Newsroom, Author at The Stray Ferret

Harrogate district residents to be consulted on new housing plan

North Yorkshire Council is set to consult residents on a new local plan that will guide decisions on housing and infrastructure in the Harrogate district over the next two decades.

The North Yorkshire Local Plan will set out where new developments will take place, along with policies and strategies that planning applications will be considered against.

Once adopted, it will replace the existing local plan for the Harrogate district.

As part of the first stage of a five-year process to create the plan, residents are being encouraged to sign up to a new online portal that will enable North Yorkshire Council to keep them informed about when consultations and engagement will take place and how to have their say.

Cllr Derek Bastiman, the council’s executive member for open to business, said:

“Anyone with an interest in what, where, when and how development could take place in the county during the next two decades is encouraged to register their details on the portal.”

A consultation is due to start this month about the council’s new Statement of Community Involvement, which will set out how it will consult people on planning, as well as early engagement about the local plan.

Anyone already registered on the existing Harrogate District Local Plan database will be contacted by the council about the new portal.

Those not yet registered can sign up to the database at www.northyorks.gov.uk/localplan or call the council on 0300 131 2 131, stating ‘Local Plan’ when prompted.

Ukulele group dedicates a year of performances to supporting Harrogate hospice

A year of more than 40 performances has seen a Harrogate ukulele group raise £4,500 for charity.

The group is partnered with Saint Michael’s Hospice, and all donations and performance fees are given to the Harrogate-based charity.

The Harrogate Spa Town Ukes was formed nearly 10 years ago by two members of the Bingley Ukulele club who wanted a group closer to home.

Since then, it has gone from strength to strength.

Bob Mansfield, the group’s events coordinator, said:

“The club has increased steadily over the years with over 40 members now. Ages do vary, but it is fair to say that the majority are around, or over, retirement age. The gender mix is pretty well equal.”

The group meets weekly on Wednesday evenings at Oatlands Social Club and includes many former guitarists.

Mr Mansfield said their sets are “not all George Formby classics”, instead being made up of vintage rock and pop music.

The band has up to 20 players and regularly performs on Saturdays around Harrogate and the surrounding area. All performances are by volunteers with the aim of raising money for charity.

When asked why they chose the ukulele over other instruments, Bob Mansfield referred to a comment made by one audience member, who said, “you can’t listen to the ukulele without smiling”.

Further information about the group can be found on its website.

Harrogate schools trust celebrates training 1000 new teachers

A Harrogate-based teacher training organisation has celebrated training more than 1,000 qualified teachers.

Red Kite Teacher Training reached the milestone after the graduation of its ninth cohort.

The association was founded in 2015 and is part of the Red Kite Learning Trust, which works with schools across North and West Yorkshire, including Harrogate Grammar School.

This year, 150 successful trainees were recommended for Qualified Teacher Status, bringing the total number of qualified teachers trained by the association to 1,049.

Director of Red Kite Teacher Training Victoria Lickley said:

“We are immensely proud to have supported so many newly qualified teachers.

“Our school-centred approach equips trainees with the skills and confidence to become innovative and passionate teachers who go on to enjoy brilliant careers.

“this year’s trainees will be future mentors and facilitators across our courses.”

Ellie Rowe, the 1000th trainee to qualify from Red Kite Teacher Training, was proud of her achievement and added:

“Teaching is the profession that teaches every other profession.”

The trainee teachers from this year’s cohort came together to celebrate their graduation at an event hosted by Harrogate Grammar School.

Business Breakfast: Harrogate family launches UK’s first stocked German kitchen business

It’s time to join the Stray Ferret Business Club. Our next networking event is after-work drinks at Manahatta, on May 25th at 5:30.

Don’t miss out on this chance to network with businesses from across the Harrogate district. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.

A Harrogate family has launched the UK’s first stocked German kitchen business, called Revo Rapid.

Revo Rapid follows the higher end, bespoke side of the company called Revo Kitchens which opened at the same unit on Hornbeam Park in October last year.

The Challis family has been working on Revo Rapid for the last two years – negotiating a major deal with one of Germany’s largest kitchen manufacturers, while expanding its warehouse facilities.

It means customers can go to the showroom with their kitchen measurements and go home that day with fully built kitchen units ready to be installed.

