Directors CutThis edition of our update marks the publication of Sheffield’s refreshed City Strategy 2005-2010 (Updated 2007). The refresh has been undertaken to reflect the progress we have made and address the most current challenges facing our city. Sheffield is moving forward but needs to continue to outperform the other core cities if we are to see the transformation required to reach our goal. For further details, please view or download either the summary or full version of the City Strategy 2005-2010 (Updated 2007). The Partnership’s work will continue to be guided by the City Strategy and within this update we highlight some of the most important issues Sheffield faces not only today but also well into the future. The environmental article contains details of Sheffield’s carbon footprint, showing what contributes most to our carbon impact and outlines some of the steps we will take to reduce this. 25% of Sheffield’s carbon footprint comes from transport. A figure which we must strive to improve and there are a number of actions in place to help. We look at a range of approaches being developed in Sheffield, such as: bus service improvements; new technology to cut emissions; promoting travel planning and building good connectivity by public transport. Effective public transport and access is essential if the Big Ambitions in the City Strategy are to be achieved. Not only will good connectivity improve our environmental credentials but it will also enhance the quality of life of local people and boost the economic output of the city. Another boost to the economy will come in the form of BiG, part of our successful bid for funds to boost entrepreneurship and enterprise. The first of nine initiatives has been launched to give people the opportunity to pitch for investment of up to £100,000. And finally we put five topical questions to Doc/Fest’s Festival Director Heather Croall. Doc/Fest is the world’s second largest documentary film festival and this years event was another chance to show how much the city is improving as it brings 1,000 delegates from the media industry to Sheffield. Jane Brown Director, Sheffield First Partnership City Strategy Update 2007Sheffield has seen a great revival since the City Strategy was first published in 2005. There have been improvements in health, economy, physical environment and neighbourhoods. This year we have reviewed our City Strategy to take account of the success so far and to review the new challenges the city faces. This strategy sets out our revised ambitions for the city, which remain consistent with our strategic direction but reflect changes within the city and importantly what residents have told us are their priorities. Our starting point is three key principles: Prosperity, Inclusion and Sustainability that are critical to the work of the Partnership, directly addressing the economic, social and environmental well being of the city. These principles underpin the main themes of the strategy, which set out clearly and succinctly the characteristics of a strong and successful Sheffield:
The City Strategy 2005-2010 contained Five Big Ambitions, which addressed areas where gradual improvement was not sufficient and a step-change was required. Similarly, our review identifies Five Big Ambitions for the city by 2010:
For us to be successful in delivering our ambitions, we will need the support and active engagement of everyone within the city – individuals and organisations. This is about all the interests in Sheffield coming together to contribute to its shared future. For further details please view or download the summary or full version of the City Strategy 2005-2010 (Updated 2007). BiG - Make it Your BusinessBiG – Make it Your Business is a set of business support activities to help grow and develop entrepreneurs in Sheffield, increase business start-ups, help existing businesses to grow, and to reduce business failure rates. BiG is funded by Sheffield's Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI) which is delivered in partnership with a number of specialist support agencies. It is the result of a successful bid that received £18.25m of Government funding for an initial three years. This support can be given at different stages, whether the client has just an idea, or is in the early stages of a business career or an established business with ideas to expand. Eight newly appointed Neighbourhood Enterprise Champions (NECs) are providing one-to-one support to help local people in Sheffield interested in self-employment to achieve their goals. Their core purpose is to connect those with ideas for new businesses to the right opportunities. This could involve arranging the right training, individually tailored business advice, planning, mentoring, sales & marketing support as well as access to finance. BiG is making enterprise accessible to everyone, particularly those in Sheffield's most disadvantaged communities. This will, in turn, increase employment opportunities and boost economic growth across the whole city. BiG was launched in September 2007 by well-known entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne and there are two BiG campaigns currently underway: The BiG Challenge (for schools) and The BiG Idea. The BiG Challenge The BiG Challenge is a competition which pupils aged 11-19yrs old from 22 eligible