Why Invest in Doncaster?
Doncaster – known locally as Donny – in South Yorkshire fulfilled a long-term ambition and became a city on the 9th of November, 2022, after a successful bid as part of the Queen’s Jubilee and as such, Doncaster Council has rebranded to the City of Doncaster Council.
When it was a town, Doncaster was unusual in that it was one of only a small number of English towns to have a directly elected mayor. It is less unusual for cities to have such an office but these tend to be the larger ones. As such, Doncaster’s smaller size gives it an advantage. A mayor can give a city more flexibility and control over issues such as regeneration, the economy and jobs – all things of interest to property investors – but in large cities, things can still take a long time to get moving. In smaller places, like Doncaster, projects can get off the ground much faster. The current mayor is Ros Jones CBE, who was first elected in 2013 and is now serving her third term.
Doncaster’s traditional industries were coal mining, engineering and railways. The world-famous Flying Scotsman was built here. But in recent years Doncaster has reinvented its economy and is now a major hub for business and distribution parks, all offering thousands of jobs. To name but a few, these include Doncaster Railport or Europort, Doncaster Sheffield Airport Business Park, Westmoor Park and iPort.
Large employers in the area include a huge B&Q depot, DFS Furniture, CEVA Logistics, Amazon, Lidl, Fellowes and DB Cargo UK.
Doncaster has benefitted from lots of regeneration to help transform the town and more are planned. The local council is working on the Doncaster Urban Centre Masterplan. The aim is to transform the way Doncaster looks and the way residents and businesses use the central core.