County council agrees creation of 30-year housing plan

North Yorkshire County Council has agreed to create a county-wide local plan that will plot where housing and development can take place over the next 30 years.

Conservative councillors on the authority’s executive met today to approve the creation of the document, which must be finalised within five years of the new North Yorkshire Council forming on April 1.

It will replace the seven local plans that are currently used by the soon-to-be abolished district councils.

This also means the reviews that are under way on the plans for Harrogate Borough Council and Craven District Council will be halted. However, both documents will still guide planning decisions until the new local plan is created.

Harrogate Borough Council’s local plan says around 13,000 homes can be built across the district between 2014 and 2034.

Conservative Mid-Craven councillor Simon Myers, executive member for planning for growth, told the meeting that the local plan will be “hugely important to the economic vitality of the county”.

He said:

“It’s hugely important for the provision of housing and for many strategic matters. It is imperative we have an ambitious local plan for North Yorkshire and that planning committees abide by it.”

Cllr Myers confirmed that the new council will create six new planning committees to oversee decisions across parliamentary constituency areas, such as Harrogate and Knaresborough, and Skipton and Ripon.

Linda Marfitt, acting head of place-shaping and economic growth at the council, said the creation of a new local plan is a “great opportunity to deliver some of the ambitions the new council will have”.

She said:

“A plan-led approach will ensure the new council is in the best possible place to guide quality development and infrastructure.”

Maltkiln

While a review into Harrogate council’s local plan will now not take place, work on the Maltkiln development plan document will continue.

Maltkiln is the name of a new settlement proposed by the Oakgate Group around Cattal railway station.

It is set to have between 3,000 and 4,000 homes, as well as two primary schools, shops and a GP surgery.


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The development plan is in the latter stages of development, after being worked on for the last two years. It sets out a 30-year vision and policy framework on how Maltkiln is designed and developed.

However, Arnold Warneken, Green Party councillor for Ouseburn division, described the process of forming it as “rushed” and said residents have unanswered questions over the boundary of the settlement as well as the position of a new relief road.

He said:

“The whole process, from my perspective and the eight parish councils it will affect, has been rushed. I’m really, really keen that if this settlement goes ahead it becomes the exemplar it’s meant to be. 

“I don’t want it to be rushed, I want it to be right. I want to exercise caution before the inspector gets his hands on it”.

In response, Cllr Michael Harrison, Conservative councillor for Killinghall, Hampsthwaite & Saltergate as well as executive member for health and adult said: 

“We want the Maltkiln DPD to be right and planning in Harrogate could never be described as rushed.”

He added: 

“If we pause progression of DPD it ceases to be a plan-led approach in the local area. 

“The worst thing we could do is to stop the Maltkiln DPD because we’d still have to determine those planning applications.”

Plummeting temperatures prompt weather warning across Harrogate district

The Met Office has issued a weather warning for North Yorkshire amid freezing temperatures this week.

Lasting until Thursday lunchtime, the warning is for snow and ice which could lead to travel disruption.

In its warning, the Met Office said:

“Snow showers and icy surfaces will bring some travel disruption, [including] some roads and railways likely to be affected with longer journey times by road, bus and train services, some injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces, [and] probably some icy patches on some untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths.”

The forecast for this week suggests temperatures are unlikely to rise more than one or two degrees above freezing during the day, with night-time temperatures dropping as much as five degrees below zero on Thursday night.

After the home match against Northampton Town last weekend was called off thanks to a frozen pitch, Harrogate Town is warning that its away game at Doncaster Rovers on Saturday could also fall foul of the weather. Supporters are asked to check for updates before travelling – and are being warned not to travel by train because of planned industrial action.


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In the second half of the weekend, the forecast begins to change.

There is the possibility of some snow early on Sunday morning, before temperatures are expected to rise throughout the day and reach 10C overnight on Sunday.

At present, the forecast in the week up to Christmas suggests the weather will be warmer and wetter. Temperatures could rise to around 6C during the day and drop to 3C at night.

The likelihood of a white Christmas in the Harrogate district remains uncertain at this stage, though in the wake of the recent cold weather, bookies have slashed the odds of a white Christmas being reported somewhere in the UK.

