Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet is due to meet at 5.30pm tonight with just one item on the agenda: the renovation of the town’s conference centre.

The council is likely to vote to proceed with plans to invest £46.8m on a major overhaul of the 40-year-old centre.

A full renovation would be one of the council’s biggest ever financial decisions. The proposal has been welcomed by the town’s business community but criticised by politicians and business representatives in Ripon, Knaresborough and Pateley Bridge, where the benefits would be felt less.

John Gallery is a former Harrogate hotelier. He is chairman of the Business Visits & Events Partnership’s research and business intelligence group, a former chair of VisitYork and a former vice-chairman of the Meetings Industry Association, He currently works as a business tourism consultant.  

We put a series of questions to Mr Gallery: 

How does Harrogate rank as an events venue?
Harrogate’s conference centre does need to raise its game as it has lost out to a number of destinations with newer facilities. The sums seem huge, but in the market it is in, it will continue to decline if it does not keep pace with, or indeed, get ahead of these shiny new competitors.

What difference would a £46.8m renovation make?
As has been seen in other locations, investment makes a difference, not only to the fortunes of the venue but also to the wider local and regional economy. The value must be judged in that wider context and not just on the profit and loss of the centre. If the centre were simply to break even then it would be doing its job as a lever for all the other benefits. Better of course, that it also makes profit so that investment can continue over the long term.

Read more:

• EXCLUSIVE: Leaked report reveals dire financial state of Harrogate Convention Centre
• District businesses dismay over plans for £46.8m convention centre upgrade

Is the council best placed to provide investment?
A private sector operator would probably be better. Ownership could remain in the public sector but hand operations to a private operator with a dynamic profit motive and things would change quickly. Having said this, Harrogate has probably relied too heavily on the conference market for the 40 years since the centre was developed. Too often there is feast or famine in terms of demand for hotels, bed and breakfasts, restaurants etc. It was like this when I first worked in the hotel business in Harrogate in the 1980s. So Harrogate Borough Council should also focus on stimulating demand with a stronger, more broad-based appeal that would attract visitors throughout the year.

£46.8m is a huge sum but is it enough to revive the centre?
It’s a large sum but in terms of the market the centre operates in, it needs it. It was controversial when it opened but some of the new plans do seem to make sense in terms of linking directly to the Royal Hall and re-imagining the space outside the main building. I don’t think it is a lost cause but £46.8m will probably be just enough to regain a strong place in the market. It needs to be a co-ordinated effort with the hotels and other accommodation providers, local travel companies and so on to make the best impact.

What should the long-term strategy be?
The centre should be the focus for events but be part of a bigger picture. The centre should work together with the Yorkshire Event Centre to attract bigger, international co-located events. Harrogate should up its game. The competition is overseas as well as Brighton, Bournemouth, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh etc. Think of Barcelona, Geneva, Frankfurt, Las Vegas, New York, Sydney, etc. Some of the money announced recently by Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, to improve transport in the north should be chased by Harrogate. Improve the direct rail link to York and Leeds for example. With the canny Yorkshire approach I am sure they can do it.

How badly has covid affected the events sector?
The £70bn per year UK events sector has been one the worst affected and it is likely that demand will not return quickly in the short-term. Harrogate can look this year at the loss of so many events at both the convention centre and the Yorkshire Event Centre due to covid but the impact this has had on the other parts of the economy in these businesses is also severe.

How should the town respond?
Counter-intuitively this may be the opportunity to pivot the centre to be part of a broader tourism offer that still attracts conferences but with greater emphasis on the leisure and pleasure offerings in the district. For example, introduce delegate incentives to bring partners and families. Be more adventurous about what can be done. It’s a spa town so it should be attracting people for this purpose as it did when it was first invented as that. The convention centre could be the hub of the town’s tourism sector and business done at the centre might steer more towards the family market at weekends and holidays and business events midweek. There are a lot of possibilities. It needs a broad vision for both business and leisure.

Harrogate business leaders have urged the local authority to press ahead tomorrow with plans for a £46.8m renovation of the town’s convention centre.

Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet will recommend spending £1.1m on a detailed feasibility study and a full economic impact assessment, according to confidential cabinet documents seen by The Stray Ferret.

