Plans for new arena forge ahead
THE creation of the first dedicated ice hockey club in the UK moved a step closer today after Oak Holdings announced it had signed a key agreement with the Sheffield Steelers.
Oak Holdings – the company behind the £350m YES! Project in Rotherham, South Yorkshire – said it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the club to collaborate on the arena.
Under the terms of the agreement, Sheffield-based Steelers – one of Britain's top ice-hockey teams – will be the first ice hockey club in the UK to have its own purpose-built arena.
The YES! development is set to create Europe's largest covered leisure development – and will transform the former Yorkshire coalfield site.
The project, on a 327-acre site, will create 3,000 permanent jobs and another 2,000 construction jobs during its three-year development.
Bob Phillips, who owns the Steelers, said: “This is a great deal for us, but more importantly, it's a great deal for our fans and sponsors in delivering a long term sustainable business for the Steelers club. It will help us in our plans to grow our club and in our work to expand interest in ice-hockey throughout Yorkshire.”
More than 4,000 spectators attend home games to support the club.
The proposed new base at YES! will cover more than 60,000 sq ft with the capacity hold about 5,000 spectators.
The Steelers are set to relocate to YES! in 2011.
Steve Lewis, chief executive of Oak Holdings, said: “We're very proud to be associated with the Steelers. This is a significant step forward not just for YES! and the Steelers, but for the sport of ice hockey. The road, public transport and infrastructure improvements will make access to the venue very easy. Moreover, we aim to ensure that whilst with us the fans and their families will enjoy an all-round enjoyable experience.”
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council has worked closely with Oak Holdings during the past four years.
The council's cabinet has recently approved heads of terms, setting out the commercial terms between the local authority and Oak for a Development Agreement and terms for a 250 year lease at the YES! Project.
Among other partners, Oak has signed Memoranda of Understanding with extreme-sports specialist Venture Xtreme and hi-tech golf driving-range company Baydrive. They have also signed strategic partnerships with BT and E.On.
