Are Sheffield's shops prisoners of geography?

Good afternoon readers — and welcome to our Monday briefing.

What a response from you over the weekend. Our plea to get us to 2,500 members had a huge impact — 29 of you have joined since yesterday, more than half of the 50 we need to get us there. This Christmas miracle might actually be on. Could you be one of the remaining 21? Could you join local heroes Linda, David and Jessica who all got on board yesterday? Just hit that button below!

One reader did write in, though, to correct us on our description of Amazon, Apple, Netflix and the like as “far away, tax-evading, conglomerates”. We should of course have written “far away, tax-avoiding, conglomerates”. The difference being that tax evasion is illegal and immoral, whereas tax avoidance is legal. We’re happy to correct the record.

Also, there have been a couple of questions from readers about the new website — so we’ve set up a page here which explains how to sign in online and leave comments. It’s really easy and you only need to do it once.

In this week’s Monday briefing, we take a look at shopping in Sheffield. Christmas is the most important time of the year for retail, and over the last few years due to Covid and the cost of living crisis has been a real struggle. The retail climate does seem to be getting a bit better, as new city centre attractions bring people into Sheffield and customers have slightly more money in their pockets. But is Sheffield condemned, by its mere geography, to always have a weaker retail core than Manchester and Leeds? As well as that, we have the latest on the Leadmill, the return of a festive tradition to the Dorothy Pax, and lovely city centre apartment.

Catch up

For our weekend read, Dan put a shirt and tie on for once and joined dozens of new Sheffielders as they received their British citizenship at a ceremony at the Town Hall. Hundreds of people are granted citizenship here every year, with the process often taking them many years and costing thousands of pounds. As you might expect, it's an emotional event. Read that here.

Last week our members got two extra great editions of The Tribune delivered direct to their inbox. In the first top music writer Daniel Dylan Wray flicked through his back copies of the Sheffield fanzines of the 70s and 80s to see how they provided the spark that set many of the city’s most famous musicians on their path to stardom. In the second, Victoria cast her forensic eye over the iconic superclub brand Gatecrasher, whose founder seems to have an aversion to paying people for their work. An extract from that piece is below.

Decades after the night first gatecrashed Sheffield’s club scene, many former advocates are beginning to awkwardly make their excuses and shuffle out. “Before, he had loads of doormen around him but there’s no one around him now,” claims a former associate. “Everyone has washed their hands of him.”

The big picture: Farmer Christmas 🚜

Thousands of people lined the streets of north Sheffield yesterday for the annual Bradfield Christmas Tractor Run. Around 100 illuminated tractors took part in the run, led by Father Christmas in his sleigh. For more photos and to contribute to the event’s two charity partners (Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice and Weston Park Cancer Charity), see the Facebook page.

The big story: Are Sheffield's shops prisoners of geography?

Top line: If you’re a retailer, you have these few weeks circled in a big red pen on your calendar— with many taking a quarter or more of their annual revenue in this time. But with consumer confidence looking rocky and economic growth dipping slightly negative last week, it’s a nervous time for small businesses. Can Sheffield’s spruced-up city centre (ignoring Fargate, of course) pull in the punters? 

Along division: We asked three shops on Division Street how this Christmas was looking so far.

At MoonKo, owner Deborah Máire said that so far this year has been on a par with last year, and could still improve in the last week before Christmas. “It’s not getting worse and might even end up a bit better than last year,” she says. “It will be really interesting to see how this week goes.” Deborah added MoonKo is helped by the fact people travel to them from places like Manchester and Nottingham, mostly to see the shop, which people tell her is “very Instagrammable”.

In the Alternative Store, shop assistant Ben Rees says the cost of living crisis isn’t spoken about as much now but is still very much a factor. He said recent changes that have taken place in the city centre were positive, but that generally Sheffield wasn’t known as a place for people to come to shop and to visit. “It’s been a tricky few years but I think you’ve got to try to stay positive,” he added. “That’s the reality of the high street at the moment.”

And Liam Smith at the Vulgar vintage mini mart said that while business was slowly getting better after a disastrous 2023, when takings were 30% down, they were still a long way behind where they were pre-Covid. “Division Street just isn’t busy and hasn’t been for a while,” he said. “Before Covid when the students came back that was always a really busy time and you’d take loads of money. But ever since Covid, it’s just never returned.”