Sheffield schools can enter to win up to £15,000 for their schools, and £100 each for members of the winning team. With the BiG prize of a trip to Boston, USA, for the winners, teams of up to eight pupils are given £25 to start their businesses. The school competition was launched on 7 November at Firth Park Community College by David Grey, Managing Director of OSL Group Holdings Ltd, and Chair of the city’s Local Economy Board. Over 170 teams have entered and have until March 2008 to make as much profit as they can from their £25. Short-listed teams will then be presenting their ideas to local business entrepreneurs. The BiG Idea The BiG Idea is a competition which encourages entrepreneurship – turning the ‘I can do that’ into a viable business proposition. Local entrepreneur ‘Business Angels’ will be investing a combined total of £100,000 of their own money into business ideas that they believe has the best investment potential. If one or more of the business angels decide to invest in an applicants’ Big Idea, funding is likely to be linked to an offer to get involved, in either an executive or non-executive role, and a share in the business. The competition is sponsored by BiG, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ant Marketing, Barber Harrison Platt, The Star and Sheffield City Council. The competition is designed to increase and develop entrepreneurship in Sheffield. The short-listed applicants pitched to a panel of business angels on 4 December and the winners will be announced early next year. For more information please visit The BiG website. Q&A with Heather Croall, Festival Director, Sheffield Doc/FestIn each edition of the Sheffield First Partnership Update we table five topical questions to Sheffield luminaries. Sheffield’s Doc/Fest is the second largest documentary festival in the world. We speak with Heather, the festival director about the importance of making the most of 1,000 international media professionals descending on Sheffield each year. Do you think the perception of Sheffield is changing? Yes, no question at all. Last year our delegates were shocked at the changes in the city. Most of them have been coming here for 14 years and last year they noticed so many new places to stay, eat and go out and the streets looking so much better. How important are the creative and digital industries in the city? The creative and digital industries are vital to the future growth of Sheffield, it is one way to be different to the other UK cities and there is already a real talent pool that exists, which needs to be properly supported and backed all the way. I think the cultural and digital quarter needs something physical that says it is the digital quarter – you wouldn’t know right now. Maybe there could be lots of interactive stations that use innovative digital technology to grab the attention of the people on the street. Interactive points that might give you the musical history tour of that particular spot in Sheffield. The Doc/Fest is embracing the digital wave with lots of new programmes such as Crossover and DigiDocs 360, so we’ll soon be known around the world as the TV and film festival that is leading the way in embracing new technologies. In 2006, the festival alone had an economic impact of over £3.7 million on the region, and this year that is set to rise to around £5.5 million. Sheffield City Council is starting to sit up and take notice of the power of the industries. But, more needs to be done in order to maintain and develop them. And there needs to be loads more public awareness – with affordable city marketing. Not a lot of people know, but the digital sector employs 123,025 people including 18,006 self-employed and freelance professionals. There are 13,183 CDI businesses which add £5.21bn gross value to the region. These things are important to highlight – but not in classic advertising way, in a smart way that involves the people of the city What would you like to see Sheffield famous for? Sheffield has a reputation for great companies working in digital, games and interactive work. As our event is one of the most important television and film industry events in the UK each year, I want to fuse these two things together to create many business partnerships with the festival’s film and TV delegates (mainly from London) and the Sheffield based interactive and digital companies. I truly believe that is the future of innovative media production – bringing together the best of story telling skills and the best of interactive skills to create content that captures the imagination of young audiences on the new platforms they want to consume their media on. Sheffield could be a great place for events and festivals. But it can only happen if the city gets very creative and cooperative about signage and public street presence and the city has about three great new hotels built very quickly!! Burning Issue – What needs to get better in Sheffield? I think there is still a long way to go as far as really injecting life into the cultural quarter – we need lots of small cafes, little bars and independent shops on the street level (not high street chains) and then the quarter will have an energy about it. Places & Spaces - What’s your favourite place or space in Sheffield? I think my favourite place is going to be the Turkish Baths off West street (I haven’t been there yet but the Doc/Fest team is booked to go for a few hours next week, so I’ll let you know!). I love the beer garden at The Rutland Arms and, on a sunny day, I love a walk in the Botanical Gardens. www.sheffdocfest.com Doc/Fest Sheffield is where the international documentary family gets together under one roof for a week of intense deal-making, docwatching and debate. It is the UK's premier documentary festival/conference and a must-attend event on the industry calendar. |