The prospect of this leading to such a huge investment in the centre of Harrogate has alarmed some people in Ripon, Knaresborough and Pateley Bridge, who fear their locations won’t reap the benefits.

But businesses in Harrogate have said investment is necessary for the survival of the town’s hotels, restaurants and bars.

Simon Cotton, managing director of the HRH Group, whose properties include the Yorkshire Hotel, the White Hart Hotel and the Fat Badger pub, said the visitor economy was “massively driven” by the centre, which is currently being used as a Nightingale hospital. He added:

“The hotels are really feeling the effects of it being closed. Some are asking whether they can afford to stay open.

“I absolutely support investment. I don’t see an alternative.”

Read more:

• EXCLUSIVE: Leaked report reveals dire financial state of Harrogate Convention Centre
• District businesses’ ‘dismay’ over plans for £46.8m convention centre upgrade

A spokesperson for Harrogate Hospitality & Tourism Association said redevelopment “will help Harrogate attract new events and drive even more business to the town, which is great for local restaurants, retailers and the hotel and accommodation sector”.

Sandra Doherty, chief executive of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce, said the “backbone of the town” would change if Harrogate lost the centre.

But Ms Doherty said the centre was “far behind its rivals, which offer more adaptive space to include breakout rooms, the ability to offer smaller conference space and the technology to support it”. She added:

“The need to invest should be part of a rolling programme rather than years of little to no investment, which results in the big ticket option we are faced with today.”

Sara Ferguson, acting chair of the Harrogate BID, said:

“It’s vital we have a modern facility, one that will continue to attract major clients from not just within the UK, but from abroad too.”

Business representatives in Knaresborough, Ripon and Pateley Bridge have reacted with “dismay” to news that Harrogate Borough Council could spend £46.8m renovating the town’s convention centre.

A confidential cabinet report leaked to The Stray Ferret has urged councillors to support the huge investment in the 40-year-old centre this week.

The news is likely to be welcomed by businesses in Harrogate but the wider district is less convinced of its merit.

Stephen Teggin, president of Knaresborough Chamber of Trade, said:

“I’m somewhat dismayed about this.

“It’s all about Harrogate. We are struggling like mad to keep Knaresborough going and attract tourists and the council finds £50m to keep something going that already loses money. It’s unfair.”

Stephen Teggin of Knaresborough Chamber of Trade called for fair investment in the district’s markets

Mr Teggin called on the council to find £50,000 a year to keep markets in Ripon and Knaresborough going.

“The markets are what pull in coaches for us, just like the convention centre does for Harrogate.

“They must spend the same amount of money, pro rata, on tourism here.”

Stephen Craggs, co-director of Ripon home appliances store G Craggs, said he wouldn’t begrudge Harrogate receiving such a huge sum but questioned the wisdom of spending it on the centre.

“That ship sailed 20 years ago. The centre is not big enough to compete with the likes of Manchester and the NEC in Birmingham. They’re flogging a dead horse.”

Mr Craggs suggested the centre would be better utilised as an indoor shopping centre.

Read more:

• EXCLUSIVE: Leaked report reveals dire financial state of Harrogate Convention Centre
• £60m or £35m: What is the value of Harrogate Convention Centre to the district?

Tim Ledbetter, chair of Nidderdale Chamber of Trade in Pateley Bridge, said it was “less than impressed” by the council’s plan.

Mr Ledbetter said there was no overall business vision for the district and added it was “debatable” whether Pateley businesses reaped any benefits from events in Harrogate.

The council has said there is a “very real risk that the venue will not survive” if councillors do not agree to press ahead with plans for renovation on Wednesday. It says the centre attracts 157,000 visitors a year, has an economic impact worth £35m and supports thousands of jobs across the district.

Stuart Holland, co-chair of Harrogate Civic Society, said the 1960s-style centre was “nothing to be proud of” architecturally and welcomed the opportunity for improvement.

Mr Holland added any renovation should be sympathetic to the society’s attempts to develop a cultural quarter in Harrogate.

One of the oldest pubs in the Harrogate district reopened on Friday – just weeks after planners granted permission to convert the site into a convenience store.

Locals in Killinghall wondered whether last orders had been called for the final time at The Three Horseshoes when it closed for lockdown.

