Hallam's new city centre campus looks fantastic, but can they afford it?

Good afternoon readers — and welcome to this week’s Monday briefing.

As anyone who decided to try to drive anywhere in Sheffield on Saturday or Sunday (like me) will know, students returned to the city over the weekend. The city is home to around 60,000 students, making our two universities key parts of the city’s economy. But all is not well in higher education. A steep drop in the number of international students means many UK universities are tightening their belts. So why are Sheffield Hallam spending millions on new buildings in the city centre and a new campus in London? That’s today’s big story.

As well as that, we have news of a Sheffield triumph at the Emmy’s, three modernist tours of the city centre, and a lovely home in the Gleadless Valley.

In case you missed it

For our weekend read, Dan attended a local meeting to discuss the future of Your Party (working title), the left-wing Labour alternative started by two of the party’s former MPs, Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana. Despite not yet having its policies nailed down, Your Party has already attracted former local Labour councillor Sophie Wilson, who represented Park and Arbourthorne and became an independent after Keir Starmer was elected as Labour leader. “This is the first thing I have been enthused by in a long time,” she told Dan.

Earlier in the week, we took stock of Streets Ahead — the council’s controversial private finance initiative contract with Amey and the cause of the infamous tree-felling scandal — as the 25-year contract finally reaches its halfway point. You can read an excerpt of that piece below. And regular Tribune contributor David Bocking spoke to Sheffield’s purveyors of lentils, seitan and sosmix, as the city’s OG wholefoods shop Down to Earth prepares to mark half a century in business.

Of the 6,000 trees identified as needing to be felled, [Paul] Selby says 309 are still standing. Ever since the peace deal between the campaigners, the council and Amey was agreed in 2018, attempts have been made to break the logjam so the roads above can be resurfaced, but the parties have so far been unable to agree on a way forward. “The council say we [the Street Tree Partnership] are to blame but they are constantly changing the goalposts,” says Selby. The situation has been made worse by a high turnover of staff at the council which has meant agreements have been ripped up multiple times and started again. Nevertheless, he remains hopeful that they will be able to agree a deal within the next six to 12 months. 

Editor’s note: Do you have a story you think The Tribune should be covering? We’d love to hear from you! Get in touch by emailing editor@sheffieldtribune.co.uk. We’re happy to hear from sources who want to remain anonymous.

The big picture: Bikes and beats 🚲

Hundreds of cyclists braved Saturday’s inclement weather for another one of Dom Whiting’s popular “drum and bass bike rides”. Yesterday’s ride saw Whiting, who tours the country playing jungle music to groups of cyclists, lead a hardy bunch of riders on a full circle of the ring road and up to the finish at Endcliffe Park. The above shot was captured at Park Square roundabout by Shot By Genaro.

The big story: Hallam’s new city centre campus looks fantastic, but can they afford it?

Top line: Sheffield Hallam University’s new £140 million city centre campus is now open and those shiny new buildings certainly make an impression as you walk out of the station and up Howard Street. But, given the university's well-publicised money troubles and the headwinds affecting many higher education institutions, can they afford it?

Langsett, Redmires, Strines: The new city centre campus is made up of three separate buildings — each of them, somewhat bizarrely, named after reservoirs in Sheffield.

• At the bottom of Howard Street, Langsett is the new home of the Sheffield Business School, and even includes a trading floor where you can “channel your inner stockbroker” using industry-standard Bloomberg software.
• Redmires (the red brick building at the junction of Arundel Street and Charles Street) brings the Sheffield Institute of Law and Justice, the Sheffield Institute of Social Sciences, and Hallam’s architecture courses under one roof.
• Further up Howard Street, Strines is the base for Hallam’s new Institute of Technology, a state-of-the-art space for manufacturing, engineering, construction, creative and digital study, which also includes a robotics lab.
• The new campus also includes landscaped gardens at Hallam Green, a 30-seat cafe/deli and a 100-seat restaurant, and a gardened roof terrace in Langsett.

Money, money, money: Given the university’s largesse, you might expect that they are in rude financial health at the moment, but few things could be further from the truth. In December last year, university bosses revealed that they needed to find savings of more than £40m in the 2024/25 budget, precipitating yet another round of job losses. 

As The Tribune has reported a number of times before, a large part of Hallam’s money troubles is due to a steep drop in the number of international students, in part caused by the previous government’s tighter immigration rules. Since the beginning of 2024, the vast majority of international students cannot bring their dependents with them when they study. This change has put off many prospective students from countries like Nigeria, given these applicants tend to be older and already have children, and this demographic made up a large part of Hallam’s international cohort over the last few years.

International students pay much higher tuition fees than their British counterparts, meaning most British universities rely heavily on them to fund their operations. For example, a postgraduate degree in International Business Management at Hallam costs £10,620 for a UK student, compared to £17,725 for those coming from abroad.

Sell, sell, sell: Given Hallam’s cashflow problems, it’s perhaps understandable that they are looking at what they can sell. As The Tribune reported earlier this year, Hallam is hoping to offload much of its Collegiate Campus on Ecclesall Road, which could be worth up to £40 million. Last month, they announced they wanted to sell the Oneeleven building on Arundel Gate. The Star reported that staff were being moved out of the building, which cost £4.4 million in 2009, as part of a “consolidation” following the introduction of hybrid working.

