Is Sheffield stealing a march on its rival cities?

The city of Sheffield has often been seen as the underdog in comparison to the likes of Manchester and Leeds. But with its diverse mix of industrial heritage, nightlife and a rapidly growing business offering, as well as having the Peak District on its doorstep, is it quietly catching up with its neighbouring cities?

Over recent years, Sheffield has become a magnet for blue chip business and tech companies who have taken up residency in the city. Boeing, HSBC, Google, Amazon and IBM all have a presence, and in March 2022, Startups.co.uk ranked Sheffield as the number one city for starting a business in the UK. The feedback from the start-up business community was that this was largely due to the ‘low cost of living, large working population and fantastic transport links.’

BT announced in September 2022 that it will be relocating its 1000-strong team to the flagship Endeavor building at Sheffield Digital Campus by the end of 2023 and the city is also proving somewhat of a hotspot for Northshoring, with TES Resources relocating from London to Sheffield – taking over 200 staff over three floors at St Paul’s Place.

The city, which was recently named as one of the Sunday Times' Best Places to Live is also home to two universities, with circa 54,000 students, many of whom are choosing to stay in Sheffield following their graduation, creating an enviable talent pool in the area. This is fantastic news for the city but when it comes to the residential offering in Sheffield, especially in the city centre, it’s proven to be a bit of a wakeup call.

With the number of households renting in the UK more than doubling since 2001, demand for purpose built rental accommodation – or Build to Rent (BTR) – is on the up. In Sheffield there is limited stock available for the 20- to 30-year-old demographic who want the flexibility of renting alongside the amenities that a quality BTR product can offer.

So when we recently launched our Iron Yard scheme in Sheffield it was no surprise that it was fully let after just 14 weeks, proving that more spaces like this are needed if cities like Sheffield are to retain and attract young talent and continue to strengthen the economy.

The scheme features 95 high quality, boutique apartments, alongside a gym, modern workspaces, communal lounge, outdoor space and even a concierge service.

With more businesses relocating to the city, demand will only continue grow. Sheffield was one of the first cities to receive levelling up funding from the government in 2022 and more recently, grants worth ￡1.75m have been made available to SMEs in a bid to boost productivity. This has clearly caught the ear of developers and investors, with a number of BTR schemes in the pipeline that are set to satisfy the influx of young professionals who are seeing Sheffield as the new place to be.

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