Ilkley company Dynamic Capital Killinghall had submitted plans to Harrogate Borough Council to demolish the building and construct a convenience store and four flats.

When the plans were approved this month, it appeared to herald a new chapter for the site, which has hosted a pub for 150 years.

But the pub reopened at the weekend and the developers have yet to confirm when the conversion will take place.

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Will Rogers, a planner at Planning Potential, which is the agent acting on behalf of Dynamic Capital Killinghall, told The Stray Ferret “the applicant remains committed to the site”.

But he was unable to confirm when work will begin, adding:

“We have a series of planning conditions we need to discharge first and then we’ll know more on timescales.”

One of the council’s conditions was to install six electric vehicle charging points.

Rogers said the convenience store, which will be in the middle of Killinghall on the busy Ripon Road, would open seven days a week from 7am to 11pm and was expected to create 15 part-time and full-time jobs.

How the convenience store will look.

Forty-one individual representations supported the proposal and six opposed it. The council also received a petition signed by 232 people objecting to the loss of the pub.

Councillors decided “the proposal would provide substantial social and environmental benefits” and approved it.

The public body Historic England rejected a proposal this year to grant the pub listed building status.

Punch Taverns, which owns the pub, did not reply to The Stray Ferret’s request for a comment.

A confidential cabinet report leaked to the Stray Ferret warns the Harrogate Convention Centre “will not survive” unless councillors approve a £46.8 million renovation project. 

The document presents councillors with three options: do nothing, do minimum or full renovation. 

But it says the first two options are “not economically viable” and urges members to vote for the third. 

Alternative proposals, such as selling the centre to a private buyer or changing its use, are not on the agenda. 

What’s the proposal? 

The council believes renovation will significantly increase income at the centre as well as in the town’s hotels, bars and restaurants. 

The report spells out the stark need for change, saying the centre’s financial performance has “declined significantly since 2008/9”. 

The venue is forecast to lose £710,000 in the last financial year 2019/20.  

Most recent figures show the centre’s income at £4.6m, a drop from £7.1m in 2008.

Long before it became a Nightingale, bookings had fallen as some longstanding visitors look elsewhere. 

Insurance conference Airmic, once regularly held in Harrogate, had jumped ship to the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. 

Other events previously held in Harrogate, including the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development annual conference and exhibition, and the Royal College of Nursing’s conference, were scheduled for Manchester and Liverpool respectively this year. 

The loss of exhibitions, which are more profitable and less prone to change locations than conferences, has been particularly acutely felt. 

The report says there is a “critical need” for investment. “If the council does nothing, there is a very real risk that the venue will not survive,” it adds.  

To add to the woes, the centre faces £19m maintenance costs over the next 20 years. 

The report said the backlog maintenance bill for the HCC will be around £19m over the next 20 years.

The document said:

“Compensation has increasingly been incurred as a result of heating and cooling failures caused by declining mechanical and electrical systems.”

The report describes the 40-year-old centre as “ageing” and of “poorer quality” than competitors, such as ACC Liverpool, Manchester Central and Hull Venue. 

Full renovation, it says, is necessary.  

Will it work and who will pay? 

The council report says the “do nothing or do minimum options are not economically viable to the centre nor the district as a whole”. 

So if councillors agree to full renovation, the authority will pay consultants £1.1m to develop plans for the upgrade and appoint a project manager, costing £155,000 over three years. 

The Rebuild:  

Phase 1: costing £18.7m, would see the refurbishment of the auditorium and halls Q and D and the creation of break-out rooms for 1,250 delegates in studio 2. 

Phase 2: costing £28.1m would see halls A, B and C demolished and the construction of a new 5,000 square metre hall, costing £15m. 

The second phase also includes work to improve the connectivity between the centre and the Royal Hall and a new glazed facade on Kings Road. 

The council would need to find £22m upfront to begin full redevelopment and hopes to find funders to share the costs. 

The report said: 

“Every council that has refurbished a similar venue or has built similar from scratch has received significant funding support from government, or match funding.” 

“The council will continue to explore opportunities to attract upfront grant funding via public bodies such as the local enterprise partnerships, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Visit England etc.” 

