The MA500 crowd is coming to Sheffield

Known as ‘The Steel City’, Sheffield was famed for its industry in the 1900s. However, the smoking chimney stacks are no more and have been replaced with a green, modern cityscape set against the backdrop of the Peak District National Park.

The city caters for all types of consumers, from those wanting a romantic meal for two to a large family outing.

This includes a huge focus on beer due to Sheffield’s  proud history of the drink. Small but numerous breweries formed during the industrial revolution.

Currently, the city’s brewing scene has evolved so much that the city prides itself on being a premier destination for beer connoisseurs. It is also home to Sheffield Beer Week – a week-long festival celebrating the region’s brewing landscape.

With an eclectic mix of national chains alongside the city’s thriving independent scene, there’s a space for most in Sheffield.

According to the Welcome to Sheffield website, the area is a “vibrant city, bursting with character and creativity”, sentiments echoed by The New World Trading Company (NWTC) boss Chris Hill.

The award-winning company entered the Sheffield market with its Botanist brand almost two years ago and has seen it shine from then.

Excitement generated

Hill gave an overview about the city and how it is to operate there. He said: “Sheffield is similar to many other northern cities and it has been very under-catered for a long time.

“The Botanist in Sheffield opened 20 months ago and it one of our star sites. We didn’t face too many challenges.

“We just had challenges of our own making in that we chose a difficult site that had a lot of listed features and heritage history.

“That was difficult for us but once we opened, we were able to generate a lot of excitement about the brand coming to town by virtue of the fact that we had our Botanist in Leeds and Newcastle, which were already trading and very well known. We hit the ground running pretty quickly.”

When it comes to the Sheffield audience, operators have a mixture of ages and residents to choose from to aim their business at.

Hill added: “There are wonderful blends of communities including families, there’s a lot of industry and office workers and two large universities, so there is a wide range of demographics in the city, meaning there are plenty of opportunities.”

High residential population

The northern city is not dissimilar to its neighbouring areas, with a tight-knit centre, according to Hill.

He said: “Sheffield is similar to most other cosmopolitan city centres and it benefits from having lots of people who are within an easy commute to the centre.

“With some cities, the campuses or student population live quite far out of the city centre, the major suburban areas are way outside or there is a low amount of city centre housing but Sheffield is not one of those cities.

“It benefits from a high residential population that stays in the city centre all through the week, which is good.”

However, unlike nearby cities, Sheffield is accessible on foot but still has a variety of different areas to please visitors and residents alike.

“It is a city that you can get around on foot so it is not as large as Manchester or Liverpool but there are different districts to it and it has a lot going on,” Hill said.

“It has a full calendar of activities, things like the World Snooker Championships, it is well known for lots of theatre productions, has a good network of hotels and it is well positioned in the country so it gets lots of conferencing and other bits like that as well.”

With a plethora of opportunities and current businesses, Hill was positive about the future of the city.

He added: “Sheffield is a thriving city with a very can-do, will-do attitude about it that will go from strength to strength.”