0114

0114 is the national dialling code for Sheffield in the United Kingdom. The area it serves includes almost all of the City of Sheffield and some adjacent areas. When STD codes were first introduced, Sheffield was assigned the mnemonic 0SH2 (which corresponded to 0742 on a rotary dial), later changing to the corresponding numbers upon the introduction of All-Figure Dialling in the area. Instead of the expected 01742 code, Sheffield's area code changed to the current 0114 code on 16 April 1995, along with 4 other cities in England (Leeds; 0113, Nottingham; 0115, Leicester; 0116 and Bristol; 0117), as part of PhONEday. All subscriber numbers within the area code consist of seven digits. The code is used at several telephone exchanges as part of a linked numbering scheme. In common with all other British area codes the initial '0' is a trunk prefix that is not required when dialling Sheffield from abroad.

0114
0114 is located in the United Kingdom
0114
0114
United Kingdom area code for Sheffield
National calling0114
International calling+44 114
ConservationNo
Active since16 April 1995
Previous code(s)0742
Number format0114 xxx xxxx
Coverage
Area servedAston
Aughton
Killamarsh
Sheffield
Ulley
Wortley
List of United Kingdom codes

History

Before 1965, Sheffield had 5-digit telephone numbers, with the first digit indicating the exchange area of the telephone line. Sheffield's 6-digit numbers were implemented by prefixing the original 5-digit numbers with a duplicate of the first digit (seen below), other than the 2xxxx numbers which were prefixed by 7 (as seen by the last example). This grouped telephone numbers centrally in the 1 to 9 range with a larger "buffer" at the extremes.[1][2][3]

Exchange Area Area Affected Original Number System New Number System
3 Hillsborough 3xxxx 33x-xxx
4 Brightside/Attercliffe 4xxxx 44x-xxx
5 Heeley/Abbeydale 5xxxx 55x-xxx
6 Crookes/Broomhill 6xxxx 66x-xxx
7 City Centre 2xxxx 72x-xxx

Switching to 6-digit numbers produced 90,000 available numbers for each exchange group, providing another 450,000 available numbers after combining both phases, producing a potential 500,000 numbers in Sheffield.

Between regions

Until the 1980s, Stocksbridge, Oughtibridge, and some other areas had 4-digit numbers. Within Stocksbridge and Oughtibridge people dialed only 4-digit numbers, while from Sheffield people dialed prefix 88 for Stocksbridge and prefix 86 for Oughtibridge. From Oughtibridge, people dialed 88xxxx for Stocksbridge and 9xxxxxx for Sheffield. This led to some confusion, leading people to often dial wrong numbers. During the 1980s these local areas were unified into 6-digit Sheffield numbers so that from anywhere in the Sheffield code area, 88xxxx dialed a Stocksbridge number, even from within Stocksbridge. Once the 8-prefix was merged into the full local number this released 8xxxxx numbers.[4]

Transition to 7-digit system

Transitioning to 7-digit numbers in 1995 involved prefixing each 6-digit number with a 2. Immediately after the 1995 change, the corresponding 22x-xxxx numbers became available for allocation, followed by the 20x-xxxx and 21x-xxxx ranges, since the corresponding 0742 0xxxxx and 1xxxxx could not be issued as local numbers can not start with a 1 or a 0, these being the prefix for the operator and area code dialling respectively. The 0114 code allows for a potential maximum of 7,990,000 local numbers to be issued, assuming the use of the entire valid range from (0114) 200-0000 to (0114) 998-9999 country-wide.[5]

Coverage

The 0114 dialing code includes the whole of Sheffield except for Midhopestones area which uses the Barnsley 01226 dialling code and the Fox House area which uses dialing code 01433. The codes extends beyond the City of Sheffield to include the Killamarsh area of North East Derbyshire and the Aston, Aughton, and Ulley areas of Rotherham.

Number allocation

Under the National Telephone Numbering Plan the code operates with the following sub-ranges:

0114
0xx xxxx 1xx xxxx  national dialling only, not issued locally
2xx xxxx local numbers transferred from 0742
3xx xxxx new local numbers created by move to 0114 (issued from 2004)
4xx xxxx new local numbers created by move to 0114 (issued from 2010)
5xx xxxx 6xx xxxx free
7xx xxxx 8xx xxxx 9xx xxxx  protected

Sheffield (0114) - 2xx - xxxx numbers have now been exhausted, so new numbers issued now begin with 3 or 4, rather than the old ones being reused. There have reportedly been many problems involving people incorrectly dialing 01142 3xx - xxxx for 0114 3xx - xxxx numbers and therefore being connected to the wrong person or business.[6]

The area code is not subject to number conservation and the regulator Ofcom does not restrict the size of number blocks that are allocated.[7]

Trivia
Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders with the dialling code in his drum kit

In 2013, Matthew Helders, drummer of Sheffield band Arctic Monkeys, added the 0114 dialling code to the cover of his drum kit, in honour of the band's hometown.[8]

References
  1. "The National Numbering Scheme - Telephone Numbers administered by Ofcom". stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk. Archived from the original on 4 July 2011.
  2. "0114 area code location and overview - Area-codes.org.uk". www.area-codes.org.uk. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  3. http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c180/lbgradwell/Gordon004A.jpg Example of a 5-digit 2xxxx Sheffield telephone number which would become a 6-digit 72xxxx number, and then eventually the 7-digit number 272-xxxx
  4. "Sheffield Star Article". Archived from the original on 26 June 2009. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
  5. "Applegate's list of businesses in the Sheffield 01142(sic) area". Archived from the original on 20 July 2009. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
  6. "0114 Area Code". Retrieved 20 July 2009.
  7. "Conserving geographic numbers - Statement". stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk. 11 January 2010. Archived from the original on 11 November 2010. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
  8. Lynskey, Dorian. "Arctic Monkeys – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
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