Yorkshire Agricultural Society faces £2m loss

Yorkshire Agricultural Society, which organises the Great Yorkshire Show, faces a £2m loss this year.

The farming charity, which was founded in 1837, may have to shed staff to cope with the ongoing impact of covid, which has decimated the number of events it can stage.

The society’s income for the financial year ending 31 December 2019 was £11.9m. It has risen every year since 2015, when it was £9m.

But chief executive Nigel Pulling told the Stray Ferret he expected income to be £2m down this year. He said:

“We are looking at reducing our costs and waiting for everything to improve.

“We have about £5m in the bank but we are losing money at a rapid rate.”

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Mr Pulling’s comments further illustrate how strongly the effects of covid on the events and conference sector were being felt in Harrogate.

Last month Harrogate events company Joe Manby Ltd folded after 46 years.

Plans to stage Great Yorkshire Show

The showground usually hosts 700 events a year, with the three-day Great Yorkshire Show by far the biggest.

But Mr Pulling, who has led the society since 2002, said it was operating at “well below 10 per cent” of capacity at the moment.

A rare bright note came yesterday when it was revealed the spring flower show is due to go ahead, albeit with a vastly reduced capacity.

Mr Pulling said the society had been “comparatively well financed” since it sold land to Sainsbury’s for about £15m in the early 1990s.

But an £11m refurbishment of the Yorkshire Event Centre, completed in 2016, put a dent in its finances even though the project had been well received.

Mr Pulling said the first quarter of 2021 “doesn’t look good” but the second quarter was the crucial period for the events sector. Next year, he said, was “up for grabs”.

He said the society still planned to stage the Great Yorkshire Show next summer, adding:

“But it’s too early to be specific about what it will look like.”

The society employed about 100 staff pre-covid. Mr Pulling said this figure had reduced by fewer than 20 due to natural wastage but it had to look at reducing costs further. He said:

“It has been devastating to see the effects covid has had for everyone – and the events industry has been among the hardest hit.”

 

Harrogate spring flower show set to go ahead in 2021

The organisers of the Harrogate Flower Shows have said the spring event will go ahead in April but with visitor numbers reduced by two thirds.

The spring show usually attracts 60,000 visitors over four days and provides a major boost to the district’s hotels, bars and restaurants.

However, numbers will be limited to 5,000 people a day over the four days, which means the event will only attract about a third of its usual footfall.

The North of England Horticultural Society usually stages spring and autumn flower shows at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate but this year’s autumn event was cancelled.

But it has introduced measures that it says will adapt the spring show to covid-safe guidelines.

This means visitor numbers have been limited and all tickets have to be bought online in advance.

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A spokesperson for the North of England Horticultural Society, said the many acres of space at the showground meant the event could be adapted to meet covid requirements. The spokesperson added:

“If the situation improves in the New Year, as many top advisers have indicated they expect, then we can adapt again to take advantage of any improvements.”

Visitors will be allowed to attend in two timed sessions each day.

The event is due to take place from April 22 to April 25.

The society said it was aware government policies may change, forcing the event to be cancelled, and that it would work with partners to adapt to any changes.

The pring event — called Spring Essentials — will showcase gardens and nurseries and include live theatre.

Downing Street Christmas tree chosen in Harrogate today

A competition to find a Christmas tree for Downing Street was held in Harrogate today.

Yorkshire shepherdess Amanda Owen, from Channel 5’s Our Yorkshire Farm, and Peter Wright from The Yorkshire Vet were joined by last year’s winners from Devon and Leicestershire to judge the entries.

The competition has been running since 1999 but this is the first time it has been held in Harrogate. It is also the first time celebrity judges have been invited.

Due to covid, the participants were unable to attend in person.

They sent their trees to the Great Yorkshire Showground where the judges selected the winners in various categories, including the prestigious ‘champion Christmas tree grower of the year’.

York Christmas Trees was crowned the winner of that category and one of its trees will have the distinction of standing outside 10 Downing Street over the festive period.

The winner of champion festive wreath category was Welford Christmas tree farm from Northampton. Its wreath will hang on the door of the Prime Minister’s residence.

