Sheffield Station: Local business to take over First Class lounge on busiest platform

The unit is on busy Platform 5 which is regularly filled with passengers using trains to and from Manchester, London and Edinburgh.

Bosses at East Midlands Railway, which manages the station, reckon it would be “ideal for a grab-and-go coffee or food operator.”

The station is increasingly a hub for local businesses as well as travel.

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In July, Forge Bakehouse announced it would move to a bigger unit at the foot of the main stairway to the bridge, giving the Abbeydale-based company a prime spot in front of 10 million passengers annually.

Last year, brownie maker Scrumptious by Lucy was given a pitch in the ticket hall and is still trading there today. Motore Cafe operates a popular coffee van outside the station and Sheffield Tap is a bar and brewery on Platform One.

East Midlands Railway is seeking an occupier for Forge Bakehouse’s old spot as well as what was Russell’s Bike Shed cycling shop.

Proprietor Russell Cutts said he closed it after a drop in cyclists using the adjacent secure bike hub due to Covid and rail strikes.

EMR says the unit, by the covered taxi pick up area, is “in the charming Victorian station, immediately opposite the taxi rank, and would be perfect as a retail unit, office, or takeaway outlet”.

The station is also host to M&S Simply Food, WHSMith, Superdrug and Burger King Sheffield staiton.