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Who is already here

WHO IS ALREADY HERE

South Yorkshire is a great place to locate a business.  We have a strong industrial heritage with a rapidly growing reputation for technologically advanced manufacturing and engineering, plus specialist expertise in industrial digitisation to help global businesses meet Industry 4.0.

Specialisms

With our specialisms in advanced manufacturing and health and wellbeing, we are helping businesses to solve some of the world’s greatest challenges and are involved in many transformational projects in healthcare, life sciences and technology.

We have a wealth of resources to call upon to help us do this, including the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) and all the resources within the AMID (Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District) and the AWRC (Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre).

When it comes to healthcare, many businesses locate here to collaborate with our universities and teaching hospitals to solve issues of prolonging the quality of life and easing mobility and independence into old age.

Our region is also involved with developing new materials for the future – including new lightweight construction materials and we’re also leading the way in new low-carbon technologies.

Within our region, organisations such as the AMRC are carrying out world-leading research into advanced machining, manufacturing and materials, with practical applications in industry. The AMRC is also working with a number of South Yorkshire businesses to make them more productive, increase competitiveness and equipping the next generation with new talent and skills.

As a region we are renowned for our strong talent pool, with businesses able to draw upon our highly skilled workforce, with two million people within commutable distance of the city.

One thing is clear; there has never been a better time for investors looking to locate a business in South Yorkshire.

Advanced Manufacturing

Any business involved in advanced manufacturing may be interested to learn that we are home to the UK’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult, which has incubation facilities for fledgling businesses at the Advanced Manufacturing Park Technology Centre. It also offers innovative and enterprising programmes for new business ideas such as Y-Accelerator.

Within our region, the Advanced Manufacturing and materials sector employs approximately 50,000 people across 3,000 companies. This includes the automotive industry, which employs around 17,000 people and the aerospace sector, which employs 7,000.

The research and innovation cluster around the AMRC’s flagship digital manufacturing Factory 2050 is expanding with the addition of three new University of Sheffield assets specialising in infrastructure, metrology and materials research: iCAIR (The Integrated Civil and Infrastructure Research Centre at the University of Sheffield), the Laboratory for Verification and Validation (LVV) and the Sir Henry Royce, Royce Translational Centre.

Advanced Manufacturing cluster

Our Advanced Manufacturing cluster is based around the AMID (Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District). At the heart of the AMID is the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) and the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), which have been driving high value innovative engineering, manufacturing research and skills development since the early 2000s.

The success of the AMID is based on the clustering of world-class manufacturing brands, such as McLaren, Boeing and Rolls-Royce, and the UK’s Advanced Manufacturing Catapult AMRC, a globally significant centre of excellence that translates applied research and precision engineering and generates additional income enabling opportunities to be maximised and jobs in the region.

There are a number of organisations and businesses located here: 

Health and Wellbeing

The health sector consists of over 4,000 employers in our region and we have established a reputation for excellence in the development of innovative healthcare technologies.

Our region has one of the UK’s largest concentrations of orthopaedic and medical device companies in the world, making it a leader in medical diagnostics. We are also host to many world-leading healthcare technology companies including Braun, Swann Morton, Orchid and JRI Orthopaedics.

Health & Wellbeing cluster

There are collaboration opportunities for companies choosing to locate in South Yorkshire in the health and wellness sector.

Our Health & Wellbeing cluster comprises:

Sheffield Hallam University’s Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AWRC) is dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of the population through innovations that help people move. 

The AWRC, is set to become the most advanced research and development centre for physical activity in the world. It will act as the research hub for the National Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine in Sheffield and the National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering, based in the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park.

Research and Innovation for post Covid-19 Rehabilitation (RICOVR)

As part of the AWRC, our region has recently opened RICOVR; a research and innovation unit set up to identify what works, and what doesn’t, in terms of helping people recover and rehabilitate from COVID-19.

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals have a long history of providing high quality care, clinical excellence and innovation in medical research.

As well as being home to one of three Major Trauma Centres for the Yorkshire and Humber region, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals offer a number of specialist medical and surgical services. These include cancer treatment, spinal injuries, neurology, cardiology and stereotactic radiosurgery.  Sheffield Teaching Hospitals is internationally recognised for its specialist research into diabetes and diseases of the bone, heart, lung and nervous system.

A number of organisations and businesses located here: 


Energy

From a green energy viewpoint, South Yorkshire is an ideal location as we are becoming known as a leader in low carbon, resilient energy.  We are well positioned to deliver the Government’s Industrial Strategy ambitions for ‘affordable energy and clean growth’ in a bid to be recognised as the ‘Green Heart of Great Britain’.

Our region has set itself a target to achieve a net-zero carbon economy by 2040. These targets provide a focus for sustained investment, with key priorities including reducing carbon emissions, generating low carbon energy, improving the energy efficiency and sustainability of buildings and accelerating the transition to ultra-low or zero-emission transport.

