Hot Seat: Harrogate Town’s new CEO aims to take club to new heights

Sarah Barry is Harrogate through and through.

She grew up in the town, attended Granby High School and worked for Stray FM from almost the start of its existence in 1994 until its closure last year.

In her first media interview since becoming the club’s new chief executive officer three weeks ago, she told the Stray Ferret there are some surprising similarities between running a local radio station and a football club.

“When I was running Stray FM, our unique selling point was ‘local’. Our stakeholders were our community, listeners, advertisers, regulators and owners. It’s exactly the same with the football industry.”

The jump to league football

On the pitch, Simon Weaver and his players have brought Harrogate Town into the English Football League for the first time in their existence and have captured the imagination of the footballing world for their team spirit and style of play.

However, in some respects it’s been a difficult summer off the field.

Multiple safety issues at the ground forced the council to ban fans from attending a friendly, their online ticket booking system went down on the day of a match and there has been a public row between two rival fan groups.

Ms Barry said suggestions that the club was not prepared for the off the field rigours of league football are “grossly unfair”:

“It’s easy to say that on the outside looking in but I’ve been with the club three weeks and I’ve picked it up really quickly. I’m really protective of my team now. We’ve made some errors but we had to prioritise and make sure the team was ready to play football. It’s like having 20 tennis balls thrown at you, you can only catch so many of those.”

Wetherby Road

Key to Ms Barry’s role will be growing the fanbase and attracting more fans to the EnviroVent Stadium. It’s often said that Harrogate is not a “football town” but she believes there is potential to double their regular attendance to 6,000 people.

“We’re not [a football town]. That’s a fact. But we have the Harrogate district. Nearly 150,000 people live here and we can can reach out to them.

“We have got football fanatics, the schools and community who we really want to work strongly with.

“Leeds United have done a lot of work around here, but most people have two teams. They’ll have a bigger team and they’ll have a local team. Not everyone can afford to go off to Manchester United or Liverpool.”

The stadium is in a residential area and flanked by the busy Wetherby Road. The ground has been transformed after some serious investment from the club but it’s hard to ignore some well-documented issues.

It’s difficult to park, they’ve had to close the 1919 bar on match days, and fans spill out onto the road at the end of games. So will the ground be able to cope with 6,000 fans?

Ms Barry said “there are no immediate short-term plans” to move the ground but conceded it has challenges which she believes they can overcome.

She said:

“There has been a lot of work in years gone by to potentially move the ground. There are so many challenges [at the EnviroVent], we won’t hide from that.

“A decision was taken and there’s been a lot of investment. If we can make it happen to stay where we are that will be the first choice at the moment. 

I’ve been to a stadium recently and the capacity was 20,000 but they had 5,500 fans in that. It looked empty, what would you rather have? A jam packed ground full of energy and atmosphere bouncing off every corner, like we had at Newport. I thought the atmosphere was electric. That’s what we’re after week-in week-out. I’d rather have that than a ground thats three quarters empty.”

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Communication

As part of the restructuring at Harrogate Town, Garry Plant will move from managing director to commercial director with Ms Barry overseeing the whole operation.

Mr Plant has been the public face of the business side of the club and has been the scapegoat for some issues fans have had with the club, particularly around communication.

Ms Barry strongly defended his work.

“I’ve known Garry since he started at the club. He’s a great guy and has done so much that is unseen. He’s come in for some stick. I’ll defend him. 90% of the stuff he does is unseen. You see what happens on the football field, but what goes on behind that and the hard work, nobody sees that. I’m here to support him and he’s doing a great job.”

Ms Barry also stressed the importance of the club’s supporter liaison officer (SLO) Phill Holdsworth, who like Mr Plant, has faced criticism from a section of the fanbase. She wants to improve communication between the club and fans.

She said:

“I’m new to this and don’t know whether [the criticism of the SLO] is warranted or not. Some of it is not defensible in any way shape or form. I want to help him as well improve those relationships. It’s fundamental to have an SLO. It will really help us as a club. We need to nip some of these things in the bud and understand if there’s any upset or hostility and try and prevent it. Everyone is in this for the same reason.”

The Weavers

Ms Barry said her role at the club came about through the friendship she forged with Simon during her time at Stray FM.

It’s clear the reverence she has for both him and his dad, the club chairman and owner Irving Weaver.

