Women’s fashion retailer Best Kept Secret will open a new Harrogate store tomorrow.
The shop, which launched in 2016, was previously based in Kirkby Overblow.
Owned by Fiona Martin, it sells a wide range of women’s clothing, including evening wear, shoes, accessories and everyday items. It also operates an online store.
Ms Martin said the new store presented an opportunity to expand the shop’s personal shopping experience.
Groups can book private shopping evenings and there are also plans to hold more fashion shows at the new venue, she added.
Ms Martin told the Stray Ferret that after seven years of trading in the village it was “time for a change.”
She added:
“The Best Kept Secret social media account was hacked in August this year and we lost 10,000 followers.
“It had a real impact, so we thought it was a good time for a change and we decided to move into town.”
Best Kept Secret closed its doors in Kirkby Overblow yesterday. The new Harrogate store can be found on Cheltenham Parade.
Ms Martin said:
“We’ve already got gorgeous, loyal customers and we can’t wait to meet new ones too.
“Being in town will be great and will be easier for people to travel to – especially groups that book a bespoke shopping evening with a glass of fizz!
“People can expect even more affordable and stylish brands – we’re just so excited.”
Best Kept Secret will be open seven days a week.
Read more:
- Yorkshire Soap Company wins Harrogate Christmas shop window contest
- Late night Christmas shopping in Pateley Bridge tonight
Huge interest in new group for Harrogate parents of neurodiverse children
More than 200 people have already signed up to a new Facebook group designed to help local parents with neurodiverse children, just days after it was set up by two Harrogate mothers.
Emily Mitchell and Ashlie Charleton founded Sen Hub Harrogate – Parent Support to enable parents of children with special educational needs (SEN) to access information about SEN-friendly groups and classes, as well as support and advice about Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP) and the Disability Living Allowance (DLA).
Emily, whose daughter Elsie is autistic and non-verbal, told the Stray Ferret:
“We want to make a beautiful little community where we can all help and support each other. It can be quite lonely sometimes as the parent of a neurodiverse child, so it’s really nice to be able to reach out and find other people who are in the same position and understand the challenges. Having that support is absolutely vital.
“There are actually quite a lot of things going on now. We’ve got Neurodiverse Stay and Play on Thursday mornings at Oatlands Community Centre, Diverse Minds every second Tuesday after school, and Saturday afternoon sessions at Harrogate Gymnastics on Hornbeam Park – and there’s a lot more stuff starting up and becoming available.
“It’s really nice to be able to find things that enable us to give our kids a ‘normal’ upbringing.”
The pair started the group – which can also be found on Instagram – after being shocked by how little help parents received when their children were first diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder.
Ashlie, whose son Harry is three-and-a-half, said:
“They say there’s no handbook for raising a child, but having a neurodiverse child is a completely different ballgame.
“When I was going through the process of finding out my son was autistic, we were more or less left to it. We were given an online course to go on, which turned out to be a video call with about 50 other parents, but there was no opportunity to get individual feedback or ask questions personal to our children. We weren’t told anything about all the things, like DLA and EHCP, that can make life easier. We just didn’t want other parents to go through all that.”
In a report published in May this year, North Yorkshire Council estimated that since 2016 the number of children and young people with SEN and an EHCP has increased by more than 110% across the county.
Read more:
- Harrogate autism school could save £4m a year
- 86% support plans to open autism school in Harrogate
- Lack of special need provision in schools ‘failing children’, says Harrogate mother
Missing Harrogate boy found safe and well
Police have confirmed that a missing Harrogate boy has been found.
The 12-year-old went missing from his home in Harrogate on Wednesday (June 21).
North Yorkshire Police has since confirmed that the boy has been found safe and well.
Read more:
Harrogate council chief scolds councillor for calling influencer a ‘waste of money’
A leaked email reveals Harrogate Borough Council chief executive Wallace Sampson gave a councillor a dressing down after he said spending £700 on a social media influencer to promote the town was an “appalling waste of money”.
The Stray Ferret has obtained an email Mr Sampson sent to the Liberal Democrat councillor for New Park, Matthew Webber, in February.
In the email, Mr Sampson claimed the councillor’s comments, published on this website, caused a “great deal of hurt” to council staff.
However, Cllr Webber said the tone of Mr Sampson’s 500-word email was “laughable” and compared it to a schoolteacher telling off a child for being naughty.
Cllr Webber said:
“Councillors should be there to hold people to account. People shouldn’t get upset if we’re asking difficult questions. Nothing was said in a personal way or at individual people.”
Value for money?
The Stray Ferret revealed in January that Harrogate Borough Council paid Heather Cowper from Bristol £700 to promote the town’s Christmas Fayre in a blog — which only received two likes when posted on Facebook, including one from the council itself.
Her posts performed slightly better on Instagram but the investment raised questions over whether the fee represented good value for money to council tax payers.
Cllr Webber, who sits on the council’s audit and governance committee that scrutinises council spending, said the council should have used local residents to promote the town instead.
Cllr Matthew Webber
He said in January:
“It probably received less likes on the various social media platforms than we could have got from just posting a similar article ourselves or other local residents who have social media profiles.”
Read more:
- Harrogate council paid social media influencer £700 to promote town
- ‘Waste of money!’: Harrogate council criticised for spending £700 on social media influencer
A telling off
The email from Mr Sampson to Cllr Webber was sent in February this year.
Mr Sampson also copied in local Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Pat Marsh as well as council employees Gemma Rio, head of Destination Harrogate, Paula Lorimer, director of Harrogate Convention Centre and communications officer James Sherwood.
Mr Sampson’s email said “I don’t expect an apology from you” but warned that negative comments about the council in the press can “undermine morale and motivation of our hardworking staff”.
The email says:
“I also don’t think that it is unreasonable to expect members to support the hard work and dedication of their officers, especially following the events of the last two years, and to trust in their professionalism.”
The full email is below.
The email from Wallace Sampson to Cllr Webber
Free to comment
Cllr Webber said he was “surprised” to receive the email from Mr Sampson regarding his comments about the £700 spend on a social media influencer, which he said he stood by.
He said councillors should be free to comment on how the council spends the public’s money without interference from the chief executive.
The Stray Ferret asked Mr Sampson for a comment but did not receive a response.