The shopping squeeze: Amongst the year on year fluctuations, is there a bigger picture? When it comes to the retail offer, Sheffield is often compared unfavourably to its near neighbours: Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham. In our long read about Meadowhall, we asked why Sheffield’s high street had suffered so much from the shopping centre, when other cities weren’t harmed as much by the arrival of large out-of-town malls. We hypothesised that “with Sheffield sandwiched between the large retail catchments of Manchester, Leeds, and Nottingham… [p]erhaps there are just fewer pounds to go round.” 

It now seems we have data to back that up. Sheffield-based geographers Alasdair Rae and his colleague Elvis Nyanzu recently analysed a mega UK dataset on where people live and spend their money, based on bank card transactions. They then identified “consumer spending regions” where people tend to spend in the same places. Sure enough, Sheffield’s region (pink on the map below) is notably smaller than those three large cities surrounding us. You don’t have to go too far in any direction for somewhere else to be the more obvious place to shop. We are, it would seem, prisoners of geography.

Debenhams gazumped: Elsewhere in the city centre, one of the most visible signs of the changing retail landscape is the old Debenhams, which has been closed since 2021. The building’s owners have tried to find new tenants for the store and also attempted to turn it into a place where people could sell second-hand goods (“an Ebay you can touch and feel”), but all these ideas fell through. Last week it was about to be put up for sale at auction with a reserve price of just £1…but a mystery buyer decided to wade in before it even came up for auction.

Bottom line: It’s a tough time to be a local retailer so if you can do some of your Christmas shopping with independents in your neighbourhood or the city centre, it’ll no doubt be greatly appreciated.

This week’s weather 🌤️

Our weather forecast comes from dedicated Sheffield weather service Steel City Skies, who say it will be a changeable week with milder air giving way to a chill from the northwest after midweek.

Monday 🌥 Cloudier spells but also some brightness, with a drizzle risk in prone hilly spots. Windy from the WSW, with highs a mild 11°C.

Tuesday ☁ The odd spot of light rain vying with the occasional brighter spell, with the form horse for the day being a lot of cloud. Gusty southerly winds later. Highs of 11°C.

Wednesday 🌦 Outbreaks of light rain becoming more showery later as skies brighten. Very mild but also windy from the west with highs of 13°C.

Thursday ☀ Colder from the northwest with a real nip in the breeze. Mostly sunny and dry, with a frost potentially both early and late. Highs of 6°C.

Friday 🌥 Generally dry and bright after an early frost. Still likely to be breezy from the west, with temperatures around 8°C at best.

Outlook: Staying breezy into the weekend with large cloud amounts and the risk of showery rain. Temperatures recovering slightly.

To see the full forecast and keep up to date with any changes to the outlook, follow Steel City Skies on Facebook.

Give the gift of good journalism 💝

That trip to Meadowhall you were dreading? Cancel it. Instead, buy your loved ones great journalism. Every week they’ll be filled in on everything that’s happening in Sheffield, regularly reminded of your affection every time an e-mail comes in.

We’re offering these subscriptions at a discount for two weeks only, as we know that Christmas is an expensive time and that many of you buying them will already be paying members giving us the value of a full subscription. This is only on offer until Christmas and we’d really appreciate it if you don’t use this link to buy a subscription for yourself. We’ve also got three month and six month options at lower prices.

Just head here to get started!

Mini-briefing 🗞️

Decision day 🎸 The final showdown in the battle of Leadmill versus landlord takes places in Leeds this week, as the venue fights to get its eviction overturned. Rumour has it that, if venue owner Phil Mills loses the building, he plans to start a new Leadmill somewhere else in the city, since the one thing his landlord Dominic Madden definitely can’t take off him is the trademark. That means that, if successful, Madden will have to find a new name for the venue he hopes to create in the Leadmill building — let us know in the comments what you’d call it. Our piece about The Leadmill from last year is here and Victoria is reporting from the court today.

Shots fired 🚨 Meetings of the South Yorkshire police and crime panel aren’t normally fiery affairs, but last Monday’s was. At the meeting, former Police and Crime Commissioner Dr Alan Billings complained that his foreword to the recent annual report had been removed. In response, Mayor Oliver Coppard said he was now responsible for the functions of the PCC and suggested that Dr Billings was struggling with the transition to his new role. “All I would say is, if the former Police and Crime Commissioner is going to make some public announcement, I would gently suggest that it might want to include an apology for the financial state which we found when we took over the office,” Mr Coppard added. A £65 million black hole in the PCC budget which was found when its powers were transferred to South Yorkshire Mayor is currently being investigated.

