From Monday, weddings in England can only involve 15 people but those in the industry in Harrogate say small ceremonies can still be “beautiful”.

New government restrictions this week will limit weddings to a maximum of 15 people, including the couple.

The decision has left venues and wedding vendors struggling. It also means couples have to decide whether to rearrange for a later date or go ahead with a more intimate occasion.

A celebrant and wedding planner from Harrogate both said they hope to encourage couples to continue with their weddings safely. Both agreed that smaller weddings can still be just as special.

Rachael Meyer, humanist celebrant from Harrogate, said:

“It’s tough on the couples and the venues. I feel so sorry for them and everyone involved in the day. But there are ways to have a beautiful day with small numbers. I’ve done several small ceremonies and they were beautiful. Those couples chose to have limited numbers and everyone is completely involved, which is fantastic. It made them rethink why they were getting married.

There is a feeling of uncertainty but love wins and will go ahead even if it is different.”

Laura Lindsay, a Harrogate wedding planner, said:

“It’s disastrous for everyone in the industry. It’s the yo-yo of rules: we can get married, we can’t get married – it’s not fair. Some people could have a small wedding now and big party next year. There’s still some lovely, beautiful, intimate weddings happening.”

Read more:

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• Harrogate couple has to cancel wedding for the third time following further covid restrictions. 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the restriction on numbers was part of a six month plan to curtail the rise in covid cases.

No indication has been given yet about whether the restrictions on weddings will change again before March.

The exhibitions and conference sector has been “cut adrift” and left without support, says a Harrogate events company.

Andrew Manby, director of family events firm Joe Manby Ltd, said the Chancellor’s announcement today offered no specific support for the industry which already faces a “long way back” financially.

Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, outlined billions of pounds’ worth of support for businesses, including subsiding part-time workers’ pay.

But Mr Manby said he had hoped for sector specific measures for an industry which has been closed down since March. Harrogate has seen a string of major events, conferences and exhibitions cancelled during the pandemic and its convention centre converted into a Nightingale Hospital.

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Mr Manby said today’s announcement did not appear to offer any ray of hope and added that the outlook was bleak for the sector.

He said:

“We need to reflect on what has been said, but on first glance it looks very grim indeed.

“it is an extremely difficult situation and where that leaves the exhibition market long term, I have no idea.

“It was always going to be a long haul back anyway.”

He added that further restrictions on events, which the Prime Minister said could last for six months, leave the industry in a difficult position. Live events, including sport, were due to have pilot events from October for the first time since the pandemic started.

But Prime Minister Boris Johnson abandoned the pilot schemes earlier this week after he outlined further restrictions to tackle an increase in coronavirus cases.

In an effort to offer more support to businesses, Mr Sunak outlined a range of measures in the House of Commons which included an extension to the VAT cut for the hospitality and tourism sector.

Some Harrogate businesses welcomed the move, but added that further support would be needed for other firms.

Indoor sports clubs say they can only hope they’ll be able to reopen after changes to government guidelines forced them to close their doors.

Any indoor sport with more than six adult participants has now been banned from today, after being exempt from the ‘rule of six’ introduced last week.

In Harrogate, some indoor sports clubs say the future looks “worrying” as they don’t know when they’ll be able to re-open – or whether their members will return.

Andy Hawkswell, founder of Harrogate Indoor Cricket League, said:

“It was a bit of a shock and of course very disappointing. We had 14 to 16 teams playing in the league this year – the demand was high because the summer season was halved.

“It’s worrying that after having so much time off, they may not come back. For a lot of the players, there is a huge social aspect to the game and they will miss out on that now.

“Unfortunately it’ll probably be a year out and we’ll have to hope there’s enough interest for next year if people return.”

This troop has had to suspend training again with its coach looking for employment elsewhere.

Megan Fairweather runs the Fire and Ice Cheerleading squad in Harrogate. It is a youth team, but some members are over 18 so the exclusions still apply.

The squad was only set up in September 2019, leaving Megan without financial support. She worries that with further delays the members won’t return.

She said:

“We haven’t been open since March – we were planning to reopen this week but we’ve had to cancel that. The government has come out with a list and because cheerleading isn’t registered as an official sport yet, it wasn’t put on the list.

“It’s a lot more complicated because it’s a contact sport. Even if we were to open with just strength and conditioning training some of the troop may drop it because they come to do stunts and they can do those at their gymnastics or dance classes.”

Hospitality owners in Harrogate have welcomed further help from Chancellor Rishi Sunak after he outlined billions of pounds’ worth of measures for the winter.

Mr Sunak announced an extension to VAT cuts for hospitality, a wage subsidy for part-time workers and more loans for struggling businesses.

Outlining his plans to the House of Commons today, he said the measures were designed to “protect jobs and the economy over the winter period”.

Among the announcements was a decision to subsides wages of workers who work shorter hours. The government will top up wages for workers covering up to two-thirds of their hours for the next six months.

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It comes as the furlough scheme is set to finish at the end of October.

Kimberly Wilson, chair of Accommodation Harrogate, said the support for part-time workers would be welcomed by bed and breakfasts.

She said:

“That will be useful, especially going into November and December it will save jobs.

“But we need to get the full detail of how it is going to work to see how it will help us on the ground.”

Ms Wilson added that further support would be welcomed as B&Bs have seen trade affected by cancellations in conferences, exhibitions and events.

Further measures will also see the VAT cut for the hospitality sector extended until March. Amid the pandemic, the government cut the rate to 5% to support those in the hospitality and tourism sector.

Peter Banks, managing director at Rudding Park Hotel and Spa, said the measure would be useful but should be targeted at businesses which are struggling.

He said:

“If Rishi does this it would be superb. 

“It could be more targeted as it is conference, wedding and city centre businesses that are suffering. However, any help will be gratefully received.”