I almost daren’t broach the subject of what would happen if a club higher up the leagues approached them about Simon Weaver becoming their new manager. She said: “You’d have to ask Simon that question. I’d obviously like him to stay!”

She wants to help the club achieve further success and reward the Irving family for what they’ve put into the club over the past decade.

“Simon is amazing and inspirational full stop. He’s probably the reason I’m sat here. Listening to him speak, he’s eloquent and has this sincerity that is genuine. He’s got respect and there’s no spin.

“I want to see all the effort money, and time come to fruition over the past years for the owner.”

Speculation Harrogate council leader will not seek re-election in 2022

Sources have told the Stray Ferret that Harrogate Borough Council leader Richard Cooper will stand down as a councillor next year and leave local government.

Multiple senior political figures have reported to us that the Conservative, who has been council leader since 2014, will not seek re-election when the Harrogate district next goes to the polls in May 2022.

He is expected to continue in his role as office manager for the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, Andrew Jones.

With Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council set to be abolished and replaced by a new single authority for North Yorkshire, the number of councillors in the Harrogate district is likely to be halved from 40 to 20.

Cllr Cooper, who represents Harrogate Central, has been on Harrogate Borough Council since 1999.

In 2013, he was also elected to represent Harrogate Central on North Yorkshire County Council.

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Cllr Cooper has been at the helm during the borough council’s move from Crescent Gardens to the Civic Centre, the development of the Harrogate district Local Plan, which outlines where development can take place in the district, the staging of the 2019 UCI Road World Championships in Harrogate and proposals for a £47m redevelopment of Harrogate Convention Centre.

The Stray Ferret asked Cllr Cooper if he would like to comment on the speculation but he asked us to direct the inquiry to the Harrogate Borough Council press office.

However, the press office said it would not comment because it was a political matter for the Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative Party.

New Harrogate Town CEO: ‘Ticketing system not fit for purpose’

The new chief executive of Harrogate Town has said the club’s online ticketing system, which led to some fans being unable to attend last weekend’s match, is “not fit for purpose” and is giving the club a bad reputation.

At about midday on Saturday, the club posted on social media that its online ticket booking system was down.

The club had already closed its box office at 11am to avoid long queues forming on Wetherby Road so disappointed fans yet to buy tickets were unable to attend.

One fan, who had hoped to attend but was unable to buy a ticket, told the Stray Ferret the situation was “a farce”.

‘We’ve got a problem’

Sarah Barry, who was appointed chief executive last month, was on a panel at a Harrogate Town fans forum at the Cedar Court Hotel last night.

The panel, which also included first-team manager Simon Weaver and managing director Garry Plant, answered questions submitted by fans.

Ms Barry said:

“The ticketing system is not fit for purpose. It’s one of the priorities I have to fix.

“It wasn’t tested during the pandemic. We’ve got a problem.”

Ms Barry defended some of the criticism levelled at the club and said many of the ticketing problems were outside its control. She said the club was working on a Plan B that could see it move to a new online ticket booking provider.

She said several other clubs in the English Football League had encountered similar problems with Town’s current provider. She did not say which ones.

Ms Barry added:

“It’s not an overnight fix. There have been different problems all outside of Harrogate Town.

“It’s a rotten experience and gives us a bad reputation. Give me a chance to find a solution.”

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‘Perfect storm’

Ms Barry said the ongoing closure of the 1919 bar at the ground meant some fans had been drinking in pubs away from Wetherby Road and coming to games nearer to kick off, causing long queues.

This contributed to the club’s decision to stop selling tickets in-person from 11am to encourage fans to buy online.

However, Ms Barry conceded that the 11am announcement “was not communicated enough” and led to a “perfect storm” due to the online system being down.

Ms Barry said from the next home game against Scunthorpe on October 9, the club will sell tickets from its shop on Commercial Street until 3pm to allow fans to purchase tickets in-person closer to kick off.

Harrogate Hydro set for major refurbishment

Harrogate Borough Council wants to build a new two-storey extension to The Hydro swimming pool as part of a major refurbishment of the ageing facility.

The council has submitted a planning application this week to upgrade the building, which opened in 1999 and replaced Coppice Valley pool.

The council is proposing to demolish the current ‘drum’ entrance and replace it with a larger structure that includes a bigger café and reception area on the ground floor and a new 400 square metres fitness suite on the first floor.

