Blog by Dr Sherry Kothari – Chair of Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park

After 5 years of dedicated service, Professor Chris Low, Chief Executive of Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park, is moving on to new opportunities – I’d like to thank him for his support and commitment and wish him well for the future.

Along with colleagues at Sheffield City Council and South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, so much has been achieved. Here is how Sheffield built an unparalleled platform for growth. Why now is the right time to raise our ambition and set a clearer focus. This is our moment to quicken the pace.

Building a Platform for Growth

Over the last decade, Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park has moved from a bold concept to a nationally significant destination for sport, health and wellbeing innovation – bringing together research, clinical care and diagnostics, education and enterprise in one place.

Adding to the first-class sports venues – the English Institute of Sport Sheffield and Ice Sheffield – and Utilita Arena Sheffield, our partners across the public, academic and private sectors have created a world-class constellation of assets:

• Sheffield Hallam University’s Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre leads world class research on movement and physical activity, designed to translate ideas rapidly into marketable products and services.

• Canon Medical Arena, the UK’s first carbon neutral built sports, healthcare and community arena with an integrated Medical Diagnostic Centre, brings healthcare closer to the community while serving as home to elite and community sport.

• Steel City Stadium anchors professional, community and grassroots sport, and is home to Stadium Workspace which provides flexible workspace and support for health tech organisations and links into the city’s innovation ecosystem.

• The Advanced Food Innovation Centre accelerates healthier, more sustainable food systems in collaboration with industry.

• UTC Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park brings education and business together in a way that equips its students for the skills needed in computer science, health sciences and social care and sports science.

• Oasis Academy Don Valley provides exceptional education at the heart of the community for over 1,200 students from the local area.

• And the National Centre for Child Health Technology will open later this year and will pioneer technologies that transform paediatric care.

All those involved should celebrate that progress and the success it represents. Many, many people have contributed to this work quietly and with little fanfare. It is often the work behind the scenes that lays the foundations for more prominent growth and success in the future. We should have every confidence that we have quietly and methodically built an unparalleled engine that can power wellbeing in communities and economic growth across the city and wider region.

Raising Ambition

With the foundations in place, now is the time to follow the lead set out in Sheffield’s recently published Growth Plan and by our region’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard, to ensure South Yorkshire is solving the big challenges of our time. Our role now is to set out a clear focus on building on our strengths. It is time to turn up the volume about the unfulfilled potential that Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park offers.

That potential is focussed on one defining opportunity: The Prevention Economy – a future where keeping people healthy becomes a source of jobs, investment, productivity, and innovation, leading to sustainable improvement in health outcomes.

We know the most expensive care is often the care delivered latest. The NHS’s long term direction is clear: move care closer to communities, embrace digital, and prioritise prevention alongside treatment.

The market is shifting rapidly. The rise of wearables, personalised health data and consumer demand for proactive wellbeing all signal a major growth opportunity in prevention. At the same time, pressures within the public system are exposing the limits of a treatment first model, accelerating the need for solutions that keep people healthier for longer.

The need for prevention is evident, with strong supporting policy tailwinds. The time is therefore right for Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park to move towards and with this market.

Quickening the Pace

Delivering this next phase requires sharper focus, stronger governance and renewed leadership.

In the coming months, we will introduce:

• A refreshed vision and strategic framework

• An evolved governance model aligned to growth and delivery

• New leadership capacity to drive the Prevention Economy agenda

• Expanded partnerships across research, industry and investment

That role will be anchored by world-class research capability, clinical partnerships, education pipelines, specialist health facilities, and our vital connections with communities and sport. These foundations will allow us to accelerate what works into real-world applications.

Some things will change but what will remain constant is our commitment to collaboration with existing partners, including our development partner Scarborough Group International, and those who join us on this journey. Together we will get things done.