Business Breakfast: Care provider adds 120 staff to Harrogate team

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal. 


A pay rise of 30% has helped a specialist care provider recruit 120 new members of staff.

Vida Healthcare is deploying the new team members across its three care homes in Harrogate in roles including care assistants, registered nurses and wellbeing staff.

The pay increase has seen qualified care assistants increase their hourly rates from £9.61 to £12.32, while nurses have gone from £18.50 to £22.50.

James Rycroft, managing director at Vida Healthcare, said:

“Recent Skills for Care data found that filled posts in adult social care dropped for the first time ever and the number of vacant posts had increased by over 50%.

“It’s really important to us that we demonstrate to our team how much we appreciate and value them so that we can continue combating this crisis.

“Establishing various benefits including the pay increase and our bespoke training platform ‘Vida Academy’ also supports our colleagues in providing the best care to our residents. A role in social care isn’t just a job, but can be a very successful career.”

Vida Healthcare employs more than 470 staff to care for more than 200 residents living with dementia.

Its third care home, Vida Court on Beckwith Head Road, launched last year and features a cinema, sweet shop and hair salon.

Newly-employed team leader Jayne Christie said:

“It’s been a challenge to find a role in the sector which can provide the support that I need both in my job and out of work.

“Joining Vida was a no brainer thanks to the amazing things that are available to support myself and my colleagues like the pay increase and the amazing surroundings in the care homes.

“Social care is a really rewarding career, but it can be incredibly demanding both mentally and physically. Knowing that my employer cares about me and my wellbeing means a lot.”


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New director for Harrogate-based Eye Airports

A new director has been appointed to the head of an airport advertising firm in Harrogate.

Rachel Davies joins Eye Airports as one of three new appointments for parent company CP Media.

The outdoor advertising specialist has also added Ed Armstrong and Richard Eccles to its board as head of marketing and group chief operating officer respectively.

It follows a year of growth for the firm, with a 40% increase in group revenues to £6.8m in the last financial year.

Mike Brennan, CEO at CP Media, said:

“Rachel is the most experienced and successful regional airport advertising manager in the UK. Her promotion to the main board will strengthen both the company and the management.

“Ed has been with us for many years and now runs one of the most successful marketing departments in our industry.

“Richard has done outstanding work for the entire group over the last 10 years and thoroughly deserves this promotion.

“He has been my successful number two almost since the beginning and we wouldn’t be here without him. He is a vital part of our future growth.”

CP Media was named one of the 50 fastest growing Yorkshire companies by Ward Hadaway and number 78 in the UK in the top founder-led private businesses of 2022, awarded by FEBE Growth 100.

It has offices in Halifax as well as six of its 40-strong team being based in Harrogate, where Eye Airport is based. CP Media acquired the brand in 2019, taking advantage of its advertising rights for 19 regional airports.

Memories and tributes at much-loved Harrogate historian’s funeral

The funeral of much-loved Harrogate historian, Malcolm Neesam, took place this afternoon at Christ Church on the Stray.

The humanist service saw friends and family pay tribute to Mr Neesam, whose work to document and archive the history of Harrogate has been so admired.

Mr Neesam wrote some of the most comprehensive histories of the town. His last chronicle Wells and Swells: The Golden Age of the Harrogate Spa 1842-1923, was published in April.

He died in the early hours of his 76th birthday.

In her introduction the celebrant, Michelle Burns, talked of Mr Neesam’s “devotion to conservation” and how his family and friends were so important to him.


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Amongst those who spoke were friends Edward Barnwell and fellow Harrogate historian, Anne Smith.

Mr Barnwell said Mr Neesam “had been an important part of my life. Harrogate has lost a great man, I have lost a dear friend.”

Professor Paul Jennings said Mr Neesam’s work had been a “magnificent achievement” and that very few English cities and towns had a historian like Malcolm Neesam.

At the wake after the service, Stuart Holland, of Harrogate Civic Society said Harrogate Borough Council had committed to creating a lasting memorial to Mr Neesam, but a decision on what that would be was yet to be decided.

He also said that the civic society was keen to work with others to erect a plaque in the town in his memory.