Plans also include a refurbishment of the changing rooms and pool hall. Five electric vehicle charging points would also be added.

The Stray Ferret asked the council how much the works will cost, and whether it will affect opening hours at the pool, but we did not receive a response at the time of publication.

The Hydro’s ‘drum’ entrance would be demolished and replaced.

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The application has received the backing of Sport England, which said:

“An improved and modern leisure facility in this sustainable location delivers a series of benefits, including increasing the opportunity for physical activity, increasing membership and usage and encouraging better interaction with the facilities and services on offer”.

Other Hydro projects

There are now several building projects underway at The Hydro.

In July, the council confirmed it is to buy a new diving platform to replace the damaged one that has kept divers out of the pool for eight months.

This month, the council was also given approval for 420 solar panels to be installed on the roof of the pool.

The Hydro is now run by Brimhams Active, a new arm’s length leisure company set up by the council this year. It has taken over the running of 12 leisure facilities in Harrogate, Knaresborough, Ripon and Pateley Bridge.

Harrogate events venue ‘bouncing back’ with new line-up revealed

The Yorkshire Event Centre has unveiled its lineup of events for the rest of the year —  which are all coming to Harrogate for the first time.

The conference and events venue at Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground was closed for much of this year and last year due to covid and was used as a vaccination site from February until August.

The Great Taste Golden Fork Reception will be held at the YEC next month. It’s the first time the food show has ever been held outside London.

The Builders Merchants Federation, which brings together companies supplying building materials to the construction industry, will stage its All Industry Conference on Friday November 5 and 6.

And the Great Yorkshire Christmas Fair will relocate from Ripley Castle. The show, which offers Christmas gifts, will run from December 2 to 5.

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Heather Parry, managing director of the YEC, said the new events will be “very positive for the industry and for the Harrogate area”.

She added:

“We are absolutely delighted to be bringing new business to Harrogate and to Yorkshire, with a number of new events signing up with us for the first time.  It’s truly wonderful to be back doing what we do best after a tough 18 months.

“We are looking forward to bouncing back, bigger, better and stronger than ever.”

Upcoming events:

New book reveals storied history of Pannal and Burn Bridge

A new book has been written about the history of Pannal and Burn Bridge.

Its author is former Harrogate Advertiser journalist and Pannal historian Anne Smith, who has lived in Pannal for many years and raised her family there.

The book is called Pannal and Burn Bridge, Their Stories and includes history of the two villages dating back to the Domesday times. 

Ms Smith has written three books on Pannal previously and said her new effort “is my best book yet”. She added:

“The reason I did it is I want people who live Pannal to like Pannal and know about where they live.”

The name Pannal was first recorded in 1170 and the village has been a settlement for centuries. It developed in the middle of the former Knaresborough Forest and is believed to date back to the Bronze Age

By the early fourteenth century, Pannal had become a thriving village with weekly markets and an annual four-day fair.

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Personal accounts

The book includes personal accounts from current Pannal residents, histories of important buildings such as Pannal Village Hall and the Black Swan pub in Burn Bridge, maps and walks of the area, and other interesting tidbits.

Ms Smith said:

“It includes contributions from a lot of the characters and friends that live in the village.

“They put their memories of how wonderful it was growing up in Pannal.

Despite Pannal changing over recent decades, Ms Smith insisted “It’s still a good place to be.”

She added:

“I’m really pleased with the book and hope everyone buys it to see the area they live in because I love Pannal.”

The book costs £10 and is available from annesmith.pannal@yahoo.co.uk

Anne Smith launched the book at an event in Pannal earlier this month.

Malcolm Neesam, Anne Smith, Howard West

Tesco Skipton Road supermarket ‘could put us out of business’

The owner of convenience store Number One Shop on Electric Avenue fears a new Tesco superstore a stone’s throw away might destroy her business.

Plans for the new store, exclusively revealed by the Stray Ferret, include a petrol station, 200 parking spaces and a new roundabout on Skipton Road. Tesco says 100 new jobs would be created. Planning permission is yet to be granted.

Claire Lewis has run Number One Shop for the last seven years with her husband.  The new Tesco would be built almost directly behind her shop on the old gas works site.

Ms Lewis told the Stray Ferret that she had always heard rumours that Tesco had planned to revive its plan to build a supermarket on the site, “but now it’s official”

She said:

“I can’t compete with a massive superstore chain.