Study grants open to Harrogate district students

Students in the Harrogate district are being invited to apply for grants to fund study equipment and travel.

The grants have been made available by Haywra Crescent Educational Trust, which has around £1,000 to share, and are available to those taking post-16 education courses.

The money is available through the proceeds of the sale of a former education property in Haywra Crescent, Harrogate.

As part of the scheme, eligible students can apply for a small sum to go towards books, equipment or fund travel that relates to study.


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The fund, which is administered by North Yorkshire County Council, is available to those who are who are studying at schools, colleges and universities outside the Harrogate borough.

Further information and application forms are available by emailing post16@northyorks.gov.uk

The closing date for applications is January 31, 2023.

£540m North Yorkshire devolution deal looks set to progress, say officials

A proposed devolution deal, which would include creating an elected mayor and a mayoral combined authority for North Yorkshire and York, looks set to receive sufficient public support to proceed.

James Farrar, chief officer of the North Yorkshire and York Local Enterprise Partnership, told a meeting of council leaders that the majority of respondents had backed the proposed deal. He was speaking with just seven days remaining of an eight-week consultation.

Mr Farrar’s comments to a meeting of North Yorkshire and York’s council leaders followed some anxiety and uncertainty being expressed privately by those behind the proposed deal, particularly after apparent strong public opposition to creating a mayoral combined authority in Cornwall threw the devolution process there into uncertainty.

In recent months, North Yorkshire and York councils have put effort into promoting the benefits of the deal.

Although some high-profile opposition councillors have branded the proposals undemocratic and unrepresentative, there has not been a concerted campaign opposing the deal.

Mr Farrar said the support rate for the devolution deal, which was unveiled on Yorkshire Day in August and includes a £540 million investment fund to be spent over 30 years, had varied little throughout the exercise.

He added: 

“It gives us a good indication of where we will be with a week to go.”


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Although North Yorkshire and York’s combined population totals significantly above 800,000 residents, Mr Farrar described the 1,750 replies to the consultation so far as “a really good response rate” compared to similar devolution surveys in other areas.

He said the responses had come from all parts of the county and York.

Mr Farrar told the meeting the strongest support for the devolution deal was for the mayoral combined authority to directly engage with government over creating the country’s first net-zero region, initiatives to tackle climate change and the promotion of landscape restoration schemes.

Bus franchising powers

He said there was also strong support for devolving transport powers, such as giving an elected mayor functions such as powers to introduce bus franchising and the combined authority powers to set up and coordinate a key route network.

Mr Farrar said: 

“Not surprisingly, the area which is of most concern is financial powers.”

The consultation highlights that the mayor would have the power to set a precept on council tax to fund mayoral functions as well as the power to introduce a supplement on business rates for expenditure on projects that will promote economic development.

Mr Farrar said the National Institute for Consultation would independently analyse responses to the consultation, which would be presented to both councils in February for them to decided whether to proceed with the devolution deal.

You can have your say on the proposed devolution deal for North Yorkshire and York here.

Pictured: Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, Greg Clark MP and Cllr Keith Aspden, leader of City of York Council sign the devolution document in August.

Who will make decisions on new homes in the Harrogate district in 2023?

A debate is brewing over who should decide on plans for new housing in the Harrogate district.

Currently, Harrogate Borough Council makes decisions on proposals for new homes and major developments.

But this will be taken out of the council’s hands in April 2023 when North Yorkshire Council takes over.

Some politicians argue that planning powers should be given to local areas.

But, for council bosses, it appears the matter is not so straight forward.

Local areas should make planning decisions

Ahead of the new council being formed, North Yorkshire County Council set up a working group to look at how planning matters should be decided.

The authority is set to approve measures to create its own Local Plan – but has yet to decide how planning decisions should be made.

For most councillors, they believe the area constituency committees should be in charge of such decisions affecting their own areas.

The committees are made up of county councillors from a local area, such as Harrogate and Knaresborough, and discuss matters relevant to that place.

New housing under construction at King Edwin Park in Harrogate.

New housing under construction at King Edwin Park in Harrogate.

Cllr Pat Marsh, the Liberal Democrat chair of Harrogate and Knaresborough area committee, pointed out that not handing powers to such committees would “erode accountability”.

