ࡱ> 9;45678G uibjbjَ ue]\\\\\\\pppppD|pQ l+QQQQQQQ$RTQ\Q 1\\g 1 1 1\\Qpp\\\\Q 1X 1c6QP\\Q0d` bppVmQ"Abstract Sheffield has suffered substantial economic decline over the last twenty-five years with considerable impact on the retail sector within the city. The burgeoning presence of a nearby out-of-town shopping centre has also negatively affected the city centre. Levels of crime are generally low within the city while there has been a relatively high level of vehicle crime. In order to revive the city centre, an extensive programme of development and refurbishment is underway, with more planned for the near future. To improve the shopping offer a new retail quarter is planned and a substantial part of the existing shopping area is to be re-developed. If it is to become a sustainable city geared to the needs of the twenty-first century, substantial inward investment is required to bring additional employment and city centre residents, in turn providing a larger customer-base for its revitalised shops. For those wishing to invest in Sheffield, the highest level of funding assistance anywhere in Europe is available (www.sheffield.gov.uk). In recognition of the relatively high levels of social and economic deprivation within Sheffield, the city councils vision places greatest emphasis on the needs of the local population. The initiatives and measures taken by the city council, business and retailing sectors together with regional and national agencies are considered. Difficulties in establishing co-operative and effective partnerships within the city emerge from the case study. Recommendations for advancing and sustaining the regeneration and revitalisation of the city centre in relation to shopping and to crime are presented. VIVACITY 2020 SHOPPING AND CRIME IN SHEFFIELD Author: Dr. Lesley Mackay Work Package 3: Secure Urban Environments by Design Dated 11th April 2005 2.1 CONTENTS 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Methodology 3.3 Sheffield: Brief History 3.3.1 The Regional Angle 3.3.2 Economic Collapse 3.3.3 Some Statistics 3.3.4 The Academic Sector 3.4 Central Area Study 3.4.1 Out-of-Town Shopping Centre 3.4.2 Urban Programme Area 3.4.3 City Centre Decline 3.4.4 Retailing in Decline 3.4.5 Comparative Advantages 3.5 Regeneration Themes 3.5.1 The Need for Partnerships 3.5.2 City Centre Management 3.5.3 Crime and the Central Area Study 3.5.4 Sheffield City Council 3.5.5 Unitary Development Plan 3.5.6 Sheffield One 3.5.7 Structures of Regeneration Initiatives 3.6 The Masterplan 3.6.1 Sheffield Ones Key Projects: 3.6.2 Retailing in Sheffield: The New Retail Quarter 3.6.3 Retailing in Sheffield: The Moor 3.6.4 Retailing in Sheffield: the Markets 3.6.5 Retailing in Sheffield: Meadowhall 3.6.6 Progress of Projects 3.6.7 Crime and Sheffield 3.6.8 Reporting Crime 3.7 Sheffield City Council Initiatives and Activities: 3.7.1 Closed Circuit Television 3.7.2 Car Parking Strategy 3.7.3 Car Parking Security 3.7.4 City Centre Living 3.7.5 City Centre Living: Conflicts of Uses 3.7.6 City Centre Living: The New Residents 3.7.7 Green Spaces 3.7.8 Skateboarders 3.7.8 StreetForce 3.7.9 City Centre Ambassadors Contents (continued)/- 3.7.10 Junior Ambassadors 3.7.11 City Centre Management Team 3.7.12 City Centre Management Team: Managing Sheffields Building Site 3.7.13 City Centre Management Team: The Big Issue 3.7.14 Buskers/Street Performers 3.7.15 Taxi Drivers 3.7.16 Events 3.7.17 Responsible Retailers 3.7.18 City Talk 3.7.19 Tourist Information 3.7.20 Sport and Culture: History 3.7.21 Sport/Sporting Events 3.7.22 Culture/Cultural Events 3.8 The Urban Design Compendium 3.8.1 The Urban Design Compendium: The Public Realm 3.8.2 The Urban Design Compendium: Shopping 3.8.3 The Urban Design Compendium: Crime and the Fear of Crime 3.9 Police/Home Office Initiatives: 3.9.1 Sheffield Street Crime Initiative 3.9.2 Trailblazer 3.9.3 TOGETHER 3.9.4 Truancy 3.9.5 Police Community Support Officers 3.9.6 Police Secondment to the Ambassador Team 3.9.7 Retail Crime Team 3.9.8 Vulnerable Vehicle Scheme 3.9.9 Operation Induction 4.0 Business/Retailing Community: 4.0.1 Retail Forum 4.0.2 Sheffield Retailers Association 4.0.3 City Centre Retailers Association (CCRA) 4.0.4 City Centre Business Group (CCBG) Business in the Community (BITC) Other Retail Associations 4.0.7 Business Retail/Council Partnerships 4.1 Business/Retailer Initiatives 4.1.1 Events 4.1.2 Responsible Retailers Scheme 4.1.3 RadioNet Contents (continued)/- 4.2 EVALUATION 4.2.1 Regeneration: A Moving Target 4.2.2 Baseline Surveys 4.2.3 Survey: Fear of Crime 4.2.4 Statistics and Crime 4.2.5 Vehicle Crime 4.2.6 Newspaper Reader Survey 4.2.7 Survey: City Centre Footfall 4.2.8 Survey: City Centre Ambassadors 4.2.9 Retailers Views of Ambassadors 4.2.10 Criticisms of Ambassadors 4.2.11 Survey: Retail Ratings 4.3 Audit Commission Audit Commission: Sport and Culture Audit Commission: Marketing Retailers and Marketing Marketing: Creative Sheffield 4.4 Sheffield City Council Itself 4.4.1 Sheffield City Councils' Evaluation: Jobs and the Economy 4.4.2 Sheffield City Councils Evaluation: Education and the Economy 4.4.3 Sheffield City Councils Evaluation: Crime 4.4.4 Sheffield City Councils Evaluation: Rhetoric and Reality 4.5 Economic Regeneration: Britain and the North 4.5.1 Economic Regeneration: New Residents and Retailing 4.5.2 Economic Regeneration: Public Sector or Private Sector led? 4.5.3 Attracting Inward Investment 4.6 The Retail Environment 4.6.1 Meadowhall 4.6.2 Marketing Retailing in Sheffield 4.6.3 Absence of Quality Retailers 4.6.4 Benefits of Competition 4.6.5 Attracting Quality Retailers 4.7 Retail Crime 4.7.1 Shops and Shoplifting 4.7.2 Shoplifting and the Police 4.7.3 Shops Security Practices 4.7.4 Security Staff: Quality 4.7.5 Security Staff: Title 4.7.6 Security Staff: Dual-role 4.7.7 Security Staff: Employment Status Contents (continued)/- 4.7.8 Shoplifting: RadioNet 4.7.9 Pickpocketing 4.7.10 Street Crime 4.7.11 Police Community Support Officers 4.7.12 Vandalism 4.7.13 Graffiti 4.7.14 Street Drinkers 4.7.15 Big Issue Sellers 4.7.16 Skateboarders 4.7.17 Students and Crime 4.7.18 Students and Locals 4.7.19 Students and the local economy 4.7.20 Street stalls 4.8 Design of Streets 4.8.1 Regeneration Projects: Design quality 4.8.2 Shutters 4.8.3 Street Force 4.8.4 Toilets 4.8.5 Newspaper coverage 4.9 Maintaining the impetus of Regeneration 4.9.1 Retailers and the City Centre Management Team 4.9.2 Partnerships and the City Council 4.9.3 Retailing Partnerships: National or Local? 4.9.4 Retailing: Local Partnerships 4.9.5 Relationships Retailers and the City Council 4.9.6 Explaining the Lack of Partnership 4.9.7 Associations, Organisations and Interest Groups 4.9.8 Financing City Centre Improvements and Initiatives 4.9.9 City Centre Management Team: A victim of its own success? 4.9.10 City Centre Business Support 4.9.11 Business Improvement Districts: The Answer? 5.0 Concluding Comments 5.0.1 Not Just the City Centre 5.0.2 Working at Partnerships 5.0.3 A Mans City 6.0 Recommendations 6.0.1 Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and Industry 6.0.2 Creative Sheffield 6.0.3 Sheffield City Council 6.0.4 City Centre Management Team 6.1 Crime Reduction Tools 6.1.1 Table 1 6.2 Bibliography Shopping and Crime in Sheffield Im Sheffield born and bred and I think we are a cynical people and, you know, the glass is always half empty (CCMT) 3.1 Introduction Sheffield has experienced serious economic decline in the last decades of the 20th century. It is currently undergoing an extensive process of regeneration which is affecting all parts and many aspects of the city centre. In the face of considerable competition from a number of cities within a 30-mile radius, Sheffield is attempting to establish itself as a European city. It is, after all, the fourth largest city in the United Kingdom. 3.2 Methodology A case study approach was adopted and interviews with 8 key individuals were undertaken together with a number of less-structured conversations with a range of individuals from public and private sector bodies, such as city centre ambassadors and shop-keepers. A day was also spent with a Crime reduction adviser which included a visit to the CCTV control room for the city. A number of local events and conferences were attended including public consultations held during Urban Design Week on the City Centre Masterplan and the Architects Forum. Observations of the city centre and unstructured conversations with users of the city centre were also undertaken at various times of the day. Literature reviews and archive searches were undertaken together with substantial reference to official web-sites of a range of organisations. 3.3 Sheffield: Brief History Sheffield is the fourth largest city in England. Once known as the Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire, Sheffield has had to come to terms with the decimation of its traditional economic base. Sheffield lost 90% of its steel industry with the collapse of the world market for metal products. Between 1979-1983, Sheffield was estimated to have lost 50,000 jobs (Ramsden et al 2001 p.7). The quiet prosperity which employment in the coal mines brought to the wider region disappeared with the closure of most of the mines with the loss of 10,311 jobs in South Yorkshire between 1985-1994 (Taylor et al 1996 p.68) which inevitably impacted on the city of Sheffield as well. The aspirational and radical policies of the city council in 1970s had to be abandoned in the face of severe recession. 3.3.1 The Regional Angle Sheffield comes within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of which Leeds is the regional capital. Sheffield is the sub-regional centre and has an important role in South Yorkshire, a role the city is keen to sustain and develop, as well as aspiring to becoming a distinctive European city (it is a member of the Eurocities network). As part of the sub-region of South Yorkshire, Sheffield shares a police force, for example, with Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley. Sheffield is one of the eight Core Cities in England against which the achievements (or otherwise) of the city are measured. (The Core Cities group was formed in the mid-1990s to develop the role of the large cities in national and regional life especially in relation to economic growth and to counter the competitiveness divide within the UK (www.corecities.com).) The other Core Cities are: Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Nottingham, all cities with a strong industrial and manufacturing past. 3.3.2 Economic Collapse Sheffield has arguably had a tougher fight on its hands to regenerate itself than many other northern cities (although direct comparisons between northern cities should only be made with caution, see Taylor et al 1996). The crisis facing the city centres in Britain was becoming a major public concern (Taylor et al 1996 p.19). In the face of economic collapse in the 1980s the national government sought greater control over local government (Lawless 1994 p.1303). (This wish for greater control may have reflected the stance being taken by European Union initiatives like the URBAN programme in Sheffield where: The European Commission and the Government will decide whether ward councillors will be on the Committee and whether the community can choose its own representatives the local community can comment on all URBAN projects, but cannot make decisions (European Policy Unit 1995b cited by Green 1995 p.13). This European initiative was reported to have rapidly delimited spheres of local competence, lowered horizons and dampened community expectations. (Green 1995 p.13).) As part of a number of initiatives, the government had already set up Urban Development Corporations (UDC) to foster regeneration and to increase the privatisation of policy-making in the Labour controlled conurbations (Lawless 1994 p.1303). The conditions and strictures of these regeneration packages must have been hard for the city fathers of this independently-minded city to swallow. For Sheffield, the UDC was indeed a poisoned chalice as their brief was only to cover the industrial Don Valley and led to the granting of planning permission for the Meadowhall development. Public morale was evidently low in the early 1990s. One resident was reported as saying the IRA cant bomb Sheffield, its already done it itself. (Taylor et al 1996 p.232). Sheffield was a city in decline and faring less well that most other Northern conurbations. Not surprisingly, within the city there was a deep-seated anxiety with the feeling that things will probably only get worse (Lawless 1994 p.1322). 3.3.3 Some Statistics Today, the population of Sheffield is just over half a million people of whom less than 9% are from minority ethnic groups (2001 Census of Population, www.statistics.gov.uk). Unemployment is currently running at 6.4%, just above the national average of 5% (National Statistics www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/la). Sheffield (Central ward) is again just above the national average for those who have difficulty in reading/writing and arithmetic with 26.1% with poor literacy and 27.5% with poor numeracy skills (http://bsa/broadshow.net/print/parl). There are deep-rooted problems in the city including social exclusion, deprivation and unemployment (Sheffield One 2004). Interestingly, of the jobs that are to be found in Sheffield, nearly half are based in the city centre (www.sheffield.gov.uk). 3.3.4 The Academic Sector The city plays host to over 45,000 students each year who attend the University of Sheffield or Sheffield Hallam University. In addition, the city boasts the largest Further Education College in Europe: Sheffield College. The economic benefits of universities to a city like Sheffield are considerable. They are a large employer and contribute directly to the local economy through the purchase of equipment and services. The research activities of academic staff are another source of income which in turn leads to the creation of Spinout and Startup companies as well as being a source of knowledge and expertise for local business and research. Universities act as a powerful regenerative force in cities (2004i). The students at college and university spend a great deal of their money locally (see, for example, the estimates of the economic impact of higher education in the south west region (www.herdasw.ac.uk)). Students may also help support the retail sector. Students also work with local businesses on work experience, placement schemes and research-related activities. Sheffield is better than any other UK city at retaining its students once they graduate, although they tend to find work in the nearby cities of Leeds and Manchester rather than in Sheffield (Councillor). For a number of years, the universities in Sheffield have seen themselves as being key players in the regeneration and renewal of the city centre (Lawless 1994 p.1313) and today representatives from the academic community are to be found on regeneration bodies like Sheffield One.. 3.4 Central Area Study For the city of Sheffield itself, the regeneration process really started to move forward with The Sheffield Central Area Study: 2010 A Vision of Quality in 1992 (Foley & Lawless 1992) which aimed to provide a developmental framework for the central area. This Study was described as the last chance to come up with ideas to reverse the decline of the city (Lawless 1994). The Study was guided by a Steering Group consisting of representatives from funding organisations, major retailers, developers, and South Yorkshire Transport. (Foley & Lawless 1992 p.2) and the authors of the Study were also members of the Steering Group. 3.4.1 Out-of-Town Shopping Centre By 1992, a large shopping centre had been built at Meadowhall, in the Don Valley and just 4 miles from the centre of Sheffield. This shopping centre had, and continues to have, a substantial impact on the city centre. Lawless reports that the scale of investment in turn [in Meadowhall] undermined the viability of a number of potential retail developments in the central area collectively amounting to over 70m. (1994 p.1307). Taylor et al report that Meadowhall was intended to provide employment for locals but of the 15,000 who applied for jobs for its opening before Christmas in 1989, 2,000 were successful and half of those lost their jobs in the New Year (1996 p.346). (Most of the staff who were employed in the shopping centre had been recruited and trained nationally, not locally, by the chain stores (Taylor et al 1996 p.346).) 3.4.2 Urban Programme Area The continuing recession throughout the 1980s and 1990s meant continuing and relatively high unemployment. A substantial number of areas of poverty were identified within the central area which resulted in Sheffield in being designated as an urban programme area. However, Sheffield was unsuccessful in its bid for City Challenge status which could have brought much needed funding for regeneration. In addition, the anticipated public-sector re-location of the Armouries (which went to Leeds) did not take place due to the inadequacies of the city centre (Lawless 1994 p.1307). Notably, Sheffield had, and continues to have, a substantial greater proportion of publicly owned dwellings compared to the national average (Foley & Lawless 1992 p.51) around twice the national average (2001 Census of Population www.statistics.gov.uk), a reminder perhaps of the legacy of the political orientations of the city council and the local population. 3.4.3 City Centre Decline A substantial decline in retail trade and a marked deterioration in the appearance of some parts of the shopping core were reported in the Central Area Study (Foley & Lawless 1992 p.1). Retailing in the city centre was going downmarket as retailers tried to survive (Foley & Lawless 1992). Taylor et al, when doing their fieldwork in the mid-1990s, noted that they were especially struck by the length of journey undertaken by elderly people searching for bargains (1996 p.250). Residents were less satisfied with the city centre than their counterparts in Leeds and Nottingham (Foley & Lawless 1992 p.22). Considerable dissatisfaction with the city centre were also reported from a study of Central Area retailers (Foley & Lawless 1992 p.30). Yet retailing was identified as the key component in any attempt to regenerate Sheffield. This is perhaps not surprising given that even in 1981, just over 10,000 people were employed in the retailing sector in Sheffield (Foley & Lawless 1992, p.30). 3.4.4 Retailing in Decline The Central Area Study had identified the key weaknesses of the city which would affect the regeneration process. Meadowhall, as the nearby out-of-town shopping centre boasted 270 shops, appeared to be responsible for at least half of the decline in lost turnover endured by Central Area retailers as a whole. (Foley & Lawless 1992 p.iii). It was the comparison goods retailers, the core of the retail function, in Barkers Pool, Orchard Square and Fargate who had suffered more than their more peripheral counterparts who generally offered lower cost goods (Foley & Lawless 1992 Appendix V). Retailers had variously introduced lower cost merchandise, extended their sales periods, reduced their prices or extended the range of goods they sold, all part of a general trading down in the Central Area (Foley & Lawless 1992 Appendix V). An oversupply of retail floor space was identified in the Study as well as a lack of restaurants and specialist shops in the Central Area. From the retailer study conducted by the researchers, it emerged that there was a high level of dissatisfaction with the current state of the city centre, with particular concerns about transport, parking and the high level of rents (Foley & Lawless 1992 p.30 and Appendix V section A5.1). 3.4.5 Comparative Advantages The Central Area Study also identified some of the strengths that Sheffield brought to the regeneration process. For example, the costs of office accommodation together with the availability of a skilled local labour force gave Sheffield a comparative advantage over many cities. Similarly, manufacturing continued to be an important activity in the central area offering a valuable mix of industrial property (Foley & Lawless 1992 p.65). Increasing demand for accommodation in the Central Area was also predicted in the study together with an increase in student numbers at the two local universities. 3.5 Regeneration Themes Emphasis in the regeneration was to be placed on Arts and Leisure with the aim of improving the overall image and supporting more tourist attractions, in part through cultural activities. Thus, the Study recommended pursuing a number of activities through which it could improve its offer to visitors, shoppers and residents alike. An impressive SuperTram system was already under construction in the city (with all the attendant disruption) and the completion of the inner ring road would ease traffic flow and provide greater scope for environmental improvements within the Central Area. (Foley & Lawless 1992 p.vii). The importance of quality as a major component of a Vision for the evolution of the Central Area was emphasised (Foley & Lawless 1992 p.81). Indeed the sub-title of the Study underlined this: 2010 A Vision of Quality (Foley & Lawless 1992). The need for specific Quarters to be identified and named in the city was recommended. In addition, the formation of an Urban Design Forum was recommended through which developments could be assessed and good practice promoted in developing and refurbishing buildings (Foley & Lawless 1992, Appendix II). Suggestions from the shoppers survey in the Study had already included the need for more pedestrianisation, better street furniture and other issues of design and development (Foley & Lawless 1992 p.32). Thus, the importance of the look of Sheffield was flagged up early on in the process of regeneration. 3.5.1 The Need for Partnerships The need for genuine partnerships within the city accompanied a recognition in the Study that the local authority would have a key role in the implementation of its recommendations. However, The regeneration of the Central Area as a whole must operate on the basis that, in the long term, the largest single source of investment is likely to be the private sector. (Foley & Lawless 1992 p.xvi). 3.5.2 City Centre Management It was also recommended that the initiation and co-ordination of change within the Central Area should be undertaken by a City Manager who would be funded primarily, but not exclusively, by the local authority (Foley & Lawless 1992 p.xvii). The city council felt the debate should be about the management of the city centre rather than about a manager (Lawless 1994 p.1316). Despite being one of the recommendations of the Central Area Study, surprisingly no mention was made of City Centre Management in the strategies for implementation. Today, there is a City Centre Management Team funded by the Council but it lacks the direct financial support of businesses and retailers in the city and this, arguably, reduces its potential role and impact. 3.5.3 Crime and the Central Area Study Crime was not mentioned in the Study although comments were made about some car parks feeling unsafe and the need for people to feel safe in the city itself (Foley & Lawless 1992 p.97 and p.52). Nevertheless, crime must have been of concern to some in Sheffield as closed circuit television (CCTV) had been introduced in the covered markets and into the city centre itself in August 1992 (Taylor et al 1996 p.129). In the residents focus groups held by Taylor et al (1996) the condition of the city centre was reported to give rise to a sense of fear and danger. 3.5.4 Sheffield City Council Before going onto look at recent initiatives and plans for the city, it should be noted that locally Sheffield City Council itself was blamed for compounding the decline of Sheffield. This, the council apparently accomplished, through its antagonising of central government, failing to maintain the public realm, making inappropriate key appointments and having unnecessarily bureaucratic structures (Lawless 1994 p.1315). In addition, it appears that the business community, who were well represented on the Sheffield Development Corporation which gave Sheffield Meadowhall, were also critical of the council (Lawless 1994 p.1315). It is useful to bear these aspects in mind when considering the development of the current management of, and partnerships within, the city. 3.5.5 Unitary Development Plan Following the Central Area Study, the Sheffield Unitary Development Plan was devised and adopted in 1998. A retail study had been undertaken in 1994 which formed the basis of its retail strategy (Sheffield City Council 2001, section 3.6). In line with the strategic guidance from the government, the UDP sought to develop and expand the role of the city centre as a principal commercial centre of South Yorkshire and to promote Sheffield as a regional centre bringing new life to the city centre. The potential for new investment in high quality shopping was identified and it was envisaged that a strong retail sector will help underpin the wide range of social, cultural and entertainment facilities which the City Centre should provide. (Sheffield City Council 2001 sections 3.6 and 3.7). 3.5.6 Sheffield One As one of the original pilot Urban Regeneration Companies, Sheffield One was launched in 2000 with a fixed life of seven years. Its aim is to transform the city centre so that it can drive forward economic growth across the whole region. Objective 1 status for the South Yorkshire has made funds available for the transformation of Sheffield city centre (www.sheffield1.com). Sheffield One is a partnership of Yorkshire Forward, the Regional Development Agency for Yorkshire and Humber, Sheffield City Council and English Partnerships. It is Sheffield One which aims to deliver the Masterplan (see below) for the city centre. The underlying strategy in drawing up the Masterplan was that public sector pump-priming creates the conditions for the private sector to invest. (Sheffield City Council 2001 section 3.10). The 14-strong Board of Sheffield One comprises three members from Yorkshire Forward, two from English Partnerships, two from the city council, one retailer, two business representatives, two bankers, one university and one womens organisation (Sheffield One 2004 p.37). Interestingly, it is the council which is very much in the minority on the board of Sheffield One, with the private sector and regional agencies dominating numerically. 