London campus: As well as a new city centre campus, Hallam is also in the process of setting up a new campus in London, its first ever outside South Yorkshire. The campus — which will form part of the £8 billion Brent Cross Town development being built by a joint venture of Barnet Council and Related Argent — is set to open next year (a year later than originally planned) and will offer courses to around 5,000 students.

• The university clearly sees these new campuses as an investment in its future that will pay off in years to come. In an increasingly competitive higher education market, the university needs to find new ways to attract students if it is to survive. 
• While the university will not have to fund the construction of the new buildings, there will inevitably be significant costs involved with setting up a satellite campus, even before the first students arrive.
• It’s probably understandable that university staff still reeling from regular job cuts might not be enthusiastic about this enormous project, which some insist is a “vanity project”. It’s not much use having lovely new buildings if you’re having to get rid of large numbers of teaching staff at the same time.

Our take: It’s undoubtedly great to see the new buildings finally open. Hallam is one of the most important institutions in Sheffield and having attractive buildings in the city centre makes a good impression for people visiting the city. However, given the amount of money Hallam has spent on both the new city campus and their new London campus, at a time when higher education institutions are nervously looking at their budgets, they also represent a risk. We’ll see in the next few years if that risk is going to pay off.

Your Tribune briefing 🗞️

🏆 Adolescence star Owen Cooper, 15, became the youngest male actor to ever win an Emmy Award last night. The four-part Netflix drama, created by local film company Warp Films, also won best limited series and prizes for its writing and directing, while Cooper’s co-stars Stephen Graham and Erin Doherty took home their own awards for acting. Creators Warp Films, also known for This Is England and Four Lions, announced in April that their next project will be a remake of the apocalyptic local classic Threads.

🕹️ Chris Wilder is poised to make a triumphant return to managing Sheffield United, after his replacement Rubén Sellés was sacked after just six games (and six losses). Wilder “left by mutual consent” this June, after the Blades lost the Championship playoff final at Wembley and, the Guardian reports, because he clashed with the club’s ownership over a shift to AI-led recruitment. A club spokesperson said the decision to let Sellés after just 88 days was “made to give the club the best possible opportunity to improve the current league position” and also “taking into account the feelings of supporters”. 

🕹️ Last week, Now Then spoke to local independent videogame developers about their latest projects and the stories behind them. Coded Black, by Maisha Wester, draws on the themes of Gothic literature to explore anti-blackness, while Trans Theft Horso tells the story of a character trying to retrieve their brother’s hormones. The magazine also spoke to Lizi Attwood and Ross Mansfield of Furious Bee, a small studio based in Crookes who are regularly contracted by the larger studios that dominate the industry.

This week’s weather 🌦️

Our weather forecast comes from dedicated Sheffield weather service Steel City Skies, who say it will be another unsettled and changeable week ahead with showers or longer periods of rain, gusty winds and brief sunnier spells.

Monday 🌦️ Southwesterly wind warnings in place ahead of a blustery and bright day with sunshine and squally showers. Highs of 16C, so feeling cool.

Tuesday 🌦️ Gusty winds from the west with sunny spells and further scattered showers, some of which could be heavy. Highs of 17C.

Wednesday 🌦️  Frontal rain sweeps in from the west, with the rain easing later on to drier and sunnier conditions to end the day. Warmer after the rain with highs of 19C.

Thursday ⛅ Fairly warm again with decent dry and bright periods, though the ongoing risk of showers remains. Breezy from the west-southwest with highs of 20C.

Friday ⛅ A chance of showers once more, but there should be some drier and brighter spells to take advantage of, too. Lighter SW winds with highs of 19C.

Outlook: Showers remain likely at times, but high pressure may attempt to build in better from the west during the weekend, with a drying trend developing. Temperatures close to average.

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

The weekly Whitworth ✍️

Cartoonist James Whitworth with his take on the Streets Ahead contract as it reaches its half way stage still with 18 Sheffield roads waiting to be resurfaced.

Home of the week 🏡

As The Tribune has written before, the Gleadless Valley was once the most desirable estate in the city. That might not be the case any more but this three bedroom detached home is a modernist marvel. Located on a quiet cul-de-sac, the recently-modernised property features generous room sizes, a courtyard garden and open views. It is on the market for £155,000.

Things to do 📆

Tour 🏢 Three Sheffield walking tours have been added to The Modernist Society’s app. The self guided tours each focus on a different part of the city centre. One looks at the 20th century buildings in the commercial centre like Cole Brothers, one takes in the north of the city centre and buildings like the Arts Tower, while the third includes cultural buildings like the Crucible Theatre. The app is free to download and provides lots of information about each stop.

History 🏰 On Wednesday, join Sheffield Museums us to explore the water-powered steel and scythe works at the Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet and hear their most recent discoveries about the historic site. Hear from Embrace Abbeydale project manager Pamela Cunningham who will share what they have learnt during their research into the site and the people who lived and worked there. The free one-hour tour begins at 6pm (suggested donation £5).

Theatre 🎭 On Thursday at the Montgomery Theatre is Stories of Hope and Humanity from the NHS, an evening of inspiring true stories told by people working in the NHS. The event is an opportunity to witness hope and humanity as experienced by others, to appreciate the full diversity of lived experience, and to celebrate the small moments that can often go unseen. Tickets are priced £10 (free to concessions, students, unwaged) and the doors open at 7pm.