Work starts on £500,000 business hub at former Harrogate council offices

Harrogate Borough Council is set to create a £500,000 digital business hub in its former offices at the convention centre.

The council has appointed York-based Lindum for the refurbishment of Springfield House. Work starts next Monday and is due to be complete by the start of October.

When the Harrogate Digital Incubator is finished, the building will provide flexible working spaces aimed at small businesses or individuals in the tech, digital and media industries.

It will also provide event and meeting spaces with a business support hub for advice on business plans, finances and more.

Read more:

The building has been set for renovation for a couple of years and work was due to start last year. However, when the convention centre became the Nightingale hospital the council put the project on hold.

Harrogate Borough Council vacated Springfield House in 2017 when it moved over to the civic centre at Knapping Mount. Since then the council has let it out to businesses.

Jonathan Sizer, managing director at Lindum, said:

“We are delighted to be working with Harrogate Borough Council to deliver this long-awaited project, which will bring empty office space on the third and fourth floors of Springfield House back into use.

“It will not only provide a modern work space, in the heart of the town centre, but a space where businesses can work individually or together to share knowledge.

“High quality, flexible and affordable office space is in desperately short supply and high demand. We are delighted to be working with Harrogate Borough Council to deliver this project.”

The Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership is funding the project. Harrogate Borough Council believes it will bring in around £49,000 a year in rent.