3.5.7 Structures of Regeneration Initiatives A local strategic partnership was formally established in 2002 to take forward the over-arching strategy for the regeneration of Sheffield. Under the umbrella of the Sheffield First Partnership, there are a family of partnerships' with particular responsibilities for Learning and Work, Investment, Inclusion, Safety, Health, Environment and Sheffield One. In addition, a new city regeneration company Creative Sheffield is being launched which will play a key role in the on-going development of the city and the regions economy. The aim is to re-invent its [Sheffields] historic reputation as one of Europes most successful innovative producer cities. (Sheffield City Council 2004f). 3.6 The Masterplan Sheffield One commissioned a City Centre Masterplan from Koetter Kim and Associates, which was published in December 2000. This sets out a strategy to create a cohesive city centre where individual projects, programmes and strategies reinforce and support one another and where public sector pump-priming creates the conditions for the private sector to invest. (Sheffield City Council 2001 section 3.10) Sheffield One is currently taking forward seven strategic development projects identified in the Sheffield City Centre Masterplan, officially launched in February 2001, as a framework to guide the revitalisation of the city centre over a 10-15 year period. The primary objective of the Masterplan is to create new jobs and ensure that local communities have access to them. At the moment nearly 90,000 of the jobs in Sheffield are based in the city centre. Many more need to be created to turn the local economy around and bring in substantial private sector investment. (www.Sheffield1.com). 3.6.1 Sheffield Ones Key Projects Briefly, the seven projects which Sheffield One is overseeing are: - New Retail Quarter: to re-establish the city centre as a regional shopping destination - Heart of the City: to transform the citys commercial heart - City Hall & Barkers Pool District: to transform the public realm by a mixed-use area - Castlegate: to redevelop key gateway to connect new business/residential districts - e-Campus: to create a high quality business district - Sheffield Station: to transform the station and its environs - Integrated Transport Strategy: to upgrade the transport infrastructure In addition to the above, other projects were identified in the Masterplan which do not fall within the remit of Sheffield One. A key project is the continuing development of the Cultural Industries Quarter through funding from Objective 1, Single Regeneration Budget and Townscape Heritage Initiative, to bring back into use redundant or poor quality accommodation. Another project is to create a 7.4m resource centre at Sheffield Cathedral, due to start of site in 2005 (Sheffield One 2004). A Masterplan for The Moor, a privately leased shopping area to the southern end of the main shopping thoroughfare, is currently under discussion and includes with the possible relocation of Sheffields indoor market (see below). 3.6.2 Retailing in Sheffield: The New Retail Quarter The preparation for the Masterplan in 2000 included a study by retail consultants Healey & Baker (Cushman et al 2002) which recommended that Sheffield needed a major new shopping development of which the New Retail Quarter should become an essential element (Sheffield City Council 2001 section 3.14-15). The vision is for the new quarter to be distinctive, creative and innovative and not just another shopping centre. It aims to develop a new piece of the city based on high quality buildings, streets and public spaces, which is deliverable and commercially successful. (www.sheffield1.com) The elongated shopping area of Sheffield has offered challenges to the city council - and to shoppers who might not want to walk its entire length (2 kilometres) with full shopping bags. It is, in part, the attempt to counteract this which has led to the plans for the New Retail Quarter. It is important that all the shopping areas of the city centre flow into each other and that there is a natural centre for shopping. At the moment there is no main retail 'heart' - city centre shops are spread out in a long line, making it less easy to get around. This, and the limited range of shops, means that the city does not attract the numbers of people that it should. (www.sheffield1.com) Clearly, in providing more quality and specialist shopping Sheffield seeks to distinguish its shopping offer from that of its competitors, especially Meadowhall. For many years, the two have been in competition, with Meadowhall winning. In the Experian UK retail rankings for 2003 Sheffield city centre was rated as 33rd, Meadowhall 23rd (www.uk.experian.com). 3.6.3 Retailing in Sheffield: The Moor The need to transform the retail offer in the city as a whole has been recognised (Cushman et al 2002 p.17; Sheffield City Council 2004c section 2.3). A significant part of the shopping area within the city centre is The Moor, the upper end of which links in with the New Retail Quarter. The Moor offers mid to higher range retailing towards the top end of The Moor and value retailing towards The Moorfoot area. (Sheffield City Council 2004c). There are street market stalls, on the central strip of The Moor, which for many years have concentrated on cheap merchandise (Taylor et al 1996 p.128). The Moor is a privately leased shopping area but the city council is responsible for the pavements running through it. Because the pavements belong to the city council and the middle of the street doesnt, then the retailers in The Moor have to maintain their own lights. They put in the lights and they have to manage them. Our legal responsibility is to look after the footway, street lighting they manage. Litter bins we clear and they own them. (CCMT). The Moor is currently felt to be operating below its weight and has a poor monotonous environment, with few buildings of any merit, which lack activity. (Sheffield City Council 2004c section 4.1). The plans to re-develop The Moor shopping area are seen as key to the long-term retail development of the city and include re-locating the indoor market (see below). The city council has had extensive discussions with Deutsche (the company which leases The Moor) regarding the future of The Moor and a draft Masterplan has been prepared: The Moor Design and Development Framework (Sheffield City Council 2004c). New land uses within the Moor area to sustain vitality, in particular, business, leisure and residential uses are part of the key principles underpinning the Masterplan (Sheffield City Council 2004c section 3.1). The provision of better quality retail units will be accompanied by an overall re-branding of The Moor (Sheffield City Council 2004c section 3.1). In addition a future review of management of The Moor area to ensure its long-term maintenance will be undertaken (Sheffield City Council 2004c section 3.1). 3.6.4 Retailing in Sheffield: the Markets The re-location of the indoor markets has been under consideration for many years (Taylor et al 1996 p.129). Located at the top north end of the citys shopping thoroughfare, the markets are easy to access by The large number of poor Sheffield citizens living to the north and east of the centre (Taylor et al 1996 p.128). The Sheaf Market has now been demolished and the site is being prepared for development (Sheffield One 2004 p.22). Under the market at Castle Gate, archeologists found substantial remains of a medieval castle (Sheffield City Council 2003f) which presented additional problems to the council in its deliberations as to whether to re-furbish or re-locate the market. The city council has had detailed negotiations with Deutsche and a Development Framework has now been agreed. Meetings with the market traders and consultations with the public have generally been supportive of the plans to re-locate the market (Sheffield City Council 2003f, and Sheffield City Council 2004r). A new indoor market at The Moor will mean the market is nearer to thePRIVATE "TYPE=PICT;ALT=" new retail quarter and the future centre of the shopping area (Sheffield City Council 2003f). No major expansion of the retail floorspace is proposed in the Development Framework Sheffield City Council (2004r). The consultations undertaken by Deutsche have resulted in various suggestions from the participants variously to: replace the cheap shops with quality small units; support for covered arcades; need to give The Moor an identity; encourage complementary uses such as bars and coffee shops; reduce crowding on the Moor (Sheffield City Council 2004r.). Clearly, it will be a number of years before this development is realised. For the moment, the current physical state of the existing market in Castle Gate is poor and the general atmosphere is one of decline and dwindling trade. 3.6.5 Retailing in Sheffield: Meadowhall Perhaps curious to an outsider, Sheffield promotes its shopping offer by giving prominence to the Meadowhall shopping centre, a few minutes journey by Supertram from the city centre. Opened in 1990, it has 270 shops on two floors within a 2,000 acre site. Meadowhall offers an indoor play area, cinema, creche facilities, customer lockers, cycle lockers, cash machines, post boxes together with a supertram terminus and two regional train stations. Designed as a Grand Palace so as to be timeless, the centre is within 1 hours drive of 8.2 million people ranging from Manchester and Leeds to York, Harrogate and Leicester (www.meadowhall.co.uk). The a significant overlap between Meadowhall and Sheffield city centre in terms of retail goods, formats and catchment areas is recognised (Cushman et al 2002). Indeed in 2002, retail consultants warned that it would be wholly inappropriate to permit additional floorspace that would either consolidate or enhance its attraction (Cushman al 2000 section vii). 3.6.6 Progress of Projects A substantial amount of work on the projects to regenerate the public realm in the city centre has already been completed. Most notable are the multiple award-winning Winter Gardens together with the Millenium Galleries and the Peace Gardens. Commitments to the various projected developments have already been made. The anchor department store for the New Retail Quarter is the John Lewis Partnership whose new shop will be 50% larger than its current shop in Barkers Pool (www.Sheffieldrelocation.pdf file from Lewiss Sheffield site (www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk). The whole of the new office block at No. 1 St. Pauls Place is to be leased to an international law firm, DLA LLP. Next to the Winter Gardens, Macdonalds Hotel is under construction. Leases for virtually the entire Moor Shopping Area have been acquired by Asset Management Company, Deutsche and plans for its re-development and refurbishment are underway. The upgrading of Sheffield Railways Station is nearing completion and work on the new Station Square is about to commence. In 2005 Sheffields skyline, like many Northern cities, is dominated by cranes and likely to remain so for a few years. Each of the developments will contribute to the new Sheffield and combined, they will affect the experiences of all visitors to the city. 3.6.7 Crime and Sheffield Sheffield is one of the countrys safest major cities according to the Leader of the Council (Sheffield City Council 2003g, Foreword). The lack of mention of crime in the Central Area Study suggests that even in the 1980 and 1990s, Sheffield was viewed as a safe city. Today the safeness of city streets continues to be a theme in commentaries about Sheffield. Even South Yorkshire Police in their advice to students refer to it as one of the safest cities in the UK (www.southyorks.police.uk/students/). To ensure that Sheffield continued to be one of the safest major cities, one of the priorities of Sheffield First for 1999-2002 was to tackle crime where it is worst (Sheffield First Partnership 2003 p.5). In comparison with the other core cities, Sheffield has been reported as having lower crime rates in all measures apart from burglary from dwellings (ECOTEC 2002 p.38). Reductions in a range of crimes have been reported over a number of years. (The crime statistics for Sheffield are contained within the figures for South Yorkshire as a whole and it is not possible to determine the situation for Sheffield itself from this database.) 3.6.8 Reporting of Crime The extent to which the local media and newspapers are supportive of attempts at regeneration can be important in enthusing local residents about regeneration initiatives. The local daily newspaper sometimes offers alarming headlines relating to crime which run counter to the one of the safest cities claims of the city council and the police. For example, a recent headline claimed: More than 7,000 yobs tackled in crime blitz (Anonymous 2004d) or Crime blitz on the drug gangs (Anonymous 2004c). Headlines like these give the impression to readers that there are a very substantial number of yobs or drug gangs around Sheffield and are likely to increase the fear of crime amongst residents. The headlines on the 1st of March 2005 included: Pensioner injured by thug with gun: A FRAIL pensioner was shot in the head by a gun-wielding thug as she walked home from a Sheffield bus stop (Anonymous 2005a) and Pupils in weapon searches: PUPILS could be searched by police as part of plans to combat the alarming rise of weapons in South Yorkshire schools. (Anonymous 2005b). The tabloid-type headlines of The Star differ from the broadsheet approach of the weekly paper, The Telegraph which takes, takes a much more balanced, much more business-friendly approach, wants to shout Sheffield up, wants to say Sheffield is going places in contrast to the lowest-common denominator approach of The Star (Councillor). A new editor has recently been recruited to The Star (from the Telegraph) and it is hoped that the paper will become more supportive of the city. For example, The Star has been running a campaign called: gridlock city which is saying there are problems here, what are the solutions to this, what is the effect on the economy, what is the effect on the city, what is the effect on the environment, weve got to solve these problems (Councillor). There is some support to be gained from other mass media. For example, one of the local radio stations, BBC Radio Sheffield, mounted a campaign to plant 10,000 trees in 12 months. 3.7 Sheffield City Council Initiatives and Activities In parallel with the various projects, outlined above, for the city centre under the aegis of Sheffield One, the city council itself has undertaken a number of initiatives to improve the maintenance, management and security of its public realm. 3.7.1 Closed Circuit Television: Known as the Sheffield Wide Image Switching System (SWISS), the citys digital CCTV system was upgraded and launched in February 2003 (the original system was installed in 1995) with the inclusion of 11 cameras on The Moor (Sheffield City Council 2003b, 2003c). Funding for additional cameras has come from the governments Street Crime Initiative, the New Deal of Communities Board and SRB, Round 6 (www.Sheffield.gov.uk). Sheffield launched the UKs first hand-held CCTV monitoring system (Synergy mobileTM) for tackling street crime (Government News Network 2003). The system allows a still image to be relayed to any number of mobile handsets, so that police on the ground can view and track incidents as they unfold ((Government News Network 2003). The SWISS system is integrated with other CCTV systems such as that of the University of Sheffield enabling the monitoring of 20 cameras in public areas. Coming within the remit of Sheffield First for Safety, the system offers a further means of retaining and enhancing Sheffields status as a safe city. (Sheffield City Council 2003b). The system extends along the Supertram route including the external areas of Meadowhall and partnerships with both them and the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive have also been established (Sheffield City Council CCTV Strategy Report). The CCTV system also includes Help Points at strategic locations such as at Supertram stops through which members of the public can make requests for assistance. One of the stated purposes of the system is To support and safeguard all members of the community, increasing their confidence and enhancing the image of the city as a whole. (Sheffield City Council CCTV Strategy Report, Section 2). The need for car parks, especially the larger ones, to have a CCTV system is recommended in the Car Parking guidelines discussed below (Sheffield City Council Info sheet 3, website). It is worth noting that, other than the support given by Deutsche Bank, who own the leases to The Moor and the partners mentioned above, no other business support for the CCTV system is evident (Sheffield City Council CCTV Strategy 2002-5). An Automatic (Vehicle) Number Plate Recognition and Detection System (ANPR) has recently been linked with the SWISS CCTV system. The strategy for the City Centre Management Team includes bringing CCTV in house and forge structural links with the ambassadors, CCRAC radio and CCTV. (CCMT). 3.7.2 Car parking strategy The regeneration of the city centre requires improved access for those shoppers and visitors coming by car. There is an acknowledged need for higher quality car parking provision within the city centre and it is planned that it will be designed in accordance with Secure by Design Gold Award criteria (Sheffield City Council 2001 section 6.6). The car parking guidelines identify the importance of lighting in car parks and the need to avoid hidden corners and secluded parking (Sheffield City Council 2004d). The guidelines also recommend that CCTV for larger car parking areas should be considered. There is a recognised need for a more integrated approach to car parking across the city centre with clear sign posting providing real time information to motorists. (Sheffield City Council 2001 section 6.8). We do have a city centre car parking strategy as the city centre is changing and re-orientating itself through regeneration. There will be a decline in surface car parks and the construction of strategically placed multi-storeys which will hopefully use the benchmark standards. (CCMT). In addition to the car parks planned within the New Retail Quarter and the Heart of the City, the need for two other multi-storey car parks has been recognised and plans to acquire the sites have been made (Sheffield City Council 2004a). 3.7.3 Car parking security There is CCTV coverage of all car parks in the city centre and two of them have received a Safer Car Park Award (CCMT). Theres a new multi-storey down by Sheffield railway station which, touch wood, has been open six months and theres not a single incidence been reported. So, if you like, that set a benchmark for us. (CCMT). 3.7.4 City Centre Living The city council is keen to increase the number and density of residents in the city centre. City centre living has a number of benefits. Indeed, city living is one of the foundations for the revitalised city centre and city centre residents help to provide increased safety into what is already a relatively safe environment by creating surveillance or eyes on the street. (Sheffield City Council 2004e section 5). In The Moor new residential uses are planned where The introduction of residential uses will enliven the area, especially out of shopping hours (Sheffield City Council 2004c section 4.4). More residential developments will also contribute significantly to the sustainable reuse of brown-field sites. (Sheffield City Council 2004e). Along with the new office occupiers, the new residents will bring new spending power to the city centre (www.sheffield.gov.uk). Many of the Sheffield One projects also incorporate an element of residential development. For example, the New Retail Quarter allows for 200 new city centre residential units, the Heart of the City project up to 200 residential units and the City Hall & Barkers Pool District envisage 139 new residential units (Sheffield One 2004). The emphasis in all these projects is on mixed-uses to produce lively streets and provide leading-edge facilities for leisure, culture and city living. (Sheffield One 2004 p.1). The potential impact of these new residents should not be underestimated, at least in terms of numbers. By 2010 the population is estimated by the council to have increased [sic] to 18,000 if all the proposed developments take place, almost a three fold increase on current levels. (ECOTEC 2002, section 3.1.6 p.25). It is also worth noting that the SPG for the city centre residents wishes to encourage residents either not to have cars or to make arrangements for car-pooling (Sheffield City Council 2004e section 3.8). 3.7.5 City Centre Living: conflicts of uses There are a number of possible conflicts between the different uses of city centre accommodation. There is a potential for gentrification where lower income residents are priced out by newer residents with higher incomes. Residential conversions can also deplete the amount of office space available (Knight Frank 2003). However, in 2003, it appears that Sheffields office rents were still competitive in comparison with Manchester and Leeds (Knight Frank 2003 p.3). The potential conflicts between new residents and the night-time economy have been recognised by the council (Sheffield City Council 2004e, 2004c section 5.3). The Urban Design Compendium (see below) acknowledges: Planning and design policy must have a degree of sophistication that allows the sometimes conflicting activities of city life to be held in balance. It is often the very conflict between the adjacent activities that can bring interest and dynamism to urban centres. The role of the design in the public realm is to accept and manage the tensions that exist between activities. (Sheffield City Council 2004o p.83). Further, The land-use mono-culture which exists in many areas of Sheffield city centre brings sterility to the street. (Sheffield City Council 2004o p.83) Problems in developments incorporating residential and night-time entertainment have been addressed with requirements for high standards of noise insulation for all residential schemes. (Sheffield City Council 2004e section 3.5) and the possibility of restricting opening hours of pubs, bars and restaurants. Nevertheless the night-time economy and residential development were seen by some Members as mutually inclusive as developers required a critical mass of residents before they would contemplate building bars/restaurants. (Sheffield City Council 2004e section 9). Arguably it is this last consideration which has weighed most heavily with the city council in its decision to increase the number of city centre residents. Inward investors, it appears, need to have a substantial resident market or the promise of one. 3.7.6 City Centre living: the new residents Interest in the new residences has been considerable with investors reported to have purchased a significant proportion of the city centre residential schemes (Knight Frank 2003). It is worth noting that because significant amounts of social housing stock exist in and around the City Centre and at present there will be no requirement for developers to provide low cost/social rented housing. (Sheffield City Council, City Centre Living Strategy, 28.4.04, section 3.3). Potentially there could be a rich mix of residents with quite varied levels of income living in the city centre in Sheffield. In the Compendium it was suggested that upper floors of many commercial buildings in parts of the city centre could be used for residential accommodation with a mix of housing types attracting a wide ranging market from young professionals to the retired (Sheffield City Council Compendium p.139). In addition, a growing numbers of professionals will be attracted to the residential developments at Sheffields Central Riverside with its burgeoning New Legal Quarter offering employment (Urban Design Week, Presentation by Ogden 4.10.04). By 2002 a trend towards student accommodation and high quality private units aimed at the professional market (ECOTEC 2002 p.30) had been identified. The council is, however, aware of the need to avoid creating gated communities in its new city centre residential developments (Sheffield City Council 2003g section 21.2.5) and this has been linked with the need to encourage more open green spaces in the developments. 3.7.7 Green space: Sheffield has a substantial amount of green space and the council hopes for more to be developed. With over 150 woodlands and 50 public parks, Sheffield is Englands greenest city. (Sheffield City Council Sheffield Tourism Service, Visitor information leaflet). Historically, however, there has been little greenery in the city centre itself (Foley & Lawless Central Area Study p.79). Today, the city prides itself on its gardens and open spaces. It boasts the popular Peace Gardens which will be filled with people in summer, families coming with picnics, the children getting soaked in the fountains. (Crime Reduction Adviser) while for colder weather there are the Winter Gardens. There are also the Botanical Gardens complete with Victorian Pavilions. The city has recently been given three Green Flags by the Civic Trust, a national award for parks and green spaces (Sheffield City Council 2004n). Sheffield was the first city centre to win a Green Flag Award and still the only centre to have two awards (CCMT). Its success in winning Britain in Bloom Awards has resulted in the city being chosen to represent the UK at next years Europe in Bloom Awards (Sheffield City Council 2004l). Much of the recent work in relation to the citys green space is to counter the acknowledged legacy of neglect in the citys green spaces (Sheffield City Strategy 2004m p.26). The need for more accessible open space has been discussed (in conjunction with the need to avoid having gated communities in the city centre) along with the importance of the opening up of watercourses in the city centre to add value to those open spaces (Sheffield City Council 2003g section 21.2.5). Under the Greener Initiatives it is proposed that one million bulbs be planted during 2005-2006 (under the aegis of Street Force) to provide some highly visible floral displays at selected key locations (Sheffield City Council 2004i section 4.10). 