Fargate: One third of units on premium Sheffield street empty or closing soon - but Burger King offers hope

One in three shops on a once premium street in Sheffield city centre are shut, or will be soon, our survey shows.

Eight of 32 units on Fargate stand unused today, with a further three set to join them soon: HSBC bank, Rebel Clothing, which has a 'closing down' sign up, and a Christmas shop. 

But it’s not all doom and gloom, with three launches in the pipeline including Tiger Sugar bubble tea in November and global brand Burger King in December. A gaming centre was granted planning permission in August.

Fargate is reinventing itself after the retail core shifted to The Moor. We did a count amid ongoing groundworks for a multi-million pound revamp set to introduce huge flowerbeds and outdoor seating. 

Other reasons to be optimistic include Event Central, a five-storey cultural centre which is set to open next year, although there are fears the project is behind schedule. The unit next to Superdrug will be the reception to newly refurbished offices at some point and a planning application has been submitted for a new two-storey building on the site of the former Next.

There are also plans to convert the Central Buildings offices into flats which will put scores of residents on the doorstep.

Fargate also has four banks, four phone shops and Marks and Spencer, a street stalwart and one of the few reminders of when it was pre-eminent in the city centre.