She said:

“The devolution of decision making powers on planning is the right thing to do. How is a Councillor in Scarborough supposed to understand the impacts or issues of a particular development in Harrogate?

“In the new North Yorkshire Council structure Area Committees will be key, they should be given powers to direct local services and they should have budgets to make that happen. 

“Having one huge planning authority for the entire of North Yorkshire would be impractical, costly and would erode local accountability.”

The issue is particularly pertinent when it comes to major developments.

In Harrogate, decisions are still expected on a bottling plant at Harrogate Spring Water and a 3,000 home town between Knaresborough and Cattall called Maltkiln.

Major developments

Councillors believe that such decisions should be made at a local level.

However, in a county council report, officials suggested that a threshold should be set for applications to be made a county-wide committee.


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One of the suggestions was that decisions on applications for 500 houses or more would be taken by North Yorkshire Council.

Cllr Arnold Warneken, a Green Party county councillor who represents Ouseburn, said he had concerns over such a threshold.

He said that area committees should have input on major applications, whether they are made at a county level or not.

Cllr Warneken said:

“We got to have a situation where they [local committees] get some input.

“If they are always a consultee then they will have their say.

“I do not want to leave this down to chance, I want it written into the council’s strategy.”

‘Two models being considered’

Conservative Cllr Simon Myers,, North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for growth and housing, said two models are being considered for planning across the county.

He said the aim for the new authority was a “co-ordinated planning policy overseen by one over-arching authority”.

He said:

“This will help attract new enterprise and also bring in much-needed new homes to address the affordable housing issues which are seen across North Yorkshire, but especially in our rural and coastal communities. 

“We envisage several committees will make key planning decisions when the new council launches from April 1 next year. 

“There are currently two models which are being considered for the new North Yorkshire Council to ensure that planning policies are co-ordinated in the best possible manner and are addressing the needs of local communities. 

“The first option would see six planning committees introduced based on constituency areas, while the other proposal would see the six committees condensed into three. Both options with see a strategic committee dealing with major planning applications as well as decisions concerning waste and minerals. 

“A great deal of work has gone into making sure that planning decisions are made effectively with the advent of the new council, and I have chaired a group of members who have been looking at the issue. I would like to put on record that I am extremely grateful for all the work that has been undertaken by both members and officers.”

The county council’s executive will consider the options and make a decision when members meet on Tuesday next week (December 13). 

That decision will then go to a full council meeting in February when it will be discussed and ratified ahead of the launch of the new council.

18 arrests as North Yorkshire drink-drive campaign gets underway

Police in North Yorkshire have arrested 18 people in the first eight days of this year’s annual Christmas drink and drug-drive campaign.  

Ten of the 18 arrests made were for drink-driving and eight were for drug-driving. Fifteen of the arrests were of men and the other three were of women.  

Five arrests each were made the Harrogate district and York, three each in Richmond and Hambleton, and one each in Scarborough borough and Ryedale.  

The message from the York and North Yorkshire Road Safety partnership this year is “save a life and call it in.” Members of the public are being urged to call out anyone who is behind the wheel when under the influence of drink or drugs, by dialling 999.  

The force launched its annual Christmas drink-drug drive campaign on December 1 with the help of Mark Charnock, who plays Marlon Dingle in ITV’s Emmerdale. The actor participated in a mock road traffic collision to highlight the dangers of drink and drug driving to members of the public.  

The highest reading recorded over the eight days by North Yorkshire Police was over four times the legal limit. The driver, a 43-year-old woman from Richmondshire was arrested and taken into custody where she was breathalysed again and recorded a reading of 141 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms. The woman is due to appear in court on December 19..  

Superintendent Emma Aldred, head of specialist 0perations at North Yorkshire Police, said:

“These figures send out a clear message that we’re out across North Yorkshire trying to intercept people who choose to drive when under the influence of drink or drugs.  

“As we head into what is anticipated to be a busy weekend with the World Cup and many Christmas parties taking place, I would urge people to plan their night and think about how they are getting home.  

“If you’re out and become aware of someone who is about to drive and is under the influence of drink or drugs then call it in on 999. One call could be all it takes to save a life.“  


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Police are actively patrolling in marked and unmarked vehicles across the county, as well as conducting static checks on the side of the road. Officers are keen to remind the public that the hazards are not limited to driving straight after drinking alcohol or taking drugs, as substances can remain at dangerous levels in the bloodstream well into the morning after.

