brewery site is yet another exciting new development for Sheffield. We are working hard with our partners to drive up housebuilding and regenerate parts of our city. The combination of new homes, new workplaces, retail and leisure will help to turn Neepsend into a thriving new neighbourhood. Sheffield is a city on the up and this new development will further add to Sheffield’s appeal as a great place to live, work and enjoy yourself."

It’s all part of a push by Capital&Centric to attract some £200 million of investment into Sheffield. The team have already delivered Eyewitness Works in the city’s Devonshire Quarter, with more projects on the horizon.

Richard Spackman, development director at Capital&Centric, said:

“Cannon Brewery has stacks of potential and, by collaborating with the council and combined authority, we’re unlocking regeneration at a massive scale but in a considered way. There’s a real buzz about the future of Neepsend as the city’s next growth district, but everyone wants to see the neighbourhood designed in a way that Sheffield can be proud of.

“Sheffield is having a real moment and is successfully attracting more start-ups, investment and people that want to live here. We committed to securing about £200 million of investment into regeneration sites in the city a few years ago and we’re making good on that vision, with a brownfield-first approach to growing the city and a pipeline of projects in the works.

“With the Cannon Brewery site now fully acquired, we’ll be getting going with surveys and investigations that will underpin the detailed plans we aim to submit to Sheffield City Council later this year.”

Once home to Stones Brewery, the site – made up of two triangular plots bordered by Neepsend Lane and Boyland St - was the birthplace of the UK’s best-selling bitter at the time, before the doors closed for good in 1999.

Capital&Centric’s outline application aims to set the initial parameters for the district, including the footprint of the new buildings, buildings to be retained, heights and access points. Whilst previous plans had proposed for all buildings at the site to be demolished, Capital&Centric is aiming to keep those that it’s feasible to retain and repurpose.