100 jobs created at new £5m injury rehabilitation centre

The STEPS facility will work with adults who have suffered a stroke, brain, spinal or complex trauma.

A new building on the site of the former Jacobs Manufacturing Company premises on Troutbeck Road, off Abbeydale Road South, is close to completion.

When it opens next month it is set to include 23 bedrooms, a gym, hydrotherapy pool and a café.

Some 100 staff have already been recruited, including consultants, nurses, therapists and catering staff.

STEPS Rehabilitation Ltd is a private company funded with £1.67m from the directors, a £2.84m bridging loan and a £490,000 Regional Growth Fund grant.

Fees are set to be paid by sources including the NHS, insurers and patients’ compensation payments.

Ray Boulger, chairman of STEPS, said: “There is nowhere like this in Sheffield that provides this combination of complex trauma and orthopaedic rehabilitation.

“I’m immensely proud of the team, it’s dominated the lives of my daughters for four years, they have spent a lot of time researching facilities across the country.

“We know that if we harness patients’ drive and desire and add our commitment and care, we will achieve optimal results. We can offer patients the tools with which to push their own recovery to its pinnacle.”

Staff had been recruited via word of mouth and the website, he added.

“The number and quality of applicants has been encouraging.”

David Grey, MBE and chair of the Sheffield City Region RGF investment panel said: “STEPS has the potential to become the prime facility for patients requiring the latest neurological rehabilitation care to achieve the highest level of recovery”

The firm is set to work with Hallam and Sheffield universities on research and development and the stroke association, HEADWAY, and other charities.

The Jacobs steel tool factory closed in 2002 and the site had been a haunt for graffiti artists and skate boarders.