From ROCO to ruin: A buzzy arts co-op raised £1.2m from local investors and left them with nothing
The ROCO, a Sheffield arts co-operative, raised more than £1 million from local investors and the public to convert seven listed buildings into a creative hub. It closed only three years after opening, leaving investors without the annual returns they had been promised and ending what some saw as a major opportunity for the city.
The 17,000 sq ft venue included studios, offices, a bookshop, café-bar and event space. Nearly 150 people and organisations invested in it; one investor described the collapse as a missed opportunity and blamed poor business skills or excessive optimism. A month after the closure in 2018, a newly formed private company called Nice Neighbourhood moved into the buildings with a similar offer, and co-founder Andrea Burns was one of its directors.
In short
- The ROCO raised over £1 million before closing after three years.
- Nearly 150 local investors and organisations were left without returns.
- A new private company with a similar offer took over the buildings.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
ROCO offered Sheffield a locally backed creative hub in restored historic buildings, bringing studios, events and public spaces together. Its closure deprived the city of a promising cultural asset, and investors can reasonably argue that stronger business planning might have preserved the co-operative and its community benefits.
The case against
The project’s ambitions did not guarantee a viable business, and the co-operative’s closure may reflect that its model could not sustain the buildings and services it promised. A successor offering a similar mix could be seen as keeping the space in creative use, though that would not undo investors’ losses or answer questions about how the original venture was managed.
Explained simply
ROCO was a Sheffield arts co-operative set up to turn seven listed buildings into a shared space for creative work and events. It raised more than £1 million from nearly 150 local people and organisations, who expected the venue to provide annual returns.
The project brought together studios, offices, a bookshop, a café-bar and event space in one large venue. Its closure three years after opening matters because it left investors without the returns they had been promised and ended a project many had hoped would benefit the city.