3.7.8 Skateboarders: A currently popular activity, skateboarding can potentially cause conflicts between the different groups of users of city centre spaces. In Sheffield, skateboarding has been accommodated in the central area with a dedicated skateboarding area at Devonshire Green. The ambassadors and the Police Community Support Officers (see below) both have a role in preventing skateboarding in inappropriate locations in the city centre. 3.7.9 Street Force: Previously known as Grimebusters, Street Force has particular responsibility for street maintenance and for keeping the city clean and tidy. Street Force was formed to bring together all the work the Council does to care for the city's streets into one integrated service. It undertakes a range of initiatives including sponsored litterbins, the removal of chewing gum and graffiti. Sheffield apparently used to be known as the graffiti capital of Britain (CCMT). Street force also has responsibility for the public toilets, car parking services (there is also a separate Traffic Warden Service), street sweeping, street lighting amongst many other services. A rapid response fly-poster removal team and an anti-litter campaign are other initiatives currently in operation (Sheffield City Council 2004i section 2). Street Force will also be undertaking the planting of one million bulbs as mentioned above. An anti-litter campaign was also mounted during 2003/2004 in which 206 articles appeared in the media (Sheffield City Council 2004i). Some of these initiatives have been taken in response to earlier surveys which have shown that in 2003: Sheffield is in the bottom quarter for public satisfaction with local councils regarding street cleanliness" and "graffiti is not specifically targeted as part of the [Cleaner Sheffield Strategy] programme (Sheffield City Council 2004p section 20.5.3). 3.7.10 City Centre Ambassadors: With retail this good, who needs therapy? proclaims the leaflet advertising the role of the city centre ambassadors. Currently a group of 17, the ambassadors have a welcoming role for those visiting the city centre and they also monitor the area. There is only one female and one Ambassador from a minority ethnic group but there is a diverse age range from an 18 year old to an ambassador who is coming up to retirement age (CCMT). They do a comprehensive training package. We do the ODPM training, we have specialist training, environmental services training and ongoing training provision throughout. Weve just been awarded the nationally recognised award on quality standard and thats for two years. (CCMT). Without the city ambassadors, I dont think the city centre management team would be as successful as it is. (CCMT). With their bright blue jackets they are instantly recognisable in the city centre and clearly distinguishable from the Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and the Police in their darker uniforms. The idea and the name were taken from the successful ambassador scheme in Edinburgh. The role of the city centre ambassadors is to help make the city centre cleaner, to act as a source of information for visitors and support the Sheffield First for Safetys crime and disorder strategy by acting as Sheffield eyes and ears on the street. Their name is very important. There are wardens in Sheffield but they work in the neighbourhoods while the ambassadors work in the city centre. (Crime reduction adviser). They arrange for the removal of dumped waste and litter as well as removing graffiti and discarded needles. Weve got two of them [ambassadors] who really specialise in graffiti so they will go around to shops and harrass businesses, theyll harass the landlords, and say youve got graffiti on your building, lets get it cleaned off. Were trying to sort of wean them off that now were trying to get them to take responsibility for their own building. (CCMT). Weve installed sharps bins in all key areas now, not in the general domain, but in back alleys where people have been dropping and discarding their needles. (CCMT) Chewing gum boards were tried but a fully managed contract was too expensive at 7,000 for one street so what we do now is two cleans each year which costs 20,000 in total. (CCMT). The ambassadors work closely with the police to reduce street crime and vehicle crime as well as in tackling anti-social behaviour. They also have a role in discouraging begging and street drinking. Dispersal orders are used to move street drinkers away from the city centre (CCMT). They will also ask skateboarders to move on. Funded by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), their future has been secured until 2006. We will be doing a cost analysis of what they have saved by the police, by the ambulance service, by the retail stores with their store detectives and by other individual council departments, which we will do a few months before the deadling and we will start by getting the retailers on board. (CCMT) 3.7.11 Junior Ambassadors A Junior Ambassador Scheme has also been set up which is a partnership between pupils of a local school and the City Centre Management Team. The aim is to engage the youngsters with their environment and to encourage them to take better care of it (Sheffield City Council 2004g). The project was led by the City Centre Ambassadors who arranged a programme of activities during the summer holidays for 9-11 year olds. 3.7.12 City Centre Management Team (CCMT) Started in 2001, the CCMT is charged with the responsibility of co-ordinating all aspects of the management of the city centre and oversees the work of the Ambassadors. Some are funded by the city council and others are funded by the ODPM, funding which runs out in 2006. The CCMT aim to create and sustain a quality City Centre which is clean, safe, vibrant and welcoming in partnership with the retail, business and leisure sectors and the public who live, work, or choose to visit Sheffield. (Sheffield City Council 2004q p.4). Not always the case in other cities, the CCMT in Sheffield has operational responsibility for a wide range of aspects of the city centre from litter clearance to graffiti and chewing gum removal. We have two police officers seconded onto the team and in a kind of mentoring capacity but also to provide that kind of legal, law enforcement support when its needed. (CCMT) One of the police officers is paid for by the CCMT while the other is paid for by South Yorkshire police. Were also in touch with South Yorkshire police and we get direct tasking from them on a daily basis, so if theyre working on particular issues, were included in their tasking. (CCMT). Unlike some cities, the CCMT has not been configured as a limited company, funded jointly by the council and retailers. The original aim was for the CCMT to be part funded by businesses and retailers in the city but this was not successful. I think the problem with the kind of city centre management company type model in Sheffield, in its previous existence was that because supporting funders were relatively small, the organisation, I think understandably, became very inward looking and its purpose for existing became almost to exist, so the fundraising it achieved was really to keep in existence itself. It becomes a very insular perpetual chase for resources to stay alive. (CCMT) The CCMT is financed by, and is under the direction of, Sheffield City Council. It receives no direct funding from local businesses whether retail, commercial or industrial. You can see some city centres up and down the country that have a significant amount of money to put into events and things, but were not currently blessed with that level of resource, so we have to cut our cloth accordingly (CCMT). Unlike some other CCMTs it does not undertake marketing as the council has its own marketing department. The CCMT also keeps a low public profile and its priorities are the operational aspects of its role: this is one of the areas that we differ slightly from traditional city centre management companies were not here to publicise our own existence. Its the objectives and the outputs and the whole way the thing feels and works that were concerned about, not just having a door that says city centre manager on it. We see that as largely irrelevant. (CCMT). 3.7.13 CCMT: Managing Sheffields Building Site In an attempt to reduce the impact of this phase, the CCMT has a policy of managing the hoardings around building sites by the mounting of displays of what the development will look like once completed. We actually commissioned [] illustrations for the specific purpose of blowing them up in different scales to decorate hoardings and the like. [] Traditionally on construction sites, you would see a sign board up that tells you the contractor and principal engineer and all their qualifications but people dont want to know that. What they want to know is whats happening, when will it be done, how are they going to be inconvenienced and what is the phone number to contact somebody who can tell them about the scheme. Its very very simple and written in kind of plain language. (CCMT). The scheme is under the Caring Constructor Scheme (CCMT). The large banners on the sides of buildings and construction sites provide a counter to the scaffolding and metal barriers which are to be found throughout the city centre. 3.7.14 CCMT: The Big Issue The CCMT also works with the Big Issue (BI) in the city centre where there are 17 designated pitches for BI sellers. Some of them are extremely good, some of them do seem to have a genuine desire to pull themselves up, but other ones are quite clearly working in concert with thieves, acting as lookouts, acting as alibis, even being thieves themselves. Theres a number of big issue sellers that Ive arrested personally for theft and they all theyre from a similar population. They tend to be either recovering or currently using addicts. [] The two go hand in hand. (Police officer). A joint action plan with the Big Issue and the CCMT, concerned with re-branding the Big Issue, has been developed which also involves reducing the pitches in certain problem areas. The Big Issue will be controlled from our team, so the ambassadors will monitor pitches. Weve got people on the ground, we work with outreach workers, to help people. Were also looking at putting tabards on them so theres a clear message, here to work, not to beg. (CCMT). 3.7.15 Buskers/street performers Buskers have been actively encouraged to perform in the city centre with the aim of enlivening city streets. We try to encourage it in a positive way and try and eliminate the begging element of busking (CCMT). We do license buskers but we dont audition them. We will use the ambassadors to see if the buskers are any good and if they are good they will be asked to come back and we specify whether they come again. A penny-whistler is really begging. Occasionally if a busker is very good, like there was a girl who was a cellist, and there was a guitarist, they were very good and we did ask them to come back and so then we cover their expenses getting here. (CCMT). 3.7.16 Taxi drivers Sheffield aims to be visitor friendly. Taxi drivers have been targeted to ensure that they play their part. The Ambassadors in their role as the citys welcomers provided taxi drivers with information sheets to hand to their passengers (Partners in Progress, The Sheffield First Partnership, February 2002). Taxi drivers have also agreed to help circulate City Talk (see below). 3.7.17 Events Considerable emphasis has been placed in Sheffield on the staging of events within the city centre and in a range of venues. The aim has been to enliven the city streets and provide entertainment to visitors and shoppers (CCMT). Partly, but not wholly, the responsibility of the CCMT, a wide variety of events are held in the city each year. These range from a Summer Holiday Weekend in the city centre complete with donkey rides, live music and a real sandy beach; concerts on summer Sundays in the Winter Garden (Sheffield City Council 2004h) and Love 2B in Sheffield for a week in February (Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and Industry 2004e). The city actively markets the promotional potential of the city centre with events by organisations such as Nokia and Ben & Jerrys Ice Cream (Sheffield City Council 2004q p.6-7). 3.7.18 Responsible Retailers Co-ordinated by Sheffield City Councils Trading Standards Unit, the Responsible Retailers Award is given to shopkeepers who refuse to sell age-restricted products to under-age customers and so far over 250 shopkeepers have received the reward (Sheffield City Council 2004n). The scheme, launched by the Lord Mayor of Sheffield, aims to reduce problems such as underage smoking, drinking and solvent abuse by denying young people access to these dangerous products. The award scheme is aimed at retailers and businesses and provides education and staff training to make retailers aware of their responsibilities in avoiding illegal sales and support them in upholding the law. (Sheffield City Council 2005b). The Responsible Retailer scheme can potentially make a difference to the amount of graffiti around the city as well. The 2004 Anti-Social Behaviour Act makes it illegal to sell aerosol paint to those under 16, thus paint becomes another age-restricted product covered by the scheme (South Yorkshire Trading Standards Services 2004). 3.7.19 City Talk A newsletter has been launched in November 2004, for distribution to city centre residents and businesses to inform and keep them up to date with the developments and what is happening. Funded by Objective One and government Single Regeneration Funding Challenge Fund, the aim is to increase community participation by informing people of whats going on in the centre (City Talk, 2004, 1). The newsletter will be produced four times each year until Spring 2007. The newsletter will also inform residents about public meetings in relation to the city centre. City Talk is in addition to other publications produced by the council in its various guises such as from Sheffield First which reports on news and updates from the Partnership. In addition the city council produces a monthly electronic news bulletin City News for businesses and organisations across the city (www.sheffield.gov.uk). 3.7.20 Tourist Information Cities, if they are to attract visitors, tourists and shoppers as well as inward investors, have to differentiate their offer from those of their competitors. There is, therefore, a need to actively market the city, promoting the cultural and sporting events which take place. Sheffields tourist information service has its headquarters at the Sheffield United football ground. In the city centre the Tourist Information Centre (TIC) is located within the Winter Gardens. Until recently the TIC had a desk in the Gardens but they have recently moved to a temporary shop unit in the Winter Gardens and hope to move to new premises in time. The TIC is usually staffed by only one person and provides information on local events. 3.7.21 Sport and Culture: History As part of the policy to create a specific niche for itself and to establish Sheffield as a major centre for international sports events, a successful bid was made to host the World Student Games of 1991 (Taylor et al 1996 p.67). From this a number of major sports facilities were built or refurbished (Taylor et al 1996 p.67) including the Don Valley Stadium (25,000 seats), Sheffield Arena (12,000 seats) and Ponds Forge International sports Centre with an Olympic size swimming pool. The Student Games, however, resulted in a substantial financial loss for the city, which it was forecast, it would still be paying off in 2001/2 (Taylor et al 1996 p.323). In reality the city is still paying for the Student Games at a cost of 25 million per annum and will continue to do so for the next twenty years, a debt which is said to have crippled Sheffield (Retailer) and to have soured political relationships within the city council (Councillor). The council has apparently had to re-mortgage, re-mortgage and re-mortgage the debt from the Student Games (Councillor). At the same time as Sheffield was bidding to host the Student Games in the 1980s, Manchester was making bids to host the Olympic Games (unsuccessful) and the Commonwealth Games (successful). Manchesters bids were essentially a direct challenge to the attempts which Sheffield had been making to establish itself as an international city for sport and, indeed, to claim this particular niche for itself in the North of England (Taylor et al 1996 p.78). The inner cities of the UK outdid each other to build arenas, stadiums, conference facilities and concert halls. Some, such as Sheffield, are still paying the price for believing that major sporting events will provide the breakthrough. (Ramsden et al 2001 p.7). The competition between the two cities in terms of their sporting offer continues. Another disappointment was the National Lottery funded National Centre for Popular Music which was found not to be viable. An embarrassment to the lottery fund, the idea of the commercial viability of the music centre was not explored and the centre was closed in 1999. An asset swap, between Sheffield Hallam University and the city council, effected the exchange of the centre for three city centre plots (Wainwright 2005). The architecturally interesting centre has now re-opened as a student union with its doors open to the wider community of Sheffield, (Wainwright 2005). 3.7.22 Sport: Events Today Sheffield markets itself in terms of its cultural and sporting offer (Sheffield City Council 2004m). Indeed, subsumed within Sheffield city councils priority of closing the gap between the most affluent and most deprived areas of the city is the aim of providing a good cultural and sporting offer as well as reducing crime (Audit Commission 2004 p.7). The city seeks to attract high profile sporting events. The citys Crucible Theatre has hosted the World Professional Snooker Championships every year since 1977. In 2004, the first World Firefighter Games, with 60 sports and 830 events, were held in Sheffield. Home of the National Ice Centre at iceSheffield, there is also the Ski Village which is Europes largest artificial ski resort (www.Sheffield.gov.uk). The English Institute of Sport has recently opened (Sheffield City Council Sheffield City Strategy Progress Report November 2004 p.26). Recent additions to the sporting events calendar include the British Indoor Athletics Championships, the Tour of Britain cycle race and the RAC rally (Sheffield City Council 2004m p.19). Sheffield also has two football clubs: Hallam FC and Sheffield FC, both of which attract substantial support and loyalty. There is, perhaps not surprisingly, considerable rivalry between the members of the two clubs which does on occasion cause problems in the city centre in the evening (We do have a problem with football related violence, with United fans, they call themselves the BBC, the Blades Business Crew, and Sheffield Wednesday, I dont know. Inspector) Theres various, the ITI, the Is That It? squad (Sergeant). Sporting activities within the city provide jobs for 6,000 people, 6% of the Gross Domestic Product, twice the national average (Audit Commission 2004 p.11). 3.7.23 Culture/Cultural Events: A key element in the regeneration of the city centre is the continuing evolution of the Cultural Industries Quarter over the next decade (Sheffield One 2004 p.36) and therefore beyond the life of Sheffield One itself. A cultural strategy is in preparation by the City Council and Sheffield First (Sheffield City Council 2004m p.27). The Millenium Galleries, next to the Winter Gardens, are a recent addition to Sheffield. A unique partnership with the TATE and V & A museums brings first class exhibitions from national galleries to the city. (Sheffield visitor leaflet, circa 2004). The older Central Library and Graves Art Gallery is the one remaining key cultural building asset requiring refurbishment (Sheffield City Council 2004m p.27) and resources still have to be found for its refurbishment and development. The City Museum and Mappin Art Gallery are scheduled to re-open in 2005 following refurbishment accomplished through 1million of Objective 1 funding (Sheffield One 2004 p.36). Although the cultural offer is still being developed the city held The Childrens Festival, Music in the Round, Off The Shelf Literature Festival and Sheffield Folk Festival (Sheffield City Council 2004m p.26). 3.8 The Urban Design Compendium (Compendium) Underlying the city councils plans for the city centre is a framework for the developments, the Urban Design Compendium. High quality urban design complemented by high quality design in construction projects the growing sense of pride in the city, affording Sheffield a first class environment, opportunities for a high quality of life and a positive image to the rest of the UK. (Sheffield First for Environment 2003 p.30). The Urban Design Compendium was launched in October 2004 together with the establishment of an Urban Design Panel. The Compendium will provide a new benchmark for the city centre (Urban Design Week 2004a Meeting 4.10.04 Simon Ogden). The Compendium provides detailed design guidance to raise the quality of the citys built environment and to ensure cohesion in the urban form and public space of the city centre (Compendium p.2). The guidance is quarter specific which will, presumably, provide differences between the different quarters to emerge. Explicit mention of the need to design out crime came not from the Compendium but was identified in a subsequent document in which the Environmental Strategy for 2003-2006 was set out. Planning and design is a significant factor in crime prevention high quality, attractive environments that design out crime are needed. (Sheffield First for Environment 2003 p.30). 3.8.1 Compendium: The public realm The Compendium seeks to improve connectivity and permeability within the city centre and surrounding suburbs, and it is hoped this will also contribute to the creative of a more socially inclusive city. Its movement framework seeks to integrate pedestrian, vehicular, public transport and cycling networks.(Sheffield City Council 2004o p.6). Paramount is The creation of an urban environment which is safe, attractive, functional and conducive to street life and pedestrian activity (Sheffield City Council 2004o p.6). In addition a high standard of architectural quality must be the goal in all new development (Sheffield City Council 2004o p.50). A survey of the existing caf zones and identification of opportunities for further outdoor dining facilities was undertaken when developing the design guidelines (Sheffield City Council 2004o p.80). A possible pilot project to rationalise and remove street furniture in the Cathedral Quarter in order to promote a clutter free pedestrian environment was identified (Sheffield City Council 2004o p.23). The intimidating nature of blank facades, hidden spaces, underpasses, lack of surveillance and narrow corridors of passage were recognised in the compendium (p.29). Thus, Blank facades do not contribute to the appearance or activity of the street and create potentially unsafe and intimidating pedestrian environments. [] Active ground floor uses will be encouraged to create vibrancy and life at the ground level and a connection with street activity which will foster a sense of neighbourhood and increase the perception of safety throughout the city (Sheffield City Council 2004o p.50). Mixed uses at ground level are also to be encouraged such as retail uses under residential and office developments (Sheffield City Council 2004o p.50). Sustainability is a key theme of the Compendium (Sheffield City Council 2004o p.52). 3.8.2 Compendium: shopping The consolidation and improvement of the city centres retail function is seen as an essential part of Sheffields economic regeneration (Sheffield City Council 2004o p.139). Once the New Retail quarter is complete the range of shopping facilities provided in the city centre will be broadened to make Sheffield the most outstanding shopping destination in the region. (Sheffield City Council 2004o p.142). The shopping environment, in the meantime, needs to be enhanced. The current shopping facilities in Sheffield suffer from a lack of sheltered areas. This exposure can make the shopping experience uncomfortable and may in part account for the preference of a large indoor shopping area such as Meadowhall (Sheffield City Council 2004o p.82). Well designed shop window displays can make a positive contribution to streets during the day and also at night, throwing out light and creating visual interest. (Sheffield City Council 2004o p.31). The need for ad-hoc activities on the street such as buskers, performers and street theatre have also been identified in the compendium to bring additional life, and a sense of spontaneity to the citys streets and spaces. (Sheffield City Council 2004o p.84). Similarly, seasonal activities such as Christmas events, festivals and weekly traders markets are identified as an important part of civic life (Sheffield City Council 2004o p.84). 