A longstanding Indian and Bangladeshi restaurant in Harrogate has closed and could be converted into a pub.

The Ali Raj, on Cheltenham Crescent, was the first Bangladeshi restaurant in town when it opened more than 35 years ago.

After a couple of tough years for the hospitality industry, restaurant owner Abdul Rashid, who took over the business from its original owners, decided to close.

Mr Rashid announced the news on the Ali Raj Facebook page, saying it was the “end of an era”.

The Stray Ferret tried to contact Mr Rashid for comment but did not receive a reply by the time of publication.

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Richard Park, owner of The Little Ale House, which is situated beneath the Ali Raj, has applied to Harrogate Borough Council to change the use of the building from restaurant to pub on both the first and second floors of the building.

Mr Park and his wife Danni opened The Little Ale House in 2016 to recreate a rustic country pub atmosphere in the town centre.

They have been keen to support micro breweries and encourage conversation by shunning TVs and background music.

Harrogate Borough Council will vote in favour of plans to turn Knaresborough town centre into a Business Improvement District (BID) despite a plea to let firms “decide for themselves”.

Members of the council’s cabinet last night agreed to cast 28 votes in favour of the plans which if approved would see businesses pay an annual levy to the proposed BID body for projects to create a better promoted town centre.

The council can cast that many votes because it owns 28 rate-paying properties in the town – and the decision was made despite a plea for it to not take part in the voting process.

Speaking at a meeting last night, Julie Gillett, revenues, welfare and customer services officer at the council, said:

“A letter has been received by 17 Knaresborough businesses asking that the council abstain from voting in order to let businesses decide for themselves.

“However, officer recommendation remains the same that we should support the ballot stage as our support in this will help businesses to help themselves.”

More than 300 firms are eligible to take part in the vote which started last week and will run until 8 October. The results will be announced the following day.

A group of business leaders have been working on the plans since 2019 and will generate £700,000 in funding over the next five years if the vote is a success.

Before voting got underway, Harrogate Borough Council previously agreed to lend £27,000 for start-up costs and will contribute around the same amount in levy charges if the BID goes ahead.

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There are mixed feelings amongst the business community, with some firms raising questions over how the BID is being created and how much of a difference it could actually make.

Annie Wilkinson-Gill, owner of The Crystal Buddha gift shop, previously said there has been a “real lack of transparency” in the planning process, while Tracey Bell, owner of Ruebury Flowers, also said she fears the BID could be a “wasted opportunity”.

For the BID to succeed, a simple majority of those who vote, representing more than half the total rateable value of all properties, must be in favour.

The council’s 28 votes represents around 9% of the total number of businesses and 6% of the overall rateable value.

Three independent businesses in Knaresborough have expressed concerns about the process to create a new Business Improvement District for the town.

Companies in Knaresborough will be balloted on Friday on whether to set up a BID.

BIDs, which already exist in many towns and cities, including Harrogate and Ripon, aim to create safer, cleaner and better promoted city and town centres to improve footfall.

Plans to create a Knaresborough BID began in September 2019 and the outcome of this week’s ballot is due to be revealed on October 9.

But three business owners jointly contacted the Stray Ferret saying they felt their voices hadn’t been heard during the BID set-up process and highlighting concerns about transparency, communication and accuracy.

They are Tracey Bell from Ruebury Flowers, Annie Wilkinson-Gill at The Crystal Buddha and Natalie Horner from Sid Horner and Son.

Transparency

If the BID is voted in, all businesses in the Knaresborough area will have to pay an annual levy for five years. The amount depends on each company’s rateable value and can vary from 68p to £21 each day.

The three women said it was important for them to know before they voted what schemes would be introduced from the £700,000 the BID is expected to receive over five years.

The Knaresborough BID’s business plan sets aside £575,000 for ‘communicating, connecting, celebrating and collaborating’ but the women say they are not clear what this means even though they have sought clarification.

Ms Bell said:

“It’s just not been done in the right way and it’s not transparent. I really do think it could have worked well but it’s just a shame that our opinions haven’t been listened to.

“I have no confidence in how the process has been handled so far that these people [the BID task group] are going to be able to deliver what they said they will deliver.”

When asked what the £575,000 will go towards, Bill Taylor, chair of the BID task group, said:

“If the vote is successful a not-for-profit company will carry out the detailed implementation of the themes identified in the plan. This company will be run and managed by businesses themselves and the details of this are also set out in the business plan.”

Communication

The three business owners said they found out about the BID through word of mouth and social media rather than from BID consultants.

They added numerous businesses, included in the BID map area, are yet to be contacted despite ballot papers going out at the end of the week.

The business owners also said they had raised numerous questions and suggested ideas for the business plan but none had been included. They said they felt they weren’t being listened to.

Ms Thorner said:

“We kept trying to get involved and ask questions but now it’s going to ballot and we’re still no more aware of where the £700,000 is going.”

Ms Bell added:

“For me, it sounds like they’ve thought ‘let’s do this thing’ and not tell anyone.”

