Good afternoon readers — and welcome to this week’s Monday briefing.
Readers of The Tribune will be familiar with Sheffield landlord Gary Ata. We’ve done several stories about him in the past, including one on his ownership of the Old Town Hall, and another delving into his murky business dealings. However, this one is perhaps the most shocking. Last week The Tribune was told that residents at Lightbox — one of the buildings he owns and operates — have been left without heating and hot water for the last two months. In the last few weeks, conditions in the building were so bad that one resident was even told by staff to turn the oven on and leave the door open to heat his flat. How can he get away with it, and what is the council going to do about it? That’s today’s big story.
As well as that we have all the latest news from the Traitors castle, Mozart at the Crucible Playhouse, and a beautiful home in Hillsborough.
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In case you missed it
On Tuesday, Rosie Peters-McDonald wrote a beautiful piece about a Sheffield business which offers “equine-assisted therapies” to people with mental health problems or additional needs. She told the story of how Steven Coyle, a former drug addict who has spent time in prison, turned his life around by working with the horses of the Redmires-based Hope Through The Herd and its inspirational owner Alison Garner. “A lovely story," wrote member Robbie.
Later in the week, Mollie traipsed around Sheffield speaking to independent shops, pubs and restaurants who argued the government’s reforms to the business rates system were unfair. Jules Gray, owner of the micropub Hop Hideout, found that her unit in Leah’s Yard was charged at £350 per square metre according to Valuation Office Agency data, compared with M&S at just £60 per square metre, and Jeffrey Pegg, landlord of the Merrie Monk pub on the Manor Estate, said he was afraid of raising prices as: “It’s an estate pub, blue collar customers, they can’t afford much more.” Rachel Reeves has now announced a £300mn bailout for pubs panicking about the removal of Covid-era relief from business rates, plus changes to licensing rules and shorter term financial help.
And on Saturday, Dan delved into the story of Samuel Holberry, a Chartist activist who led the “Sheffield rising” on 12 January 1840 — 186 years ago today. Holberry wanted to bring democracy to Britain, but his actions led to his arrest and death in prison at the age of just 27. The piece raised questions that are relevant today about protest and how far we are prepared to go for a just cause. “Brilliant piece, beautifully written,” said reader John Yates.
If you wanted to read these stories and were dismayed to hit the paywall, let us reassure you: there’s never been a better time to take out an annual subscription to The Tribune. With a year's membership you get two months free: twelve months for the price of ten. That means that instead of paying £107.40 over the year, you'll only pay £89. You’ll be able to read the above stories to your heart’s content, plus, you'll get access to our entire back catalogue of stories, lively debates in our comments section and no more of these increasingly annoying messages.
The big picture: Snow day ⛄️
The snow is all gone again now, but there were some great pictures on Instagram over the weekend, including this one, by photographer Emma Bothamley, of the Norton water tower.
The big story: ‘It’s inhumane’ — as temperatures plummet, Gary Ata’s tenants go without heating or hot water for eight weeks
Top line: Residents in a Sheffield city centre tower block have had no heating or hot water for two months during the coldest period of the year. Renters at Lightbox in the city centre say people are “getting ill” after having to put up with freezing temperatures and cold showers for almost eight weeks. Can the council not do something about it?
Background: Lightbox is operated by Noble City Living, a company owned by Gunes “Gary” Ata, a Telford-based property developer who owns or operates six residential buildings in Sheffield. As The Tribune has written before, Ata has been in trouble with the law on several occasions and has also been criticised for poorly maintaining the buildings he operates.
- In October 2024 Ata was fined £97,000 over the “serious and deliberate” failure to manage St Mary’s House on London Road. The judge ruled that Ata was guilty of a “systematic, serious and deliberate failure to comply with his legal duties”.
- In September 2023, 40 investors in the Kelham Works development won a three year legal battle over the right to manage the building themselves after taking Ata to a property tribunal, citing issues including maintenance, cleanliness and fire safety.
- In October 2025, the South Yorkshire Fire and Safety service said they were considering whether to take legal action against Ata for a second time after he failed to comply with a fire safety enforcement notice on London Court on London Road.
What’s in the box? Last week The Tribune spoke to two residents about what it’s been like to live at Lightbox over the last two months. Kieran Pathija said he had been told that the building runs on three boilers, only one of which was working. He added that he had bought an oil heater, had been taking showers at the gym, and, most astonishingly, had been told by one of the building’s staff to leave the oven on with the door open to warm his flat up. “It’s been really tough,” he added. “They say they are waiting for a part from Germany but that is bollocks.”
“It’s inhumane”: Another resident, Laylo Roberts, who is currently working as a nurse at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, was just walking back from the shops with a plug-in heater. She told The Tribune that she was paying £780 a month and had “lost count” of the number of times she had complained about the heating and hot water. “It’s inhumane,” she added.
We also spoke briefly to a maintenance man who worked at Lightbox who claimed his bosses Gary and Jade Ata had been trying to get someone to fix the heating and hot water, but the problems were down to “when and how they can get people out”. “There’s nothing I can do. I just work here,” he added.