3.8.3 Compendium: crime and the fear of crime Crime is not a major theme in the compendium. However, concerns regarding safety, crime and the fear of crime are identified (Sheffield City Council 2004o p.85-86). For example, the importance of lighting in influencing the character of city streets and spaces, as well as a basic security requirement during the hours of darkness is recognised (Sheffield City Council 2004o p.202). Policies to encourage well-lit shopfront windows will be promoted (Sheffield City Council 2004o p.202) to encourage natural surveillance thus reducing the fear of crime and discourage anti-social behaviour. (Sheffield City Council 2004o p.85). As noted above, blank facades will be avoided and active frontages will also be encouraged (Sheffield City Council 2004o p.85). In addition, new buildings will avoid recess and set back features unless absolutely necessary to the function of the building as they often create hiding places and increase the fear of crime. (Sheffield City Council 2004o p.85). The use of CCTV is acknowledged can deter and help prevent crime(Compendium p.86). Cameras should be visible to the general public however should not detract from the visual attractiveness of key public spaces, streets and buildings. (Sheffield City Council 2004o p.86) 3.9 Police/Home Office Initiatives A number of initiatives have been undertaken by the police, some in partnership with other local bodies such as the city council, others by the police alone which could have an impact on the experience of those using the city centre. 3.9.1 Sheffield Street Crime Initiative This government initiative was launched in March 2002 and South Yorkshire police were given targets to reduce the number of robberies in Sheffield. Operation Impact was part of the Street Crime initiative. While robberies increased by 8% in the first year, a reduction of 33% had been achieved by the end of March 2004. In the current year, to the end of March 2005, a target reduction of 15% had been set. The Street Crime Initiative involved the police working closely with its partner agency in four key areas of Education and Diversion, Crime Reduction, Public Reassurance and enforcement (Sheffield First for Safety Partnership 2004c section 4.1.1). 3.9.2 Trailblazer This is a joint police and city council initiative, Sheffield has been a pilot site for the Trailblazer scheme. This is a government initiative to develop excellence in tackling nuisance households. Through this initiative the Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnership in the city has been set targets to tackle anti-social behaviour (www.Sheffield.gov.uk Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour). As part of this the police are introducing a mobile CCTV van. 3.9.3 TOGETHER Sheffield is one of 50 locations which have now been declared a TOGETHER Action Area (Anonymous 2004f). The Trailblazer initiative (see above) is one part of the TOGETHER campaign. The campaign seeks to tackle anti-social behaviour and encourages the use of acceptable behaviour contracts to curb the behaviour of troublemakers (Anonymous 2004e, 2004f). 3.9.4 Truancy Working with education officials, the police have increased their truancy patrols (Anonymous 2004a). As children on the streets face a greater risk of becoming victims of crime themselves and a few will also commit offences, tackling truancy impacts on the levels of crime. Revealingly, in a recent sweep most of the truants when they were caught were found to be with their parents who only had the flimsiest of excuses for keeping them out of class. (Anonymous 2004a). An Authorised Absence Pass Scheme is also in operation in all schools in Sheffield (Government News Network 2003). 3.9.5 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) Part of the police, PCSOs are funded by the Home Office while the ambassadors are funded by The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. PCSOs wear a dark uniform which is fairly similar to but different from the police. People wont talk to PCSOs because they do look like police officers and they are linked to police officers. They do law enforcement, whereas the ambassadors do get quite a lot of intelligence at street level and feed that back, so there is a place for both to work alongside each other. We do work alongside PCSOs we dont see them as competition. We see them as a partner. (CCMT). However, PCSOs are seen as cheap replacement for police officers, taking over more roles for which they are not qualified. They are only trained for three weeks. They stand there when there is an incident and dont do anything, were not trained to put ourselves in dangerous situations sort of thing. They are mainly ex-traffic wardens. The ambassadors are the real link in with the community. (Crime reduction adviser). 3.9.6 Police Secondment to the Ambassador Team Two police officers are currently seconded to work with the ambassador team in the city centre, one funded by the police and one by the CCMT (see above). 3.9.7 Retail Crime Team A dedicated police retail crime team has been created, staff by one police sergeant and five constables. Their main activity is dealing with retail crime and in particular shoplifting. The minimum staffing on a weekday is three police constables with two at a weekend (Sergeant). The majority of their work comes from the store detectives detaining people and the associated paperwork that it entails. My staff very rarely make it out of the office unless theyre going to go and collect another prison whos been detailed on our behalf by store detectives (Sergeant). 3.9.8 Vulnerable Vehicle Scheme This scheme, run jointly by the CCMT and the police, aims to reduce the amount of vehicle crime. The Vulnerable Vehicle Scheme has been launched in tandem with the Keep Em Out Vehicle Crime Campaign (Sheffield First for Safety Partnership 2004e section 5.3.2). If people leave something valuable in their car a note will be put on their windscreen and a note entered at the [police] station. If it happens again, then they will be sent a letter warning them that their car insurance could be invalidated if they leave things out in the car in open invitation to be stolen. (Crime Reduction Adviser). We do, from time to time, work in individual car parks and run some pre-emptive schemes so we will put an ambassador in there and just proactively talk to people about vehicle crime and just remind them about what they can do to help themselves. We have little information packs that we put out about vehicle crime. (CCMT). The Scheme is not universally popular with vehicle drivers: Some phone up to say thank you, others phone up to say havent you better things to do. (Crime Reduction Adviser). We do get one or two [drivers], well more than that to be honest, who write back and say its none of your business, Ill do what I want. But the police are currently looking at ways of contacting insurance companies and saying that weve notified this person and given them two strikes and hopefully the insurance company will back them up and increase the premium or warn the driver. (CCMT) Whether or not the scheme is always popular, it is attempting to tackle one of the most persistent types of crime in the city. 3.9.9 Operation Induction Students are a soft target for robbery. They come back from Christmas with the latest I-Pod and will be surprised when they are mugged for it. Crime reduction adviser p.8). The police offer advisory sessions to new students such as Operation Induction, carried out when the students first come to university, most recently, in September 2004. The training sessions with students cover basic crime prevention aspects like locking the doors to their rooms, looking after their belongings, not flaunting the latest mobile phones when they are out (Crime Reduction Adviser). 4.0 Business/Retailing Community: Differences of opinion within the business and retailing community in Sheffield resulted in the formation of two separate bodies more than 40 years ago, The Chamber of Trade and The Chamber of Commerce. By the early 1990s, the inchoate nature of the business community was noted as well as its resulting dependence on the local authority (Lawless 1994 p.1320). In 2004, the two Chambers agreed to amalgamate and are now subsumed within the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI). A confusing number of business organisations have been amalgamated and formed in the last year in Sheffield. 4.0.1 Retail Forum Sheffields Chamber of Commerce announced the launch of a Retail Forum as part of its activities in July 2004 (Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and Industry 2004a). SCCI further announced that Meadowhall Shopping Centre would be sponsoring the Excellence in Business Awards. It is not clear whether this forum has now been subsumed within other groups such as the Sheffield Retailers Association. 4.0.2 Sheffield Retailers Association (SRA) In addition to the SCCI, a new unified retail association, the SRA, has been formed with more than 65 retailers attending the event. SRA has been hailed as the dawn of a new era in shopping and a catalyst in establishing Sheffield as the heart of retail in Yorkshire. (SCCI Association marks beginning of new era in Sheffield shopping, Events News 20.09.04). The aim of the association will be to drive forward a vibrant and thriving economy (President SCCI) and kickstart the revitalisation of Sheffield as a retail Mecca (Businesswoman, Julie Gash) (Sheffield Chamber of Commerce & Industry 2004c). The SRA can play a particular role in giving a voice to the smaller retailers in the city centre. One of the benefits of members of the SRA offered to members will be advice on security and protection from theft and fraud (Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and Industry 2004d). 4.0.3 City Centre Retailers Association (CCRA) Recently formed under the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce is the City Centre Retailers Association. It will have a core group with four or five sub-groups to cover environment, safety, marketing and promotion which the CCMT will chair. The hope is that they will help us on policy and service planning. It is open to all, including businesses. (CCMT) 4.0.4 City Centre Business Group (CCBG) The CCBG was also launched in 2004 to help the city become one of the UKs most vibrant areas (Sheffield City Council 2004l). Initiated by the SCCI, it is a joint venture with the city council, supported by the citys urban regeneration company, Sheffield One. The Business Group has two representatives from five key sectors: retail, leisure/entertainment, creative digital/media, professional services and property (Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and Industry 2004d). 4.0.5 Business in the Community (BITC) This is a pilot scheme for a city-wide partnership comprising Sheffield First, Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Sheffield Employers Forum together with Business in the Community. A Business Broker for Sheffield has recently been appointed. The aim of BITC is to help businesses and communities to work together and play a significant role in Sheffields social and economic regeneration (www.bitc.org.uk) 4.0.6 Other Retailer Associations There is also a Devonshire Quarters Retailers Association, sometimes called the Retailers Forum, which is linked in with the City Centre Retailers Group. In addition there is the Markets Retailers Group and The Moor Retailers Group. 4.0.7 Business/Retail/Council Partnerships It would be surprising if the lack of unity within the business and retailing community had not negatively affected the degree of partnership with the city council. At the same time, as mentioned earlier, the critical stance taken towards the city council by the business community in the late 1980s and early 1990s (Lawless 1994 p.1315) also needs to be taken into account when considering the level of partnership working within the city. Recently, however, the leaders of the three main political parties in Sheffield have pledged to maintain close links with the business community (Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and Industry 2004b). Leader of the Council, Jan Wilson, has also been reported as saying that in terms of relations with the business community there was good input from the private sector at the highest level at a time when the public sector was investing massively in the city (Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and Industry 2004b). It has been suggested that there is no underlying real relationship, day-to-day relationship with the business community in the city (Councillor.). However, there has clearly been some support from individual businesses and organisations in taking forward the regeneration initiatives in the city with, for example, local business and retailer representation on the board of Sheffield One. 4.1 Business/Retailer Initiatives: 4.1.1 Events The lack of unity in the business and retail community is likely to have reduced the joint initiatives undertaken by them in the city centre. SCCI has, however, been proactive in staging and arranging a number of recent events like the Love2B celebration with entertainment and activities around St. Valentines Day 2005 sponsored by the Derbyshire Building Society. The annual Sheffield Business Awards in which businesses are judged on their commitment to the city and the effect and impact they have in driving the success of Sheffield business forward are hosted by the SCCI also help promote the city. Events have tended to be organised by individual retailers rather than as a result of co-operative activity (Retail manager). 4.1.2 Responsible Retailers Scheme Participation in the Responsible Retailers Scheme (see above) is another way in which retailers demonstrate their commitment to the city and its shopping environment. 4.1.3 RadioNet A partnership between the CCMT, South Yorkshire Police, the CCTV system has established a crime reduction group: The City Centre Retailers Against Crime (CCRAC), which is a radio network for retail stores. The group is chaired by the CCMT and issues such as ASBOs, street drinkers, shoplifters are discussed. From this forum the CCMT are able to co-ordinate all our activities very much on a pre-planned basis. (CCMT). All the ambassadors and the city centre management team have a multi-channel radio, which is on the CCRAC network (CCMT). So all shops on the CCRAC network in the city centre, all store detectives, some sales assistants have access to control the CCTV, the ambassadors. We very much assist police and the retail crime squad were their eyes and ears on the ground so that when they [shoplifters] come out of a store, we follow them with CCTV and if it goes off the CCTV, well follow them to get a vision on them and relay that to the police. It is really a key part and works well. (CCMT). The radios cost 300 plus there is a monthly charge of 5. At the monthly CCRAC meetings, photographs of convicted shoplifters are circulated but not named. They cannot be posted out to retailers because of the Data Protection Act. 4.2 EVALUATION 4.2.1 Regeneration: A Moving Target How successful are the regeneration initiatives in Sheffield? Given the substantial number of developments, initiatives and policies underway and planned for the immediate future in Sheffield, it is extremely difficult to evaluate the impact of what has already taken place. The target, as it were, is constantly moving. The noisy, dirty, visually unappealing but anticipatory phase of the city centre re-development is taking place. Some impressive projects like the Winter Gardens have already been completed. There is a measure of excitement as to how Sheffield will look when it is all finished. However, the developmental phase will continue for a number of years while some projects are due to be completed in 2005. Inevitably the building work will be a deterrent to some of those considering visiting the city, but for others the future is promising: The whole city centre Sheffield by this time next year will be completely different, so I think that will give more reason to shop in the city centre as you prove to people here that things are changing and isnt it a wonderful future. So at the moment they just see the roadworks, they dont see the wonderful new road at the end of it. (Store manager) Evaluation, necessarily, has to focus on what is planned as well as what has been accomplished. It will inevitably be a snapshot in time and should be viewed as such. 4.2.2 Baseline Surveys While the building work goes on, a number of surveys have been conducted in the city centre which, while they are not evidence of the success or otherwise of the developments, provide a baseline for future evaluations of Sheffields regeneration. Comments by the respondents on the particular aspects surveyed will also be presented. 4.2.3 Survey: Fear of Crime The City Centre Management Team started undertaking Fear of Crime Surveys, the first one in March 2004, the second in November 2004. A sample of 100 pedestrians in the city centre are asked how safe they feel in various locations in the city centre during the day (Fargate, the Peace Gardens, The Moor, Devonshire Green and Haymarket). Simple comparison of the two surveys may be misleading as the perceptions may vary according to the length of day, the weather, media stories, etc. most valuable comparison will be when the March 2004 survey is repeated in March 2005. In all five locations, more said they felt unsafe in November compared with the previous March. There were more female respondents than male in the November survey and this may have affected the results (61% female compared to 39% male). The city centre was reported to be better or much better than other areas in Sheffield by over two thirds of the respondents. A greater number of respondents had been a victim of street crime in November compared with March. The reasons for feeling unsafe in the city centre were broadly the same for the two surveys, with the exception being street drinking. In November, a third of respondents mentioned street drinking as making them feel unsafe compared with 13% in March. Fear of street robbery and youth nuisance were exactly the same in both surveys. Begging and the reputation of the city centre were both slightly higher in November than in March. The November survey showed that the environment of the city centre was seen to have slightly improved compared to March. In line with the newspaper survey (see below), nearly half of the respondents felt that more police patrols could help alleviate their fears of the city centre. In November, more respondents wanted a greater number of CCTV cameras while in March slightly more respondents wanted more non-police patrols, enhancement of the environment and harsher punishment for offenders. However, fear of crime is not felt by retailers to be important for shoppers using the city centre. A comparison with Nottingham was made: when I have gone there and the sort of volume of undesirables that you see on the streets whether its beggars or gangs of youths on street corners, you dont really see that. Certainly not in the city centre. It doesnt feel like a dangerous place to come and shop. (Store manager). 4.2.4 Crime Statistics: The perception of safety in the city centre is also reflected in the recent police statistics. Robbery of personal property in Sheffield was down by 34% in the past year (www.southyorks.police.uk/students/). Violent crime is reported to have risen by 9% in the year ending 30th September 2004 (Sheffield First for Safety Partnership 2004h section 4.1.1) but Sheffield still performs best in the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships family of comparable cities (Sheffield First for Safety Partnership 2004h section 4.1.6; for a list of the cities, see Sheffield First for Safety Partnership 2004e). If people come into Sheffield now, Id be very surprised if they didnt feel very safe because the chances of them being subject to any sort of crime are very very small indeed, both in terms of street crime, robberies, theft from person, bad-snatching type offences and being assaulted (Inspector). 4.2.5 Vehicle crime: Crime in relation to vehicles has been an issue in Sheffield for a number of years. Vehicle crime in Sheffield is high and increases in the statistics are recorded regularly with theft from vehicles being the most frequent crime (Sheffield First for Safety Partnership 2004b). The most vulnerable cars are those parked on streets: smash and grab. People leave things in their care on display. We are the worst of the Core Cities for vehicle crime. The police are now shifting their targets to include vehicle crime. Its been displaced from street crime. It is very easy to do, just smash the window, get in and grab the stuff, whatever, it is an easy crime, it just takes a couple of second and even if the CCTV spots you, its too late because by the time anyone can get to the scene, youll be a couple of miles away. (CCMT). The high level of vehicle crime has led to a number of initiatives including the recently launched Vulnerable Vehicle campaign which is felt to have been successful as the level of car crime has gone down. (Crime Reduction Adviser). A Vehicle Crime Reduction Group has also been set up (CCMT). One ambassador commented that about 50 people are responsible for all the car crime and he went onto to suggest jokingly: Beam them onto another planet and there would be no problems. There are plans to build multi-storey car parks in the centre and to construct them to Secured by Design standards (CCMT). 4.2.6 Newspaper Reader Survey A survey of 300 readers carried out by local newspaper, The Star, in late 2004 reported that 83% said there were not enough policeman in their communities and on the citys streets (Anonymous 2004h). However as the Chief Constable was reported as saying: Public demand for patrolling police officers is inexhaustible. No matter how many officers we placed out, I think there would always be demand for more. We have more out on operational police work than we have ever had. We dont only have the largest number of officers South Yorkshire has ever had but the largest percentage on operational duties. (Anonymous 2004h). Although public demand for police officers may be insatiable, there does appear to be greater public confidence in the criminal justice system as The South Yorkshire Justice Board has recently reported a rise in confidence from 39% to 42% (Anonymous 2004g). Given the number of responsible persons to be found in the city centre in Sheffield: ambassadors, PCSOs and police officers, the results of the The Stars reader survey are surprising. The visible presence of responsible persons on Sheffields city centre streets has evidently been successful if the number of requests, for example, to increase the hours ambassadors work or the services they provide are anything to go by. Although their presence may not always be recognised by members of the public, the retailers are appreciative of their presence (see below). 4.2.7 Survey: City Centre Footfall The number of pedestrians using Fargate and Pinstone Street (the main shopping thoroughfare in Sheffield) is counted as part of the monitoring of city centre performance by the CCMT. High levels of pedestrians during the October half term 2004 and the weeks before Christmas have fallen substantially during January 2005. For example for the week commencing 27th September 2004 the footfall total was 270,167 in Fargate compared with 180,646 in Fargate for the week commencing 24th January 2005. The comparable figures for Pinstone Street are 137,713 and 101,732 (www.Sheffield.gov.uk). These figures are disappointing but Sheffield may not be alone in experiencing a downturn. Recent surveys have suggested that the retail sector has had a poor January and that the sector generally is not buoyant (Finch 2005). Within Sheffield, retailers were not expecting any growth in footfall until the NRQ is completed (Store manager). There is also the presence of Meadowhall which is seen as continuing to negatively affect retailing in the city (Retail manager). 4.2.8 Survey: The City Centre Ambassadors The above survey by the CCMT also covered the perception of respondents of the ambassadors. By November more respondents were aware of the city centre ambassadors (69% compared with 65% in March) yet at the same time more respondents were not aware of the ambassadors in November 21% compared with 18% in March. Awareness of the duties of the ambassadors was variable and also there was a difference between March and November. The best known aspects of the ambassadors roles were their high visibility presence and offering information and directions. In November other duties of the ambassadors were less well known than in March: reducing street crime, security of key facilities, graffiti removal, used-syringe removal, help keeping streets litter free and the issuing of fixed penalty notices. It is difficult to interpret these figures. The respondents were not asked, for example, whether they would like more ambassadors per se on the city streets. The differences may reflect the sample, the media coverage given to the ambassadors or the presence of other uniformed staff in the city centre like Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs). What other data from the CCMT show is that the ambassadors responded to many more requests for information in 2004 (and that was not for a full year) compared with 2003; the ambassadors carried out more high profile patrols to hot-spots, acted on abandoned/untaxed vehicles and other anti-social behaviour. It looked as though there might be a slight reduction in the numbers of beggars/street drinkers who were approached, in the number of sharps collected and in the number of skate-boarders/cyclists given advice. The ambassadors also undertook two new roles in 2004: having a visible presence on public transport and undertaking joint patrols with the police. 