Prevention is also a key part of the campaign. Road safety officers are working with colleagues at North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service to deliver ‘Survive the drive’ events. These hard-hitting talks aim to educate people about the risks and dangers that that are associated with drink and drug driving.  

North Yorkshire Police urge people with information about drink drivers to share it by dialling 101 and selecting option 1, or by dialling 999 if the crime is in the process of being committed.

Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal: ‘My life collapsed like a wicket’

This year’s Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal is for Resurrected Bites in Harrogate and Knaresborough. Today, Vicky meets a local man who is both a community grocery member and a café volunteer. Please give generously to support local people who are struggling this Christmas. They need your help. 

The people who rely on Resurrected Bites are no different to anyone else. They have experiences, careers, aspirations and needs just as the rest of us do. 

Sometimes, though, circumstances lead even the most conventional person down a road they never expected. 

Justin Hardcastle tells his story. 

“I worked in IT security recruitment as an account manager and lived in Harrogate most of my life. I’ve also lived in Leeds, London and Majorca, and in Austria for five years. 

“In 2005, I found my mum hanging. I cut her down and gave her mouth-to-mouth and saved her life. Unfortunately, the oxygen deprivation left her with brain damage.  

“In 2017, I found my brother dead in his flat. I couldn’t revive him.  

“In 2019, I lost my grandma, who was a second mum to me. My mum worked two jobs and me and my brother lived with our grandparents. 

“It was three bad experiences. If you look at cricket, you’ve got three stumps: the first was my mum, my brother was the second and the third was my grandma. It just all collapsed.” 

Justin struggled on for a while, but his mental health declined. He had to stop working and he lost his home. 

Friends helped out, including paying for hotel rooms to give him somewhere to stay. Justin said he was enormously grateful, but he needed long-term stability. 

He was put in touch with Lifeline, a Christian charity providing secure places to live and support for people in crisis. It gave Justin a flat shared with two other men.  


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With somewhere safe to stay, Justin was pointed towards Resurrected Bites and became a member of the community grocery. 

It took months for his benefit payments to start being made, but he was still able to access food supplies. 

Gracious Street grocery manager Carolyn said: 

“When the system goes wrong, it can leave you with literally nothing. 

“We try to tell people if you’ve got nothing, don’t feel you can’t come. If you go from work onto universal credit, there’s a minimum five weeks’ wait.  

“We always say we will do you voucher shops until your money’s back on course. 

“That’s why we need more people to know about us. People need to know and not to be ashamed. There’s no judgement.”  

Settled in at home and getting to know the team at Resurrected Bites, Justin decided six months ago to become more involved. 

He volunteers every Thursday in the community grocery, as well as doing alternate Fridays in the kitchen of the pay-as-you-feel café.  

His interest in food stems from his childhood, cooking with his grandmother and his brother, who went on to work in hospitality. 

Some of the meals created for the Resurrected Bites cafeSome of the meals created for the Resurrected Bites cafe, created from ingredients that would otherwise be thrown away

He said:  

“I love coming here. It gives me a purpose. Everyone is so friendly and I feel like I’m giving something back.

It’s heart-warming and beneficial for me, just to be part of a team and know I’m appreciated. I’m never late. I’m always early.

“You never know what you’re going to get. There was a week when we had crates of apples or strawberries or a ton of spring onions. You just never know and that’s what’s good. I’m not a chef, I just like cooking. 

“From quite easily going to Sainsbury’s or Morrison’s and looking round and buying what you want to coming here, it makes you think more about food. You adapt to the situation and what you are going to get. 

“It’s good for my mental health, I think, ‘what can I use, what can I make?’ it’s making me think and want to produce things differently that I wouldn’t have made. 

“I feel like I contribute – I give as much as I can. Thinking about where I was, if it wasn’t for Resurrected Bites, Lifeline and my network of friends, I don’t know where I would be now.” 

Having felt the benefit of Resurrected Bites in so many ways, Justin is determined to use his experience to help others. 

He recognises just how easily things can change for anyone, as they did for him. 