Revo Rapid and Revo Kitchens are both part of the Inter Ceramica group, which launched in Harrogate more than 30 years ago.

Adam Challis, manager at the Inter Ceramica Group, said:

“By shipping huge volumes directly, we can offer a permanent 60% discount off all kitchen furniture, including our worktops.

“Our team of professionals are always on hand to help with design and offer advice, making sure that our customers get the very best service and support.”

The initial range of Revo Rapid’s kitchens has seven different door colours, five worktop style and 10 door handle styles.

Mr Challis is the eldest of three children, along with brother Ed and sister Amy, who all work in the business.

His entrepreneurial father Robin set-up Inter Ceramica with his wife Rebecca, and over the years the “Harrogate born and bred” family have all played a part in helping to run the company.

Care company moves head offices in Harrogate

West Park Care has moved its head offices in Harrogate.

The company, which was launched in 2018, was previously based at Spa Bottom Farm near Follifoot but has now relocated to officers behind the Stratstone Mini Garage off Wetherby Road.

Staff outside the West Park Care offices on Wetherby Road.

The move has enabled all the team to be located on the same floor, ensuring all the departments have direct access to each other, and there is room for further growth.

Tom Page, managing director of West Park Care, said:

“We are delighted to be able to expand the business after only a few years, and the additional office space will not only enable this to happen, but also provide facilities for more in depth on-site training.

“We have created a training room, ensuring that training to use specific equipment can be done onsite as part of the development of the carers we employ, all of whom are on permanent contracts not zero hours. We place as much importance on the benefits to our staff as we do to the individuals we care for.

“This person-centred approach to the whole business has gained us the reputation that we now thrive on, and we hope to continue our expansion into other areas in Yorkshire over the next few years.”

Business Breakfast: Harrogate bookshop honoured in national awards

Imagined Things bookshop in Harrogate has been announced as a regional finalist in the British Book Awards.

It is one of eight finalists in the independent bookshop category for the north of England.

If Imagined Things wins the regional finals, it will have the chance to go on and contend for the national prize for best independent bookshop.

Georgia Eckert, the shop’s owner, considers the new store location on Montpellier Hill an important reason behind reaching the finals.

After five years in Westminster Arcade, Imagined Things decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign to support the move to the new location, raising over £18,000.

The fortunes of Imagined Things were also improved following a viral tweet posted on the bookshop’s Twitter account in June 2019.

The tweet reported a taking of £12.34 for the day, following which Georgia received a huge wave of support for the shop which boosted its profile in Harrogate.

Commenting on reaching the regional finals, Georgia said:

“Being a finalist really means a lot to myself and the Imagined Things Team. Bookselling is such a rewarding career, but being a shop on the Highstreet is not without its challenges. To get recognition for what we’ve achieved last year in moving the shop and doing what we love is a wonderful boost.”

Econ Engineering opens museum

Econ Engineering has opened a museum at the company’s headquarters in Ripon.

The museum’s collection consists of historic vehicles and farming implements from the last 60 years.

The exhibit looks into the agricultural past of the company, which is known for manufacturing gritters.

Jonathan Lupton, Econ Engineering’s Managing Director, son of founder Bill Lupton, said:

“Like my father, I have a passion for farming, and finding and restoring implements designed and made by him has become a passion, not only for me, but also for members of the wider Econ team.

“We were both of Young Famers’ Clubs, and it’s somewhat fitting that the first visitors to our new museum, celebrating our history, are members of Boroughbridge Young Farmers.”

Pictured inside Econ Engineering’s museum: Jonathan Lupton with members of Boroughbridge Young Farmers

Artefacts from the museum will be exhibited at various shows this year, including Masham Steam Rally, Hunton Steam Rally and Tractor Fest at Newby Hall.

Friends of Harrogate Hospital present a gift for people with dementia

A group of volunteers has presented Dementia Forward with 20 limited-edition jigsaws featuring scenes from the NHS.

The Friends of Harrogate Hospital has been fundraising since 1966 to improve the experience of hospital patients in Harrogate.

John Fox, chair of the organisation, said:

“Many people with dementia continue to enjoy completing jigsaw puzzles, so we are very pleased to present these special puzzles to Dementia Forward to support the amazing work they do across North Yorkshire.”