4.2.9 Retailers views of the ambassadors: The ambassadors are perceived favourably by city centre retailers interviewed and the roles that ambassadors carry out are seen as beneficial to the city. The comments range from: Very visible, tremendous. (Store manager) to I think the ambassadors do a jolly good job in keeping a nice, safe city centre. (Store manager). I think theyre a positive thing. I think its good for visitors and regular customers to know that theyre about and for them to approach. Obviously, theyre helpful and they can ask directions and advice, but theyll move people on that shouldnt be there, theyll respond if theres if someone takes a tumble in the street, inevitably theyll be there first, doing a bit of first aid and radioing. I think theyre a positive thing. Its a bit about the city centre actually conversing with its population and its a front for them. (Store manager) The presence of the ambassadors is stimulating more demand for them so that they are now being given more and more work. People are asking them to do more and more things, like they now get involved with shop lifters. (CCMT). Extending the presence of ambassadors into the evening and even the night-time was also suggested by the Store managers. I wouldnt say that theres no crime at all, I would say that night-time is an issue and its petty crime, [] its not the stabbings or things like that, its vandalism really more than anything, so thats the thing. If there were a higher presence of those ambassadors or whoever or better CCTV to make it a safer place during the evening. (Store manager) The possibility of extending the hours of the ambassadors has been considered by the CCMT but funding remains an issue. That, to be honest, is a challenge for us. How do we sustain the team as it is now, beyond 2006? (CCMT). The possibility of using BID status to seek funding for the ambassadors was suggested by a number of respondents as well as by the CCMT. 4.2.10 Criticisms of the Ambassadors A complaint about the ambassadors was voiced in relation to The Moor: The ambassadors dont come down here as much as they should. They spend more time up in Fargate. (Retail manager). Also, a perceived shift of emphasis in the development of the role of ambassadors has come in for criticism. I think they [the ambassadors] look semi-military. In Liverpool, they wear baseball caps, bright colours, set up stores, give out maps, give out information [] You know theyre there, you know they are linked into the police but theyre also much more friendly, much more helpful, much more about treating you as an individual, get round and enjoy the experience of their city centre. (Councillor) You see them in Sheffield, walking round with basically two or three together, walkie-talkie on patrol. Part of it IS about maintaining safety and having a presence, its not about policing necessarily. Its about saying here is a friendly person to help you to get you round the city centre. (Councillor). The presence of two police officers in the ambassadors offices, seconded to work with the ambassadorial team and to give them advice and some training, suggests that a comment about the ambassadors being pseudo-police (Councillor) is not ill-founded. The recent addition to ambassadors roles of undertaking joint patrols suggests that their policing role is further increasing. 4.2.11 Surveys: Retail Ratings Gerald Eves ratings for the retail score of individual towns and cities throughout the UK places Sheffield 20th, with Manchester 5th and Londons West End being first. Based on the quantity, quality and functionality (parking, transport, environment, accessibility, security, etc.), it covers all those cities and towns in the UK and Ireland that have a genuine regional pull and retail profile. (Gerald Eve 2004). So it seems that the 4th largest city in the UK is ranked 20th in retail attraction, a comparison which illustrates the challenge facing the city. I think Sheffield is 37th and in population terms in England it is the fourth largest city in England so there is a HUGE disparity there (Store manager). There has been no change in Sheffields retail ranking for 2004 when compared with 2003 (Gerald Eve 2004). However, the future for Sheffield is not looking good according to some commentators. Gerald Eve has assessed the extent to which towns and city will improve their appeal relative to other major retail centres over the next five years. The firm takes careful account of the disruption caused by the construction of new shopping centres as, of course, taking account of their full ultimate impact (Gerald Eve 2004). The five-year retail prospects for Sheffield have been assessed as negative, alongside Bristol, the only other city to have negative prospects. This will be a disappointing forecast for Sheffields residents and city council but one which still has to be shown to be correct. It follows earlier assessments of Sheffield which have shown the city to be lagging behind the core cities and the region (ECOTEC 2002). However, as noted above, the population of Sheffield is forecast to increase substantially in the next few years (ECOTEC 2002) which may, in turn, help revitalise the city. The city is well on its way to winning back the affluent leisure consumer, a task that will be enhanced by the high number of city living units coming on stream in 2003. (Knight Frank 2003 p.4). In Spring 2003, Knight Frank commented that the city centre environment is improving by leaps and bounds and city living is changing the face of the city centre (Knight Frank 2003 p.1). The research by Knight Frank showed that office employment will increase over the medium-term, with the majority of growth channelled towards the CBD [Central Business district]. (Knight Frank 2003 p.3). The retail rental performance of Sheffield is 19th in the UK, outside of London, compared with Manchester 4th and Leeds 3rd (www.joneslanglasalle.co.uk/). There was optimism from some quarters: Certainly if you look at rents, for example, from a business point of view, they are very low in Sheffield but actually sort of increasing, so there are people that are coming to Sheffield at the moment, over the next few years which will improve things and many more businesses, and I think that is what is going to sustain it in the longer term. [] The new office block near the Winter Gardens is a good example of that where I think they are breaking 18, 18.50 per square foot which is much higher than we have ever had before. (Store manager). 4.3 Audit Commission Inspection The Audit Commission undertook an audit of Cultural Services in Sheffield in 2004. Overall the Commission assessed the council as providing a good, two-star service that has promising prospects for improvement. (Audit Commission 2004 p.4). However, There are no detailed plans for how the new city regeneration company, Creative Sheffield, will deliver the vision for the city, or what the contribution of cultural services will be. (Audit Commission 2004 p.5). The overarching priority of Creative Sheffield, the local strategic partnership, is to close the gap between the most affluent and most deprived areas of the city. (Audit Commission 2004 p.7). Given the findings about economic regeneration (see above), the lack of detailed plans is disappointing. 4.3.1 Audit Commission: Sport and Culture The Commission reports that despite having the major sporting venues (built for the Student Games), the financial burden which resulted from these facilities has, until now, resulted in a lack of confidence to develop such an ambitious vision for culture. (Audit Commission 2004 p.10). Nevertheless, the economic impact of events such as the World Snooker Championships is reported to be 2.26 million on the local economy, while that of the citys theatres amounted to 22 million (Audit Commission 2004 p.11). 4.3.2 Audit Commission: Marketing The Audit Commission found that the council is less effective in the promotion of cultural activities beyond the city (Audit Commission 2004 p.15). The lack of investment in an effective tourist information service inhibits the ability to promote events and activities regionally and nationally, and culture is not effectively marketed as an element of what the city has to offer visitors (Audit Commission 2004 p.15). Given that Sheffields offer, to attract shoppers and visitors, as well as inward investment, has to encompass a number of different elements, this finding is disappointing. If the city cannot differentiate its offer from those of its competitors then it will not successfully attract visitors or shoppers. Proactive marketing of the citys programme of events and the numerous activities it does organise seems to be vital to encourage greater attention to the city. The contribution which the Winter Gardens, Peace Gardens and Millenium Galleries had made to increased property prices as well as increased pride and confidence in the city was noted in the Commission s report (2004 p.11). This must be welcome news for a city that has to convince its residents it is improving. The Commission did also find that the annual programme of summer sport and play activities had been accompanied by a reduction in juvenile crime and anti-social behaviour (Audit Commission 2004 p.11). 4.3.3 Retailers and Marketing Reservations and criticisms of the current marketing efforts in Sheffield were also made by the retailers interviewed: Take the World Firefighter Games, the worlds best kept secret more like. There was no publicity but it was a really prestigious event. WFG are going to Hong Kong next year and I bet they are already publicising the event. We dont get any marketing [] its as though we didnt exist. If they [the city council] dont organise the event then it gets no coverage at all. The council only cover their own activities not private ones. (Retail manager) One retailer felt the above comment was a little unfair: I think sometimes from my experience the Council have been marketing events and theres maybe been only one or two retailers that have supported them (Store manager). Another Store manager said that the retailers didnt really feel that we had him [the individual responsible for marketing in the city council] working for us, if you know what I mean, batting on our side. (Store manager). I dont think it [Sheffield] is particularly good at marketing itself. I am conscious that theres lots of things going on. I dont know all of it, I can see hotels being built, I can see the millennium galleries being built and the old buildings are being pulled down and new buildings are going up. I know theres lots going on but Im not convinced that were doing enough to tell people about it in the longer term. Even on a short-term basis, I think we could do more. (Store manager) Clearly the council has organised a number of successful events, which could have attracted larger audiences and media attention had they been marketed actively. The relatively marginalised presence of tourist information must account for some of this failure. Overall, however, there is an evident need for Sheffield to be marketed more effectively. 4.3.4 Marketing: Creative Sheffield: The setting up of Creative Sheffield, with a major part of its role identified as the marketing of the city, is evidence that the city council is aware of the need to improve the citys profile: locally, regionally, nationally and internationally As noted above, the Audit Commission expressed concern about the lack of detail in the plans for Creative Sheffield. The membership of Creative Sheffield has been identified as predominantly public sector people, people who are on existing quangos and Quango musical chairs while the absence of representatives from new and successful local businesses lamented (Councillor). The people theyve got there are the same people who have got us where we are. (Councillor). Only time will tell whether it will be a successful initiative but the negative views amongst retailers of the marketing of the city and only the usual suspects heading up Creative Sheffield are causes for concern. 4.4 Sheffield City Council Itself The city council has not remained static in recent years. The city council as an organisation has changed significantly over the last five or six years, particularly, well its not new any longer, but the Chief Executive and the executive management team have really turned around the council as an organisation. I think it ranking terms were currently ranking good with the potential to move to excellent. (CCMT) A Labour stronghold throughout the gloomy days of the 1980s and 1990s, from 1999 to 2002 political control of Sheffield passed to the Liberal-Democrats. This meant changes in the city council and in the approaches taken to regeneration although there appears to be broad agreement about the Vision per se (Councillors). The combative nature of the relationships between the two political parties remains, fuelled by the debt from the Student Games, and perhaps also by the closely run competition (Labour holds 47 wards compared with 44 wards by the Liberal Democrats). The Chief Executive, Bob Kerslake, appears to be well regarded across the political party divide and it is his Vision which guides the regeneration process (Councillor). However, there are tensions within the controlling Labour Party between Old and New Labour (Councillor). The delicate balancing act required in running the city council with the various divisions and animosities needs to be recognised. Criticisms of the management style of the council have been made. There have been a lot of opportunities that have come along and weve [the city council] not been entrepreneurial enough to grab them (Councillor). Thus, the divided city council and, in particular the Labour group, are blamed for the very slow progress of regeneration in Sheffield. In the meantime other cities are marching ahead of us. (Councillor). There is a cautiousness amongst the administration [which] is also a cautiousness among the senior managers within the council. All officers are cautious, thats what they are supposed to be hang on, itll be easier is we do this, were safe if we do that (Councillor). Council officers are facing new roles. For thirty years, council officers have had to be reactive and play it safe: they have not been agents of change. Now they are expected to be proactive, imaginative and helping to lead the regeneration of their cities, it is not surprising if this is not always easy. 4.4.1 Sheffield City Councils Evaluation: jobs and the economy The Sheffield City Strategy Progress Report was published in November 2004 and gives an evaluation of what has been achieved in the city and what is planned (Sheffield City Council 2004m). Not surprisingly perhaps the best gloss is put on the achievements of the city. The economy is said to be showing clear signs of revival. It has been growing at 3.6% a year, faster than the regional average and keeping pace with most of Englands major cities. (Sheffield City Council 2004m p.4). Unemployment has also fallen but is still above the national average although one of the lowest amongst the major cities (Sheffield City Council 2004m p.4). New job creation is running at 4,500 per annum with 2,000 from inward investment in Sheffield (Sheffield City Council 2004m p.9), figures which have been said to be greatly inflated by some councillors (Councillor). The formation of 26 new businesses linked to the commercialisation of university research since November 2003 is also reported. It is acknowledged that these figures do not yet represent the transformation required to make Sheffield the modern knowledge-based economy which we seek. (Sheffield City Council 2004m p.4). A key challenge is increasing further the number of jobs available (Sheffield City Council 2004m p.10) and, in particular, building the number of knowledge-based jobs to enable the city to compete in the new global market (Sheffield City Council 2004m p.11). The report acknowledges that the city is lagging behind other major cities in job density (p.10). It is the need for more jobs which underpins the other challenges identified by the Council such as growing the gross domestic product, developing knowledge based jobs and developing existing manufacturing, technological and business clusters (Sheffield City Council 2004m p.11). Given that Sheffields vision emphasises the primacy of jobs, this is quite a set-back to its regeneration strategy. 4.4.2 Sheffield City Councils Evaluation: education and the economy Improvements in school results together with a number of strategies for future improvements are identified by the council. More soberly, the Audit Commission, one month earlier, reported that: Educational attainment levels are below the national average, as are levels of literacy and numeracy amongst the adult population. (Audit Commission 2004 p.7). Education is a key aspect of regeneration and a local labour force that it not able to fill the jobs that may come up will substantially reduce the ability of Sheffield to re-invent itself. 4.4.3 Sheffield City Councils Evaluation: crime Overall, recorded crime is reported to have fallen by 6% during 2003/2004 according to the Progress Report. There has been an increase in violent crime but there are big reductions in robbery (34%), domestic burglary (30%) and vehicle crime (9%), trends which are also being continued into 2004/2005. Theft from a vehicle remains a concern because the government target has not been met. Mention is made of the Trailblazer scheme which is tackling anti-social behaviour which, it is noted, has become a priority (Sheffield City Council 2004m p.4). Local Partnership Teams are to be established to address anti-social behaviour and low-level crime. In addition, a Business Crime Advisors network is to be set up. 4.4.4 Sheffield City Councils Evaluation: Rhetoric and Reality There is clearly a need to talk up the citys efforts at regeneration. Much damage can be done to local morale if undue pessimism is expressed. Thus, in February 2005, Sheffield City Council announced: Sheffield economic growth outstrips London. Sheffield has joined the premier league of major UK cities in terms of economic growth, outstripping that of London. Sheffield First Partnership, the citys regeneration organisation, has released recent Government data which demonstrates Sheffields economy is now worth over 7 billion a year and is growing at a rate of 6% annually, second only to its sister Yorkshire city of Leeds. (Sheffield City Council 2005c). In an election year, in a council where relations between the two main parties have historically been poor the achievements do have to have accentuated. However, the talking up of what has been accomplished has to be balanced by the need to match the talk with the reality or the cynicism of the local population could re-surface. This, after all, is a city whose residents and businesses are still paying 25 million each year for hosting the 1991 World Student Games. 4.5 Economic Regeneration: Britain and The North Evaluating the extent to which Sheffield is effecting an economic regeneration needs to be seen in the light of what is happening to other major cities outside London. A recent report has identified the growing importance of provincial city-regions to regional growth and productivity (SURF 2004 section 2.3). However, it was found that the overall trend is toward the concentration of economic weight and productivity within the expanding London super-region (SURF 2004 section 2.3). In the SURF report, 2004, the Northern Way as a single region performed moderately poorly during the 1995-2001 period (SURF 2004 section 4.2). The best performing city-regions in the Northern Way are grouped around the western half of the M62. Sheffield is not located there. 4.5.1 Economic Regeneration: New residents and retail As mentioned above, developers need to have a substantial resident market or the promise of one before they invest in a city centre. The projects underway in Sheffield anticipate a substantial growth in residents. Currently A lot of people in the London market are actually buying properties in Sheffield purely as a property investment, speculatively. (Councillor). For retailers as well, their growth area is probably the people that live and work in the city centre. (Store manager). Thus, the elements of the regeneration are interdependent: attracting developers, attracting residents and attracting shoppers. 4.5.2 Economic Regeneration: Private Sector or Public Sector Led? Public sector investment has been of crucial importance in boosting the city-regions in the North of England (SURF 2004 section 3.3). A substantial proportion of the investment in Sheffield has, and looks as though it will continue to, come from the public sector. Indeed the Home Office has been planning to come to although that was before Gordon Brown announced there would be a reduction of civil service jobs (Councillor). We have one in three jobs in the public sector which is the highest of any city or town in the country (Councillor). The expectation in the early 1990s was that the re-generation of the city would be private-sector led (Foley & Lawless 1992 p.xvi). Indeed, the Urban Development Corporations were formed in the 1980s to encourage a greater role for the private sector in the regeneration of Northern cities. Today, Sheffields economy has been described as having a structural weakness in that so many people are reliant on the public sector (Councillor). If the public sector investment is not being backed up, shored up and actually taken over eventually by private sector investment then what were going to be left with is nice buildings, nice squares, nice open green spaces but were still going to have people unemployed, were still going to have GDP below [] our competitor cities are and Sheffield is not going to meet its full potential. I think that is still a major worry and for example, some of the private sector investment that is coming in like the hotel isnt going to significantly transform the economy. (Councillor). 4.5.3 Economic Regeneration: Attracting Inward Investment The lack of effective marketing of the city to inward investors mentioned earlier has been a serious flaw in the regeneration of Sheffield but one which may be overcome through the activities of Creative Sheffield. The cautious approach taken by the city council to regeneration has also been blamed for the lack of inward investment. A lack of drive and active leadership within the council is said to be reflected in the stance taken by the planning department: theyre not problem solving, theyre problem creating. [] the planning department are not proactive, dont understand business, dont help business, dont facilitate business in actually coming. (Councillor). 4.6 The Retail Environment All the retailers who were interviewed agreed that the present retail offer was not sufficiently attractive to shoppers: I just dont understand why anyone would come here when they could go to Leeds or Manchester. Theres just nothing here. There are a lot of High Street names missing. (Retail manager). Just what is there to draw people into Sheffield? (Store manager). If you live within 30 miles within Sheffield at the moment and you wanted to come shopping, why would you come to the city centre at the moment? (Store manager). Simply rearranging the location of the retailers who are already present in the city centre will not be enough to improve the retail offer of the city according to these retailers. 4.6.1 Meadowhall Interestingly, none of the retailers saw Meadowhall as offering competition to the city centre: Meadowhall is mainly sort of what I would classify as High Street traditional not top end. [] I think they need to be seen as different offers. The offer in the city centre needs to be different to complement Meadowhall rather than just to fight against it. (Store manager). M & S has got used to the fact that the two stores should complement each other were here to serve a purpose, Meadowhall is there to serve their purpose. Actually, were not competing for customers, we share the same customers. (Store manager). The success of Meadowhall is acknowledged, it is after all a top ten store within the business (Store manager). Meadowhall is a glorified high street under a roof. [] They certainly dont see themselves as an upmarket shopping experience. (Store manager). However, Sheffield has introduced some car parking charges of 1 per hour which increases the attractiveness of Meadowhalls free car parking: I think cost is a big issue and people are price sensitive. I mean why would I come into the city centre for a second rate shopping experience when I can go to Meadowhall for a better shopping experience and it will cost me nothing to park. (Councillor). 