Mr Sunak told MPs that loans to support struggling businesses would be extended into November and offer terms of up to 10 years to reduce monthly payments.

Grants for the self-employed will also be offered into the winter.

A Harrogate couple have cancelled their wedding plans for a third time after the government further restricted the number of guests that can attend.

Ali Farr and Ben Cross, who both work for the NHS, were initially set to tie the knot on May 1 at the St George Hotel in Harrogate. However, lockdown struck and their big day was cancelled.

They rearranged for New Year’s Eve, only to discover afterwards that the St George Hotel was going into administration.

The DoubleTree by Hilton Harrogate Majestic Hotel & Spa

Still hoping to get married in 2020, they booked the DoubleTree by Hilton Harrogate Majestic Hotel & Spa for December 31 – the day they’d been due to marry at the St George and 12 years exactly since they met.

However, Tuesday’s announcement that they would only be able to have 15 people at the wedding instead of 30 prompted them to cancel for the third time. Ms Farr said:

“We didn’t really expect the numbers to go down yesterday, I was quite surprised that it didn’t stay at 30 and then we were hoping it would at least be 60 by Christmas so Ben and I have taken the decision again to move the wedding.

“We are now trying to work with our suppliers and venue to get a new date for next year but I’m not even sure if that will be able to go ahead at full capacity.”

Read more:

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The couple initially planned to invite more than 100 guests from as far away as Singapore and Australia.

With coronavirus cases in the district rising, Ms Farr, a community nurse in Knaresborough and Boroughbridge, is now preparing for a busy winter at work:

“As a community nurse I know that our workload gets busier over this period and with cases on the rise I imagine it will have added pressures on the service as we still have patients with other illnesses, not just covid, to care for.

“The winter months will be testing for the service but the community teams are very resilient and work well under pressure. The nurses and healthcare support workers just keep going no matter what they are faced with.”

Harrogate Bridal Show has been postponed until next year because of coronavirus.

The event was initially scheduled to take place this month at Harrogate Convention Centre.

But with the centre being used as a Nightingale hospital, the show was moved to the Yorkshire Event Centre from October 4-6.

But it was announced this week the event had been postponed until September 2021.

The event’s website says:

“It is with great regret to inform you all that the 2020 edition of the Harrogate Bridal Show, due to take place on 4-6 October, has been postponed to 2021. We were excited to re-unite the bridal community in the home of bridal this year, however in light of recent developments, we no longer feel comfortable running the event this year.”

“Retailers will be able to browse collections in full from the biggest names in bridal. Like a trade show, you will be able to move between showrooms to compare gowns, see the dresses move on models (through pre-recorded videos) and connect suppliers.”

Ripon Grammar School has confirmed one of its sixth form students has tested positive coronavirus.

It makes it the sixth school in the district to have reported a case, and the first outside of Harrogate.

Headmaster Jonathan Webb sent a letter to parents today saying a “small” number of pupils would be sent home to self-isolate. The precise figure has not been revealed.

The letter said:

“We know that you may find this concerning but we are continuing to monitor the situation. Please be reassured that for most people, coronavirus will be a mild illness.

“The small number of children who have been in direct, prolonged contact with the confirmed case will be staying at home for 14 days.”

A further 12 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the Harrogate district in the last 24 hours.

It is the highest daily increase for just over a week.

Today’s figures from Public Health England take the total number of cases in the district since the start of the pandemic to 945.

The North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, which is a partnership of agencies tacking emergencies in the county, said today the Harrogate district had a weekly rate of 24 covid cases per 100,000 people up to September 20.

By comparison, the weekly rate for the same timeframe across the county as a whole was 26 per 100,000 population.

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Further restrictions, including a 10pm curfew for pubs, were announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday to tackle the increase in infections.

Last week, North Yorkshire declared a major incident amid an increase in cases in the county. 

Selby and Scarborough districts have also been listed as “areas of concern” by the government.

However, Harrogate District Hospital has not reported any deaths in patients with covid since July 19.

The toilet rolls aisle in Waitrose was empty at lunchtime today, sparking concerns that panic buying has returned to Harrogate.

A shopper sent this photo from the store to the Stray Ferret at about 1pm today. It is believed Waitrose stocked its shelves with toilet rolls this morning but they sold out in a couple of hours.

Reports on social media suggest some other supermarkets in the Harrogate district have also had a surge in demand for toilet rolls and other products, amid concerns the country could be heading for a second lockdown.

Flashback to March, when the Sainsbury’s store on Wetherby Road was affected by panic buying.

Yesterday the government announced new restrictions in response to rising covid infections.

Five schools in the Harrogate district have recorded incidents of coronavirus since they reopened, county council bosses revealed today.

Stuart Carlton, director of children and young people services at North Yorkshire Council Council, said the cases involved seven pupils across the different schools.

As a result of the infections, three classes have been isolated.

The figures were revealed at a press briefing of the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, which is a partnership of agencies that responds to emergencies.

Mr Carlton said 31 schools in the county have suffered outbreaks, with 69 staff and pupils involved.

Read more:

• Harrogate Town kids coaching centre closes after covid case
• Second lockdown would see Harrogate businesses face battle to survive, says chamber

The Stray Ferret has reported coronavirus cases at St Aidan’s C of E High School, St John Fisher Catholic High School and Bilton Grange Primary School last week, as well as outbreaks at Harrogate Grammar School and Harrogate Ladies’ College.

Mr Carlton said the authority was “aware this would happen” and that parents should have confidence that schools are safe to go to. Mr Carlton said:

“We planned for this and we knew these things would happen. I am still confident about the measures we have in place.

“My message to parents would be you should have strong confidence that schools are safe places for children and we would encourage you to speak to your school if you are worried.”