Harrogate Town welcome Bradford City tomorrow in crunch Yorkshire derby

A bumper crowd is expected at Harrogate Town tomorrow as they welcome Bradford City in a crunch Yorkshire derby.

Town are on on a poor run of form and haven’t won in League Two since beating Gillingham away on August 16.

It’s been even longer since they last tasted victory at home, when they beat Swindon 3-0 on July 30.

The squad had a major overhaul during the summer, with 15 new signings, but it’s taking longer to gel than manager Simon Weaver would have liked.

Despite all he’s achieved during his 13 years in charge, Weaver’s position is being questioned by some fans.

In a pre-match interview, he said:

“We expect Bradford will bring lots of fans. There’s lots of interest from a Harrogate point of view and we expect a buoyant crowd. It should be an eventful game.”

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Attendances at the EnviroVent have been down on last season but around 2,500 tickets have been sold for the game so far, which includes 600 Bradford fans.

The game kicks off at 1pm.

Tickets are on sale from the club’s Commercial Street store until 4pm today. There will be no further sales after this point.

Business Breakfast: Cloud Nine appoints new director in Australia

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal. 

Harrogate-based Cloud Nine has appointed a new director as it eyes growth in Australia.

Seaneen Copeland – who began her career as a trainee hair stylist in her home city of Belfast – has joined the business as its new sales and marketing director for the country.

Before moving to Australia 10 years ago, Seaneen worked with a number of major brands in the hair and fashion industries, including Levi Strauss, Kookai Paris, Tommy Hilfiger, Zakks Hair Group N Ireland, GHD, Showpony, Salon Express and most recently Price Attack.

Since launching in Australia in 2011, the country has become increasingly important to Cloud Nine with 40% of is group revenue now coming from its Australian subsidiary.

Jo Fox, group sales and marketing director for Cloud Nine, said: 

“With her vast experience Seaneen is a perfect fit for Cloud Nine.

“Australia is a very important market for us, so it’s great that we recruited someone based in Australia who shares our ambition for growth in the Southern Hemisphere.

“And having worked with Seaneen previously, I know her passion and determination to succeed is incredible. She is a superb addition to the Cloud Nine team.”

New EnviroVent headquarters complete

A new headquarters for EnviroVent on Harrogate West Business Park has been completed.

Sutcliffe Construction Ltd, which was brought in to construct the building, confirmed that work is now complete on the new HQ.

The new building includes manufacturing space, warehousing, offices and training facilities.

EnviroVent opted for the new HQ, which includes air source heat pumps, solar panels, and a heat recovery system, in an effort to become net-zero carbon across the business by 2030.

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Theakston’s Brewery increases turnover despite covid restrictions

Theakston’s Brewery in Masham increased its turnover by £861,000 in 2021, despite dealing with the effects of lockdown and the Omicron variant.  

The brewery only had 5 months of normal trading in 2021 due to the pandemic, and for 3 and a half months, it was forced to close completely. 

The company suffered a pre-tax loss of £2,000 last year, but in the height of the pandemic in 2020, the loss was much more significant at £334k.

Pre-covid in 2019, the brewery had made profits of £235k.  

In the latest financial statement, the company said:  

“T&R Theakston Ltd ended 2021 as a well-balanced business with enhanced capabilities across more channels, a stronger organisation, a more flexible business approach, greater consumer engagement and a continued reputation for the high quality of its beers.” 

Managing director Simon Theakston added:  

“The last two years have been tough for all sectors, including the British brewing industry.  

“As our 2021 results show, we are well on the road to overcoming this latest challenge.” 

Theakston’s Brewery was founded in 1827 and is now run by the family of original founder, Robert Theakston.  

Harrogate business EnviroVent celebrates 2 millionth filterless fan  

Harrogate manufacturer EnviroVent celebrated its 2 millionth filterless fan last week.  

A special edition sustainable fan was created for the occasion, as well as a filterless fan celebration cake and 200 cupcakes. 

Managing director Andy Makin with the 2 millionth filterless fan.

The fans were designed for the social housing sector, and help to reduce mould and condensation in homes across the UK.  

Andy Makin, Managing Director at EnviroVent, said: 

“We are really excited to be celebrating the two millionth Filterless Fan to be produced in our factory. 

