Rotherham
Rotherham is a large town in South Yorkshire, England, with a recorded population of 257,280 in the 2011 census.
Rotherham also has a higher percentage of medium sized and large employers than average: 15% of enterprises in Rotherham employ more than 10 people but nationally the figure is 12%.
Parts of Rotherham fall within the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Zone and some significant investments from companies such as Rolls Royce have been announced which will hopefully have a ‘knock-on’ impact on the number of new business start-ups.
South Yorkshire Waters
Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, its central area is on the banks of the River Don below its confluence with the Rother on the traditional road between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham is today the largest town in a contiguous area with Sheffield, informally known as the Sheffield Urban Area, with Sheffield City Centre 5.6 miles from Rotherham town centre.
The region had been exploited for iron since Roman times, but it was coal that first brought the Industrial Revolution to Rotherham. Exploitation of the coal seams was the driving force behind the improvements to navigation on the River Don, which eventually formed the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation inland waterways.
The Millers
Milling grain into flour was a traditional industry in Rotherham, formerly in the Millmoor area, hence Rotherham United F.C.“s nickname ‘The Millers’. Flour milling continued at the Rank Hovis town mill site on Canklow Road until September 2008.
The site of the mill is now a warehousing and distribution facility for Premier Foods, a company that exemplifies the job sector in Rotherham. The manufacturing and construction sectors represent 19.7% of all companies in Rotherham, compared to just 12.9% nationally.