Even so, there is no guarantee of success despite a projected increase in visitors.   

Is the council best placed to deliver? 

This is a huge investment by the taxpayer. The question is whether the investment will work and whether a local authority is best placed to run a venue like the convention centre.  

Most other venues are privately owned. 

Paul Colston, managing editor of Conference & Meetings World, which covers the meetings industry, says investment in Harrogate has been frugal compared to its rivals and recommends the town considers copying Birmingham, where the city council’s sale of the NEC led to significant new investment.  

Mr Colston said: 

“I wonder, whatever the good intentions, whether local authorities can be the best managers of our convention crown jewels. 

“Look at Liverpool’s strides forward with its ACC Liverpool events campus built on its capital of culture campaign in 2008; Newcastle is now expecting a brand new convention centre on the Tyne and Manchester Central’s complex is drawing in many of the conferences and shows that used to come to Harrogate.” 

A 2016 council-commissioned report prepared by Sally Greenhill, of The Right Solution consultancy, described the council business ethos as “less dynamic than that of many of HIC’s competitors”. 

The report said:  

“Council processes are very risk averse whereas risk is a necessary part of events business”.  

The report added that “political aims can be distracting from the running of the facility”, and the council pay grade “makes it difficult to recruit the talent needed”. 

It recommended creating an arm’s-length operating company wholly owned by the council as “the most effective operational model”. This has yet to happen. 

The council’s approach 

Paula Lorimer’s appointment as centre director last year led to a new business strategy focusing less on the declining exhibitions sector and more on conferences. 

If the work is done, the council forecasts business from national associations will increase from 25 per cent to 45 per cent while exhibitions will decline from 36 per cent to 14 per cent over the next five years. 

The Conservative Party’s decision to host its spring conference in Harrogate was a coup, although it never went ahead due to coronavirus. 

But the council believes renovation will set the council on a course that will benefit not just the centre but the entire town. 

The report said: 

“The wider economic impact of the proposals on Harrogate, the district and beyond is likely to be significant and understanding this is critical to the wider case.” 

Doing nothing, the council warns, may lead to the centre’s demise.  

Spending £50 million in such a competitive market however, is also fraught with risk. 

Read more:

• Why has the convention centres value to the local economy dropped from £60 to £35m? 

This week’s launch of a second community radio station for Harrogate, and the forthcoming rebrand of Stray FM, has reshaped the local radio landscape.

HG1 Radio, which employs 17 staff, began broadcasting on Monday.

The station, which is available online, as an app or on smart speakers, is owned by YO1 Enterprises, which also runs YO1 Radio, a community radio station for York.

Chris Marsden, programmes director at Y01 Enterprises, said the growth of community radio in Harrogate reflected the national picture as more and more independent local radio stations were bought by large companies. He said:

“The big guys are swooping in and taking over independent stations.”

He said people were “incredibly sad” about the changes to Stray FM, which was bought by Bauer Media last year and will become Greatest Hits Radio in September.

Bauer Media announced in May that Stray FM would become Greatest Hits Radio.

More than 3,000 people have signed a petition set up by the local Liberal Democrats to save Stray FM. Marsden said changes to Stray FM created opportunities for community radio stations.

Marsden, who presented the Stray FM breakfast show 15 years ago, said HG1 Radio would attempt to emulate Stray FM’s traditional role by supporting community events and having high profile local presenters.

“It will be polished, commercially viable and easy to listen to,” said Marsden, who said Y01 Radio currently had “tens of thousands” of listeners.

He added the station would apply for an FM licence.

Read more:

• Thousands sign petition to save Stray FM
• MP gives cautious welcome to Stray FM assurances

The arrival of HG1 Radio provides an alternative to Harrogate Community Radio, which will celebrate its first birthday on 1 August.

Andrew Backhouse, one of three co-founders of Harrogate Community Radio, said he wished HG1 Radio “the best of luck”.

He added:

“We all cater for different audiences. We are run by volunteers and don’t have adverts. We try to be as democratic as possible. We are a not-for-profit organisation that is run by the community, for the community.”

Backhouse said the number of listeners had increased on average by 20 per cent each since the station launched. He said:

“We don’t want to make any money out of it. We just want to let people who don’t have a voice, have a voice.”