“We are very proud of the innovations we have made to ensure it is still one of the most sustainable fans on the market.”

The fans have saved several tonnes of replacement extractor fans going to landfill sites, as well as reducing the amount of plastics going into the production process.

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Harrogate firm EnviroVent sets 2030 net-zero target

Harrogate ventilation firm EnviroVent says it hopes to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across its business by 2030.

The company, which manufacturers extractor fans and ventilation systems, has published its ‘Roadmap to Net-Zero’, which it says will generate emissions savings of more than 1,000 tonnes of carbon in the next 10 years.

A business that achieves net-zero emissions means it puts no more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than what it takes out.

To help EnviroVent achieve its target, it will move to a new purpose-built headquarters on Burley Bank Road in 2022. The building will be heated with air source heat pumps and its electricity will be generated via solar panels.

The building will also incorporate an MVHR heat recovery system, which recovers the energy from extracted air to ensure good indoor air quality.

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The company has also committed to planting 5,000 trees per year as part of a new partnership with MoreTrees, an organisation that will plant trees responsibly on the company’s behalf and then manage them for life.

Planting 5,000 trees every year will remove a total of approximately 1,500 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere, the company said.

Jane McLean, quality & environmental systems manager at EnviroVent, said:

“Environmental sustainability is very important to us as a business and to many of our public and private sector customers.  We’re delighted to be revealing our Roadmap to Net-Zero, which gives a very clear route that we will follow to achieve our environmental targets.

“To add to this, all our products are designed to use minimal amount of energy and we recycle parts from systems we replace, wherever possible. As a result, customers buying our ventilation systems can be safe in the knowledge they are giving back to the planet.”

Harrogate Town bars fans from stand due to lack of stewards

Harrogate Town’s EnviroVent Stand will be closed to home and away fans for their League 2 game against Exeter tomorrow due to a shortage of stewards.

The club tweeted this morning that they are facing “operational difficulties” around stewarding for the game which kicks off at 3pm tomorrow afternoon.

They added there is a national shortage of qualified stewards and other football clubs and events are having the same difficulties.

Fans who had booked tickets to watch the game in the stand, which is on the Wetherby Road side of the ground, have been offered spaces in the Black Sheep Brewery Stand.

A map of the ground. Credit – Harrogate Town.

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The club added:

“After Saturday we are confident that stewarding issues will be resolved and we can operate as normal. Please accept our sincere apologies for this inconvenience and we look forward to seeing you all at the game.”

Recent issues at the EnviroVent Stadium have led to a difficult summer for the club.

They were forced to play a pre-season friendly against Sunderland behind closed doors after North Yorkshire County Council found 17 “unacceptable risks” at the ground, including inadequate stewarding.

It threw the fan’s hopes of attending the opening game of the season against Rochdale into doubt, although the club were able to overcome the issues with the council in time.

Yesterday, the club appointed former Stray FM boss Sarah Barry as their new CEO. She will begin in the role next month.

Harrogate Town’s ground renamed ‘EnviroVent Stadium’

Harrogate Town’s stadium on Wetherby Road has been renamed the EnviroVent Stadium ahead of the new season kicking off next week.

EnviroVent is a Harrogate-based manufacturer of ventilation equipment to homes and social housing, employing over 230 people at its Hornbeam Business Park headquarters.

The firm has a long-standing relationship with the club and has sponsored a stand for the past seven seasons.

2020 marks 100 years since the opening of the stadium, which was previously known as the CNG Stadium.

EnviroVent’s managing director Andy Makin said:

“We are delighted to extend our sponsorship of the club and obtain the naming rights. We are extremely proud of our local club, they have come very far over the past few years and have achieved so much recently.

“The club is an important part of the local community and it’s an honour to be able to play a part in its journey at this monumental time.”

A new main stand was recently constructed at the ground with close to 1,000 seats, boosting capacity to 5,000.

Garry Plant, managing director at Harrogate Town, added:

“We would like to thank EnviroVent for their continued support and look forward to working to making them proud!”

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The first few home games of the season will be played at Doncaster Rovers’ Keepmoat Stadium as Harrogate’s artificial 3G pitch is replaced with grass due to English Football League regulations.

The club aims to be back at its ground by early October.

The club kick-off their first-ever campaign as an EFL club with a trip to Tranmere Rovers in the EFL Cup on Saturday.