 

 

Harrogate squash club strongly represented at Commonwealth Games

Diver Jack Laugher may be the biggest name in the Harrogate district at the Commonwealth Games but the area will also be strongly represented at another sport.

Harrogate Sports and Fitness Centre at Hookstone Wood Road has played a major role in developing international talent at squash.

James Willstrop, who lives in Harrogate, will be defending the gold medal he won at the last Commonwealth Games in Australia in 2018.

Harrogate’s David Pearson is coaching Scotland and Aidan Harrison, who turned professional at the age of 16 while based in Harrogate, is coaching Barbados.

Speaking to the Stray Ferret shortly before today’s opening ceremony in Birmingham, Mr Harrison said the Harrogate club had a worldwide reputation for producing talent thanks largely to Mr Pearson:

“A lot of people here in Birmingham have Harrogate connections.

“Harrogate has had a great reputation as a club since the 1980s and 1990s with many people going there to be around David Pearson and to seek his advice.”


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Mr Harrison, who attended St John Fisher Catholic High School in Harrogate, captained England to the world junior championships in 1990 and broke into the world top 50 as a senior before retiring at the age of 23.

He moved to Dallas in America in 1991 to pursue a career in coaching, which has included a stint as head coach of the American women’s junior team. He was named USA Olympic Squash Coach of the Year in 2002.

Aidan Harrison

Aidan Harrison coaching the Barbados players.

Three months ago he was appointed to help the five-member Barbados team in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games, which is the sport’s premier event.

Mr Harrison said New Zealand, England, Australia, India, Wales, Scotland and Malaysia were the top squash countries at the games but Barbados had the chance of a medal in mixed doubles. He said:

“These players that we are coming up against are top 10 in the world and I would love for our players to make a statement and show that they have what it takes to medal at such a major event.”

Mr Harrison’s parents and sister still live in the Harrogate and Knaresborough area.

He last visited in Harrogate in 2019 but has no plans to return full-time. At the end of August he will be moving to New York to start a new coaching role at Westchester Country Club.

Sickness outbreak prompts concerns River Nidd is not safe for swimming

Parents have expressed concerns about the safety of swimming in the River Nidd after a spate of children falling ill.

There have been widespread reports on social media of young people suffering sickness and diarrhoea since they went in the river to cool down during last week’s heatwave.

Most of those affected had been in the water at Knaresborough.

Environment Agency figures revealed raw sewage was pumped into the Nidd for 16,713 hours last year. Parents say there should be more signs alerting people to danger.

Jennyfields mum Lisa Poole, whose three sons are still unwell 10 days on, said there is a public health risk that needs highlighting. She said:

“My boys went swimming at Conyngham Hall on the Sunday (July 17) and are still not right. They’ve had vomiting and explosive diarrhoea.

“At least 50 people have said on social media that the same thing happened to their families.

“My family won’t ever swim in the river again so what happens now makes no difference to us but we think something should be done to warn other people of the danger.”

River Nidd at Knaresborough

The River Nidd at Knaresborough

Harrogate mum Julie Mills, who was among the first to highlight the issue on social media, agreed.

Her teenage daughter and three friends swam near Conyngham Hall last week. She said:

“My daughter is a real water baby who is used to the river but she and her friends were all ill.

“Nearly everybody we have spoken to who went into the river was ill afterwards. Something’s not right.”

‘Legitimate questions’

David Clayden, honorary secretary of Harrogate Fly Fishers’ Club, said there were legitimate questions about water quality considering the amount of raw sewage being pumped into the Nidd.

He said the problem was exacerbated at times when the water level is low, such as now, when the river needed a good flush.


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The Stray Ferret asked Yorkshire Water, which treats water on the Nidd, if it was aware of an outbreak of sickness among river swimmers during the heatwave.

A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said:

“The river is a natural environment and contains bacteria from a variety of sources that may cause illness if swallowed.

“We have checked the performance of our equipment in the area and have found no evidence of any discharges from storm overflows or combined sewer overflows in the days before Friday 15th, or since.

“Our wastewater treatment works have continued to treat wastewater and return it to the environment as normal.”