Michelin mission 🍴The Sheffield restaurant thought to have the best chance of gaining a Michelin star has a new home. JÖRO, which is famed for its multi-course tasting menus and Nordic/Japanese-influenced food, has now left the Shalesmoor shipping container Krynkl which has been its home for the last year in favour of a former paper mill in Wharncliffe Side. The new restaurant welcomed its first diners earlier this month and has already earned praise from Michelin-starred chefs and top food critics. Whether the move will help JÖRO get their own Michelin star, only time will tell. Our 2022 piece about JÖRO and the local food scene is here.

Tamper, tamper ☕ We weren’t overly surprised when we were told that a certain coffee shop was looking to take legal action against The Tribune. But an official letter has yet to arrive, and with the most recent communiqué wishing us “a good festive break” we’re hoping it’s all behind us now…

Journalism commended 📝 Huge congratulations to our colleagues at the Manchester Mill, Liverpool Post and Birmingham Dispatch who were lauded at the British Journalism Awards in London last week. Four of our journalists were highly commended in the local news category for their investigations into exempt accommodation, a type of housing meant for vulnerable people which is being abused by unscrupulous companies. Victoria did her own investigation into exempt accommodation for us in October, but it was too late to be considered for this year’s awards. Maybe next year.

This isn’t London: 🌆 Talking of our sister publications, the newest title, The Londoner, has caused quite the storm over the weekend with a review of a book written by a senior advisor to foreign secretary David Lammy. In 2016 Ben Judah wrote “This is London”, about who lives in the capital today. But our colleagues found a book “littered with racial stereotypes and falsehoods”. You can read that here.

Coming up

This week our paying members will get two extra newsletters packed with original journalism and great stories. In the first Carey Davies dons his waders in search of the River Don salmon which have recently begun spawning in our waters after decades away. And in the second, Dan will be telling the stories of the vulnerable people who have recently died on our streets as a dangerous new synthetic opioid called nitazenes runs riot among the city’s rough sleepers. Get all of that, and help support the renaissance of high-quality journalism in Sheffield, by clicking below.

Home of the week 🏡

Fancy city centre living but don’t want to live in something the size of a shoebox? Then this two-bedroom apartment on St Peter’s Close (off Campo Lane) might be the thing for you. Situated in the historic Mazda Building, a former Victorian warehouse, the flat has loads of trendy exposed brick, good-sized rooms and even an en suite bathroom. It is on the market for £190,000.

Tribune tips: If you want to tell us about a story or give us some information, please get in touch with us by emailing editor@sheffieldtribune.co.uk. We are happy to speak to people off the record, and we guarantee we will treat your information with confidence and sensitivity.

Things to do 📆

Music 🎻 On Tuesday night, enjoy an exceptional evening of classical music with the fantastic Piccadilly Sinfonietta at Sheffield Cathedral. Joined by renowned concert pianist Warren Mailley-Smith and violin soloist Martyn Jackson, the orchestra will play an evening of classical favourites including Pachabel’s Canon, Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2, Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, plus a bonus festive item. Tickets are priced from £20-£41 and doors open at 6.50pm.

Tour 👻 On Wednesday, Strange Sheffield Ghost Tours bring a special Christmas event to the city centre. A Sheffield Carol aims to keep the Victorian tradition of the Christmas ghost story alive and includes a special reading of Charles Dickens’ book by tour organiser Adrian Finney. The event starts and ends in Tudor Square and takes a fully accessible route around the city. Tickets are £12 in advance or £14 on the night (kids £8). The 90-minute tour begins at 7.30pm.

Christmas 🎄The Dorothy Pax’s (Semi)-Trad Paxmas has been a highlight of the festive season for the last four years. This year the Sheffield Arts Lab returns to take on the folk tradition of a mummers’ play, followed by the fourth annual Hearnes Christmas Carols sing-along hosted by Rebecca, Ray and Emily Hearne. The night is completely free but there will be a collection for the event’s charity partner, Prostate Cancer Care. The festivities will kick off at 7pm on Thursday.