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Transport UpdateTransport is a key issue in Sheffield as it has the potential to impact on all five Big Ambitions within the refreshed City Strategy. Good transport infrastructure and services are important for the environment, the economy and for boosting the lifestyle of residents by improving access to education, training, jobs and services. 2007 has seen a great deal of change in transport in Sheffield and there are plans in place to further improve connectivity both within the city and beyond. Listed below are some of the highlights. Rail (national, regional and local) New rail franchises have been awarded by the Department for Transport covering rail services that serve Sheffield. The new East Midlands franchise (services to London and Manchester) being taken over by Stagecoach and Arriva running the New Cross County franchise. Together with Network Rail line improvement plans due by 2011, the aim is to reduce train journey times to London from the current 2hrs 20/30 mins by around 20 mins. Sheffield Inner Relief Road As you read this, the new North Inner Relief Road is due to be fully open connecting the Parkway with the north of Sheffield. Works have also been carried out to provide three lanes onto Sheffield Parkway from Park Square roundabout to help ease congestion. Bus and Tram Unique information improvements have been implemented by the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive. These include electronic indicator boards and the ‘YourNextBus’ text messaging service which tracks buses by satellite and informs people what time it is due. Although bus patronage has seen a slight drop again this year, there are a number of positive initiatives in place to help redress this trend. Firstly bus operators have significantly increased their investment in their fleets and below we list further developments. Statutory Quality Partnership – North Sheffield This is an agreement between the bus operators, SYPTE and Sheffield City Council. This is the first partnership of this kind in the UK. Bus operators have to perform to certain standards including frequency and punctuality, and in return priority measures for buses are put in place such as extra bus lanes. This will start on 18th November 2007, slightly later than planned due to the damage created by the flooding in June. In addition to this, the ground breaking Sheffield Bus Agreement between First, the Council and the Transport Executive provides another agreed framework for investment and improvements in bus services such as CCTV on buses, road improvements, staff training and new buses. Also First have agreed to consult the partners of the agreement before any changes to their network. This provides the stability that customers require. Free City Centre Bus Service A free bus (FreeBee) providing a 7 minute frequency service between 0700-1900 Mon-Fri and 0800-1900 Saturday commenced from 29 October 2007. FreeBee will move commuters, visitors and shoppers around the city centre absolutely free. Hillsborough Tram Gate The enforcement cameras are working and enforcement action is being undertaken by Sheffield City Council. The numbers abusing the bus/tram gate restriction is reducing weekly. The bus/tram journey times have halved over the monitored section and service reliabilities on the routes have improved. The next scheme will be on Glossop Road by the old baths. Stocksbridge-Supertram Feeder Service This was introduced commercially by Stagecoach and is proving popular with passengers. Smartcard pilot A smartcard will be piloted early in 2008. This scheme, called the Yorcard, will pilot the use of smartcards that can be pre-loaded with credit on bus and rail journeys in South Yorkshire. The smartcard system will operate along three key bus routes in Sheffield and on rail journeys between Sheffield and Doncaster. Bus Rapid Transit South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive is working in conjunction with the District Authorities in South Yorkshire to develop a Bus Rapid Transit network. This is a bus that can run on a guided rail system to ensure it has priority similar to a tram. Phase 1 is proposed to connect the centres of Rotherham and Sheffield. Currently, two routes have been identified: One running between Rotherham and Sheffield via Meadowhall; the other route runs between Rotherham and Sheffield via Waverley. Subject to business plans being approved in 2008 the opening of the first section is scheduled for 2011. Furhter information can be found on the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive's website. Work and Skills Action PlansSince the Work and Skills Board was officially launched in March 2007, a series of action plans have been developed and are now entering delivery stage. The primary aim of the plans is to assist unemployed individuals from priority areas into work. There are four key areas that will be addressed:
