Some people believe the equation is simple – the 2016 referendum led to Polish bartenders or Spanish housekeepers deciding to leave Harrogate and return to their home countries. But is it that simple?
The statistics appear to back up the theory.
According to latest ONS figures, the number of non-British residents living in the Harrogate district has halved from its peak of 14,000 in December 2014 to 7,000 in December 2019 — and the covid pandemic has undoubtedly hastened a further exodus since then.
Dan Siddle is the general manager of the Crown Hotel in Harrogate which has been employing chefs, housekeepers and waiters since the 19th century.
The hotel has a workforce of 50 and Mr Siddle said recruiting currently is “the hardest I’ve ever known it” due to a perfect storm of factors, including Brexit and covid.
He told the Stray Ferret the hotel lost several members of staff from the EU that have been difficult to replace.
“Those eastern Europeans had been here a long while. They were my supervisors but they chose not to come back to the UK. That’s three or four important roles. “
However, he thinks “we don’t have to rely on people from Europe” and can employ people locally if they offer an attractive package.
The hotel has raised the hourly wage for housekeeping staff to £10 an hour, has begun to offer roles that come with accommodation and is paying transport costs from Leeds.
He says hospitality is “a fantastic, great industry to work in” but the perception of tough working conditions needs to improve to attract UK workers.
“[The jobs crisis] has given the industry a kick up the behind. We need to change the way we work. The perception didn’t come out of nothing.”
Lisa Headford is the branch manager of Travail Employment Group, an employment agency based on Princes Street that recruits front-of-house and catering positions across the district.
She told the Stray Ferret that the office is busier than ever and they are having to turn hospitality businesses away because they simply don’t have enough employees on their books to fill roles.
“Everyone is looking for staff. We get calls every day. We have learned to say, ‘we cant help you, we’ve exhausted our resources’.”
However, Ms Headford believes it’s overly simplistic to blame Brexit on the recruitment crisis in hospitality.
She said:
“It’s not definitive. We’ve had a number of people come back to Harrogate from Poland as during the lockdown they didn’t have a permanent job, and they wouldn’t have got furlough. They are now gravitating back.
She said the lockdowns have forced many people who worked in hospitality into jobs with more sociable hours — and they’ve liked the change.
“We had a lot of casual chefs but they’ve become a delivery driver and they haven’t gravitated back.”
Ms Headford said that despite Brexit, Harrogate is still a “very multicultural town” with working families from across the EU.
“These people have been established for a very a long time and are part of our town.”
Are you looking for a job or have a job vacancy you need to promote to as many people as possible? Take a look at the Stray Ferret jobs page to see the latest jobs or to submit a new one. Every job is placed on our homepage and posted on our social media channels.
Tomorrow we’ll be reporting on the views of hoteliers and bars owners in Harrogate on what they think should change to attract local talent.
Harrogate council began talks with new Christmas market organiser in MarchHarrogate Borough Council began talks with MarketPlace Europe about staging a new Christmas market in March — four months before it dropped the original organisers.
The council has said it refused a licence to Harrogate Christmas Market Ltd, the previous organisers, because the emergency services had raised safety concerns about the site on Montpellier Hill.
However, Brian Dunsby, one of the previous organisers that set-up the market in 2012, has been suspicious of the reasons given and last week accused the council of “having their own agenda”.
The council, which promotes a ‘Buy Local’ message, said yesterday it began “low-level” talks with the Manchester-based events firm in March.
It said this was to ensure a contingency option was in place “in case the Montpellier Hill option was not able to proceed”.
Last week, Conservative council leader Richard Cooper said he expected the new company, which will operate a 10-day Christmas market in December, would bring a “first-class offering” to Harrogate.
A council spokesperson told the Stray Ferret yesterday:
“Harrogate Borough Council departments speak to external organisations about various service provision matters day-in day-out. It is important to do so to ensure if events or services suffer delivery issues then a contingency option is in place.
“Therefore it should not surprise anyone that we have spoken to MarketPlace Europe, a nationally recognised market provider, as a contingency option in case the Montpellier Hill Christmas market option was not able to proceed. This has been happening at a low level since March but has, following the refusal of the licence for the Montpellier Hill event, stepped up considerably in recent weeks.
