The decision was made to support a phased approach to reinvigorating the public space, focussing on Fargate and plans for the Event Central community hub initially and expanding out to High Street, Castle Square, Hartshead Square, George Street and Mulberry Street at a later stage.
More funding on offer to transform empty units on Fargate
Grants of up to £50,000 are available to businesses in Sheffield to transform under-used spaces on Fargate.
The second round of funding, part of the ReNew Project, will support local businesses and organisations to revive empty shops and bring vibrancy to areas of the city centre that have struggled in recent years.
The funding is available for prime locations on Fargate. Businesses from a wide range of customer facing industries are encouraged to apply, including food and beverage, retail, leisure, hospitality and arts and culture.
Fargate is at the centre of the Council’s plans to reimagine the city centre and will soon be home to Event Central, a year-round events and exhibition space, as well as transformational street renovations, including new pocket parks, seating areas and lighting.
The improvements and ReNew grants are funded by the £15.8m Future High Streets Fund which the Council successfully bid for in 2021.
As a result of the first round of ReNew project grants, Juno Books launched their brand new book shop on Chapel Walk.
They used the funding to renovate the property ready for opening with new flooring, bespoke hand painted signage as well as creating a wheelchair access counter and securing the shop with internal shutters.
Juno Books get their keys to their shop on Chapel Walk
Councillor Mazher Iqbal, Co-Chair of the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Policy Committee, said:
“We recognise the need and desire to reinstate Fargate as a vibrant and social part of the city centre and the ReNew project is one of the many ways we hope to achieve this.
“With so many exciting businesses in the city, some just starting out and others keen to expand, it is critical we work with them to inject new life into the area - encouraging them to be creative in their plans and use this opportunity to try something new, expand or move to a central location.
“We are looking for projects that will have a long-lasting positive impact on the city centre and will benefit from the regeneration taking place.”
Those interested in applying must complete an expression of interest form. These must be sent to citycentre.management@sheffield.gov.uk by midnight on 5 March 2023. Anything received after this date will not be accepted.
Expressions of interest will be evaluated to determine which have the greatest potential to contribute to the future vision for Fargate. These projects will then be asked to complete and submit a full application.