“When I worked in Leeds, I would quite happily go and have a coffee and a croissant for breakfast. Lunchtime, I’d go for a meal deal, and on an evening I might cook or have a take-away.

“That’s £15 a day. To go from that to having £3 for your weekly shop…

“I’ve changed my life and, going forward, I’m going to change my life. I want to feel I can support and help other people. 

“I would like to share my experiences and possibly do something, whether it’s in volunteering or paid. I’ve got a lot to give and once I’m rehabilitated, I can show people what can happen. 

“I can’t thank the organisations I’ve found and I’m part of enough. I’ve got a purpose. It’s a new start.”

resurrected Bites 2022 Christmas appeal

Nobody in the Harrogate district should go hungry this Christmas. 

It costs £300 to run the community grocery for one day. Please help to keep it open for everyone who relies on it. 

Click here to contribute now. Thank you. 

Christmas tree festivals 2022: guide to events taking place in the Harrogate district

Christmas is edging closer and there are plenty of festivities taking place over the next couple of weeks.

Among them are a growing number of churches hosting Christmas tree festivals around the Harrogate district.

If you fancy seeing some inspiring, creative decorations, check out our list below of some of the festivals taking place across the district. 

Know of another that’s not on our list? Email the details to us now.

St James’s Church Boroughbridge

Boroughbridge launched the district’s festivals last weekend with some spectacular efforts.

Visitors cast their votes and overwhelmingly selected Kirby Hill WI’s jam jar tree as their favourite (pictures below). The Post Office was in second place and Spar came third.

Kirby Hill won first prize in the Boroughbridge Christmas Tree Festival

In the children’s competition, Boroughbridge Scouts came out on top, followed by Roecliffe Primary School and Boroughbridge Junior School Early Years.

The festival concluded with a carol service on Sunday.

St John’s Church, Knaresborough 

The St John’s Christmas Tree Festival returns for another year.  

The Knaresborough Christmas tree festival takes place every year: 70 Christmas trees are decorated by local groups and are displayed in the St John’s Church in the heart of Knaresborough.  

It started last weekend and is running up until the December 23.  

As well as the Christmas tree competition there is live music and festive mulled wine refreshments. 

There will be live music every Saturday of the festival:

Admission to the festival is free, but donations to the church and their chosen charity are welcomed.

The event takes place at Vicarage Lane, Knaresborough HG5 9AE. 

St John’s Church, Bilton 

The Christmas tree festival in Bilton got up and running last weekend and continues throughout the month.

It features 20 trees created by community groups, many themed by the teams behind them.

The church is open from 9am to 1pm, Monday to Thursday each week, for visitors to see the trees. They are also on show at services until the end of December.

Entry is free and everyone is welcome at the Bilton Lane church.


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St Andrew’s Church, Blubberhouses 

Another Christmas tree festival with an amazing variety of trees, a creative and festive event for everyone. 

The festival is open this weekend, Saturday, December 10 and Sunday, December 11, from 11am to 4pm. 

On Sunday, The 4 – a musical quartet will be singing Christmas music and carols.  

There will also be wreaths and Christmas crafts for sale.  

Enjoy a festive atmosphere with mulled wine and refreshments.  

Admission to this event is free and it is taking place at Shepherd Hill Road, Blubberhouses, Otley, LS21 2NU.

Boroughbridge Christmas Tree FestivalBoroughbridge Christmas Tree Festival

St Peter’s Church, Harrogate

St Peter’s Church Christmas Tree Festival returns for its 18th year. 

The festival is running from December 10 to 17 and organisers hope to make this year “bigger and brighter than ever”. 

The opening times are 8am to 5.15pm. 

Charities, local schools, shops, and businesses have been invited to decorate a Christmas tree or wreath, decorations can either be Christmas themed or reflect their organisation.

This gives the decorators an opportunity to tell the community about their activities and achievements and brings the whole community together for some festive fun at the end of the year. 

Attendees will vote for their favourite Christmas tree, and the winner will be announced at their 9.30am service on December 18.  

The trees each have their own frame with details of who the tree is sponsored by and the name or theme of the tree. 

It takes place at St Peter’s Church, Cambridge Road, Harrogate HG1 1PB. 

Reduction in Harrogate fire engines to begin next year

The reduction in the number of fire engines crewed overnight in Harrogate looks set to be implemented next year.