“Bearing in mind the response from our partners to the application for the use of Montpellier Hill it is as well we do have these discussions. Had we not done so there would be no chance to have a Christmas Market at all. The fact that we had an open discussion with MarketPlace Europe gives us the chance to put in place an alternative now that the former organisers have decided not to proceed with this year’s Christmas market. The emphasis is on having a brilliant event that pulls people into our town.
“No officers, councillors or departments discussing the licence with the former Christmas Market organisers were involved in any early discussions about markets with MarketPlace Europe.”
The Stray Ferret has contacted MarketPlace Europe about its plans for the Harrogate Christmas market but has not received a response.
Housing developer dubbed ‘insensitive’ over Kingsley street namesResidents have called Barratt Homes “ignorant” and “insensitive” for its choice of names for two new roads on one of its housing developments.
Barratt is building 100 homes on a former green field off Kingsley Drive near Knaresborough Road.
The development, which is called Kingsley Meadows, includes new roads Meadow Place and Wildflower Close, which has attracted the ire of Kingsley Ward Action Group who think the names are cruelly ironic.
Locals fought against the proposals and submitted 155 objections with many lamenting the loss of green space. The application was initially refused by Harrogate Borough Council in 2015 because councillors agreed it would “unduly harm the rural pastoral character” of the area.
However, the application came during the period when HBC had no Local Plan, and the developer succeeded in overturning the decision on appeal.
Credit – Bill Shaw
Read more:
John Hansard from Kingsley Ward Action Group told the Stray Ferret it was “ironic” that the developer had chosen to give the new roads these names, considering what was there before.
A field on Kingsley Drive, with a crane from the Kingsley Meadows development in the background. Bill Shaw.
Mr Hansard accused the developer of “crass insensitivity and commercialism”.
He added:
“Why not stop at this, why not have a Deer Avenue, a Fox Drive or a Badger Close, after the animals whose habitats they’re destroying?
“These people are ignorant, thoughtless and only interested in making a fast buck at the expense of communities and the environment.”
A spokesperson for Barratt Homes said:
Are Harrogate’s high housing costs to blame for the hospitality recruitment crisis?“The road names at Kingsley Meadows have been chosen in consistency with the name of the development itself and to reflect the scenery of its surroundings. The names were certainly not intended to cause offence to local residents and were required to meet the approval of Harrogate Borough Council before being confirmed.
“We have always been fully committed to supporting the ecology and biodiversity at Kingsley Meadows and its surrounding areas. As well as planting a number of new trees and enhancing the nearby watercourse with wetland wildflowers, we have installed hedgehog highways across the development and a wildlife friendly garden at its show home.”
A recruitment crisis at Betty’s forced the famous cafe to close its doors early last week — and other Harrogate hotels, pubs, and restaurants have spoken of difficulties in employing people.
But could Harrogate’s notoriously high rental and property costs be to blame?
The average rental property in Harrogate for a one-bedroom flat is £656 a month. For an adult earning full-time minimum wage at a local bar, this would make up more than half their monthly pay packet — and that’s before council tax, bills and other expenses.
The Stray Ferret spoke to two people who work in housing in Harrogate to ask if the two are linked.
Sarah Hart helped create Harrogate Community Land Trust four years ago after becoming demoralised with the cost of housing in the town.
She thinks high living costs have made Harrogate an unviable option for people earning hospitality wages. She predicts more venues will be forced to reduce their opening hours due to staff shortages.
“House prices and rents have been pushed up even further whilst wages haven’t. It’s a crucial link and we’re at a critical point. It’s not a housing crisis, it’s becoming an armageddon situation.”
Ms Hart says that with both petrol prices and housing costs increasing, hospitality workers who could commute to Harrogate from Bradford and Leeds will decide to find jobs closer to home.
She believes an intervention in the housing market such as rent caps is needed so hospitality workers can afford to rent in the town.
Rent caps have been used in Germany and the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan also believes it could help solve the housing inequalities in the capital.
