£21m approved to help boost city centre businesses

A project designed to help businesses expand and encourage people to shop, eat and spend more time in Sheffield city centre has been given an investment boost.

South Yorkshire’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard, together with local leaders, has approved £21m for the Connecting Sheffield: City Centre project.

The funding will help Sheffield City Council deliver the project, improving public spaces and connecting key developments such as the improvements on Fargate, Heart of the City and The Moor.

Connecting Sheffield: City Centre will also provide extra space for people and will allow businesses to use more outdoor space for people to shop, eat and spend time – subject to licences. It is part of a drive by the council to boost the city centre.

In addition, the project will provide new, connected walking, wheeling and cycling routes in the city centre which, coupled with changes to make bus journeys more reliable, will give people more choice in how they travel.

Councillor Ben Miskell, chair of the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Policy Committee, said: “Sheffield is changing. It’s transforming into an incredible city offering something for everyone whether you’re a resident here or visiting from further afield.

“Our Connecting Sheffield: City Centre project links up all the key areas in the city centre.

“From the Heart of the City’s great shops, services, dining, and entertainment to our fantastic shopping experience at The Moor and the new Fargate project as it nears completion.

“This investment will contribute further to the ongoing transformation of our cleaner, greener, more thriving city centre.

“We’re also introducing safer walking, wheeling, and cycling routes that will connect to other parts of the city. The changes we’ve already made to improve reliability of bus journeys mean the Connecting Sheffield: City Centre project will make travelling into the city centre by bus an even more realistic option too.”

Construction is due to start on the project in January 2025.

Coppard added: “Building a healthier, wealthier and happier South Yorkshire is central to my ambition as South Yorkshire’s Mayor.

“This important city centre project will not just give us greater freedom and choice about how we travel and move, but will also support our plans to make South Yorkshire the healthiest region in the country.

“It is part of the steps we are taking across our region to build new walking and cycling routes over the next three years – creating better places and more opportunities for us all to move more and move differently.”

Funding was approved by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) Board and forms part of SYMCA’s £166m Transforming Cities Fund investment across South Yorkshire.