shop sign makers sheffield Archives

Residents of Sheffield will know that th£500m Retail Development Set to Transform Sheffield City Centree city centre has suffered in the period since the recession, with shops closing down and significantly less people visiting it, therefore new plans are encouraging for the future of the area.

Plans from Sheffield City Council

The latest news from the Sheffield Star reports that a group of Sheffield business people have announced £500 million plans to develop a new city centre retail quarter. Sheffield Retail Development Group says that they have the expertise, financial backing and the passion to ‘transform’ the city centre with a 650,000sq ft development on a five-acre site by the end of 2018. This ambitious date is a year ahead of Sheffield City Council’s plans, and is set to include a range of shops, offices, cinema, restaurant and bars.

Shop Signs Sheffield

Sheffield shop sign makers Image Sign Studio we were understandably delighted by the news of a new shopping centre in the heart of the city. Whether the city centre is rejuvenated by the private sector, or with help from the council, they areexcited about the plans. We have a passion for helping businesses succeed starting with great signage, and are experts in the manufacture and design of shop signs Sheffield.

Transforming the City Centre

Spokesman John Crowther, who is an ex-chief executive of Vickers Defence Systems, chairman of the Amateur Swimming Association and non-executive director of Sheffield City Trust, said: “This is a world class team of Sheffield people who care about Sheffield and can deliver a scheme that will transform the city centre.”

“We have identified half-a-billion pounds of funding. We want Sheffield people to know there’s a local bid that’s oven-ready to go.” Mr Crowther has also commented that as the plans are a market-led solution, the council will not have to take the risk of diverting money away from other areas, especially at a time of spending cuts.

The future of Sheffield’s city centre has looked uncertain in recent years as new ideas are thrown around and existing plans are scrapped. In a previous post on the Sheffield shop signs blog, Image Sign Studio discussed how plans for the Sevenstone shopping centre were frozen last year, only to find out that Sheffield Council are fighting to buy the designated area back from the previous developers in order to restart plans, possibly as early as next year.

Darnall Shops Undergo £300,000 Refurbishment Project

The fantastic project has helped to revamp the rundown shop fronts of 47 independent shops in Darnall, a suburb in the East of the city of Sheffield which has been looking rundown for a number of years. The project started at the end of March this year, in an attempt to smarten up the area, boost the amount of shoppers using the stores there, and attract investment.

Sheffield Council cabinet member for homes and neighbourhoods Councellor Harry Harpham spoke to the Sheffield Star newspaper before the start of the project in March: “Regenerating shopping centres can put the heart back into a district and make it a place where people want to live and businesses want to invest.”

“Darnall has all the ingredients to be a thriving and successful district shopping centre – a strong community, good range of shops and community facilities, and access to transport links. But the quality of the shopping is poor in relation to a centre that serves such a wide residential area and many shops are in a poor state of repair. This will help the area become more attractive to shoppers and boost the centre’s potential.”

Professional Retail Sign Makers Sheffield

As well as the renovation of shop fronts with new shop signs, the wider regeneration framework for the centre of Darnall includes general improvements to the street scene to make the area cleaner and safer. In addition, training and support will be given to traders, and housing development will be enabled on nearby vacant sites.

Regeneration initiatives are set to continue all over the city of Sheffield, including projects in Banner Cross, Hillsborough, Sheffield Antiques Quarter, Spittle Hill and Stocksbridge. As professional makers of retail shop signs Sheffield, Image Sign Studio have already been asked to design, manufacture and produce the retail shop signs for the Spittle Hill regeneration project, which of course they are delighted to be involved in!