Ms Hart added:
“Housing in Harrogate benefits the few and not the many.
“If people had lower rent they’d have a higher disposable income.
“I met someone from Harrogate paying 60% in housing costs. There’s nothing left at the end of the day. No money for summer holidays or for her kids to do to stuff. If she had a lower rent she’d have money to spend in the local economy. It’s as basic as it gets.”
Harrogate-based property consultant Alex Goldstein believes that job shortages in hospitality are primarily due to covid and not high property or rental prices.
Mr Goldstein said property prices and rents have increased in Harrogate whilst wages have stagnated but he believes it’s wrong to suggest that Harrogate’s economy is overly dependent on low-paid hospitality workers. He thinks that increasing housing costs are good for the town as it brings in investment.
He said:
“Some people feel they’ve been left out in the cold. You’ve got to earn your keep. If you can’t afford to live in Harrogate you should move elsewhere.
“You work up the ladder and Harrogate opens up for you. You’ve got to bide your time. If you can’t afford something, you can’t afford it. A lot of society wants it here and the world doesn’t work like that.”
On the subject of rent caps, Mr Goldstein said the “draconian” measure would unfairly hurt investors who purchase buy-to-let properties in Harrogate which he believes gives the local economy a boost. He said: “We can’t make sweeping changes to the market”.
He added:
“Harrogate has always been an expensive part of the world and it’s increased hugely.
“But there will always be winners and losers.
“I would like to live in Mayfair with a Lamborghini, but I can’t afford it.”
Owners of Harrogate hospitality venues have complained for years that it’s not easy to fill roles pulling pints or waiting tables in the town.
Whether this is because of low wages, Brexit, undesirable working conditions, too many bars and restaurants, or high living costs, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact reason.
But in Harrogate, there is a feeling the issue of attracting and keeping good hospitality staff won’t be solved anytime soon.
Are you looking for a job or have a job vacancy you need to promote to as many people as possible? Take a look at the Stray Ferret jobs page to see the latest jobs or to submit a new one. Every job is placed on our homepage and posted on our social media channels.
Tomorrow we’ll be looking at the acute shortage of chefs and the impact of Brexit on the recruitment crisis.
Harrogate Borough Council is set to offer £811,000 for three empty homes in the district.
The homes, which are on Greenfields Drive and Electic Avenue in Harrogate, and Beech Lane in Spofforth, would not be used for social housing but instead would be sold on by HBC on the open market should the offers be accepted by the owners.
Any profits made would go back into buying more empty homes so they can be brought back into use.
There are currently 811 properties across the district that have been empty for six months or longer. Of these, 215 have been empty and unfurnished for over two years. 31 have been empty for over ten years.
The report says:
“Empty homes represent a wasted housing resource; they also pose other problems for local authorities, owners, neighbours, emergency services and the environment. They are often a blemish on an area and can be subject to vandalism and anti-social behaviour.”
A report will go before HBC’s cabinet member for housing and safer communities, Conservative Cllr Mike Chambers, next week that asks him to rubber stamp the move.
If the council’s offers on the three homes are not accepted the report says HBC will consider enforcement action, such as compulsory purchase.
Victoria Road one-way scheme will stop ‘rat run’, says cycle groupChanges to make Victoria Road one-way will stop a “rat run” and improve safety for cyclists using the Otley Road Cycle Route, according to Harrogate District Cycle Action.
North Yorkshire County Council will next month begin an 18-month trial to boost active travel on the road by stopping cars from using it to enter Otley Road. It will place a barrier at the junction and one-way only and no entry signs will be installed.
Some local residents who will be affected by the scheme criticised it last week.
Kevin Douglas, chairman of HDCA, told the Stray Ferret the nearby Beech Grove Low Traffic Neighbourhood has displaced traffic onto Victoria Road creating a ‘rat run’ which is why the move is needed.
He said it will also ensure a safer route for cyclists using Otley Road.
“The idea of these things is they settle down and there is less traffic, it’s to stop rat-running.”
Mr Douglas said he is looking forward to the various active schemes such as Victoria Avenue and Station Gateway being completed as it will eventually create a safe link for cyclists into the town from Harlow Hill. However, he said he was “frustrated” at the speed NYCC is taking to implement them.