“I’ll lose a lot of business.”

Ms Lewis said trade at her shop took a hit when Aldi opened on Skipton Road in 2016. However, she was able to compete with the German chain due to Aldi selling primarily their own branded products.

But with Tesco selling branded products, she fears its buying power will mean it can sell the same products she sells but at a cheaper price.

Workers who would stop into her shop for a pie, some crisps and a drink may also decide to go to Tesco for their £3 meal deal.

“I can’t buy in bulk. I can’t lower my prices anymore.”

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Since Tesco first proposed to build a supermarket on the site in the late 2000s, there has been an unprecedented level of housebuilding on Skipton Road and Killinghall in recent years and Tesco said the new supermarket would help reduce car journeys across Harrogate.

However, Ms Lewis expects traffic to increase on Skipton Road, which she said is already “manic” at times.

“There will be a lot of traffic. It’s already manic on Skipton Road at 4pm.”

Up against giant corporation, Ms Lewis believes one area they can compete with Tesco is community spirit.

Her husband was stuck in India for five months last year due to covid travel restrictions, and her regular customers rallied.

“With covid, everyone came together.

“Local people were so kind and gave me lifts. Most of my customers are elderly and even with the Tesco they’ll still come to the shop out of respect for me.”

Calls to improve safety of children walking to school in Starbeck

A parent in Starbeck has called on North Yorkshire County Council to install a path and street lights on Kingsley Road to improve safety for children walking to school.

Darren Leeming and his family recently moved to the Kingsley Meadows estate, a new housing development on Kingsley Road in Harrogate.

Ten children from the estate, including two of his own, walk to and from Starbeck Primary Academy using Kingsley Road each day.

Mr Leeming believes the winding road, which has no street lights or footpath, is dangerous for the children who he thinks could be hit by a motorist.

He said:

“There is no lighting and no path. It just takes one kid to run out.”

“It’s an urgent need for the safety of children.”

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The section of the road that Mr Leeming says is dangerous

Mr Leeming said he has observed cars going above the speed limit of 20mph and he thinks many motorists use the road as a rat-run to avoid the Starbeck rail crossing.

He added:

“It’s supposed to be 20mph but there are cars that exceed the limit.

“If there’s nothing done there will be a fatality. I don’t want to wait until there’s a fatality of a child. It’s irresponsible of the council.”

A spokesperson for NYCC said Mr Leeming can request a highways improvement such as street lighting through its website.

Crowds flock to Masham for return of sheep fair

The Masham Sheep Fair commentator is setting the scene over a PA as visitors arrive at the Market Place this morning.

The centre of Masham has been taken over for the weekend by crowds observing different breeds of sheep in pens and and farmers wearing white jackets.

He says:

“Let the Eau De Sheep waft around the town and into your nostrils.”

Susan Cunliffe-Lister set up the first Masham Sheep Fair in 1986, which was initially to raise money for farmers in Africa.

She wanted to bring back an old tradition. Until the First World War, she said sheep farmers from across the Dales used to come to Masham each year to buy and sell as many as 80,000 sheep over the course of a few days.

Mina Wilson (left), Susan Cunliffe-Lister (centre), Susan Briggs (right)

Nowadays sheep farmers from across the UK come to Masham to compete. There are other events like sheepdog trials, tours of Theakstons and Black Sheep breweries, morris dancing, fleece stalls even sheep racing to keep the crowds entertained.

The event raises thousands of pounds for charity each year, with this year’s pot donated to Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Ms Cunliffe-Lister told the Stray Ferret she was determined to hold the fair this year despite uncertainty over covid.

“We were always going to try. Everybody is pleased to see each other.”

Nat Lofthouse

Lancashire farmer Kevin Gaskell is here showing his Jacob sheep, which have distinctive horns.

His best tup is called Lofthouse, which has four crossing horns that look vaguely demonic.

But with all the right markings, Kevin thinks he has the potential to be a prize winner.

Kevin Gaskell and Lofthouse the sheep.

Kevin has been coming to Masham to show sheep for six years. He’s picked up two championships, which would become three later in the morning when Lofthouse fulfills his potential and scoops the top prize.

The sheep is named after the legendary Bolton Wanderers footballer. He said:

“Nat Lofthouse is a bit of a hero”.