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire County Council, which is responsible for public health, said it wasn’t aware of any issues.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said it wasn’t aware of any recent pollution incidents on the Nidd but advised people against swimming in rivers unless they were designated bathing areas.

Councillors have ‘major concerns’ about plans to reduce Harrogate fire engines

Councillors said today they had “major concerns” about plans to reduce the number of night time fire engines in Harrogate to one.

North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoe Metcalfe defended her plans at a special meeting of North Yorkshire County Council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Constituency Committee.

Ms Metcalfe, a Conservative, told the Liberal Democrat-controlled committee she would still consider a shake-up of Harrogate’s night time fire service even if she had “millions in reserves”.

Ms Metcalfe told the meeting the plans “were not cuts” but the right thing to do. She said:

“If they were cuts, they would have happened yesterday. We do have a balanced budget until 2026. Let’s be very clear on that.

“If I had millions of pounds worth in the bank of reserves, I would still be doing this. I would still be going out on consultation, because it is absolutely right that we identify our risk and where our risk is in the county and York and then put the right resources to cover that risk.”

Ms Metcalfe added that no fire stations were closing and no whole time firefighters were losing their jobs.

Her three-year plan for the fire service includes proposals on staff shift patterns, the number of fire engines operating at night and putting a greater emphasis on fire prevention.

Harrogate and Scarborough currently both have an emergency fire engine and a tactical response fire engine operating 24 hours a day.

Ms Metcalfe’s model proposes both stations have two emergency response vehicles during the day but only one at night. They would lose their tactical response engines altogether.

‘Race to the bottom’

Paul James, chair of the Fire Brigades Union in North Yorkshire, said the plan would leave Harrogate fire station in a “race to the bottom” on response times.

Mr James told the meeting the changes amounted to cuts and that Harrogate was an area of high risk due to its density.

He added that a cut in funding nationally “has dovetailed” with slow response times locally and criticised the lack of a response standard from the service.

Paul James, chair of the North Yorkshire Fire Brigades Union branch.

Paul James, chair of the North Yorkshire Fire Brigades Union branch, at today’s meeting.

Mr James said:

“Harrogate still requires two appliances during the night to cover serious fires, if positive outcomes are to be achieved.

“Under these proposals during the night time hours Ripon, Tadcaster, Malton, Northallerton and Selby will all have more fire engines than Harrogate.”

He added:

“We feel that the continuing avoidance of declaring a standard [response time] is the avoidance of transparency and accountability.

“These proposals will see Harrogate enter the response time race to the bottom that much of the rest of the county competes in.”

Dave Winspear, director of transformation at North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, denied there was a “race to the bottom” on response times for Harrogate.


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Meanwhile, some councillors were critical of the proposals.

Cllr Robert Windass, a Conservative representing Boroughbridge who was a fire fighter in Leeds for 30 years, said he did not feel the figures on night time fires “were right”.

He added:

“I did 30 years in Leeds and the most fatalities and the most people we had to rescue was during the hours of night.

“Not during the day, we did get them, but the majority was at night time when people were asleep and when something went wrong such as children playing with matches and things like that.

“So I won’t dispute your figures, but I don’t think they are right.”

As part of its response to the plans, the committee agreed to express major concerns over night cover but welcomed investment in prevention work.

You can find out more about the proposed changes and take part in the consultation here.

Ofsted praise for “ambitious” leaders at Nidderdale village school

A village school with just 45 pupils has been praised for turning around its fortunes in the four years since its last Ofsted inspection.

Admiral Long Church of England Primary School has been rated ‘good’ after inspectors visited last month and found its leaders were “ambitious” and had put an “effective” curriculum in place.

The school in Burnt Yates was founded on the site of the former village primary school, which was closed in 2018 after Ofsted said it had inadequate safeguarding.

Bishop Thornton Primary School, which was rated ‘requires improvement’, then moved to the site. Its executive headteacher, Victoria Kirkman, took over in September 2021 and also oversees Birstwith Primary School, as well as being interim executive leader of the Ripley, Beckwithshaw and Kettlesing federation of schools.

In their latest report, Ofsted inspectors said:

“Admiral Long Church of England Primary School does not just focus on academic outcomes. Pupils experience a range of sporting and cultural events to enhance their learning.