He said:
“It looks like they are doing it bit by bit and it’s piecemeal.
“When we get the other schemes youll have access from Cardale Park to town. That’s what people want. But it’s taking a long time and it’s a frustration for us.”
A petition signed by over 600 people was presented to NYCC this week against the Beech Grove LTR.
Mr Douglas said the public needs to get behind active travel schemes in order to reduce carbon emissions.
He added:
Green Shoots: Why Harrogate should be at the vanguard of tackling climate change“The aim of these schemes is to get people to use alternatives [to cars]. If every time people say they want it somewhere else, where are you going to do them?
“I dont know where people think we will get a reduction in carbon usage if we don’t do schemes like this.”
Did you know that Harrogate played a key role in the major IPCC “code red for humanity” climate change report that was published last week? The document was discussed around the globe and warned of climate catastrophe unless we act now.
Renowned climate scientist Piers Forster has lived in Harrogate since 2005 and was one of the main authors of the report. He’s a director of the Priestley International Centre for Climate and Professor of Physical Climate Change at the University of Leeds.
The report was a global effort and each line had to be painstakingly signed off by all 195 countries that are part of the IPCC.
Much of this was done by Prof Forster from his kitchen in Harrogate.
He said:
“That bit was quite tiring. There were 3am calls to talk to places like China and Brazil. It was bizarre.”
As we go about our everyday lives in the Harrogate district it might feel like we are insulated from the most frightening consequences of climate change like wildfires in Australia or landslides in China.
But Prof Forster warns that extreme weather events, such as the January floods in Boroughbridge, will become much more common unless we take immediate action.
Flooding in Boroughbridge. January 2021.
He said:
“This country gets off gets off quite lightly from the effects of climate change but we are absolutely beginning to see changes. We’re warmed by the gulf stream here a lot, but it might collapse. That will have a very big effect on our weather.”
Harrogate is one of the most affluent towns in the UK and Harrogatonians have a stereotype for enjoying an expensive way of life.
So is our consumption-based capitalist lifestyle part of the problem?
A web tool created by researchers at the University of Leeds suggests it is.
It looks at things like transport use, energy consumption and flights taken and estimates the average carbon footprint of a person living in a particular postcode, grading it from A+ to F-.
Harrogate fares badly with Duchy getting the lowest score of F-, meaning its residents are in the 1% of people across the UK with the biggest carbon footprint.
Credit – the University of Leeds
Prof Forster says:
“On a lot of categories we do a lot worse in our town, particularly in the Duchy. It’s very nice of course, but we’re one of the worst in the country for getting on aeroplanes.
“We also drive a car that’s too big, have a home that’s too big and we heat by gas. It’s up to us to begin to make the changes”.
Prof Forster describes both Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council‘s green credentials as “certainly not terrible” but thinks they are hamstrung by a planning system that does not work in the best interests of the environment.
He points to the paradox of NYCC and HBC promoting active travel schemes in the town centre, whilst vast housing developments are approved on the outskirts of town where residents have no choice but to use a car.
He said:
“They absolutely do want to get to net zero. We all have to get there, but I do think the biggest issue is they dont have authority, investment or power to really make the big changes they want to make.
“The biggest issue is with planning. The way the system works and you do not necessarily get the best outcome for the environment.”
One planning application that captured the imagination of the town was Harrogate Spring Water’s controversial advance on Rotary Wood to expand its bottling plant.
In the days leading up the planning committee, Prof Forster intervened to produce his own research paper that said the water company vastly underestimated the number of replacement trees needed to achieve carbon parity with the current woodland.
He believes the refusal was the kind of local victory that needs to be replicated across the country if we are to turn a corner on climate change.
“If you don’t like something, it’s your opportunity to get involved like i did with the spring water application. It was an impressive decision by the council’s planning committee because they went against the norms. There needs to be more and the council needs to be empowered to make these decisions”.
A key message of the report is catastrophe can be averted if the world acts fast. Prof Forster hopes discussions around the climate in Harrogate can be less divisive, as seen with the Beech Grove Low Traffic Neighbourhood debate.