The limited-edition puzzles were designed by Sandra Gascoigne, an artist from Ripon, featuring scenes from the local hospital and wider NHS. Her theme was ‘humour is the best medicine’.

Dementia Forward is a local dementia charity for North Yorkshire, providing advice, support and wellbeing services for those living with dementia.

The new puzzles will complement the existing offering of group activities including a wellbeing café and singing classes.

Amy Senior, a community fundraiser at Dementia Forward, said:

“Dementia Forward is delighted to be working alongside the Friends of Harrogate Hospital. We are aware of the brilliant work that they do with the local community and hope that this is the beginning of a successful relationship.”

The two organisations are also working together on an upcoming event, An Afternoon with Paul Martin, to be held at 2pm on Thursday, March 23 at the Old Swan Hotel.

Tickets are £20 and those attending can also have an object valued by Paul, best known for his work on TV show Flog It!, between 11am and 1pm for a donation of £5.

Dementia Forward is hoping some of the people it supports who have dementia will be able to attend the event, which will raise money for the Friends of Harrogate Hospital.

Doctor from Ripon wins silver at e-cycling world championship

A junior doctor from Thornborough, near Ripon, has won a silver medal in e-cycling at the 2023 UCI E-sports World Championships.

Zoe Langham, who now works part-time as a junior doctor in Birmingham, went one better than last year, where she earned a bronze medal only hours after finishing a shift in A&E as part of her medical training.

E-cycling is a sport rapidly growing in popularity. It consists of cyclists pedalling on stationary bikes, powering virtual avatars moving on a screen.

Zwift, a competitor to Peleton, which provides the e-cycling technology and software for the world championship, has a reported user base of 2.5 million users, including runners as well as cyclists.

Former Ripon Grammar School student Zoe took up the sport to accommodate the demands of her medical training.

She balances her time on the wards alongside road racing and e-cycling. She competes for cycling team Pro-Noctis on the road and Wahoo Le Col in e-cycling.

Zoe studied at Ripon Grammar School before attending the University of Nottingham. Photo: Zoe Langham, Instagram

The e-cycling world championship featured a new format for 2023, where competitors faced three short, explosive events.

The first event was The Punch, an 13.8km elimination-race where 100 riders competed with only the top 30 moving on the second race. In an interview after the competition, Zoe said:

“If you’d asked me what I’d be happy with coming out there, if I made it past that first race I’d be ecstatic”.

The second event was The Climb, an 8.5km series of hill repetitions which whittled the field down to 10.

The final 10 then went through an event called The Podium, where riders were eliminated one-by-one at a series of intervals until three riders remained, who then raced for the title.

Reflecting on the race, Zoe said:

“It makes all the long days at work, trying to train in the late evening hours worth it.

“It’s been really hard to juggle the job I do with the training hours necessary, and female cycling in general is just going from strength to strength.

“It’s really lovely to see and be a part of, but it definitely takes its toll. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to go part time now, so I can fit in a bit more training and time to race abroad with my team Pro-Noctis- Heidi Kjeldsen-200 degrees coffee. They’re a fantastic and very experienced team and I’m very excited to see where things go this year with them.”

Business Breakfast: Harrogate company builds robots to help tackle leaking pipes

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The second in our series of networking events in association with The Coach and Horses in Harrogate is an After Work Drinks event on February 23 from 5.30pm. Don’t miss out on this chance to network with businesses from across the Harrogate district, get your tickets now by clicking or tapping here.

A Harrogate-based robotics company, Synovate, has built robots which are set to help reduce leaks in water and gas pipes.

The ‘LeakVISION’ robot uses thermal imagining technology from aircraft to detect minor temperate changes in pipelines and identify leakages.

The robot can be deployed remotely, reducing the excavation needed to find a leak whilst avoiding road closures.

The LeakVISION robot has already been trialled successfully with Northern Gas.

Synovate worked with Northern Gas to train repair-workers to operate the robot. The idea is to make jobs safer and more efficient without making them obsolete.

Simon Langdale, engineering director at Synovate, said:

“The LeakVISION robots will make it easier and faster to identify and fix leaks, which will be a significant benefit to the environment. In addition, deploying robots saves time and resources over traditional excavation methods.

“We are also trialling new technology where the robots will seal leaks from within the pipes, further reducing the need for extensive digging.”

