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    23

    Oct 2020

    Last Updated: 22/10/2020
    Business
    Business

    Harrogate events company folds after 46 years

    by Connor Creaghan

    | 23 Oct, 2020
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    Joe Manby Ltd, which employed more than 30 people and had existed since 1974, has been devastated by the impact of coronavirus. It organised more than 50 events a year.

    andrew-manby-2-resized
    Andrew Manby, director of Joe Manby Ltd.

    A Harrogate events company, which employed more than 30 people, is set to go into liquidation.

    Andrew Manby, director of family events firm Joe Manby Ltd, had been vocal in calling for more government support for the beleaguered conference and exhibition industry.

    The sector has been decimated since the pandemic in March. But Joe Manby Ltd, like many others, had been preparing for a safe and limited return in October until the government intervened.



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    Mr Manby told the Stray Ferret "it was a heartbreaking decision" after 46 years in the business:

    "We were ready to start business again this month. We had run trials and proved that we could hold events safely.
    "But at the last minute Boris Johnson put the cat among the pigeons and said we were not allowed. It is particularly frustrating seeing UK-based businesses like ours running events abroad."


    Joe Manby Ltd organised more than 50 events a year. In May last year it secured a three-year contract to provide events services for the Harrogate Bridal Show.

    Mr Manby, who is one of the founder's sons, believes many businesses in the events industry are in a similar position.

    He said the government's job retention scheme had kept the business ticking over but it was difficult to survive without a clear date for return.

    Coronavirus has hit Harrogate's events industry particularly hard.

    The town usually hosts a string of major events, conferences and exhibitions but the convention centre's conversion into a Nightingale hospital changed this.