Man Of Steel Statue?

[HeHasRisen]

Bloody council again! Grrrrr!! *shakes fist*

[Resident]

2 hours ago, SteelHouse said:

Has anyone got any news about the MOS fiasco? I recall 11yrs ago it was announced, and the guy chosen to do it opened a website, and allowed people to buy "namespots" or similar on it for £25 each . My wife bought 2 for my Dad and hers......Here we are in 2023... there is a website, which wont open, Facebook has NO news whatsoever thats anything like recent!!!

After about 7yrs I recall emailing the site and asking why it was taking so long...The reply I got quoted the Angel Of The North in Gateshead took a while, a rather cursory reply to be honest.

I have just checked the AOTN history...it was commissioned to be built in 1994...and was there in place 4yrs later....obviously a well run project, run by professionals it would seem.

I wonder how much money was spent on the name spots, and where it actually is now, because one thing is ABSOLUTELY clear, there is no progress re the actual sculpture, or none that has been made known. The Avesta Bull on the side of the M1, whilst not really depicting Sheffield was a landmark. The MOS was meant to be something far greater!!

Has the guy who got the commission actually progressed this or is it lost in so much red tape and half truths/promises that it will never happen!!!

I posted a thread late last year regarding this.
 

As it states in that thread there was little to go on. 

As for the heart, there are no official figures that I was able to ascertain anywhere however it allegedly has capacity for 150,000 names. Last time I saw it I'd say it was just over 1/3 full, maybe more. 

At £20 per name, for arguments sake call it 55,000 names already engraved, that's 1.1million however as I pointed out in the other thread, this is split between BHF and Yorkshire Icon Ltd (company supposedly behind the statue) however there is no information on how donations are split between the two. 

To recap from my thread:

• Over 30 companies have pledged support
• Over £1.5 million in public donations (not including the heart)
• Assuming 50/50 split for heart donations, that's a further £550,000
• Project was given planning go ahead in 2013, which is when contruction was expected to begin
• Lottery funding was given for a visitor's centre nearby (no details of funding amount

 

Nothing but excuses from the company since 2013 other than excuses blaming everything from Brexit to Covid, despite those event happening years after the project was started 

There is another company associated with the project, Yorkshire Man of Steel Ltd, that company currently lists their directors as the same directors of Yorkshire Icon Ltd, the ones that resigned in 2019

Filings for Yorkshire Icon Ltd show under £50,000 in accounts end of June 2022, having spent £16,000 on "charitable activities"
Going back through account filings on Companies House shows there's never been more than £54,000 in their accounts

Filings for Yorkshire Man of Steel Ltd show less than £400 in accounts as of June 2022, having paid 'creditors' over £30,000 in financial year 21/22. 

Again, going through accounts there's never been more than £43,000 in accounts 

So we know that they're claiming £1.5 million in donations, potentially another £550,000 from the heart plus whatever the companies have supplied, in value where they have pledged materials/equipment or cash

£2,000,000 is a far cry from £50,000 they claim they have. So where is it? 

2 names crop up in relation to the project, both have been directors of both companies. 

Jane Elizabeth Hughes & Samad Ali Medhi. 

Both have several companies, either jointly or separately that have been liqudated or in process. 

My personal view is that Sheffield has been conned and these two have embezzled the cash away but without proof authorities won't investigate. 

 

 

[Jim Hardie]

What a talent.

 

 

[The_DADDY]

22 minutes ago, Jim Hardie said:

What a talent.

 

 

Great cause 👏👏👏

Absolutely Horrible sculpture though. 

[Resident]

Done some more digging:

Twitter feed - Not used since Feb 2021 (www.twitter.com/YorkshireMOS)
Latest Star article - dated 21 Jun 2021 citing delays due to Covid, which happened 12 YEARS after the project was announced & 8 YEARS after the construction was given the green light (Link)
Website - non-operational, appears that URL is no longer associated with a server or server is was previously associated to (thesteelman.co.uk)

Looking more and more like the whole thing was a scam from the start imo

 

[spilldig]

Another waste of money. 

[SteelHouse]

Hi,

I'm the original poster… tried the Yorkshire Icon Ltd tele number … no voicemail facility all disabled.. registered in Bradwell , Derbyshire which is NOT a Sheffield landline is it !

I want to hope it’s going to happen but the issues with the cash etc !!!

Yorks Icon show donations to it as a charity of under 10K with over 16K laid out !!

All very suspect and frustrating to say the least !!

[Resident]

1 hour ago, SteelHouse said:

Hi,

I'm the original poster… tried the Yorkshire Icon Ltd tele number … no voicemail facility all disabled.. registered in Bradwell , Derbyshire which is NOT a Sheffield landline is it !

I want to hope it’s going to happen but the issues with the cash etc !!!

Yorks Icon show donations to it as a charity of under 10K with over 16K laid out !!

All very suspect and frustrating to say the least !!

What's even more telling is the previous expenditure. 

Whilst Medhi & Hughes were directors the outgoings, oddly, were £151,000 for the financial year upto 2019. In 2020, after they had resigned as directors, it dropped to 24,000, with the charity now in debt.

Were the pair paying themselves ~ £60k/year until the cash ran out? 

As mentioned earlier there was allegedly £1.5 mil in donations. 2019 would have marked 10 years since the charity opened.   10 x 150,000 = 1.5mil......

 

Edited March 14, 2023 by Resident

[SteelHouse]

I have tried to do some further digging into this mess. 

The council are not involved as such, it was not a commission or request from them that started the project, so it was probably a private venture.

 

Looking at the available info the guy chosen to make the sculpture was called Mehdi.. he appears to have been ousted from the Man of Steel board of directors some time ago.. A woman called Jane Hughes is supposedly still an active director, however, the filings for monies are woeful, it appears last filing were 32K in and almost 32K in debt...with balance for the company of less than £200!!

It's not just the fact there isn't detailed records of monies etc...my biggest concern is there is no actual point of contact with ANYONE remotely involved with the project.

Someone, somewhere has trousered a decent amount of Sheffield people/businesses  cash!!

 

If this project is still alive, and ongoing surely it is time someone with a dog in the fight so to speak were able to ask company directors etc some questions re timescales, which on the surface appear to have simply slipped and nothing is being done.

If anyone with an active role/participation in the project has anything to say, then please do.

I am not calling you out as such, but realistically after so so long there should be some progress , or if not someone willing to tell the public where their money has gone? 

Me? I think its got a real element of something very underhanded and would like someone to put the record straight.

[Anna B]

I think Sheffield city centre ought to have a sculpture trail, similar to that at Yorkshire sculpture park. Doesn't have to be Rodin or Barbara Hepworths, there are plenty of gifted artists in Sheffield willing to contribute work, the more eclectic the better. The council might like to help with the cost of materials, casting for works on a big scale etc.

Edited April 3, 2023 by Anna B