Synovate worked with experts from universities in Sheffield, Birmingham, Bristol and Leeds as part of the Pipebots scheme to help create the robots.

In addition to the LeakVISION robot, the company is also designing robots to spot hydrogen leaks.

Artist with Harrogate gallery adds new location in York

Lucy Pittaway, who has a gallery in the centre of Harrogate, has announced a new gallery will be opening in York.

Her existing Harrogate gallery, which is on Prospect Place, features original works of art and prints, as well as various other products including stationary and homeware.

The new gallery in York is located at 21 Coppergate, in close proximity to attractions such as the Jorvick centre, the Shambles and York Minster.

Lucy said:

“We hope our gallery offers a refreshed opportunity for locals to love their high street and enhance the experiences for tourists with a further boost to the city’s visitor economy.”

The new site is Lucy’s sixth solo gallery.

Lucy, who has painted many landmarks from across Yorkshire, added:

“Yorkshire affords us so many opportunities to enjoy diverse landscapes such as fells and valleys, amazing coast lines and vibrant cities and historic towns.”

Business Breakfast: Harrogate healthcare company creates 20 jobs

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Harrogate-based digital health company, Inhealthcare, has created 20 jobs which will help the NHS and private sector with patient monitoring services.

Inhealthcare supports more than 50 NHS trusts in England and provides services to five health and social care trusts in Northern Ireland.

Services provided by Inhealthcare, which is based at Cardale Park, include the management of ‘virtual wards’. Patients get to remain at home whilst they or a carer monitor vital signs and input data on an app, SMS, automated phone call or online portal.

The 20 jobs at the company include app developer roles, automation testers, technical authors and product specialists, as well as account managers, deployment and training managers, and training and support executives.

This takes the number of employees to 44.

Harrogate car dealership wins award for customer satisfaction

Harrogate care dealership, Stratstone MINI has received Reputation’s 800 award for high customer-satisfaction.

The dealership, which is on Wetherby Road, is one of seven Stratstone garages to win this award in 2023.

Reputation, which gives out the award, assess the customer-satisfaction of companies in various industries, including the automotive industry, finance, healthcare, home services, hospitality and real estate.

Businesses are scored, and those that are honoured with the 800 award will have achieved a score above that number.

Kim Costello, chief customer officer at Stratstone, said:

“This recognition is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our associates in North Yorkshire.

“Across Stratstone, our aim is to be the gold-standard for customer-centric business, putting our customers at the heart of everything we do. We look forward to earning this award year after year.”

Business Breakfast: New hire at law firm’s Harrogate office

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Leeds-based law firm, Jones Myers, has appointed Brittany Dyer as a children law paralegal in its Harrogate office.

As part of the children’s department, Ms Dyer will deal with all aspects of private and public children law.

Jones Myers partner, Kate Banerjee, who leads the department of 13, said:

“We are delighted to welcome Brittany to our growing team as we continue to further develop and expand our bespoke services”.

Ms Dyer’s arrival follows the appointment of Neil Dring, who joined the Harrogate office in the role of senior solicitor and consultant.

Ms Dyer said:

“Jones Myers is a niche and highly respected family law firm which leads the way in areas including international child abduction and is at the forefront of new areas of law.”

Jones Myers launched in 1992 and has won the award for Family Law Firm of the Year North three years consecutively form 2020-2022.

The image shows (left to right) Brittany Dyer, Lisa Russell, Emma Weatherill, Neil Dring and Kate Banerjee

Harrogate insurance company acquired

PIB Group Limited has acquired Jigsaw Insurance Services Plc, which has its headquarters in Harrogate.

Jigsaw, formed in 2000 and now employing more than 130 employees, specialises in motor, breakdown and pet insurance.

Neil Richards-Smith will continue in his post as managing director.

Mr Richards-Smith said:

“The values that we hold dear to us for our customers and people are well aligned to those of PIB, so we already have a huge amount of synergy and similarities that we feel makes the perfect match”.

Nick Mountifield, chief executive for schemes and affinities division at PIB, said:

“Over the past 20 years, Neil and the team have built an excellent business and earned a loyal customer base. Their deep expertise in their specialist areas is an obvious draw for PIB as well as their genuine concern for their people, customers and integrity that is firmly engrained in their culture.”

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