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Accuracy

They also claimed the ballot list is full of inaccuracies, saying some businesses included don’t exist anymore or have changed hands.

Ms Wilkinson-Gill said:

“Some of the owners on the list have passed away. There should be an accurate list.”

In response, Mr Taylor said the ballot process was handled by an officer at Harrogate Borough Council and incorrect information should be reported to it.

The three women are delivering flyers this week to businesses to ensure they are aware of the upcoming vote. Insisting the flyers are non-biased, Ms Wilkinson-Gill said:

“We don’t care how people vote, we just want everyone to know about it. I’m still optimistic that the BID could be good for the town, we just need to make sure everyone has the chance to be involved.”

A Harrogate firm that refurbishes computer equipment has received a government-backed loan worth £600,000 from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.

Intelligent Servers Ltd, which is based at Hornbeam Park and employs 50 people, says the loan will help the company increase its stock, expand its warehouse and employ 23 more staff members.

Since the company was founded in 2011 it has delivered refurbished products to over 3,000 customers including Manchester United FC.

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The loan was provided through FW Capital Debt Finance.

Its assistant investment executive Alex Brown said:

“We are delighted to back Intelligent Servers, a business with a great track record of growth and a proven management team.

“Our investment will assist Intelligent Servers in achieving their growth strategy through maintaining higher stock levels and improving purchasing power. Best of all, this growth strategy will support significant job creation.”

An organic food shop on Cold Bath Road in Harrogate is to close next week, less than a year after opening its doors for the first time.

Nicola Mawdsley opened Joy In Store as an environmentally-friendly one-stop shop that would change stock with the seasons.

Ms Mawdsley hoped the venture would compete with smaller supermarkets but it has been unable to attract enough customers to make it work so it will close for good on Saturday, August 14.

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Like other businesses, Joy In Store has endured a series of lockdowns since it opened in November.

Although the shop is closing, Ms Mawdsley told the Stray Ferret it might return in a different form:

“There are potentially opportunities down the line. I will keep the online shop that is now ready and I could also do some pop-up shops.

“People loved the idea of organic, sustainable and plastic free shopping. It just seems to take a long time for people to change their habits.

“It is a real shame. Had I known that there would have been more lockdowns down the line I would not have gone ahead with it at that time.”

A sale in the 10 days before closure will see Joy In Store sell off its remaining stock for 25% discounts.

The shop will include not only the food but also the shop fixtures and fittings, including crates, trollies and more.

The St George Hotel in Harrogate is set to launch a new bar, which will exclusively stock gin.

Paul Donkin, the hotel’s new general manager, first floated the idea of a gin bar in a story on the Stray Ferret. It received lots of interest so he has decided to follow through with it.

The Duck in Gin Lounge, which opens tomorrow, will have about 40 different brands of gins on offer.

Besides gin, the bar will also have a series of quirky bar snacks called ‘duck feed’ created by the head chef.

The snacks include salt and vinegar scraps, maple bacon popcorn, raspberry and white chocolate and more. That menu will change over time as well.

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Mr Donkin told the Stray Ferret:

“When I first got here that bar was a nice space but it was under utilised. Surprisingly, considering the popularity of gin, there are no dedicated gin bars in Harrogate.

“We are lucky to have this space. Like I said I spoke to your colleague and made an off-hand comment about a gin bar.

“But the amount of interest we got made us realise that actually we needed to go for it.”

Becky Edmundson, sales manager, also told the Stray Ferret:

“We are definitely looking forward to opening. I think we thought as well that following coronavirus people are feeling quite anxious about going to bars.

“Whereas in here you can come and sit down and be a bit more distanced from people. Now that things are opening up we are getting lots of enquiries now.”

A Harrogate business owner has decided not to exhibit at the first major event at the town’s convention centre for over a year because of health concerns.

Alex Vere, who co-founded a business selling gifts, has exhibited regularly at the Home and Gift Buyer’s Festival in previous years.

But she won’t be at next month’s event, from July 18 to 21, because it is part of the government events research programme, which assesses the impact of holding large events without social distance measures.

This means thousands of people from across the country will be at Harrogate Convention Centre for four days with no cap on capacity, social distancing or mask wearing.

Ms Vere has two children with medical conditions and does not want to risk passing on any infections.

She said she has been cautious for 18 months to protect her children’s health and attending the event would just be “too much” for her at this stage, particularly as infection levels are soaring.

However, she added she accepted the need to stage such events.

She said:

“I understand these events have to happen but it’s a massive concern for me with my kids. The idea of an event with no measures fills me with horror.

“It’s just too big a risk for us, my children’s health will always come first.”

The event organisers have agreed to roll over her £5,500 exhibitor’s fee to next year.

Ms Vere hopes to exhibit again next year. She added:

“As soon as my kids are vaccinated I’ll be there with bells on!”

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A government spokesperson said:

“Each event is designed and signed off by local health authorities and public health experts, and follows rigorous safety protocols, including a requirement to produce a negative lateral flow test or evidence of being double vaccinated as a condition of entry.