“Leaders want their pupils to grow into well-rounded young people, ready to take their place in the world. The school curriculum, enrichment experiences and the wider opportunities on offer have been designed to achieve this.”


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The report highlighted the overwhelmingly positive response of parents to the school, saying they were “full of praise” for staff and leaders and were proud to say their children attended the school.

Inspectors found reading was a high priority in the school, from pupils just beginning to learn letter sounds to those who had fallen behind receiving extra support.

They said the curriculum was well-planned overall, encouraging pupils to make links between different subject areas. While the maths curriculum was ambitious and “coherently sequenced”, inspectors said it could be broken down into smaller steps to help the youngest children in the early stages of number recall.

Executive headteacher Victoria KirkmanExecutive headteacher Victoria Kirkman

Ms Kirkman said:

“Since September, the school has gone on an incredible journey of rapid school improvement and I am delighted this hard work has been recognised, especially with regards to the safeguarding of its pupils.

“Although our school was recognised for its achievements in relation to the curriculum and academic outcomes, I am most proud of the recognition, post-pandemic, for the pastoral care and enrichment experiences we give to our pupils.”

Early years

The report found the school’s early years provision required improvement, particularly in outdoor learning, saying:

“Children in the early years enjoy learning in a welcoming and attractive space indoors that prioritises all areas of learning, including physical development and communication and language.

“However, this is not the case outdoors. Consequently, children are unable to enjoy extending their play and learning outside. There is a lack of activities and resources for them to use.

“The space does not support the delivery of the early years curriculum. Leaders know this area requires development and have plans in place for this.”

Inspectors also recommended improvements to the SEND provision, giving more support to pupils to ensure they reached targets set for them.

Chair of governors Jane Connor said:

“The governors are immensely proud of the achievement of the leadership team and all staff and children at Admiral Long School…

“We are particularly proud of the school’s focus on developing well-rounded young people, through a curriculum developed in the best interests of pupils, enrichment experiences and wider opportunities.”

Harrogate man banned from keeping animals for five years

A Harrogate man has been banned from keeping animals for five years after being found guilty of cruelty.

Robbie Nelson, 24, neglected a Mastiff called Rocco and a Lurcher called Smudge at a house on High Street, Harrogate, in March last year.

The case was brought by animal charity the RSPCA.

Nelson failed to turn up in court to respond to the charges on December 17 last year and was found guilty in his absence.

Police issued a warrant for his arrest on the same day and eventually arrested him in June.

He was then remanded on bail for pre-sentence reports to be prepared.

Nelson, of Woodfield View, Harrogate, appeared before North Yorkshire Magistrates Court in York on Tuesday for sentencing.

Magistrates disqualified him from owning or being left in charge of any animal for five years.

He was also ordered to pay £200 costs and a £95 surcharge to fund victim services, and was given a community order to undertake rehabilitation activity.

The RSPCA will decide what to do with Rocco and Smudge.

Report a Crime and make Harrogate a better place

This story is sponsored by Harrogate BID.


It may seem strange that an organisation dedicated to promoting Harrogate town centre is campaigning to increase its crime levels. 

However, Harrogate BID knows what it is doing and there is method behind its madness. 

BID manager Matthew Chapman said: 

“The statistics showed that the number of crimes is very low in the town centre. 

“While on the face of it this seems like good news, the stats just didn’t match up with what we were hearing from BID members. 

“Shop owners and staff were telling us they were regularly seeing relatively minor crime, but the police figures just didn’t reflect this.” 

Mr Chapman and the team at the BID decided to investigate further.  

The kind of crimes being seen by retailers included anti-social behaviour, often linked to drinking, and what’s termed ‘professional begging’ – people who are not truly homeless and who often don’t live in Harrogate coming into town to take advantage of what they see as a lucrative opportunity to collect money from the public. 

Often, said Mr Chapman, those people went on to use the money to buy drinks and, later in the day, they would commit crimes such as shoplifting. 

Yet the BID investigation found town centre workers often didn’t report the problems they witnessed. 

“People told us they were calling 101 to tell the police and were waiting on hold for half an hour or longer, before they eventually gave up. 

