{"id":527331,"date":"2025-08-20T12:56:31","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T11:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/?p=527331"},"modified":"2025-08-20T21:12:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T20:12:15","slug":"willmott-dixon-work-on-sheffield-music-venue-halted-after-costs-quadruple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/financial\/willmott-dixon-work-on-sheffield-music-venue-halted-after-costs-quadruple-20-08-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Willmott Dixon work on Sheffield music venue halted after costs quadruple"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sheffield Council has paused work on a venue and events space due to \u201castronomic\u201d cost increases &#8211; just weeks before Willmott Dixon was due to start on site.<\/p>\n<p>The costs of the project have now almost quadrupled.<\/p>\n<p>Last week the contractor announced it had been appointed for Event Central, a \u00a314.4m overhaul of a former retail building into a 200-person music venue, which also has four storeys of co-working space as well as a ground-floor cafe and bar.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/contractors\/willmott-dixon\/\">Willmott Dixon<\/a> said work was due to begin by the end of August, with construction set to include a new atrium, strengthening works to accommodate revised loadings, a facade upgrade and complete fit-out.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>However, the project has been halted by Sheffield Council\u2019s finance and performance policy committee, which queried why the cost of the project had increased from \u00a33.8m in its original outline business case.<\/p>\n<p>Councillor Martin Smith asked council officers why the \u201castronomic\u201d price increase had happened and whether the project\u2019s business case had been reviewed to ensure the investment was still a \u201cwise use\u201d of public money.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>He added the council had already developed a similar music venue on Cambridge Street that it was now struggling to lease.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Council officers admitted that the original price tag for the building works was \u201can incorrect estimate of what the project would cost\u201d, explaining that a range of assumptions had been made and \u201cthey proved to be incorrect assumptions\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>They also said a not-for-profit organisation was in advanced discussions to operate Event Central but admitted they were unsure whether an updated appraisal of the outline business case had taken place.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Councillors have now voted to defer a decision on signing off the capital spending until the council\u2019s regeneration team has answered its queries on an updated business case.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>A decision over whether the project should be signed off is expected to be made at a meeting of Sheffield Council\u2019s finance and performance committee on 28 August.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Willmott Dixon was contacted for comment.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sheffield Council has paused work on a venue and events space due to \u201castronomic\u201d cost increases &#8211; just weeks before Willmott Dixon was due to start on site. The costs of the project have now almost quadrupled. Last week the contractor announced it had been appointed for Event Central, a \u00a314.4m overhaul of a former &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90383,"featured_media":527340,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[552,565,546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-527331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-financial","category-government","category-willmott-dixon"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.7 (Yoast SEO v26.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Willmott Dixon and the Sheffield Venue Project | Construction News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sheffield Council halts venue work as costs soar. 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