“These events will prove crucial in helping people get back to doing what they love safely.”

District businesses could be at risk of fraudulent activity after Harrogate Borough Council warned of a possible data breach.

The Stray Ferret has seen an email sent by the council’s Revenues Welfare and Customer Services department encouraging businesses to to monitor any suspicious financial transactions.

The extent of the breach is unknown, but the email said an online form had been used to try to apply for a restart grant against local business rates accounts.

One business owner, who wishes to stay anonymous, said the email did not give full details of exactly what information had been stolen, or how.

The source said they had already received two phishing emails before the council contacted them about the issue this afternoon:

“I’m shocked and it’s disturbing at what they could know. I’m concerned my banking details may have been seen because why else would [the council] tell us to monitor our banks?

“I’ve read it that someone has tried to take out a grant in my [business name]. They have to have got this information from somewhere.

“I don’t think the council is telling us everything, I think they are trying to water it down.”

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In hopes of protecting firms, the council said it had closed the affected business rates accounts and updated the online form, which is usually automatically filled with elements of a company’s details.

The business owner said they have been told not to call the council but instead send any complaints via email. They have already reported the incident to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

They said they had been told 440 businesses had been affected, but The Stray Ferret was unable to substantiate that number.

A council spokesman said:

“We have been made aware that an online form, used in relation to restart grants, has been used fraudulently.

“When attempts were made, information – including some that could be available via the Valuation Office Agency or Companies House – may have been auto-populated.

“As soon as this was discovered, we updated the online form to stop it from happening and ensured all information was secure.

“As a further precautionary step we have closed all affected existing business rates accounts and created new ones.

“Affected businesses do not need to take any further action – but should remain vigilant – and will receive confirmation of their new business rate account number in the post shortly.

“We’d like to apologise for any inconvenience this has caused and would like to reassure businesses that no bank details have been shared.

“When processing restart grants we have a number of additional checks in place that prevent people from receiving any government grants that they have tried to claim fraudulently.”

The operations manager at a local charity has said cement is the new toilet paper as he struggles with a building materials shortage.

With low supply due to problems importing goods into the UK and high demand due to lots of interest in home improvement projects, materials have jumped up in price.

Local suppliers have warned that if someone has priced up a job a few months ago then they should “rip it up.”

As building materials seem to be so difficult to find, it has made it more difficult for those who are in the middle of projects.

Local charity Horticap has just finished work on its Hopkins@Horticap cafe and is currently refurbishing an adjacent garden.

Phil Airey, operations manager at Horticap, told the Stray Ferret:

“For us it is like cement has taken over toilet paper as the hot ticket item of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We have got the posts here ready to go into the ground but no cement to keep it in place.

“The cafe building is now complete but there’s still plenty of work to do at the garden, which we are trying to make more accessible.”

Andy Broadwith, sales director at GH Brooks.

Andy Broadwith, sales director at GH Brooks, also told the Stray Ferret that his company is currently 50% down on building materials into the yard:

“As the UK relies on building materials from abroad, when there is a problem with shipping we will see a shortage.

“With low supply and high demand, it has been horrific for cost.

“Let’s say a couple wants to do a two-storey extension, the average price of all of those building materials has gone up by 32%.

“I do not think it will last though. When people reassess how much the job will cost and see such an increase some will have to cancel.”

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Timber is one of those essential materials that has more than doubled in cost over the last year.

David Gibbs, a manager at Harrogate Timber Ltd, said:

“It really is unprecedented. We have never seen such a rise in price like this before.

“We really just cannot get the stuff in we need right now, it has been really hard work. Everyone seems to be wanting to do work on their homes right now.

“Costs are rising but people are still spending. They still want to do the work they planned.”

Pubs, bars, and hotels in Harrogate have reacted with disappointment tonight to the prime minister’s announcement that the end of all lockdown restrictions will be delayed.

Alison Griffiths, landlady of the Prince of Wales pub in Starbeck, said she understood the “safety first” approach, especially as 10 of the pub’s regulars have lost their lives to covid.

But with a busy month of Euro 2020 fixtures ahead, she expects many customers will now prefer to watch the matches at home rather than in the stilted, socially distanced confines of the pub.

She added:

“People would rather be in their houses where they can stand up and shout”.

Andy Burrows, co-owner of District Bar on Cold Bath Road in Harrogate, said he understood the rationale behind the delay but said he’d grown weary of the restrictions.

“It just drags on, but it is what it is.

“Everyone has to be safe. We won’t complain and we’ll do what’s best”.

Mr Burrows said social distancing guidelines and masks dampened the bar experience and made it hard for staff to understand what customers were saying.

“But we’ve been lucky to have an outside area where people feel more comfortable.”

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Wayne Topley, managing director of Cedar Court Hotel, said the hotel faced a busy summer ahead with banquets, weddings and charity events booked in.

He said he awaited further details, adding: