General Overview

Welcome to Barnsley Development Agency! This is the place to find out all you need to know about doing business in Barnsley, whether you are an investor, a business owner or just thinking about starting up you will find information or links to information that can help you.

Our Investment and Development Team can help with all aspects of business, including finding premises, securing support and liaison with the local authority.

Barnsley Development Agency is part of Barnsley Metropolitan Council.

Places and Spaces

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough stretches over 127 square miles, from Dunford Bridge in the west to Goldthorpe in the east, Royston in the north to Hoyland in the south. The borough has a population of over 260,000 spread across smaller towns and the main Barnsley town centre area. Within the boundaries of the borough are Pennine areas famous for their wild beauty and outdoor activities, former Victorian industrial sites such as Elsecar Heritage Centre, an RSPB wetlands on former coalfield sites plus stately homes that come with stories and history to entertain both young and old.

There are a number of key business areas in the borough including ASOS and Fosters Bakery. Thanks to European investment there are working environments for all shapes and sizes of companies including the Digital Media Centre for creative and digital businesses, the Barnsley Business and Innovation Centre spread over two sites and catering for a wide range of businesses, a number of business centres and a broad range of industrial sites. Areas of Barnsley are also part of the Enterprise Zone within the Sheffield City Region.

History

Barnsley has had a market charter for over 750 years, and the market is the hub of town centre life and activity in some of the towns across the borough. Major industry in the area has focused historically on coalmining and glassmaking, with a lot of areas having relied on these for employment and cultural life. There is a strong tradition of brass bands based around the former mining communities, and the traditional rural communities of the Pennine area are a great source of farm produce, arts and crafts.

Barnsley has grown its fair share of creative and cultural personalities who actively fly the flag for a more contemporary view of Barnsley. Novelists Joanne Harris and Milly Johnson hail from the area, broadcasters Dame Jenni Murray and Sir Michael Parkinson are alumni as are painter Ashley Jackson and sculptor Graham Ibbeson. Conceptual artist Terry Hodgkinson was born locally; his pioneering work with Art & Language in the 1960s resulted in the group being one of the most influential collectives in the western contemporary art world. One of the most successful bands of recent years, the Arctic Monkeys, were educated at Barnsley College and leading folk performer Kate Rusby still lives in the area. Barnsley was the setting and location for ‘Kes' the film adaptation of ‘A Kestrel for a Knave', a novel by Barry Hines who was a Barnsley native. Kes is ranked seventh in the British Film Institute's (BFI) top ten British films. The mining heritage spun out a lively brass band sector, and the borough remains the headquarters of the British Federation of Brass Bands.

Barnsley will soon boast a new museum of local life. Experience Barnsley will occupy space in the refurbished Town Hall that dates from 1933. It will showcase the diverse social history of the borough and explain and explore what makes Barnsley tick!

Remaking Barnsley

Barnsley has seen significant infrastructure improvements as part of an ongoing ‘Remaking Barnsley' regeneration programme that commenced in 2003. This investment, supported by European funds, helped to create new places and spaces such as The Civic, The Digital Media Centre, a new Interchange, redevelopment of Queen's Court, new council offices at Westgate and improved public realm across the borough.

This work continues with refreshed plans for the new markets development that will include a mixture of high street and independent retail plus the markets that have been part of Barnsley's heritage for three quarters of a century.

Culture and Leisure

Barnsley has lots of things to see and do and information about what’s on can be found on the www.barnsleylive.co.uk website. Facilities include theatres, art galleries, stately homes, gardens, a heritage centre and a working Victorian flour mill plus regular town centre events and leisure facilities all across the borough.