Kelham Island: No start date for flats in trendy district three years after historic firm shut down

The owner of Aircraft and Commercial Tools Ltd on Bowling Green Street, Kelham Island, sold the business to developer Grantside in 2021. It closed the same year and the historic premises were demolished. Some 16 staff lost their jobs including toolmaker Michael Atter, then aged 60, who had been at the firm for 45 years.

In October 2021, Grantside won permission for a seven-storey block of flats. But three years on the plot is overgrown.

A spokesperson for the York-based firm said they were working through the design development stages and in discussion with contractors but did not have a start date.

Kelham Island has seen intense residential development in recent years. It is Sheffield’s trendiest district and has been hailed as ‘cool’ by Time Out, The Guardian and The Times.