Sheffield tour guide says visitors are impressed by the city centre - plus how clean and friendly it is

Marcus Newton, a walking tour guide from Parkhead, has been giving visitors tours of the city since 2013, giving him a unique perspective on the city centre. He says visitors always leave with a positive impression.

In his tours visitors are taken around the city centre and shown historic buildings like Sheffield City Hall, as well as new developments and independent restaurants, bars, and shops.

When he spoke to the Sheffield Telegraph this week, Marcus had just returned from giving a tour to four Austrians.

He said: “One of the strong impressions visitors have is how well looked after the city is and the efforts of people to make it clean. They also say how friendly it is.

"There are great places to eat and drink and a diversity of food and drink. "There is overwhelming positivity for things like the Pollen Market as well. “People are saying positive things about the amount of redevelopment going on.”

Plans for a £100 million football centre in the old John Lewis building at Barker’s Pool were revealed last week.

Marcus’ verdict was: “It is a 100 percent brilliant idea. You get a lot of people coming to Sheffield for the football. What we need to do with the John Lewis building is get the John Lewis name off it.

"People are confused by it. One woman on a tour wanted to use the car park and didn’t realise it was closed. I would like to see temporary aspirational cladding around it like Embrace nightclub, telling people ‘don’t worry, it will become something special.’

“The biggest change I have seen since I started has been people coming back to live in the city centre. Taking traffic out of the centre has been a big change too. I like that we have started to develop city centre festivals and events. Sheffield’s strong point is inclusivity - there is something for everybody of whatever financial level.

"If you go to Leeds and Manchester, they do have more shops.

"But Sheffield has shops too, they’re just not in the city centre. If you want to buy a camera you can go to Harrisons on London Road. You can get a washing machine from Williams in Woodseats.”