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11
Nov
Is council set to announce historic change for Harrogate Convention Centre?
North Yorkshire Council appears to be on the verge of announcing a historic change to the way Harrogate Convention Centre is run.
A key decision on the council-owned conference and events venue, which contributes millions of pounds to the Harrogate economy each year but is a drain on public resources, is imminent.
The council abandoned plans for a major refurbishment at the start of the year when it was unable to secure funding. It set out its reasons in this report here.
Instead, it paid London consultants 31ten to come up with a new way forward and its findings have not yet been made public.
Conservative council leader Carl Les hinted in an interview with the Stray Ferret last month, which you can read here, that a major change was brewing when he said “the future is quite possibly some sort of joint venture with people who perhaps know more about operating conference centres than the council does”.
Now Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, has written to Cllr Les and council chief executive Richard Flinton “to request an update on the timeline for transitioning the centre to an arm’s-length commercial model”.
These comments by Cllr Les and Mr Gordon suggest the centre will soon be run by a private firm for the first time although the council will still own it.
Tom Gordon (centre) with Paula Lorimer and HCC sales account manager Darren Peters at Harrogate Convention Centre.
Mr Gordon’s comments came after he spoke with centre director Paula Lorimer at last month’s Local Government Association Conference, which attracted some 1,400 delegates.
The centre, which was known as the Harrogate Conference Centre when it opened in 1982 and hosted that year’s Eurovision Song Contest, has always been owned by the council.
Harrogate Borough Council always maintained this arrangement, but its abolition last year heralded a sea change. North Yorkshire Council, the successor authority that assumed control of the asset, immediately made it clear it was open to change.
Mr Gordon’s letter to Cllr Les and Mr Flinton said he supported change. He wrote:
I would like to request an update on the timeline for transitioning the centre to an arm’s-length commercial model. I am supportive of this transition, believing that it would provide the centre with greater autonomy over its operations and space utilisation. Adopting this structure also makes logical sense given that most other local authority-owned convention centres operate in this way.
The centre, which has a 2,000-seat auditorium, contributes an estimated £45 million annually to the local economy and supports an estimated 7,000 jobs.
But it operates at a loss and is blighted by ageing facilities. It is one of the region’s largest contributors of carbon emissions and Mr Gordon said Ms Lorimer’s team was keen to bid for decarbonisation grants to secure fresh investment.
Last month's LGA Conference at Harrogate Convention Centre.
According to Mr Gordon, Ms Lorimer also wants to expand studio 2 into a larger, multifunctional breakout room, which she estimated could generate an additional £1 million in revenue annually, if investment was forthcoming.
Mr Gordon told the Stray Ferret the centre was now “looking at a phased, rather than all-at-once, approach to doing the work required” so it no longer required the £57 million estimated for refurbishments in March's council report.
A council spokesperson said options were being considered and a report would go to Cllr Les’ executive before a decision on the future operating model of the centre is taken.
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