Business

Sheffield Design Awards

The winners of the Sheffield Design Awards were announced at the start of Urban design week.The awards are given to local building projects which demonstrate the best design.  Ten buildings including, residential properties were short listed.  The people’s choice was won by Sum Studios in Heeley while best building went to Sellers Wheel in the centre of town.

Stop the traffic

A local fair trade social enterprise is making jewellery and raising money for a total of six charities that are working to support women who are being trafficked.

 

Outdoor activities help economic growth

The European Outdoor Summit is going to be held in Sheffield next year. This announcement comes as the same time as  research carried out by Sheffield Hallam University,  shows that outdoor activities such as climbing, walking and biking are all contributing to the economic growth of the City.  The research estimates that outdoor activities bring £53 million pounds to Sheffield.

City centre improvements

Businesses in Sheffield City centre who have a rateable value of over £30,000 could end up paying a levy that would go towards making improvements in the area.  The Sheffield Business Improvement District (BID) is a collaboration between the private and public sectors and could see up to four million pounds of investment going in to improving the City Centre over a five year period.

The MADE Festival has been described as the “Glastonbury of Business,” attracting thousands of entrepreneurs and hundreds of speakers from all around the world to Sheffield. Musician and entrepreneur Levi Roots was one of the keynote speakers and spoke with Sheffield Live! about mentoring, passion, and lessons for young people.

Reporting by Jamie Veitch and Steven Day.

You can hear more interviews from the MADE Festival with entrepreneurs including Shaa Wasmund, Jamal Edwards, and with Brendan Moffett of Marketing Sheffield on our Business Live radio programme: Friday, 9-10am on 93.2fm and podcasted afterwards.

GMB vote to strike

The GMB has voted to go on strike for better working conditions here in the City.  Peter Davies, Organiser for the Sheffield City Council branch of the GMB said they want better welfare conditions for the workers.

Sheffield Live! also approached Sheffield City Council and the Green Company but no one was available for an interview. However, they sent us a written statement which said  “We are aware that GMB members have decided to take industrial action at The Green Company. Discussions are continuing with the union and its representatives about any concerns expressed by staff working for The Green Company.

The Green Company and GMB representatives will work together to resolve any issues that need addressing. We want to sort any issues out speedily. If strike action does occur we will do everything we can to minimise disruption and keep as many sites open as possible.”

We spoke to Peter Davis who explained why they have decided to take strike action.

Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!

 

 

 

Big Investment Project launches

Business leaders have launched a new investment project to help Sheffield’s economy. The Big Investment Project aims to bring new opportunities for people and businesses in South Yorkshire and the North Midlands. David Richards spoke to David Thurkettle, the incoming President of Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, at a special launch event at Sheffield’s Millennium Galleries, held in the run up to this year’s MADE: The Entrepreneur Festival.

Reporting by David Richards and Rachel Vine.

Doncaster makes shortlist

Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat MP for Sheffield Hallam, has offered support in a bid to secure a new college in South Yorkshire.

The College would offer apprenticeships to young people and give them skills to help build the planned HS2 high speed rail line. The line would connect London Euston station to the Midlands, North West England and Yorkshire, almost halving commute times from Sheffield to London. The bid, from Doncaster, has been short-listed by the government as one of four possible locations for the HS2 college alongside Derby, Birmingham and Manchester.

If Doncaster bid was successful, the college would be equipped with cutting-edge technology and state of the art facilities. It would also provide training courses for the specific requirements of the rail project, which is expected to generate more than 2,000 apprenticeships.

As a Sheffield MP, Nick Clegg has written to the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills to outline his support for the bid.  In his letter, Nick Clegg MP states that the region – in particular Doncaster – is the “spiritual home of British railways” with the Flying Scotsman, Sir Nigel Gresley and The Mallard all being built there in 1923, 1937 and 1938 respectively.

The high speed service would have trains running from London St Pancras twice a day with a commute time of 1 hour 09 minutes.

Sheffield businesses can go global and meet worldwide export reps

Representatives from Chile, Columbia, Mexico, Philippines, Romania, Slovakia and Singapore will visit Sheffield next week to discuss exports from the city region.

South Yorkshire International Trade Centre (SYITC) is organising a secondv – free to attend – ‘Meet and Build’ event on July 18, to offer businesses in the Sheffield City Region an opportunity to discuss exports to these countries through the Overseas Business Network (OBN) initiative.

Nick Patrick, head of international trade at SYITC, told Sheffield Live: “We have agreements with 41 representative organisations around the world and it is our intention to get as many of those as possible to visit Sheffield to speak with businesses in the region.

“The events are designed to introduce personal contacts in specific target markets to help guide businesses through the exports process. The international visitors are very keen to help businesses in the Sheffield City Region of all sizes, from all sectors.  
 
“They will be in Sheffield to provide specific market sector information, help find agents, distributors or direct links to future customers. Our inaugural event was a great success and this is the second of many we hope to run in the future to boost exports from the region.”

SYITC, which is part of the Sheffield Chamber, offers broad support for local businesses to grow their global market, including assisting exporters throughout the process of completing the documentation; from choosing the correct documents to ensuring that they are completed correctly.

Nick Patrick will discuss the Overseas Business Network – and give tips to businesses wanting to export – our Business Live show on Friday 11 July, from 9am-10am. Tune in on 93.2fm or through our livestream, or access the podcast afterwards.

To attend the ‘Meet and Build’ event (at the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce office on Savile Street) please book online at www.syitc.com/events/meet-build-overseas-business-network