We are a region leading by example, which has already established collaborative partnerships between academic institutions and businesses, including major research programmes that have led to innovative low carbon technologies.

‘Green hydrogen’ is a key economic focus in the move towards a net-zero carbon economy.  ITM Power, based in Sheffield, has the largest electrolyser manufacturing site in the world, producing green hydrogen and therefore giving our region an unrivalled advantage in this area.

UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA)

South Yorkshire is home to the UKAEA (UK Atomic Energy Authority), a £22m fusion energy research facility which is set to engage industry in commercial fusion energy development. UKAEA is working with industrial partners to put the UK in a strong position to commercialise nuclear fusion as a major source of low-carbon electricity in the years ahead.

A number of organisations and businesses are located here: 

Construction

Businesses within the construction sector are finding that they are able to take advantage of the latest technology developed in South Yorkshire to produce new, lighter, stronger more sustainable materials – and methods of working which minimise the carbon footprint.

With over 8,200 construction businesses located in our region, plus the University of Sheffield’s Integrated Civil and Infrastructure Research (ICAIR) centre is based here, there is a great deal of innovation taking place in the construction sector in our region.

A construction innovation cluster is emerging here which is set to become a Centre of Excellence for Modern Methods of Construction.  It will pioneer low carbon methods that are affordable and sustainable for the future.

Digital and Creative

Our region is renowned for its strengths in the digital and creative industries, offering a great environment for setting up, working in and growing digital businesses. As such, we have two dedicated Digital Media Centres (DMCs) in our region – in Sheffield and Barnsley.

Over 60% of the UK’s educational technology capacity is in Sheffield, and we are the home of national and globally significant digital businesses like The Floow, Sumo Digital, Wandisco, Zoo Digital and Twinkl.

South Yorkshire has an ambitious and ever-expanding digital tech sector with four key pillars of tech strength:

Industrial Tech

  • Crossing the areas of technology and manufacturing

  • Containing – enabling digital firms in the manufacturing vertical, digital advanced manufacturing

Creative Tech

The region encompasses wide digital creativity; Digital Film tech, Digital Media tech, Creative tech, Games tech, Art tech, Design tech, Entertainment tech Companies include: 

EdTech/Learning Tech

Mobility Tech

  • Encompassing areas into nationally unique cluster

  • All areas where digital and movement occurs; Transport Tech, Robotics Tech*, Drone Tech, Health Tech. Companies include The Floow, 3Squared, Bossanova, Sport:80

Logistics

South Yorkshire has great connectivity and is well located for the efficient movement of goods throughout the UK and beyond whether by road, rail, air or sea.

Doncaster is particularly well known for its logistics strengths and capabilities, being home to iPort and the Advanced Transport and Infrastructure National College. 

With specialist supply chain skills, low operating costs, a plentiful supply of land for commercial development and a readily available workforce, Doncaster is building an enviable reputation as a world-class logistics hub.

Doncaster’s rapidly growing logistics sector has an economic output of £930 million. It employs 31,000 people and is continuing to expand at a fast pace, creating hundreds of additional jobs every year.

We’re also home to a number of third party, parcel and mail logistics providers.

For businesses based here it means having access to the supply chain your business needs. It also means being located close to transport companies to support seasonal requirements as well as warehousing for short-term storage.

If you do locate here, you’ll be in great company, These companies are already based here and some even have multiple sites:

  • Aldi

  • Amazon*

  • Asda

  • ASOS*

  • B&Q*

  • BMW

  • CEVA

  • Clipper*

  • DFS

  • DHL*

  • DX Logistics

  • Expo Logistics

  • Great Bear*

  • Greencore

  • IKEA

  • Lidl

  • M&S

  • Menlo

  • Next*

  • Scotts Miracle Gro

  • Sports Direct

  • Tesco

  • The Co-operative

  • TNT

  • UDG

  • Unilever

  • Unipart and Wincanton

  • iPort

  • Advanced Transport and Infrastructure National College

*multi-site within South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire delivers fantastic connectivity across the globe and on a local level.

  • Most sites located close to motorways, with low traffic congestion

  • Sites all easily accessible by public transport, providing access to home-grown workforce

  • 60% of UK’s manufacturing industry within a 2.5-hour drive (by HGV)

  • 75% of the UK can be reached within a 4.5-hour drive (by HGV)

All main UK Sea ports are reached within seven hours by dedicated intermodal rail freight services from the state-of the art inland strategic rail freight interchanges at Humber and Teesport Ports (just 2 hours away), providing easy access to Europe and beyond.

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WHY YOU SHOULD INVEST

Discover more about why you should invest in South Yorkshire…

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