Substandard living conditions: Now, a group of tenants at Lightbox have now joined forces to take on Noble. They said: “The people of Sheffield and prospective tenants MUST be protected from these criminals who have for years gotten away with allowing substandard living conditions because they simply can't be bothered to pay for inconvenient things like a working boiler.”
Council response: When we asked Sheffield council about this case, they said that their Private Housing Standards (PHS) had been in contact with the building’s management and that “formal investigations” were underway. They added that all complainants had been offered heaters, as is standard practice, and that digital monitors were fitted in six flats last week, data from which will support any potential action required. “The PHS team will not hesitate to take enforcement action if necessary,” they added.
Ata response: We asked Noble City Living and Gary Ata for their response to these allegations on Friday. We got nothing back.
Bottom line: The experience of Lightbox residents is miserable but unsurprising. Across his Sheffield property portfolio, from the Old Town Hall to several blocks of flats, Ata has shown little regard for both building maintenance and tenant welfare. It’s good that the council is gathering evidence — but so far fines and legal actions seem to have had little impact.
Read more:
Dan Hayes
Your Tribune briefing 🗞️
📚 Kate, the 31-year-old owner of the independent bookshop Novel in Crookes, announced yesterday that she is closing the shop “indefinitely” after suffering months of harassment from male customers. In December, we reported that Kate had suffered a number of highly unusual incidents from male customers, including a man walking in with his hands covered in blood, who later threatened to “make her regret ever having opened a shop”, a separate man throwing books around and asking people to fight him and a man who claimed that he was Donald Trump’s son, part of Liverpool FC and a superhero. Just last month, she says she decided to scale back Novel’s opening hours and look for a part time job. But after an incident on Saturday involving one individual who Kate claims has “not allowed me to operate my shop safely for many months now”, she has decided to close the shop for good. In a 45-minute YouTube video posted just yesterday, she explained the stress of anticipating another threat is exacerbating her Crohn's disease and that while she feels safest with two staff working in the shop at all times, doing this is no longer financially sustainable. “I’m now not able to make it through a month without calling the police, without having to come up with some kind of risk assessment for my staff,” she said. “I spend a lot of time at work bracing myself for another situation… I’m tired. I’m exhausted.” She added that she is now seeking therapy and that she didn’t take this decision lightly but, “This feels like the only way I can keep people safe.”
🎖️ Congratulations to this year’s most-talked-about TV programme, Adolescence, which picked up four Golden Globes at last night’s ceremony in LA. The limited drama series, which attempted to explain what led a 13-year-old boy from a normal family to fatally stab his classmate Katie, was made by Sheffield-based production company Warp Films and has become a massive source of local pride. Alongside winning best limited series, Stephen Graham picked up the award for best actor in television, and Erin Doherty and Owen Cooper won best supporting actress and best supporting actor respectively.
📺 And lastly, our apologies for getting your hopes up. Last Monday, we asked where you are most likely to see a Sheffield sweetshop worker wipe the floor with a cyber security consultant and a PR executive. After Traitors contestant Reece, 27, observed an incriminating moment in the castle, we got overexcited by the possibility that this sweet, shy retail worker might finally open his mouth and make his first smart move this season. Sadly, it was not to be. By the next morning’s roundtable, he seemed to have forgotten it altogether. The following night, Reece was murdered by the traitors, marking the Sheffield contestant’s final day in the castle and wiping out the last bit of South Yorkshire representation from this season altogether. RIP.
The weekly Whitworth ✍️
Cartoonist James Whitworth with his take on our story about rising business rates, and pubs being given a last minute reprieve by the government.
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Home of the week 🏡
This four bedroom terrace on Parkside Road in Hillsborough has views of Hillsborough Park to the front and a beautifully maintained and secluded outdoor space to the rear. Best of all, you won’t even have to leave your home to see Tramlines. It is on the market for £265,000.
Things to do 📆
Art 🖼️ On Wednesday, join Sheffield Museums at the Millennium Gallery for a special evening event featuring three films by Turner Prize-winning artist Mark Wallinger: Angel, Threshold to the Kingdom and The End. The screenings will be followed by a discussion between Wallinger and esteemed art critic and curator Sacha Craddock and an opportunity for questions. Tickets are free (suggested donation £5) and the event starts at 6pm.
Theatre 🎭 To the Crucible on Wednesday comes Kubulaya — Away From Home. Produced by Roots Mbili Theatre, the play examines the high rate of separation among African couples who migrate to the UK. Infused with Zambian music and a blend of African and Western storytelling traditions, it delves into how culture, finance, and faith intersect to test the bonds of family and love. Tickets are pay what you can and doors open at 7pm.
Music 🎼 On Thursday, join Music in the Round at the Crucible Playhouse for three Mozart quintets for horn, clarinet and strings. Each quintet showcases the qualities that mark the enduring appeal of Mozart’s music. The virtuosic horn quintet sits alongside the lyrical clarinet quintet, while the haunting yet hopeful string quintet in G minor is perhaps the crowning achievement in his writing for strings. Tickets are £5-£23 and doors open at 7pm.
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