Long-awaited Sheffield market revamp finally due to start

AFTER numerous failed schemes and false starts, work on Sheffield’s much-heralded new markets development is finally set to begin in June.

It was announced yesterday that Kier Construction is the chosen contractor to build a new £17.5m indoor market hall and eight shop units on The Moor, to replace the city’s run-down Castle Market at the other end of town.

Designed by retail specialists Leslie Jones Architects, the new 79,000 sq ft market building will include around 200 indoor stalls on what is currently a bare building site between Eyre Street and The Moor.

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If all goes according to plan, the new market should be finished by October next year and traders will be able to move in ready for the busy Christmas shopping period.

Simon Ogden, head of city development at Sheffield Council, said: “It’s very good news for the city centre of Sheffield.

“It’s part of the masterplan for the city centre, which intends to concentrate our shopping offer in a more compact and accessible area.

“People don’t want to walk from the Wicker to Moorfoot with a shopping bag any more.”

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The announcement of the contractor follows a new deal which was struck last year between Sheffield Council and The Moor’s landlord, Scottish Widows Investment Property Partnership Trust (SWIPPT) .

Previously the authority had granted a long lease on The Moor to SWIPPT on the basis that the company would build the new market hall.

However, this deal meant the lease was then returned to the council, which is now set to borrow the money to build the market.

A spokesman for Sheffield Council said yesterday that the market will feature a “spectacular glass canopied entrance” on the Moor and a “timber and glass roof covering a single trading floor, with three entrances and strong through routes.”

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The council has also announced that North Midland Construction will be the preferred contractor for £2.6m of “public realm” works on the upper stretch of The Moor, to complete an upgrade started by the council in 2010.

These works will be funded by SWIPPT, which will also pay for the eight new retail units to be created on The Moor.

The company has also recently received planning permission for a further retail development at Moorhead, as well as for three new kiosk retail units.

Simon Green, Sheffield Council’s executive director for place, said that yesterday’s announcement of the contractor was a “significant milestone.”

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He added: “The markets have been central to Sheffield for over 800 years and house one of our largest concentrations of small businesses.

“The new Moor Market will give them a tremendous opportunity to reach a wider range of customers and to help create a new market for a 21st century city.

“We would like to thank the traders and Sheffielders for their patience as this has not been a quick process but now we are moving ahead and look forward to a start in June.”

Once the market has moved to the new site next year, the existing Castle Market will be demolished and the medieval remains will then be unearthed, to create a new visitor attraction.

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Mr Ogden added: “It’s not going to be Camelot, but investigations show there are recognisable medieval remains there.”

The number of shoppers visiting Castle Market, which would cost millions to bring up to standard, has decreased from around 5m in 2005 to 4m. Once the site attrected up to 10 million vicitors.