“After a few occasions like that, many said they no longer bothered to report the low-level cases because they just didn’t have the time.  

“Some of the bigger chain shops also let shoplifting go – they have instructions from head office that they don’t need to report every instance. 

“The police statistics aren’t reflecting the reality of the town centre because the control room just isn’t getting to hear about it.” 

As a result, the BID has launched a campaign to encourage people to report every instance of crime they see across the town centre. 

Recognising employees’ time is valuable, the BID has highlighted the fact that crime can be reported via the 101 page on the North Yorkshire Police website. 

It takes just five minutes, said Mr Chapman, and will generate a crime number and add the incident to the official police log. 

He said: 

“We’ve been told the best way to get the police to respond to things is to increase the numbers of crimes.  

“Officers say they can’t do anything if nobody has reported a problem. Every avenue we went down, it always came back to needing more reports. 

“They are an evidence-based organisation that works with data. The more crimes they see are being committed, the more resource they will put into an area. 

“So we’re asking everyone to report every crime they see, no matter how minor it may be. In six months’ time, we’ll go back to the police and see how the numbers are looking.” 

Mr Chapman said the BID hopes the result will be a significant increase in the crime statistics for the town centre – which in turn will encourage more police resources to be directed towards it. 

He added: 

“We recognise Harrogate is far from one of the worst places in the world, but it’s not immune from the problems every other town and city centre has.

“We want to make sure we stay on top of these relatively minor issues so they don’t become worse and they don’t detract from all the things that make Harrogate a great place to live, work and visit.”

To report a crime to North Yorkshire Police, visit the dedicated reporting section of its website.

Love Brownies goes into liquidation but Harrogate store to stay open

Love Brownies has gone into liquidation but said that its Harrogate store, which is a franchise, will stay open.

The company said it had suffered  “unsustainable” losses and liquidators were appointed to its Ilkley headquarters at the end of last week.

Lee and Chantelle Teal set up Love Brownies in 2009 with the “ambition of baking the ultimate chocolate brownie and making people smile”. It went onto to win three gold stars from the Great Taste Awards in 2015 and expanded rapidly with a new bakery at Howgill.

In a statement included in correspondence sent to creditors it said:

“Whilst the expansion had led to increased revenues, the company has also been adversely affected by covid, significant increases in raw material costs and spiralling expansion costs. As a result of this, the company incurred significant losses of £359,095 in the 10-month period to May 2022 which were unsustainable.

“The impact of these losses on cashflow resulted in the directors seeking investment from a third party known to them who had expressed an interest in purchasing the company.

“Unfortunately, after a period of working with the private investor, a suitable offer was not received and ultimately the directors sought advice to place the company in liquidation.”

Mr Teal told the Stray Ferret however, that the Harrogate store on Montpellier Parade would stay open as it is franchised but other parts of the business, including the flagship store in Leeds Victoria Gate had been closed and staff made redundant. He added:

“Chantelle and I would like to thank everyone who has been with us through a very difficult time. Our plan now is to rebuild Love Brownies from the bottom up. The Harrogate store is fantastic. It’s still the original team, they do a great job for us and they will keep going.”


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Developer withdraws Harrogate office block flats plan

Developers have withdrawn plans to convert Simpson House in Harrogate into flats.

Artium Group had submitted the proposal to Harrogate Borough Council to convert some of the offices off Clarence Drive.

It would have seen seven flats created at the vacant office block.

The developer had also planned to use the current 14 car parking spaces and create storage for seven bicycles.

However, the proposal has now been withdrawn.


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It comes as a council officer raised concern over the viability of the plan.

Alan Gilleard, the borough council’s arboricultural manager, raised concern that the change of use of the building would impact on neighbouring trees which are protected by a tree preservation order.

In response to the application, he said:

“Change of use to residential is highly problematic in arboricultural terms. I cannot recall the LPA supporting a residential application that includes allowing development into the canopy spread of large, maturing trees. 

“Planning by definition includes forecasting, predicting and foreseeing future conflicts and removing/reducing.

“Where this cannot be achieved can clash with the planning balance such that if the application were approved the challenges for the future outlined accordingly.”

Harrogate Civic Society said in a letter that it agreed with the council officer’s comments.