4.6.2 Marketing Retailing in Sheffield As noted elsewhere, Sheffield markets its city centre retailing alongside that of Meadowhall despite there being an element of competition between the two locations. The presence of stores with outlets in the city centre and Meadowhall means that these stores direct their customers from one store to another (Store manager). (In another part of the UK, when a store in an out-of-town shopping centre wanted to expand, it knew it would not be allowed to do so because of the competition it offered a nearby city centre. The sister store in the city centre then expanded its floor-space arguing that sales were booming. Planning permission was granted. A subsequent application from the out-of-town store to similarly increase its retail floor-space could not then be refused by the local planning department. The moral being that stores own interests come first, they can only afford limited loyalty to the city or other location in which are based.) The stores themselves do not lose out. However, it could be argued that when customers have once been re-directed to Meadowhall, they may be less likely to return. The attractiveness of free parking, the ease with which large items like white goods can be purchased, the presence of a creche, and a generally child-welcoming approach were mentioned as strong attractors to Meadowhall both in the interviews and in public meetings in Sheffield. It is the offer which Meadowhall makes that has to be countered by the city itself. Nevertheless, a number of interviewees felt that there are opportunities in linking up with Meadowhall: One of the tricks that I dont think weve mastered yet, from either ourselves or Meadowhall, is actually marketing the container as a whole marketing Sheffield as retail destination [because] theres a potential untapped market actually looking at joint initiatives together. (CCMT). This view is shared by a number of Council members both Liberal Democrat and Labour (Councillor). While it may be possible to market Sheffield for Shopping or some such slogan, it might be useful to recall the recommendations of the retail consultants not to permit any further retail development at Meadowhall (Cushman et al 2002). For one store, which had no outlet at Meadowhall, the need for Sheffield to promote itself was identified: We definitely need to get ourselves organised and working cohesively. Thats a must. I think what we need is for the city centre to do a bit more about the marketing of the city. (Store manager). For some commentators, loyal to the city centre, there is no contest, Meadowhall becomes Meadowhell (www.VirtualTourist.com). 4.6.3 Absence of Quality Retailers All the retailers interviewed were again unanimous as to what was lacking in Sheffields retail offer: - The city centre in particular is very run-down, its very lacking in brands particularly the middle to upper end of the spectrum really (Store manager) - I think its missing quality retailers to attract people to seriously come and spend the day in Sheffield shopping. It doesnt have anything that anywhere else doesnt have. (Store manager) - Designers, boutiques, something thats a bit different for the more affluent customer who is not as time-precious and not as cost-conscious, but enjoys a good day out shopping and wants to go somewhere where theyll see something a bit different and a bit unusual. (Store manager) - No matter how many hotels they build and galleries and museums and peace gardens and . They all make the place look more modern and more fresh and a bit better, but from a retail point of view, I dont think the city has started to move out of this, theres nothing here really thats any different to anywhere else. (Store manager) 4.6.4 The Benefits of Competition The presence of more up-market retailers would help provide more competition for the retailers in the city centre. Greater competition would be welcomed by the managers of the larger stores because it would improve our sales and our proposition. (Store manager). Examples of the way in which the opening of a new store attracted more shoppers to existing stores were given. While none of the managers was actually complaining about the current level of sales, they would like to increase them and they welcomed the challenge of competition: Oh, Im desperate for competition, absolutely desperate. Thats the greatest lets be really honest, (Store manager). Another Store manager mentioned the benefits that new retailers can bring citing a new store opening in Sheffield where they were worried that it was going to affect business and actually it had the reverse effect business actually picked up. So I think that maybe somebody new coming in the city actually helped to bring some new people in as well. (Store manager). 4.6.5 Attracting Quality Retailers The retailers interviewed have identified for themselves how Sheffield needs to develop. The need for the city to attract top quality retailers was also mentioned by a city councillor who felt that the city council had to get the city centre right, with diversity, and foster certain retailers coming in, one of the top three, diverse, high-niche retailers, developing some of what I call the posher areas, the more salubrious areas of the city centre (Councillor). The council is aware of the need to attract quality retailers. However, it is not evident from any of the projects being undertaken by Sheffield One or from the supporting documentation as to how top-end or quality retailers are actually going to be attracted to Sheffield. Marketing alone may not be enough. It is likely that the Council will need to offer competitive terms to any retailers considering a move into the New Retail Quarter and even to other retailing areas of the city centre whether these are special deals on business rates, reduced rentals or other sweeteners. There may not be a precedent for this in Sheffield. One retailer suggested that the city councils perception in the 1990s of Meadowhall as the big enemy had meant it failed to identify the needs of the quality, old-established retailers in the city who were then going out of business because of unrealistic and continuing increases in rents (Store manager). However, in 2005 it is quite clear that new retailers need to be actively encouraged to open a store in Sheffield especially in the light of the poor predictions for the city noted above. It may be, as one retailer suggests, that it will result from the elusive snowball effect: It needs a bit of a snowball effect, I suppose. Who is going to come if they are going to be there on their own and maybe a whole new building and obviously getting as many people as possible interested in what it is going to look like, what its going to feel like and what its going to attract and if they can get a critical mass of these then Harvey Nichols will come along or whomever, then word starts to spread and suddenly people thing well, if theyre going to be there, then we need to be there? What the catalyst for that is, Im not sure. (Store manager). 4.7 Retail Crime An interesting finding in relation to retail crime is that the losses in Sheffield amount to only 1.3% compared to 5.85 in the West End in London (Gerald Eve 2004). However, the police in Sheffield suggest that the losses are substantial: I cant imagine there are any official statistics that are accurate, particularly not from the police because we get a tiny tiny percentage reported. For example, I was talking to the security guard at Boots and somewhere in the region of 20-30 thousand pounds of their stock in a week will go. Over a weekend, they can lose five thousand pounds alone from their fragrance counter. If you look back through our records, we detail two, three people, four people a month from Boots adding up to 100, 150 you have to ask yourself where your 100,000 has gone. (Sergeant). So the police see shoplifting as a massive problem. The vast, unimaginable majority of it goes unreported, because its just accepted as part of their opening practices. Sergeant). The governments recent crackdown on street crime, which carries much more severe penalties than shoplifting, means that The criminals see shoplifting as a low risk crime. Theres not much chance of them getting caught in the first place and if they do get caught, then the penalties that theyre subjected to are fairly minimal Inspector) The police find the same names cropping up time and time again and say that shoplifting is so prevalent and so obvious, that if we had more staff you could get 10, 15 20 people in a day without a problem. (Sergeant). The professional shoplifters wont always be caught because they are good at what they do but you know who it is because you see them all day every day, from ten oclock in the morning until six oclock at night, they are always in the city centre. (Sergeant). The relationship between drug addiction and shoplifting was made by police officers: 95% of shoplifters, unless youre talking about young juveniles who are trying it out, are on heroin or crack cocaine and they do shoplifting and retail crime to finance their habit. (Inspector). The vast majority of what they steal will be sold on or fenced that day. [] Things that are easy to sell on, but very hard to trace (Sergeant). The stolen goods will be sold on or fenced the same day, so that goods which are easy to sell but hard to trace are prime targets for shoplifters (Inspector). 4.7.1 Shops and shoplifting: Views of the seriousness of shoplifting vary considerably within the retail sector. For shops down at The Moor Retail crime is our biggest problem while in Fargate Retail crime is not much of a problem really (Crime reduction adviser). This is corroborated by a Store manager in Fargate: We dont get a huge amount. We arrested someone every day on average last week, but small items. Its petty, not major stuff. On every Tuesday we get an update on the previous week and it said that we made six arrests last week and the value of the merchandise retrieved was 38. I said, is that all? Six people only stole 38 between them? One was a piece of meat, one was a bottle of wine. Its petty stuff. (Store manager). Again, in nearby Barkers Pool a Store manager commented: of all our 26 shops, it is one of the lowest of known theft. (Store manager). Even in shops are in an area where shoplifting is more common, they are still in a Catch-22 situation: If they hide all the stock behind screens, people are less likely to come in and buy it, so theyd lose money that way as weighed up against having it all on display, making it very attractive and taking the risk of some of it being stolen. (Inspector). Clearly there is a disparity between the perception of the police, the shoplifters and the stores about the seriousness of shoplifting. The retailers may not help themselves in reducing crime or the temptation to commit crime. One store had, following company store policy, located their till at the wall furthest from the door. Customers, it appears, select an article they wish to purchase and on their way to the till they might make an impulse purchase and it is through these impulse purchases that stores make a sizeable proportion of their sales. Thus, as explained by a crime reduction adviser, the retailer was less interested in shop-lifting than in increasing the volume of sales. Similarly, some companies wont allow alternate hangers (which means that clothes cannot easily be swept up into an armful and carried out of the shop) because it doesnt look so even and what the company says, goes (Crime Reduction Adviser). Sales, it appears, come first: [a] high street retailer, when they put their Christmas decorations up, they put them all over the roof and blanked out every single one of their cameras with baubles and glitter stars. Their security manager raised this and said we cant use our cameras and the head retailing manager said it doesnt matter, were making our shop look nice for Christmas. (Sergeant). Given the low level of retail crime reported by some retailers in Sheffield, these policies may not be very costly. Nevertheless, the ease with which people could potentially shop-lift is a worrying temptation, especially to youngsters and at whom this particular shop was marketed. 4.7.2 Shoplifting and the Police Sheffield police clearly see shoplifting as a problem which needs to be addressed. They have a dedicated retail crime team of five police officers (see above). Yet, according to one small retailer with a shop in a poor area of the city centre, the police are useless, they cant be bothered with shoplifters. However, one nearby pub with the permission of the landlord had a camera installed in it by the police in order to see if stolen goods were being sold there. 4.7.3 Shop security practices: The policies and practices of stores towards shoplifting varies. There are some shops which have excellent CCTV systems and a dedicated core staff of security guards. (Sergeant). Some shops are, quite frankly, amateur in their approach. One retailer visited had recently opened a shop in Fargate. No security precautions were in evidence. There were no cameras, no mirrors, no members of staff near the door and counters were placed so that staff could not see whether customers were shoplifting or not. Sometimes there was only one member of staff on duty but the retailer assured us that only one person had tried to shop-lift during this the opening week. When asked whether she had considered crime when planning to open her shop the retailer said Yes, but I really wanted to get set up before Christmas and there are usually two of us on. (Crime reduction adviser). The owner had contacted the crime reduction adviser but despite receiving advice and a number of suggestions, had no security systems in place at all. The type and level of security precautions did appear to be, at least, partially dependent upon the size of shop although one store with outlets in every town, city and shopping mall in the UK did very little to prevent shoplifting. 4.7.4 Security staff: Quality The stores also vary tremendously in the security staff they employ, either directly or indirectly. The big stores have their own security staff although Marks & Spencer do use a contractor for their security staff, for their in-store detectives they have employed-staff. There will be about six professional security staff in the stores in Sheffield, the rest are amateurs. Many will be contract staff who could have been monitoring factory gates last week and are acting as security staff this week. (Crime reduction adviser). Professional security staff in some stores will write their own statements for the police and they are very professional in their detention of suspects (Inspector). Other shops have staff who are less good, lacking training and experience. These shops are more often found in the poorer area of town and have the younger security guards, where theyve not got any professional training or anything like that and the quality of service that they provide is of no use to us. They might serve as a deterrent perhaps to a chancer, but they dont have any effect in deterring core criminals. (Sergeant). 4.7.5 Security staff: Title Staff employed in relation to security enjoy a number of titles: security guard, store detective, loss prevention officer, customer engaging security officer. Some security staff will be in uniform, others like store detectives in plain clothes. There will also be camera operators monitoring in-store CCTV systems (Store manager). 4.7.6 Security staff: Dual-role Staff in uniform may have a dual-role of increasing security and of assisting customers: theyre not there to stand on the door and throw people out. Theyre there to walk around the store, help customers find their way around, answer general queries about, is there a lift, wheres lingerie? And, to generally help make customers feel a little bit safer. So that is primarily the guards role. Hes not there to follow people around or stare at someone who looks a bit suspicious. Hes generally there to make our customers help feel like theyre in an environment where were looking out for their interests. (Store manager). Uniformed staff within the store mirror the presence of uniformed staff in the street, intended to welcome and to make the customer feel they are in a safe environment. The fashion for having responsible persons in potentially anonymous urban environments appears to be growing. 4.7.7 Security staff: Employment status Many staff performing a security function are not employed directly by the store. For example, in one Sheffield store The camera operator is ours but the detective and the guard are subcontracted. (Store manager). Issues arise when security staff are not directly employed by the store. Not only can there be variation in their training and experience, the security guards can be changed without informing the store. Weve been quite fortunate in that weve had our regular guard for some time and although he has just recently moved on we have been able to select our main guard. We have one guy all day, so he works five days then we have someone on relief the other two days. You begin to build a relationship with him, he gets a bit of a rapport with the staff in the store and gets to know the staff, gets to know the customers, gets to know the issues, gets to know the few people who are on his list. (Store manager). When the security personnel are not directly line managed by the shop management, it is less easy for the store to influence the performance or behaviour or performance of the sub-contracted staff, like the door staff who have lengthy conversations with friends at the front door. The shops do have some influence on guards/security staff behaviour but it may not be immediate. Thus, when the guards supervisor comes in to review the performance of the guard, that will be based on feedback we give him. (Store manager). This feedback depends on the quality of the relationship the shop has with the firm supplying the security personnel. In the smaller stores, employing perhaps only one guard, the security firm may be less attentive to their specific needs and wishes than to larger stores and those with numerous retail outlets. The assistance given to the police by professional and well-trained security staff should also be borne in mind. 4.7.8 Shoplifting: RadioNet Because shoplifting is seen to be a minor problem in Sheffield, it means that the RadioNet links are less valued than in a city where shoplifting is perceived to be a substantial problem. Thus, the radio network is of some benefit, but limited compared to Glasgow (Store manager). There are 100 retailers linked into RadioNet . There are more retailers not on the net than on it but all the big stores are on RadioNet. The network works best on Fargate (CCMT). RadioNet has been referred to as a victim of its own success (CCMT). It is a single channel radio and air-time cannot be filled up with clutter or unnecessary traffic Crime reduction adviser). Shop staff have to be trained to use the network responsibly. It is the small shops, especially on the Moor, who are not on RadioNet. It was pointed out that the small shop-keepers cannot attend CCRAC meetings because they have not got the staff to be able to leave the shop. Again, in one-person shops, customers cannot be left unattended if there is a radio alert. Similarly the small shops dont have security staff or security equipment like CCTV which is too expensive for them (Crime reduction adviser). Smaller retailers have recently been targeted by the City Centre Retailers group, those who we know in the past actually care, actually want to play a part pull them in and then we hope it will snowball from there and actually sort of attract more people if they want to be part of it. (Store manager). 4.7.9 Pickpocketing Most of the respondents agreed that pickpocketing was not an issue, there was some, but not that youd think would be a problem. (CCMT). One store, however, did report a spate of it before Christmas. (Store manager). Hand-bags have become more attractive: Its bag-snatching these days. Its very rare in a place like Sheffield these days where you get pickpockets. [] I dont remember the last time we had an offence like that reported. Its more running up, grabbing the bag and running off. (Inspector). Again, the incidence of crime is low: You would probably go through a week with only two instances of bag-snatchers or robberies within Sheffield city centre compared with equivalent size city centres, thats next to nothing really. (Inspector). Another method of theft which has become more popular now is stealing handbags in shops while customers are distracted, say, when they are trying on shoes We have alerted people to it and there have not been so many incidents reported recently. (Crime Reduction Adviser p.9). In the store which had experienced a spate of pickpocketing, the store put some signs up warning staff and to be on the look out from a preventative point of view from customers. (Store manager). Just as newspaper headlines can influence perceptions of safety, so too can the displaying of cautionary notices about safety. It is more comfortable, perhaps, not to have reminders about crime when shopping. 4.7.10 Street crime: Street crime has been reported to have been reduced by 53% over the two years to October 2004, following the South Yorkshire Police Street Crime Initiative (Sheffield First for Safety Partnership 2004h). According to the police officers interviewed: three or four years ago, Sheffield was identified as one of the worst street crime areas in England and the Home Office gave us funding to address it. [] But weve managed to reduce that by over 80% in the last three years. (Inspector) Street crime is really at the top of the polices agenda at the moment. Theres an operation called Operation Devonshire which is kicking off today as well, which is flooding the streets with police officers before Christmas. That sounds like weve got a huge crime problem, whereas in reality, weve got a very low level of crime. (CCMT) Eight Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) have been imposed within Sheffield (Sheffield Today net 17.9.04), a very small number in comparison with other cities such as Manchester, although ASBOs are being considered for shoplifters in Sheffield (Inspector). The police have micro-managed each offence of street crime: weve extensively used the CCTV system within Sheffield to identify potential victims, people who were walking about with their mobiles on display, with laptops, students and actually giving those people advice in terms of how they should be conducting themselves: why they were potential victims and what sort of measures they should be taking to prevent that sort of behaviour. Identifying safe routes for students in and out of the city which were heavily patrolled, use of mobile CCTV but over and above that, its a partnership approach, in terms of weve extensively used radio, we regularly visit places like the universities and give talks, all their computers, the screen when they switch it on gives advice to prevent them being subject to robberies and how they should conduct themselves. (Inspector) More than one retailer suggested that the hours of the ambassadors needed to be increased to tackle this low-level crime: I mean its strange to me in a way, the ambassadors are there during the day and they seem to just knock-off at 6 oclock, 7 oclock at night and you can just imagine the night clubs pouring out that unless there needs to be better CCTV coverage and I think more maybe ambassadors during the night as well. (Store manager) 4.7.11 Police Community Support Officers There was a notable absence of mention of PCSOs. Indeed one Store manager was not sure whether there were any PCSOs in the city centre. He had not been aware of them or seen them. The distinctive blue uniforms of the ambassadors means that they stand out in a crowd. PCSOs, on the other hand, look fairly similar to police officers and to the less observant, may be indistinguishable from them. According to one police officer, people are less willing to talk to PCSOs preferring to talk to ambassadors (Crime reduction adviser). In Sheffield, it is the ambassadors whose presence is noted and whose role is appreciated. 4.7.12 Vandalism It is the after-effects of the evening and night-time activities which are seen to be the major issues by retailers and ambassadors alike. Thus, drug taking and sharps are the biggest problems round here. (Crime reduction adviser) while a senior ambassador said that the worst problem for him was the sharps in the morning, collecting those up. I would say that in terms of crime the biggest issue for me is not what happens during the day, and I think the ambassadors seem to do a jolly good job in keeping a nice, safe city centre, it is when it goes into the night-time economy that there are more issues. So vandalism, such as broken glass, that kind of things, windows broken-in, graffiti [] I wouldnt say its a horrendous problem but there is, I would say, more petty crime than Im used to in other places. (Store manager) The breaking of shop windows was only an intermittent problem in the city centre: Two or three times a year, it happens that someone puts their foot through one of the windows. The one on Chapel Walk, the fashion shop, that got broken yesterday morning and was boarded up when I walked into work. So it does happen, but its not a big issue. (Store manager) It appears that vandalism is being tackled proactively by the police, along with street crime and street drinking. 4.7.13 Graffiti Another low-level crime, there is not much graffiti in evidence in the main city centre areas although that may simply reflect the activities of Street-Force and, to a lesser extent, the ambassadors. One of the retailers acknowledged that there is quite a bit of graffiti around but it was not a major problem (Store manager). The back entrances and back alleyways leading to shops have always been a favourite target for graffiti and retailers have to deal with this whereas shoppers may less often come across it. 4.7.14 Street drinkers In the past, there has been a problem with street drinking in the centre of Sheffield, with a number reported around the Devonshire Green area. However, there has been a clampdown and the problem has been dispersed (Councillor). Retailers in the Moor have recently reported a problem with drinkers: We get occasional drunks down here, they drink down at Moorfoot, five or six people gathered together each night. (Retail manager). The police are pro-actively tackling street drinking: weve currently got a dispersal order in the city centre for street drinkers because we identified a specific street where they were congregating and we do take very pro-active action against that low-level criminality, because to me, thats extremely important in promoting a message to the general public. If you go anywhere, if you see kids running about and shouting abuse, youre going to automatically think this is a high-crime area, even though it might not be. So to me, we have to tackle every level of criminality with the same vigour. [] To me, unless you tackle the low-level criminality such as skateboarding, begging, street drinking, you will attract the high forms of criminality as well. (Inspector) Two Drinking Exclusion Zones are in the pipeline for the city centre, with one planned for Moorgate and one by the Market (Crime reduction adviser). 