Zoë Metcalfe, the Conservative North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, today published her blueprint on how fire resources will be deployed over the next three years.

Her Risk and Resource Model includes greater investment on fire prevention and rural on-call stations. But full-time urban fire stations in Harrogate and Scarborough will see the number of appliances staffed between 10pm and 9am reduced from two to one.

They will, however, get two emergency rescue fire engines at other times, when most fires occur, rather than the current one emergency vehicle and one less well equipped tactical response vehicle.

The nighttime reduction has been criticised by unions and councillors for putting lives at risk.

But today’s report, which was published after a 12-week summer consultation, provides some consolation. It says:

“We will adjust the night staffing proposals at Harrogate and Scarborough to provide added resilience by adding an additional firefighter.”

‘Low number of incidents’

The report reveals the county’s fire and rescue service received £38.2 million funding 2022/23, of which £23.4 millions came from council taxpayers.

Two-thirds of fire stations are on-call stations where firefighters respond to a pager from home or from their work. Ripon, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge, Masham, Lofthouse and Summerbridge have on-call stations in the Harrogate district, although Ripon has a full-time crew during the day.

Fire station locations in North Yorkshire. Pic: North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner

The report says:

“Because many people do not live and work in the same community anymore, many of our on-call stations struggle to have enough firefighters available to respond, especially during the day when demand is highest.”

It also says “many of our fire engines attend a relatively low number of incidents”. In the year to March, 31 2022, firefighters attended 7,594 incidents, of which 1,742 were fires, 2,485 incidents classed as ‘special services’ and 3,367 false alarms.

‘Reduce the need for an emergency response’

The report says the “increased focus on prevention aims to address and reduce risk and the need for an emergency response”.

The joint foreword by Ms Metcalfe and chief fire officer Jonathan Dyson says:

“We are a predominantly rural service where most of our stations are crewed by on-call firefighters. It is increasingly challenging to recruit and retain staff to keep our rural fire engines available to respond to emergencies. We intend to modernise and invest in our on-call service model to ensure it is sustainable and fit for the future and ultimately improve fire engine availability.

The report says the consultation revealed more support in favour of the proposals than against, but adds:

“The extent of disagreement was greater for proposed changes to the provision of response resource (Huntington, Harrogate and Scarborough).”


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Business Breakfast: Harrogate branding agency appoints technical director

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal. 

Today is the final Business Breakfast of 2022. It will return in the New Year.


A Harrogate branding agency has appointed a new technical director.

Dan Martin has joined Impression Studio, which is based on Albert Street, after spending two years at creative agency Jaywing.

Mr Martin has 20 years of experience in a range of industries including electronics, HR, education, and a variety of web agencies.

On joining Impression, he said:

“I’m just so excited to have this opportunity. 

“I know I have skills and experience that will benefit Impression but it’s also a chance for me to take the next step in my career and test myself at a new level. 

“I was happy in my previous role and could have stayed there forever, but this was just too good to miss and I’m really looking forward to seeing where we go together.”

Mr Martin will be tasked with overseeing all technical aspects of the work produced. At a strategic level he will be setting the direction of the agency in terms of the technologies used and the approach taken.

Charlie Hartley, managing director of Impression, said:

“Dan brings a wealth of experience delivering complex technical solutions for Enterprise level brands looking to innovate digitally.

“He’ll be implementing Headless CMS & React development solutions to position the agency as one of the leading web development agencies in the north of England.”


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Boroughbridge company appoints new director

Boroughbridge-based firm Reed Boardall has appointed a new director.

Norman Hartley, who has been with the firm for 16 years, has been promoted to transport operations director.

Previously head of transport operations, Norman joined the business in 2006 and has progressed through various positions including operations shift manager and planning manager.

In his new role, Norman will be responsible for reviewing and developing processes to drive efficiency and achieve organisational growth.

Marcus Boardall, chief executive, said: 

“Norman is a confident leader who has constantly demonstrated his ability to manage, motivate and develop teams to deliver operational excellence.

“He’s a fantastic example of one of our many long-serving colleagues who, through hard work and talent, has built a career with us. This latest promotion is well-deserved recognition of his commitment to the company and we believe he will make a valuable contribution in his new role.”