He said:
Andrew Jones MP branded ‘hypocrite’ and ‘out of touch’ over foodbank picture“It’s sad as often the first reaction is eurgh!
“We need to learn by doing. We can’t just have endless consultation and reports. We have to try and get on and make changes.
“This big international report has to be translated into changes we want to see in our community.
“We have to try and get on and make changes that works to improve our town, job prospects whilst saving the world.”
Harrogate & Knaresborough Conservative MP Andrew Jones has been branded a “hypocrite” and “out of touch” by the local Green party after he posed for a picture to promote Harrogate District Foodbank earlier this week.
Mr Jones posted an article on his website Community News alongside two of his caseworkers, Stephen Culpin and the Harrogate Borough Council councillor Matt Scott, that said the pair would be attending sessions of Harrogate Foodbank to offer “advice and support”.
In the article, Mr Jones is quoted as saying:
“It’s important that we tackle the long-term underlying problems which cause people to visit Foodbanks in the first place.”
However, Harrogate & District Green Party member Arnold Warneken, who is a former HBC councillor and stood to become a Bilton county councillor earlier this year, told the Stray Ferret that he believes Mr Jones has contributed to the need for foodbanks through his voting record since he became an MP in 2010.
On 53 occasions Mr Jones has voted to cut spending on welfare benefits. He has also consistently voted against paying higher benefits for those unable to work due to illness or disability. He voted in favour of the so-called “bedroom tax” 16 times.
Mr Warneken said:
“If you look at his voting record on benefits it’s disgraceful.
The Conservatives should put policies in place to protect people, but they don’t. There is hypocrisy there.
“I think Andrew Jones is out of touch, hypocritical and has the power to make change but he’s ineffective.”
Conservatives enlist Andrew Jones MP to help fight Batley by-election
Andrew Jones MP should be ‘shaking in his shoes’, says local Lib Dem leader
Mr Warneken set up Ainsty Community Larder from his farm where he distributes food and medicine to those in need.
He accused the MP of “electioneering and getting brownie points” by posing for the “staged” picture.
“If he was quietly doing it in the background I’d give him a pat on the back.
“But he’s smiling, whats he smiling for? He is saying, ‘Arent we wonderful, a problem we created we are getting credit for solving.
“Humility is something people should adopt.”
The Stray Ferret asked Mr Jones to respond to Mr Warneken’s comments but we did not receive a response.
On Community News, he said:
81 more covid cases reported in Harrogate district“Over the years my casework team have helped hundreds steer the maze which is the benefits system to get cash which is available to them.”
Another 81 covid cases have been reported in the Harrogate district, according to latest Public Health England figures.
It means there have now been 12,660 positive cases reported since the start of the pandemic.
Harrogate hospital has recorded no covid deaths in the last 24 hours. However, earlier this week it reported its first covid death in four months.
The death toll at the hospital from covid since March 2020 stands at 180.
The estimated R rate in North Yorkshire is between 0.9 and 1.1 and the district’s weekly rate has increased to 330 per 100,000 people.
The North Yorkshire rate stands at 296 and the England average is 320.
110,495 people have received both doses of the vaccine in the district.
Two charged over Ripon knifepoint robberyTwo people have been charged after a teenage boy was robbed at knifepoint in Ripon last week.
A 17-year-old boy and a 21-year-old man have been charged with robbery and possessing an offensive weapon and appeared at Harrogate Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
They have been remanded in custody to appear again on September 17.
Three other men who were also arrested in connection with the incident remain on police bail whilst enquiries continue.
There has been a spate of anti-social behaviour incidents in Ripon over the past week and police have urged the public to contact them with information on 101.
Inspector Alex Langley, North Yorkshire Police, said:
“Violence and anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated in Ripon and we are doing all we can to bring those responsible for the events over the past week to justice.
“We have stepped up patrols in the area but we also need your help. We would like to hear from anyone who has CCTV covering Bondgate, Southgate, Mawson Lane and surrounding areas – this could be from a traditional CCTV camera, a video doorbell or dash-cam footage.”