4.7.15 Beggars: The general consensus amongst those interviewed was that begging was no longer a serious problem in Sheffield. We hardly ever see them any more in the city centre Inspectorp), due perhaps to the presence of the ambassadors: certainly compared to other places Ive worked in, they are always going to be around but Im not aware that theyre particularly bad here at all and Ive had no particular grumbles from customers or picked it up as a resident at all. (Store manager). They can be a problem, we do see them from time to time, but equally Ive seen the Ambassadors moving them on. (Store manager). There arent many homeless beggars round here. We had this young man coming up from Nottingham in his fathers car, parking it in the multi-storey car park and using his fathers disabled sticker, then went out with all his poor gear on and his homeless and hungry sign and he made hundreds of pounds a day. (Ambassador). The extensive presence of responsible persons, ambassadors, PCSOs and the police in the city centre means that a lot of them have just moved out to the district shopping centres. (Councillor). The displacement of beggars to residential areas may, nevertheless, increase the publics perception that the streets (whether city centre or district centre) are becoming less safe or at least less pleasant to walk around with the threat of being approached by beggars. An early evening problem with begging, once the shops have closed, has been identified by the city centre management team: We have had a big problem with begging [] Because the ambassadors finish at 7 oclock, beggars come back at 7 oclock onwards and work through the evening. Were looking at ways of addressing that, looking at ways of extending operating hours, to try and combat that. (CCMT). Thus, it seems that displacement can be either geographically or temporally. The need for begging does not appear to go away. 4.7.16 Buskers As noted earlier, the city council has actively managed the buskers on the city streets. Retailers are guarded in their comments about buskers, but there is a general consensus that they bring life to the streets. I think provided its controlled and its reasonable then I think its good. It adds a bit of atmosphere and I think that if they are street performers and properly registered and professional buskers then its great. If theyre tramps sat in a subway with his cap out strumming on a guitar, high on drugs, then no, because thats not attractive. (Store manager). However, in the public consultation meeting held in October 2004, it was suggested that there was a poor attitude towards buskers in the city centre and insufficient opportunities for street entertainment. There are few buskers to be found on city streets during the week when there are fewer people around. Given that buskers do enliven the central area, it is worth considering giving additional encouragement to them. 4.7.17 Big Issue sellers Retailers reported occasional problems with Big Issue sellers. For example, one Big Issue seller was based outside Sainsburys metro shop and he tells his friends when to go in and steal when the security guard has gone off on his break. The Store manager was tearing his hair out. (Retail manager). The Big Issue Manager was contacted and a new seller allocated the pitch. Another example illustrates the difficulties in working with vulnerable and homeless people who often have mental health problems. Unfortunately this week I asked for one particular Big Issue seller to be moved off a pitch we have outside the store here because they werent being particularly nice to the customers. I think the guy is schizophrenic, hes sort of got two personalities. One day hes nice as pie and very amiable and approachable and chatty then the next day, for whatever reason, he just completely changes and literally swears at people who dont buy one [magazine]. Violently swears at them as well and I took a call on Monday from a customer who said that theyd just left the store and had a torrent of abuse and foul language from a Big Issue seller because theyd politely said no thanks to them. (Store manager). For the most part the Big Issue sellers were tolerated by retailers: we have one of them at the door which I would rather not have but theyre there and they keep themselves to themselves and theyre, you know, fine. (Store manager) Relationships between the retailers and the Big Issue manager were always reported to be good. The police corroborated that the Big Issue sellers are quite closely managed now. In fact, theyre putting out a little paving stone where they should stand exactly and if theyre not stood on that specific area then theyre not selling the stuff legitimately. (Inspector). 4.7.18 Skateboarders During school hours there are few skateboarders to be seen in the city centre itself. According to a local police officer, skateboarders used to be, but are now no longer, a problem in the city centre. However, skateboarders are clearly active, both in their designated skateboarding area at Devonshire Green and the city centre itself. Thus, a skateboarding website identifies the favourite hook-up spots for skateboarders in Sheffield including the City Hall steps: THE place 2 go 4 all alternatives. Goths, moshers, punks, u name it. Occasionally they'll wander up 2 beef mountain which is right nxt 2 city hall or 2 Devvy Green on a nice day, but mostly city hall. (www.knowhere.co.uk). One entry on the skateboarders website said: city hall steps r great but watch out for the cops at devonshire green that r there all through the day now mainly cos of the 5 or 6 lads that r down there trying to have away with anything they can get there hands on. THEY DID STAB ME SO BEWARE. but the cops will bust u for havin a toke so keep your eyes open. (www.knowhere.co.uk). Again it seems likely that problems with skateboarders are likely to take place during the hours when the ambassadors are not on duty suggesting displacement of these activities as well. Perhaps, also, skateboarders are more likely to be found in the local neighbourhood streets rather than the city centre streets during the day. 4.7.19 Students and crime Students relatively seldom commit crime themselves and are much more likely to be the victims of crime. Students are perceived by the police to be a soft target: When they return in September, robberies within Sheffield city centre normally rise by 200%. As noted above, the police are proactive in giving talks to students when they first arrive at university. Its a population [students] with a very high level of disposable income. Your students will be the ones with the brand new computers, with the brand new mobile phones, with the brand new MP3 Walkmans, so if you pick a student, the chances are they are going to have an electronic item of value on them. And things like credit cards, money things like that. (Sergeant). Again, students are reported to be a large proportion of the victims of bag-snatchers (Inspector). 4.7.20 Students and locals One councillor made clear the difficulties which local residents may experience due to the large influx of so many students each year. Half my problems in the constituency are dealing with the tensions between the permanent pop and the students. Multiple occupation, parking, and the bounds of shopping, pubs/take-aways its about the sustainability of local communities basically. While these problems are, for the most part, experienced out-with the city centre, the challenges of too many students being accommodated in the city centre have to be recognised: The whole neighbourhood changes, the economic base of the neighbourhood changes, the type of businesses that are coming in, the balance between take-aways, permanent shops, restaurants change (Councillor). The possibility and spectre of creating student ghettos was also raised. 4.7.21 Students and the local economy The 45,000 students coming to Sheffield every year do play a role in supporting the retail sector, although the extent to which they spend money in city centre shops may be limited: we do quite well with them. [] we probably benefit as much from the parents bringing them up to drop them off at the beginning or end of term, or during term! (Store manager). Students are more likely to spend money in the service sector with a multi-million pound input: You can tell when they go away in the summer. Businesses will tell you takings have dropped, taxis, for example, bars, restaurants, the city centre, shopping because they do come in and they do spend so they do benefit significantly the economy of Sheffield. (Councillor). Other benefits from students, or rather ex-students, is the high retention rates of those staying on in the city. However, as mentioned earlier, it appears that many of these retained students work, and more importantly shop, in Leeds or Manchester while enjoying the lower residential costs of Sheffield (Councillor). On the other hand, these ex-students may spend much of their leisure time within the city, again contributing more to the service than to the retail sector. 4.7.22 Street stalls The Moor has traditionally had street stalls in the middle of the main thoroughfare which, while they provide difficulties for the CCTV cameras, do bring extra footfall and activity to the street. There are plans to move these stalls into a new market building together with some traders re-located from the existing markets in Castlegate. This will inevitably affect the retail offer at the value end of the market but just what effect it will have is unknown. In Fargate, the city council has had and plans to extend their policy of encouraging bona fide street vendors. Retailers feel these can be beneficial to them: Its a positive thing in that at the end of the day, it should help to give the city a little bit more to offer. Im not saying that people are going to come shopping in December just because theres a continental market outside, but its just got that little bit of added something. (Store manager). However, at the moment: We keep getting rogue traders, we keep getting someone with a pasting table and selling various things that dont look to be particularly kosher from the area across there, just round from the bank. (Store manager). It appears that there is less of it than there was [but its] not a good thing for the image of the city centre (Store manager). 4.8 Design of streets At the moment the street furniture in parts of the city centre is beginning to look tired. The street furniture in Fargate was installed in 1992 and will be replaced in line with the Urban Design Compendium (CCMT). Retailers, police officers and councillors all felt that there was a need for more consistency in the street furniture within the city centre: My personal opinion is that we have too much variety, too much of different styles at the moment but I know that is changing. (CCMT). The Urban Design Compendium has only recently been issued but there are plans to keep the same suite of design in the central areas but using different materials (bronze and cast stainless Sheffield steel) in different locations. The costs of street furniture should not be underestimated. A stainless steel litter bin will cost 1,000 compared with 300 for an ordinary black one (CCMT). The costs involved in replaced street furniture were recognised by one retailer who suggested the possibility of using a Business Improvement District status to finance better street furniture and improve the quality was also raised by one retailer (Store manager). A number of carousels are to be found in the main shopping street and are used for the display of advertising posters. They bring in a lot of money but they are a waste of space really J.C. Decaux pay a lot for them, they are useless otherwise. (Crime reduction adviser). 4.8.1 Regeneration Projects: Design Quality A general criticism has been made of some of the recently approved plans for developments in Sheffield. The offices being built near the Winter Gardens looks like something out of East Berlin in my opinion. [] We could have had a competititon, an architecture competition (Councillor.). Criticism has also been made of the council for allowing the regeneration projects to be developer led rather than architect led resulting in a poor quality of architecture (Urban Design Week 2004b). Other than the Winter Gardens, which have been much acclaimed, Sheffield has not sought to build iconic buildings of the type sprouting up in so many cities in the UK. Whether this has been a conscious decision or a decision by default is not known. Perhaps no developer could be tempted to invest in Sheffield if it involved a higher-risk and more expensive building. Nevertheless there is a balance between good architecture which will be a credit to Sheffield and buildings which will simply replicate those in any other city. The plans for the various developments and buildings in Sheffield may change over the coming months and years. It is only in February 2005, with the publication of Planning Policy Statement 1 by the ODPM, that good design has been acknowledged as indivisible from good planning and as a critical element in the delivery of sustainable development (http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpm). 4.8.2 Shutters The city council has no policy on shutters on shop windows despite well designed window displays throwing out light and creating visual interest being identified in the Design compendium (Compendium p.31). As a result the city centre, in parts, has little visual interest from its stores. Shutters are permanently in place in one centrally placed store in the central area but, because it is part of a shopping mall and privately owned, little can be done about it. In addition, shops often do not light their windows during the evening. We dont have them illuminated at nights. There is general illumination within the shop, the police lights as we call them, like floodlights that light up the inside of the shop. We dont leave the windows lit. We would near Christmas for late-night trade, but not normally, once weve closed, the lights go out. (Store manager). As mentioned earlier, there does not appear to be a particular problem with damage to shop fronts and windows in Sheffield. Nevertheless there is a lack of interest in the central streets and opportunities for browsing by window shoppers is limited. 4.8.3 Street Force The cleaning and maintenance of the city centre was generally felt to be satisfactory by the retailers. One retailer, however, complained that the bins outside Boots where people sit to eat their lunch, are not emptied regularly enough, despite the aim being to empty bins when they are old-third full in the Winter Gardens, for example (Ambassador). Chewing gum removal is evident in the city centre, when sections of the street are cordoned off for cleaning, and there is a noticeable absence of chewing gum particularly in Fargate and outside the Town Hall. More chewing gum is to be found around the old market (Crime reduction adviser). For street cleaning, it appears that the energies of Street Force are being targeted at specific areas, to the detriment of surrounding areas. This councillors comment is in line with the findings from Sheffield City Council 2004p section 20.5.3), noted earlier: Streetforce because of the political direction they are increasingly being directed to more and more resources into certain areas. We call them the favoured areas, they call them closing the gap policy. Theyre concentrating resources, theyve been forced to concentrate resources on those areas. Whereas if you look at the city as a whole, weve got 25% of our streets are not meeting the basic cleanliness So again, were just not looking at the city as a whole. We are failing the people because we are not looking at the whole community. All the policies are increasingly dominated by this closing the gap, where they are looking at lifting some areas up at the expense of resourcing the other areas. (Councillor). If parts of the city are dirty, it will be quite apparent to residents. Having sparkling city centre streets will not reduce the impact of dirty local streets. Successful regeneration needs to convince local residents who potentially are the half a million ambassadors for the city (Councillor), that things are changing, and for the better. Local people rather than visitors must be the priority for any city centre revitalisation policy. (Gratz 2002). The financial burdens of the city council may mean that budgets are particularly tight but meeting basic standards of cleanliness must be one of the priorities. 4.8.4 Toilets The provision and accessibility of public toilets in Sheffield is disappointing. The council have been closing most of them down. There is a toilet in the bus station but that closes at 8pm. All the toilets are being closed down because they were being vandalised. (Crime reduction adviser) Not surprisingly there is evidence of street urination near the bus station. For the city centre management team: it is one thing we have identified as a potential weakness We need a set of good quality toilets that are available accessible [and] clean... (CCMT). A suggestion was made that Sheffield could follow the example of Kirklees where, having closed down their public conveniences in the city centre, they sought to have contracts with some of the major retailers, contributing to the costs of maintainence and cleaning (Councillor). While free toilet facilities are available in a number of department stores in Sheffield, these are often unable to be accessed by the less physically able as well as people who may be excluded from the large stores like the Big Issue sellers. There is also a knock-on effect on the retail environment from the late night economy which is acknowledged: yes, we have a similar problem to most city centres, particularly on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday evening (CCMT). If were talking about a 24 hour city then the infrastructure of a 24 hour city has to be there, so first of all its about saying are the opening times right and secondly saying what are the more innovative ways like the popping up popping down urinals. (Councillor). At the end of 2004, the council were considering installing pop-up urinals but by Spring 2005, it appeared they had been rejected (Councillor). If the city hopes to attract visitors, shoppers, theatre goers, diners and clubbers, good quality, accessible toilets must be provided as part of the regeneration strategy. 4.8.5 Newspaper coverage Despite occasional lurid headlines in the local daily newspaper, respondents felt that the newspaper coverage given to the regeneration activities within the city were good: Very, very positive over the last four years (CCMT). A new editor has recently been recruited to The Star (from the Telegraph) and a change in approach has been identified. For example, The Star has been running a campaign called: gridlock city which is saying there are problems here what are the solutions to this, what is the effect on the economy, what is the effect on the city, what is the effect on the environment, weve got to solve these problems (Councillor). A supportive local paper is an extremely useful tool in gaining the recognition and involvement of local residents in the process of regeneration. On further examination, many of the colourful headlines found in the local newspaper refer to events and people outside the central area of Sheffield, in the local neighbourhoods and from which, it appears, resources have been drawn to the benefit of the city centre. It may be that there are marked discrepancies between the regeneration and revitalisation of the city centre and the experiences of living nearby. If it is to the local neighbourhoods that the displacements from city centre policies are taking place, then lurid headlines may be more (if they ever are) appropriate. For the city council, however, it is difficult to convince residents that the city is being re-born while their experience of their local neighbourhoods is quite the opposite. The reality for the city council is that it has to start somewhere. In Sheffield, with its traditionally large number of jobs in the city centre, it seems to be natural that a start be made there. In terms of media coverage, additional support is currently apparent through one of the local radio stations, BBC Radio Sheffield, with its tree planting campaign. The city is also currently, and has been for two or three years, receiving positive coverage from the national press in recognition of its regeneration efforts (Glancey 2003; Hetherington 2005). 4.9 Maintaining the Impetus to Regeneration 4.9.1 Retailers and the CCMT The CCMT is, generally, felt by the retailers interviewed to be doing a good job in the city centre, with exception of the complaint that The Moor doesnt receive sufficient ambassador coverage. Comments like a jolly good job and nice clean streets were made but there was also an element of caution in retailers responses about closer working relationships: they [the CCMT] are talking about being very supportive in the future but you know until we actually see a great improvement (Store manager). 4.9.2 Partnerships and the CCMT When members of the CCMT were asked about their partnerships with other bodies, they were not from retailing: Our main partners in helping us deliver objectives? Very slim in that actually, helping us deliver our objectives. Quite a lot of stakeholders wanting to contribute to HOW we deliver the objectives but not financially! I think the biggest one really is South Yorkshire Police. They are really a key partner. Business-wise its few and far between to be honest. (CCMT) The CCMT have clearly been struggling to find partners with whom to work in the city centre. The members of the CCMT were asked about any problems they were currently facing: The biggest one is actually the apathy from traders and businesses.(CCMT). There seemed to be some surprise when one firm provided financial support for an event: One of the biggest successes weve had was with the Valentines event this year, the Derbyshire Building Society of all things would like to work with us on it and finally, which has been a real shot in the arm. The traditional stores have been very difficult for us to engage and certainly not forthcoming or knocking our door down to be part of what we are doing. (CCMT). The CCMT seems to feel aggrieved that services which the CCMT have been offering to retailers, like the information from the electronic pedestrian counters which provide accurate figures as to the number of people passing a shop, are not taken up: weve got this kind of basic information. You would think that businesses, particularly retailers, would want it. We are able to supply information, per hour, per day, whatever. Not a single retailer has taken us up on the offer to supply this information, free of charge, there is no charge (CCMT). The footfall figures are, however, supplied by the CCMT to those who attend the City Centre Retailers Group so that some retailers at least are aware of the number of pedestrians passing their shop doors (Store manager) and of what the CCMT has to offer. But the CCMT sees the lack of interest as being a sign of the business apathy that exists in Sheffield. (CCMT). As will be discussed below, business apathy is a recurring theme in relation to Sheffield. 4.9.3 Retail Partnerships: National or Local? For large national stores, there may be a difference between the approach adopted at head office level and that adopted at local level, affecting partnerships within the city. I think like for all of us, its an increasing frustration. You talk to some of the national chains, you talk at a national level and the speak is very supportive, very participative. Actually that is not transferred in our experience at a local level. (CCMT) But national stores do not always allow their staff to respond to the demands of their locality. Some managers lack the autonomy and freedom of decision-making to counter national policies and support local initiatives. For example, involvement in the Love2B event (launched in tandem with the CCMT and Sheffield Hallam University) was sought amongst retailers in The Moor by the manager: If you want to run a theme day [] some retailers cannot put it [a heart] in their window because the company says they will have such-and-such a display in their window that week. They dont have the authority or autonomy to do what they want or to fit in with what is happening locally. And head office wont allow them to put anything else in the window. (Retail manager) The constraints on retailers exerted by their head office can clearly affect any attempts locally to undertake marketing initiatives. Yet the stores which do interact with and reflect the local community are likely to be appreciated by their local customers. This may particularly be the case in a city like Sheffield where there appears to be a strong local structure of feeling (Taylor et al 1996) and a strong local identity: the Sheffield personality, Sheffield people again being from Sheffield my opinion is that were very good at knocking each other inside the city but actually outside the city we wont have a word said against Sheffield, you know, its very very protective of Sheffields uniqueness and identity. Yeah, part of that identity is the cynicism within the city. (CCMT) The difficulties encountered by the CCMT in establishing working relationships with the local retailers may partly be due to the practice of major stores of moving their senior management staff frequently. For example, the senior managers at three of the major retail city centre stores had all been in post for less than one year. One manager listed a large number of the companys stores that he had worked in over his career and was now hoping to settle in Sheffield for a few years, with his school-age family. Learning about the dynamics of the location of each store takes time. How things are done, who are the key players, what changes are needed are all aspects which have to be worked out by the new Store manager. At the same time, the level of an individual managers commitment to the city is likely to grow the longer a manager stays in post. However, there is also the possibility, as may be happening in Sheffield, that the newly arrived managers are new brooms, sweeping away the old local practices and bringing in the new. Perhaps it is not surprising that the one partnership which was established with the CCMT was with a more local firm. 4.9.4 Retailing: Local Partnerships All the retailers talked to agreed that there had been an unwillingness of retailers to work together in Sheffield even within the recent past. - Retailers wont work together. One will stay open late one night, another stay open the next night. They wont work together and both stay open at night. They dont see that people are attracted in for a number of shops, not just one, they have the option then of going to one or both. (Retail manager). - examples would be Christmas opening hours, last Christmas. At the end of the day there was no cohesiveness about it at all. [Another Store manager] was emailing me with the hours he was going to open, asking me the same. The guys from the little shops round about came and asked what hours we were opening. Nobody was organising or planning it. (Store manager) - The retailers dont see that it is in their own interests to work together, they only see the competition. (Retail manager). Yet, the recently arrived managers of the large stores see tremendous benefits of competition: increasing the attractions of the city centre and therefore increasing the number of shoppers coming to it. The failure - of retailers to become involved in the retail community is frustrating: I see it as more as apathy from a number of retailers. I dont know if it is a cultural thing. There is also a sort of a glass half-empty feeling around the place. You know, they always I dont know whether its Yorkshire doom and gloom or something, I dont know, but they, you know, always look at the worst in things, rather than the best in things. I find that quite challenging. (Store manager). 