International investments spearhead job creation and economic growth in Sheffield City Region

New data has revealed that the Sheffield City Region (SCR) has seen the creation of new jobs, new businesses and major international investment over the last three years.

Figures show that, since 2014, the SCR economy has gained 37,000 jobs, with 16,000 created due to activity led by the SCR’s team.

There now now around 68,000 businesses operating across the city region, including 650 multi-national companies.

These include recent investments such as McLaren Automotive, Boeing, Amazon and Hitachi, which have all chosen to locate in the city region.

Sir Nigel Knowles, chairman of the SCR Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), said: “Sheffield City Region’s forefathers built a truly global brand synonymous with quality, expertise, a ‘let’s get it done’ work-ethic and a significant sense of community.

“Now we are building on our privileged position and doing their legacy proud. We are achieving transformational change in modern manufacturing and technology sectors, particularly high performance components in the automotive and aerospace sectors.

“The decision by companies such as Boeing and McLaren to move here will not have gone unnoticed, and the international Horasis China Meeting taking place in the city region earlier this week will have further cemented our reputation on a world scale. I am proud of what we have achieved and look forward to seeing more of these successes in the near future.”

New announcements are set to be made in the coming weeks, which will show Sheffield City Region as an established destination for the technology and digital industry, bringing the new jobs total towards 40,000 by the end of the year.

The region’s creative and digital sectors have grown faster than anywhere else in the UK, which has been spearheaded by organisations such as Sheffield Digital and the city region’s own Growth Hub bringing businesses together and providing specialist support.

In addition, research and innovation, which has seen businesses collaborate with the city region’s two universities, has also led to job creation and economic investment.

The Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District, home to the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing, will soon include a £1bn global centre of excellence in metals and materials manufacturing.

The Olympic Legacy Park on the site of the former Don Valley Stadium will also soon be home to the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre, where 70 researchers from Sheffield Hallam University will carry out research as part of the National Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine.

In Doncaster, the town’s rail heritage and proximity to the East Coast main line was one of the factors for Hitachi choosing to locate their £70m rail depot there, on the site of the historic Doncaster Carr locomotives depot.

When fully operational, the depot will employ around 250 people, including engineers and apprentices, to maintain new fleets of Virgin and Transpennine Express intercity trains set to start running in 2018.

Construction of a new £100m logistics facility for retail giant Amazon is currently underway at the iPort, on a site that encompasses a 1.1 million square foot warehouse – the size equivalent of 14 football pitches.

Doncaster Sheffield Airport has laos launched 15 new routes in the last year, making Sheffield City Region better connected internationally.

The city region’s tourism and leisure economy has also seen a boost with developments such as Peak Resort, currently being built on a 300-acre site in Chesterfield. The complex, to include sport, leisure and education facilities as well as various accommodation options, will create 1,300 new jobs.