These recommendations have all been agreed by the Work and Skills Board and will be implemented over the coming months. If you need more information please contact Dee Desgranges Work and Skills Board on 0114 229 6135. Sheffield's Carbon FootprintThe Sheffield First Environment (SFE) Partnership has agreed the Environment Strategy 2007-2010. The SFE Environment Strategy will address the City Strategy theme of Environmental Excellence with four key challenges identified:
The Environment Strategy also details Sheffield’s carbon footprint which totals 5,798,361 tonnes CO2 per year. This is made up of three main components:
There are also some strict UK targets regarding carbon emissions, to which Sheffield has signed up:
The Environment Partnership is helping the city to reach these targets by championing environmental issues in Sheffield. As well as leading the development of the strategy the Partnership is working with other partnerships at the local, regional, national and international level to implement the strategy. Examples of achievements The award winning South Yorkshire Care4Air campaign is actively working to improve the air quality of the region. This includes getting partners to commit to using green fuels such as bio-diesels. For more information visit the Care4Air website. Significant progress has also been made on energy efficiency. Over £50million has been spent over the previous 6/7 years improving the energy efficiency of council housing. This generates an estimated £11million per year in reduced energy bills, and a significant reduction in carbon emissions – estimated at 65,000 tonnes of carbon saved per year. There are also schemes using biomass heating systems which use waste wood sourced locally to provide heating and hot water for parts of the neighbourhood. Further information can be found on the SFE section of the this site. Voluntary Action Sheffield Noves into New BuildingVoluntary Action Sheffield (VAS) has moved into a new £5m Headquarters called The Circle. The Circle is a state-of-the-art, purpose-built and easily accessible building offering first class facilities in the heart of the city which will be used by thousands of people every year. VAS supports more than 900 voluntary and community groups across Sheffield, is sharing its new five-storey building on Rockingham Lane with other voluntary and community organisations. VAS sold its old building on Division Street to contribute to the cost of the project, which has also received funding from Objective One, Yorkshire Forward, Sheffield City Council, the Government’s Change Up Programme, Sheffield Town Trust, and other charitable foundations. The Circle is one of the biggest and best new facilities of its kind in the country for use by the voluntary and community sector. It is the realisation of five years’ hard work to secure an excellent resource in the city centre. The building features first class office, conference and meeting facilities and an IT suite, which are being rented out to organisations and the public to help repay the £1m loan for the remaining funding. Tenants in the building include Deaf Advice Service Sheffield, Inclusive Living Sheffield, Sheffield ME Group, SOVA, Breaking Point and OFFER. Benefits of Sustainable BuildingSustainability in commercial buildings is no longer an altruistic activity for business – it is a key business choice. Sustainable building is now a profitable, image enhancing and motivating choice for companies seeking to grow and gain advantage over competitors. A good sustainable building will offer very real cost savings – in construction costs, energy and maintenance. By reducing reliance and capital investment on heating and cooling plants, sustainable buildings can be very cost effective. They rely more on passive features such as high levels of insulation, good windows, solar gain and solar shading. All this adds up to lower maintenance bills and lower energy demand. According to a report by Gensler Architects, 75% of building managers thought that in the future, energy use and sustainability would be the key factor in a buildings value. It also stated that 90% of businesses would prefer to lease or own a sustainable building and only 10% an iconic one. Sustainable buildings can also have a significant impact on the health and happiness of staff. For example, the NMB bank in Holland saw absenteeism drop by 15% when they opened their new naturally ventilated, green and healthy offices. Simply moving away from air-conditioning and utilising natural materials in the build and furnishings can have a dramatic and noticeable effect on a building’s air quality and atmosphere. From 2 July 2007 all major planning applications in Sheffield have to be supported by a Sustainability Statement in order to ensure that all new developments are sustainable and meet the challenge of climate change. The Government has also introduced the Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) for commercial buildings this year which will force building owners to put on paper what their energy bills are alongside lease or rent costs. A carbon tax on buildings is also on the agenda for the future. For more information on sustainable development contact Sheffield First Environment Partnership on 0114 273 5390. |