4.9.5 Relationships retailers and the city council Less than amicable relationships between the city council and retailers in recent years were mentioned in the interviews. One Store manager was not convinced that the city council was on the retailers side. The perceived double payment of business rates and maintenance charges for the privately owned street-lights in The Moor was also a bone of contention although it was acknowledged that the council has no money (Retail manager). But, at least for one Store manager, it does look as though the relationships may be changing and for the better. From my experience in other cities, remarkably good, looking ahead. I think there is a real acknowledgement that retailing that the regeneration is being retail led in Sheffield. That retailing really can help transform the city centre, so theyre seen as a real asset and I think the politics of the past in the Council have certainly held back what has happened but I think there has been a change and certainly the chief executive is very involved and actually quite influential in actually sort of improving the situation. (Store manager) 4.9.6 Explaining the Lack of Partnership Whether there is an impact from the Yorkshire character there are a number of other factors which could have played a part in this failure to work together. As mentioned earlier there was the splitting into a Chamber of Trade and a Chamber of Commerce many years ago which inevitably resulted in divisions within the business and retail community. The struggle for economic survival in the city centre at the time of the recession in the 1980s and 1990s must have left some scars. The business community were already critical of the city council when Meadowhall arrived (see above). The support sought from the city council to assist city centre retailers cope with the impact of Meadowhall may not have been forthcoming, as mentioned by one Store manager. The soured relationships as a result of the Student Games have already been noted. Joint working has not been a tradition in Sheffield it appears, whatever the arena. The inchoate nature of the business community was reported in 1994 (Lawless 1994). Going it alone seems to have been the Sheffield style. One of the results has been poor attendance at retailers meetings. Sometimes 20 people turn up at CCRAC meetings which means that 80 people dont turn up. (Retail manager). Other examples were given: At that particular meeting there were six people there We were the only two retailers there and it was supposed to be the city centre retail group! (Store manager) Historically in the past there has been a lot of apathy I think, really. And certainly going through the last year of the Chamber of Trade, there was lots of talk but very few people turned up for the meetings, very few people supported it, very few people put any effort into it and it seemed that perhaps people were disillusioned with what had happened previously in the past, nothing, and perhaps some of the managers in the smaller retailers dont really have the drive and energy that some of the bigger retailers do. So basically their head office decide everything. They have no decision making power. But I seem to think that thats changing now, that the last meeting I had there was much much more support to actually move things forward and I think the fact that the retailers were deciding on the agenda because it had seemed to be run by public sector people who perhaps perhaps they were just there to justify why they were doing things and giving themselves a pat on the back rather than (Store manager) Coming from outside Sheffield, the new Store managers are keen to establish partnership working within the retailing community: We definitely need to get ourselves organised and working cohesively. Thats a must. (Store manager). One of the new Store managers was reported to have acted as a catalyst in healing the rift between the Chamber of Trade and the Chamber of Commerce resulting in the recent merger. The key retailers discussed their needs and priorities with the re-formed Chamber. We said, we are a city centre retail group, a group which is predominantly retailers, yes, the hotel business is important to the centre of Sheffield as are a number of other things, but were retailers and we want to talk about retail issues. [] To me the group should be giving some steer on the big issues but should be feeling organised on the day-to-day stuff. (Store manager). It is to be hoped that the re-formed SCCI will be effective in drawing in a whole range of retailers, large and small, from the city centre. In doing so they will have to convince those retailers of the need to become involved in the management of the city centre and in the benefits of working with the city council. 4.9.7 Associations, organisations and interest groups There does appear to be a plethora of business and other groupings within Sheffield many established in the last 18 months. An over-abundance of groupings could act to reduce partnership working simply through a duplication of effort and the inevitable time-consuming meetings which result. Confusion as to who is doing what and assumptions that someone is doing things when in reality, no-one is, has to be avoided. Careful thinking through and a clarification of the aims and objectives of each group together with the identification of overlapping interests needs to be undertaken and this may be a role which the re-formed SCCI could tackle. 4.9.8 Financing City Centre Improvements and Initiatives: Inevitably initiatives to promote the city centre: its shops, galleries, cafes and other attractions cost money. Again, the divisions within the retail and business community may have affected the willingness of retailers to underwrite any initiatives. Sheffield has not particularly got a good track record in city centre business partners sort of putting their money where their mouth is. [] We try desperately hard to link in with business and work collectively in most of the things we do, particularly when we begin to talk about financial support, people get rapidly turned off. (CCMT) As noted above, the CCMT is directly funded solely by the city council. When the Store managers were asked as to whether retailers should contribute to the maintenance and upkeep of the city centre, there was a marked reluctance to do so. The retailers feel they pay a lot at the moment anyway. (Store manager) or complain about the double payment as in the case of the lighting in the Moor. The city council does approach the retailers to ask them to support various events which they are planning to hold in the city centre. No mention was made during the interviews of any support by retailers to events organised by the council. However, the recent arrival in Sheffield of two of the Store managers interviewed may partly account for this. If stores are finding it hard to attract customers they are unlikely to want to contribute to what could be seen as cosmetic touches and peripheral activities in the city centre. Interest in using BID status to finance improvements was expressed by one Store manager (see below.) 4.9.9 CCMT: Victim of its own Success? The reluctance to give funding to the CCMT may be a result of the good job that the team does. If the CCMT maintains the streets to a high standard, if there is little litter and graffiti is removed quickly, then the incentive for retailers to become involved is reduced. In effect, the management team becomes of a victim of its own success: businesses take it for granted now, its a council job, so leave the council to do it (CCMT). This view was corroborated by a Retail manager: The retailers are used to having everything done for them in Sheffield, they dont feel they ought to do it for themselves. Perhaps its part of the Socialist Republic of Sheffield legacy. 4.9.10 City Centre Business Support: Another reason for the reluctance to contribute further to the CCMT was raised by the retailers. It appears that some feel retailers that there is a lack of financial support offered by other businesses in the city centre: But what frustrates me is [] that there is some extremely wealthy and large office blocks of other sorts of employers, perhaps lawyers, accountants who never dip their hands in their pocket. And ok you could argue thats not going to pull people in, theyre not going to directly maybe benefit the people coming in to shop, but where they would benefit is that it makes a much nicer afer environment for them to function as a business and its easier for them to recruit staff, so (Store manager) Again, this suggests a lack of partnerships within the city centre. This may be overcome by the re-merging of the SCCI which could potentially forge alliances and co-operation between the different interest groups working in the city centre. It appears there are difficulties: in the retailers working together; in retailers working with the CCMT and the council; in businesses working with retailers; and, in the council itself with divisions between the different political parties. In addition, there are the apparent difficulties encountered by the council in finding new faces for its quangos (see above). As Lawless pointed out in 1994: in the absence of a substantial, independent, publicly minded business community, local government remains the fulcrum around which urban development revolves. (p.1321). A mechanism through which greater collaboration of all the different parties could be effected is through the BID scheme. 4.9.11 Business Improvement Districts: the Answer? The formation of the City Centre Business Group, which has developed under the umbrella of the SCCI, offers an opportunity to increase the level of co-operation within the city centre. Until the groups formation: there hasnt really been a particular body to try and drive these things forward at all. [] There is a city centre business group that will look, and I think, provide the kind of private-public partnership that will help will support a Business Improvement District initiative in the future and a whole host of things to sort to make the city centre a thriving place. (Store manager) It is hoped that it is this Business Group that will be our principal partner to establish a BID or BIDs. (CCMT). The BID process is also seen to be attractive because it involves a range of stakeholders in the city centre: One thing I like about BIDs are its a bit fairer that everybody pays, its not just the retailers. (Store manager) and it could overcome the often-identified business apathy, in particular at a local level (CCMT). The possibility of using a BID or BIDs to help finance the ambassadors in future years and to the purchase of street furniture, was also mentioned by the retailers. The need to have more than one BID for the central area of the city was identified: So I think it needs, if anything it might need two Business Improvement Districts because what Castle Gate needs, their needs are will be so different to the New Retail Quarter. So if you are really clear about what the basic services the Council are going to give and if we do have a Business Improvement District, you know, what were actually going to benefit from. (Store manager) BIDs offer the opportunity for effective working partnerships to be established in the city centre, drawing in business, retail, the CCMT and the council. The newly re-vamped SCCI could be a key partner in the development of the BID application, an application which could fundamentally strengthen the commitment and bring together the various stakeholders in Sheffields regeneration. 5.0 Concluding Comments At the moment, Sheffield gives a poor retail offer. The big names of shopping are missing, there are too few posh shops and too many value shops. Meadowhall continues to dominate and its management are closely involved in the further development of the city. The marketing of the city has also been poor with a lack of clear branding and a failure of the retailing community to work together. There is a lack of good quality cafes and restaurants (Knight Frank 2003) and more could be done to involve the local communities in the planning for the city. Yet there is a low level of crime, Sheffield is one of the safest UK cities and it has many attractions, not least of which are the Winter Gardens, the Peace Gardens and the Millenium Galleries. There are clearly prospects to increase the number of shoppers, visitors, workers and tourists coming to the city and to its central shopping area. The effectiveness and successes of the masterplan and the numerous projects which are in the pipeline cannot yet be evaluated but some comments can, perhaps usefully, be made. 5.0.1 Not Just the City Centre No transformation has yet been achieved in respect of attracting more jobs to the city. Closing the gap within the community is important, as the Audit Commission noted. Any division between the haves and have-notes must be minimised. A concern must be that the new residents who are to be attracted to the city centre will be economically well-off, living in a refurbished and clean city centre while the existing residents, who may be suffering substantial levels of deprivation, live in poorly appointed and maintained neighbourhoods. The regeneration of the centre needs to be accompanied by regeneration of the surrounding residential areas of the city. Regeneration will depend on the economic prosperity for the vast majority of its population. None of this is, of course, news to anyone in the council or in Sheffield. It simply needs to be re-iterated. In a city where the population seems always to look for the worst in things, rather than the best in things this is quite a challenge. 5.0.2 Working at Partnerships Partnerships are key to the success of the regeneration of Sheffield. The common cause is Sheffield. Sectoral and political party interests have to be overcome if the city is to re-invent itself. The legacies of the past seem to loom large. Indeed many of those legacies like the debt from the Student Games could continue to act as a focus for discontent. Nevertheless, all the divisions have to be minimised if Sheffield is not to be overtaken by other cities and towns in the North. The pace of regeneration may have been slow in the past, there is no reasons why it should continue to be so. The glass half empty perspective accorded to Sheffield people is difficult to overcome. But this perspective needs to be worked with and turned around if the half a million ambassadors that are the people of Sheffield, are to be brought on board. Big developments are an efficient way of assembling and buying land, navigating the planning system and managing construction. But they are not very efficient, or effective, at doing other things equally essential to making a development work like creating a sense of belonging, well-being, security and enterprise. (Mean 2005). Consultation and participation may not have been in great evidence in recent years (Councillor) but attempts to do so are clearly being made by the city council (2004r). No assumption of the success of this participation should be made. It requires continuing hard work and commitment. Sheffield, after all, is in competition with many other cities in the North of England who are also fighting for their own survival. (Leeds, Nottingham and Manchester are all in the top five retail destinations (www.uk.experian.com).) If Sheffield is to succeed in its aspirations, common cause needs to be made with all those who are interested in the survival of their city. The dynamism and vibrancy of any urban development project comes from its success in mobilising widespread participation from people. (Mean 2005). 5.0.3 A Mans City? Sheffield was Steel City. It was very much a mans city and indeed, the overwhelmingly masculine nature of Sheffield has been commented on (Taylor et al 1992). The cities of the north were designed more or less by men for womens needs (Taylor et al 1992 p.225). In 1994 it was reported that Less than 20 male, white, middle-aged people, at chief executive or equivalent level, dominate what might be seen as business representation within formal manifestations of partnership. The same people will tend to be on the decision-making boards of the SDC (Sheffield Development Corporation), the TEC (Training and Enterprise Council) and institutions of high and further education. It is this same small grouping which represents the business community within specific manifestations of partnership such as the CAS (Central Area Study). (Lawless 1994 p.1319). The dangers of the narrow spectrum of views from white, male dominated bodies need to be remembered. There is also a suspicion that it is the usual suspects who are appointed to these quangos. As one member of Sheffield One recently commented, he often feels he is in a minority of one. While the membership of Sheffield One is more varied than previous quangos, ten of the 14 board members do appear to be white, middle-aged males from senior positions. However, with a woman as vice-chancellor of one of the universities, a woman who is leader of the city council and a representative from a womens development trust, the board of Sheffield One is less predominantly white and middle-aged than previous bodies. Nevertheless, there are no members of the general public represented and it is not clear that the views of the very different groups of users of the city centre will be heard. For example, from the consultative meetings held in the latter part of 2004 some groups, e.g. those with young children, expressed their concern that their needs were not being considered sufficiently in the redesign of the city centre. When the child-friendly qualities of Meadowhall were applauded and the city centre with its child-unfriendly practices is compared unfavourably, notice needs to be taken. White middle-aged males may take the decisions to invest or not to invest in the city, they may predominate in the business and commercial sectors, but those who use the city centre during the day are not. 6.0 Recommendations 6.0.1 SCCI: evaluate and clarify the roles of business/retailer organisations and associations in the city establish close working relationships with the city council involve retailers and businesses in the regeneration of the city prepare to play central role in any BIDs application(s). 6.0.2 CMMT: Strengthen role so as to be vehicle for closer relationships with businesses Play central role in any BIDs application(s) More active marketing of role to city centre retailers and businesses Undertake public consultations to discuss future role of ambassador Extend hours of ambassadorial coverage Monitor closely the plans for, and the quality of, the design of street furniture Monitor closely the performance of StreetForce especially in emptying of litter bins More proactive approach to buskers, e.g. auditioning, licensing and, perhaps, funding 6.0.3 Creative Sheffield: Improve the provision of tourist information Improve the marketing of the city whether events are organised by the city council, retailers, product promoters or others Consult SCCI and retailers in general as to how best to attract quality retailers and new businesses/enterprises to the city (the possibility of offering sweeteners to potential inward investors should also be discussed). Consult on whether or not to market Meadowhall alongside Sheffield city centre 6.0.4 Sheffield City Council Take steps to actively increase partnership working within the city, e.g. Civic receptions, Celebrating Sheffield events Take steps to increase the amount of public involvement in the process of regeneration Increase provision, accessibility and hours of opening of toilets Consider providing more free toilet facilities Provision of child-friendly environment and facilities in city centre Draw up and implement policy on shutters on shop windows Approach retailers on private ground to follow citys shop window policy Actively foster lighted evening window displays, e.g. through themed displays linked to events Consider and manage the knock-on effects of evening economy on the retail experience, e.g. urination, litter, vandalism, beggars Consider impact of too many students in central areas 6.1 Crime reduction tools (see Table 1) There are a number of steps that can be taken to reduce crime which include: closed circuit television cameras, radio network between shops; street lighting; the management of noise in the city centre; anti-social behaviour orders; policies to increase the number of people living over shops and in the city centre itself; the development of a town centre management organisation; and, the use of different types of personnel on city streets. In addition there are a variety of initiatives undertaken by the police to target specific types of crime and criminals but these are not under the jurisdiction of a city council. 6.1.1 Table 1: CRIME REDUCTION TOOLS TOOLS USED IN SHEFFIELDCCTVExtensiveRadio Links with CCTV system(s)ExtensiveStreet lightingResearched elsewhereNoisePedestrianisation; ASBOsAnti Social Behaviour OrdersMinimalHousing over shops/city centre residentsSubstantialCity Centre ManagementYesCity Centre Wardens/AmbassadorsYesStreet Crime WardensNoPolice Community Support OfficersYesRapid Response Team (Graffiti)YesSafer Shopping Award InitiativeNoCrime Reduction Adviser (Police Officer)YesRetail Crime OperationYesSecured Car ParkingSome 6.2 Bibliography Anonymous (2004a) Truants face harsh lesson as police step up patrols The Star 12th May (www.SheffieldToday.co.uk) Anonymous (2004b) Gerald Eve Counts Down to Prime Retail, PRNewswire, 17th September (www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release) Anonymous (2004c) Crime blitz on the drug gangs, The Star, 18th October, (www.SheffieldToday.co.uk) Anonymous (2004d) More than 7,000 yobs tackled in crime blitz, The Star, 29th October (www.SheffieldToday.co.uk) Anonymous (2004e) The Trailblazer initiative, The Star, 29th October (www.SheffieldToday.co.uk) Anonymous (2004f) Together Action Area, The Star 29th October (www.SheffieldToday.co.uk) Anonymous (2004g) More South Yorks criminals brought to justice, The Star, 9th November (www.SheffieldToday.co.uk) Anonymous (2004h) Time to get bobbies, The Star 18th November (www.SheffieldToday.co.uk) Anonymous (2004i) Higher education, research institutions and the local economy, Higher Education & Research Opportunities in the United Kingdom (www.hero.ac.uk/uk/business/high education research ins119.cfm) Anonymous (2005a) Pensioner injured by thug with gun: A FRAIL pensioner was shot in the head by a gun-wielding thug as she walked home from a Sheffield bus stop The Star, 1st March (www.SheffieldToday.co.uk) Anonymous (2005b) Pupils in weapon searches: PUPILS could be searched by police as part of plans to combat the alarming rise of weapons in South Yorkshire schools, The Star, 1st March (www.SheffieldToday.co.uk) Audit Commission (2004) Cultural Services Inspection: Sheffield City Council, The Audit Commission (www.sheffield.gov.uk) Basic Skills Agency (2001) Estimates of Population 16-60 with poor Literacy and Numeracy Skills Basic Skills Agency (http://bsa/broadshow.net/print/parl City Talk (2004) Sheffield City Council, Issue 1, November Cushman and Wakefield, Healey and Baker (2002) A City Wide Quantitative Study of Comparison Goods Retailing, Sheffield City Council, June (www.sheffield.gov.uk) ECOTEC (2002) An Updated Baseline for Sheffield, ECOTEC Research & Consulting Limited, A Final Report for Sheffield One, July (www.sheffield1.com) European Policy Unit (1995) The Urban Initiative, circular (Summer) cited by Green (1995) Finch, J. 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