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24
May
How a map and a postcard are ‘selling’ Harrogate
How do you sell a town to visitors at a time of economic uncertainty?
Across the United Kingdom, business groups and local authorities are grappling with promoting town centres and high streets while the nation suffers from high inflation, stagnant wages and a cost of living crisis.
But, in Harrogate, the Business Improvement District has come up with an idea — a map and a postcard.
While the idea may seem trite, it is in fact rooted in data, footfall figures and a desire to shine a light on Harrogate’s eclectic offering.
So, how does a map of Harrogate intend to improve the town’s prospect? In this article, we speak with Matthew Chapman, chief executive of Harrogate BID, to find the answer.
Business concern
In June 2023, 76% of businesses in the Harrogate town area voted in favour of Harrogate BID entering a second term.
The move was a vote of confidence from some 450 businesses, who pay a pay a levy of 1.5% on top of their rateable value to fund the organisation.
Six months later, the BID got to work on one of its priorities in its business plan — selling the different areas of the town to visitors.
For Mr Chapman, the question over how to brand the different areas of Harrogate stemmed from conversations with business owners.
When we were talking to a lot of our members in the different quarters, a lot of them were proud to do their thing in Harrogate. But they kind of said that while the brand of Harrogate is well represented, their quarter itself was not.
The concern was simple. While Harrogate has many visitors, not enough of them are visiting different areas of the town.
Some had concerns that people were staying in the central area, while others bemoaned that too many headed straight for Montpellier, Mr Chapman said.
The BID sought to solve the problem through branding and made it one of its objectives in its business plan.
As it entered its second term in 2024, it took a scrap piece of paper and began to divide Harrogate up into four quarters: Montpellier, Central, King’s Road and Victoria & West Park.
The idea of divvying a town or city up into quarters is nothing new. One only has to look down the M62 in Manchester, where you will find the Northern Quarter and Deansgate as areas which are “sold” to tourists.
Moving people around
In Harrogate itself, the quarters are also nothing new — Montpellier Quarter is referred to on maps as far back as 2009.
But, for Mr Chapman, this idea was different. It aimed to give multiple sections of Harrogate an identity in order to move people around the town.
People have got a perception that Harrogate is a posh weekend away with afternoon tea and businesses like Betty’s. But, there is so much more to see and offer. Hopefully this map can move people around to individual areas.
Each area has its own distinct selling point.
For example, Montpellier quarter has a “cosmopolitan feel”, while the central quarter is a "bustling" area focused on brands and retail.
The map and town guide.
Meanwhile, the postcard sought to capture the “a classy, charming picture” which visitors can share with friends and family.
The branding exercise is designed to pull out those individual qualities of Harrogate’s economy — but it is also rooted in data.
The BID uses Huq, a data platform which tracks footfall. The figures show that people tended to visit the central area in Harrogate the most — although January and February saw a spike in people visiting the King’s Road area for conferences.
According to the data, the Harrogate BID catchment area had footfall of 6,549,285 for the first five months of this year, which is 19% more than the same period last year.
As a result, the BID wants to see those visitors spread wider with the long-term goal being to increase spend across different businesses.
Mr Chapman said the organisation wants to move from just focussing on footfall to “track and spend”.
He said:
To a certain extent, the ultimate result would be more footfall. But more uniquely, more spend in businesses in these unique areas. While footfall is important, it needs to tie in with spend.
But, while the BID has designs on increasing spend and footfall across a wider catchment, it also has to compete with the nation’s struggles.
The economic climate is difficult — wages are stagnant, business have seen utility bills and national insurance contributions sky rocket since April and the growth outlook does not look like it will improve anytime soon.
Montpellier Parade in Harrogate.
Harrogate is not immune to these economic difficulties.
In fact, the impact on wages is on area which Mr Chapman says as a challenge for the town.
He said:
The footfall is there, but our biggest challenge is the disposal income that people have got. We shout about Harrogate having the luxury brands and showcasing it as a posh weekend away and being a bit more luxurious than other places. But people probably just don’t have the same level of disposal income to have that treat.
I think it’s that area where we still have people coming to Harrogate for the nice day out or weekend away, but they probably just don’t have the same amount of money to spend that we all once had.
‘We think it will work’
Mr Chapman has taken any opportunity to hand the postcard and map out — whether it be the Great Yorkshire Show, business events or the first Harrogate Town Council meeting.
The fruits of the BID’s labour may take time to bear fruit.
But, is Mr Chapman is confident that the map will support the organisation in its aims?
We’re getting to a point where some of our retailers and experiential places are saying that they’ll have the maps and they would be willing to sell the postcards. We do think it will work because of the positive feedback that we’ve had from the general public and our members.
Whether the map helps with the organisation’s aim to move people around and ultimately increase spend in the areas across Harrogate will be down to visitors and, ultimately, the nature of the British economy.
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