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Oliver Combe of York Christmas Trees said:

“We are a small local family business who have been growing trees for over 20 years. We are overwhelmed to have won the title of champion grower for 2020, it is a huge accolade!”

The competition is run by the The British Christmas Tree Growers Association.

Heather Parry, who is the managing agent for BCTGA as well as the managing director of Yorkshire Event Centre said:

“The quality and the amazing scent of the trees on display was incredible; this is truly the Oscars for Christmas trees. It was heartening to hear also that many growers are selling more trees than normal, as consumers plan ahead to have a real Christmas tree as the centrepiece of their home this year”.

Harrogate hosts contest to find Downing Street Christmas tree

The competition to find Britain’s best Christmas tree, which will then stand outside Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Downing Street home, is to be held in Harrogate this month.

It is the first time the town has been chosen to stage the event, which also includes a category to find a champion wreath to hang on the PM’s door at number 10.

The competition will take place at the Great Yorkshire Showground on October 28.

It is run by the British Christmas Tree Growers Association, which is now managed by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.

The association, which is a trade group for people who grow specialist Christmas trees, has 320 members nationally.

Yorkshire TV stars Amanda Owen, shepherdess on Channel 5’s Our Yorkshire Farm, and Peter Wright, from Channel 5’s The Yorkshire Vet, will join the judging panel.

Because of covid, growers will send their tress to the ground but will be unable to attend in person.

Heather Parry, managing agent for the BCTGA, who is also the managing director of Yorkshire Event Centre, said:

“We are very much looking forward to seeing the best in the business being crowned, right here on the Great Yorkshire Showground. The champion tree winner will head to 10 Downing Street to provide that iconic Christmas tree for this year.”

Peter Wright said:

“There’s nothing like the scent of a real Christmas tree to really launch you into the festive spirit and I am really looking forward to seeing some of the best in Britain at the Showground.”

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Many growers in the competition have changed their business to suit covid measures by, for instance, introducing online sales and allowing customers to pick their own tree with social distancing measures.

Christmas tree orders are reported to have already exceeded early orders from 2019.

Yorkshire Showground cancelled events worth over £70 million

Harrogate’s Yorkshire Event Centre has calculated the huge impact its cancelled events have had on the local economy.

To date, 148 events have been cancelled or postponed at the Yorkshire Event Centre and Pavilions of Harrogate, both owned by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society. The total cost of struck-off events has cost the Centre nearly £6 million, but the total cost to the Harrogate economy is much higher.

Cafés, restaurants, bed and breakfasts, hotels and other local businesses have all struggled as a result.

Heather Parry, Managing Director of Yorkshire Event Centre Ltd, said:

“This is a challenging year for events businesses and it is no different for us at the Great Yorkshire Showground. Last year, businesses and events at the Showground were worth £73.7 million to the local economy.”

The calculation comes days after the Harrogate Convention Centre, home of the Nightingale Hospital, announced it will remain closed until March next year.

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The Yorkshire Event Centre sits in the Great Yorkshire Showground. The venue is home to some of the country’s biggest shows including The Great Yorkshire Show itself, which welcomes more than 130,000 visitors to the Harrogate district.

Bev Kemp, owner of The Bijou in Harrogate said:

“We rely very highly on events for tourism, a heck of a lot. We have lost the biggest conferences this year and I don’t know if we’re going to get them back. From March when lockdown started I would say at least 60% of our bookings have been cancelled, possibly more. We always get lots of people for the Great Yorkshire Show so that’s a huge loss. I am worried about hospitality on the whole in Harrogate. I think it’s going to take a few years to pick up.”

But, Ms Parry remains positive with future events coming to the showground. The Harrogate Bridal Show, the UK’s largest and longest running bridal event, has still been given the go-ahead in October.

Ms Parry said:

“We have taken robust steps to ensure that we can provide a safe, secure and flexible space to host events, in line with the latest government advice on social gatherings. As such, we have worked closely with the organisers of the Harrogate Bridal Show to meet their requirements.

The Harrogate Bridal Show is expected to run at the Yorkshire Event Centre from October 4 – 6.