Masham farmer Pamela Lupton is here showing Suffolk sheep. When asked what makes a good Suffolk she said:

“It depends on the judge!”

Pamela Lupton and her Suffolk sheep.

One of her Suffolks won the top prize at The Great Yorkshire Show this summer but she said she’s most proud of her home town fair.

“This is my local and I love it here.”

Sheep-racing

At 12pm the first sheep race starts, where lines of spectators jostle to get a good view down both sides of a makeshift racetrack. A farmer waves a bucket of food which is chased by four hungry sheep towards the finishing line, which is a trough.

The sheep are given names like David Atten-baaa and Blee-ta Thunberg.

The sheep race towards the finishing line.

“It’s like the Tour de Yorkshire!” says one spectator.

For a pound, you can have a punt on the winner, with all money raised going to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

One woman waves her ticket in the air and hopes it’s a winner.

“It makes it more exciting, if it wasn’t exciting enough.”

Explainer: Animal testing in Harrogate

The testing of medicine on animals has taken place off Otley Road on Harlow Hill since the 1970s.

Labcorp, formerly known as Covance, says its research on animals helps to develop life-saving and life-enhancing medicines for diseases including cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

However, it’s an emotive subject and the practice raises ethical questions. Protestors have met outside the site for many years to object against what they believe is “wrong” and “horrendous”.

Labcorp employs around 1,400 people in Harrogate, has 170 study rooms, and has 15 PhD students working there.

Andrew Jones MP praised the business in Parliament this week calling it “the heart of new medicine development both in the UK and across Europe”, but his comments drew criticism from some.

What is animal testing?

UK law requires all new medicines to be tested on two live mammals, one of which must be a large non-rodent — usually a dog or monkey — before a potential new drug is tried on humans.

Drugs from the heroin-substitute methadone to various cancer drugs and the covid vaccines were tested on animals first.

Many of these experiments cause suffering to the animals involved.

Labcorp Drug Development said it takes “very seriously” the ethical and regulatory responsibilities to treat research animals with the “greatest care and respect”. It says testing new drugs on animals “is the right thing to do”.

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What happens in the tests?

The Stray Ferret spoke to Chris Magee, head of policy at Understanding Animal Research, a group that works with universities and the pharmaceutical industry to explain why animals are used in medical and scientific research.

He estimates around a quarter of the experiments that take place at Labcorp in Harrogate involve testing on animals, with the majority of these being on mice. Crop research and diagnostic testing also take place there.

He said beagles are bred domestically for the specific purpose of being used in testing before being driven to Harrogate.

He said the majority of tests on beagles involve putting a pill inside their food once a day. Scientists will then observe how the animal reacts over a period of usually around a month.

They will then euthanise the dog at the end of the experiment to look for early signs of disease. In 2019, figures show dogs were used in 4,227 experiments across the UK.

Government statistics show that 75% of these dogs encounter “mild” suffering and 25% encounter “moderate” suffering.

Moderate suffering includes forcing the dog to do something that they would normally run away from, giving it cancer or “swim tests” which involve putting an animal in water to test the antidepressant qualities of a drug. Animal charity PETA calls swim tests “cruel”.

Mr Magee said the dogs are exercised and played with and reports of them being locked up in cages all day are inaccurate.

Does it work?

Mr Magee said out of 100 drugs tested on animals, around 40 unsafe and deadly drugs are “weeded out” before they get to humans.

He provided statistics that suggest dogs in particular are good at detecting which compounds will be toxic to people.

However, PETA says many of the tests done on animals are unnecessary with trials done merely because researchers are curious.

Labcorp trades on the US stock market and brought in over $11 billion in revenue in 2018. Critics of the practice believe it is driven by profit and not the welfare of animals, which Mr Magee disputed.

94% of drugs that pass testing on animals are withdrawn before human trials, including for commercial reasons.

Are there alternatives to testing on animals?

Many people who oppose testing on animals believe it is outdated and should be replaced with more modern alternatives.

These include growing human and animal cell tissue in labs.

A spokesperson for the Harrogate District Green Party told the Stray Ferret the UK should “push itself to the forefront” of research and development without animal testing.

Mr Magee said the companies such as Labcorp are investing millions of pounds into alternatives that could be replace animal testing by the end of the 2020s.

He said:

“If animal testing is still being used then it’s necessary, it’s as simple as that.”