Coffee shop Caffe Nero has doubled the size of its premises on Market Place North in what is described as “vote of confidence” in Ripon.

The expansion was made possible after Sterne Properties Limited acquired the lease of the existing Caffe Nero and the adjacent property, which had been vacant since Leeds Building Society closed its Ripon branch in November 2020.

Tom Limbert, director of property consultants Central Retail, who acted on behalf of the international coffeehouse company, said:

“This is a prime corner site location and it’s a very positive move by Caffe Nero to double its size.”

Robert Sterne, director of Sterne Properties, told the Stray Ferret:

“We are delighted to have negotiated a ten year lease covering the newly-expanded premises and see this as a vote of confidence in Ripon from Caffe Nero.”

He added:

“This adds to our portfolio of investments in Ripon, where we have injected new life into empty properties by introducing leisure and hospitality uses.”

The company’s portfolio includes The Claro Lounge on Market Place South, Curzon Cinema on North Street and Coffee at Number 10 on Queen Street.

Sterne Properties, which has been investing in Ripon for 30 years, also owns the Halls of Ripon premises on Fishergate – where The Hive Cafe is located – and Appleton’s butchers on Market Place East.

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Ken Jefferies was distraught after he lost a much-treasured item while on a visit to Ripon.

His cherished signet ring – a family heirloom with carnelian stone and intaglio depicting a Roman soldier – slipped off his wedding finger without him noticing.

When he realised it was missing, he began a desperate search, which saw him retrace his steps around the city streets and places he had visited.

The retired archaeologist and academic told the Stray Ferret:

“I was heartbroken and thought I would never see it again.”

He pointed out:

“The ring was given to me by my aunt Vivienne more than 50 years ago and I wore it as my wedding band.”

As well as being a constant reminder of his 56-year marriage to Marion, who died in 2021, the ring held memories of his aunt – a well-known actress who married into the Stevens family, owners of the former Grand Theatre in Glasgow.

The ring, with inscription, had originally been presented on November 4, 1899 to Vivienne’s father-in-law, Ernest Stevens, by members of the theatre’s band, in recognition of his writing and production of the smash-hit romantic musical For Bonnie Scotland.

Sharon Bielby, who played a part in ensuring that Mr Jefferies was re-united with the ring

Now, 123 years later, after passing down generations of the family, the heirloom was lost.

Among those in Ripon who Mr Jefferies told about the missing item, was Sharon Bielby, owner of a barber’s shop on North Street.

He said:

“I had been having my hair cut by Sharon on the day I lost it and I asked her if she would  look  out for it.”

Sharon spotted on social media that the ring, which had been damaged after being run over in a nearby road, had been found and contacted Mr Jefferies to give him the good news.

After providing the link between finder and owner, she also recommended that he take it to Red Buttons jewellers at Halls of Ripon  to see if it could be repaired.

Ring repaired and returned 

Jeweller Barry, son of Red Buttons owners Mike and Liz Cooper, painstakingly re-assembled the ring and it has now been returned to Mr Jefferies, without charge for the repair – though he insisted on making a donation to the military charity Team Endeavour, which is supported by Halls of Ripon.

Mike Cooper, said:

“The ring clearly has huge sentimental as well as historic value and we are pleased that Ken has it back in his possession.”

In a final twist to the tale, Mr Jefferies, pointed out:

“My late father Clifford was a pharmacist and was based in the shop where Sharon now has her barber’s shop – so you never know, he may have been looking after me.”

A dozen years ago, when Aelita Redeniece left Latvia she was prepared to take any job to get her foot onto the UK employment ladder.

The degree that she gained at the Art Academy of Latvia in Riga, opened the door to work as a graphic designer and then marketing manager in the Baltic country, but with the move across Europe, her professional and artistic skills were put on hold as she worked first in an egg packing factory and later in a care home.

She told the Stray Ferret:

“I was learning to speak English, but was not fluent at that time and that meant I didn’t have the confidence to apply for jobs more suitable for my qualifications.”

But, with encouragement from her partner and a couple of lucky breaks, she has finally been able to unleash her talent and is now running The Repair Shop – a highly successful business located within Halls of Ripon.

The focus is on refurbishing, re-upholstering  and returning furniture to use – from much-treasured family heirloom pieces to chaise lounges given a new lease of life.

Through studies in Riga that earned her a fine arts degree, Aelita was taught how to use her hands to form clay into ceramic bowls, jugs and other items.

Now she has turned her hand and eye for detail to a different medium, making the step from potter’s wheel to busy workshop.

But why upholstery?

It may be that fate guided her, as Aelita explains:

“I bought a book in a charity shop about how to repair furniture and within days of reading it, I met, by pure chance, a craftsman upholsterer.

“After a brief conversation he very kindly agreed to take me on as his apprentice and teach me the skills he had gathered over more than 50 years.

“At first, I was doing simple tasks, but as I progressed, he gave me more complex things to do and eventually complete re-upholstery jobs.

“He is a lovely man and when I completed my apprenticeship and set up on my own working from home, he also put work my way.”

A showcase at Halls of Ripon

A second slice of serendipity came when Aelita enquired about the possibility of setting up her repair shop at Halls of Ripon.

She pointed out:

“I spoke with Mike Cooper because I noticed that there were second-hand sofas and chairs on sale there and he saw the synergy between this aspect of the business and the services that I provide.

“He, and the other independent traders at the department store, could not have been more helpful or friendly and with an affordable weekly rent, I was able to create my own showcase, with a unit that includes Victorian-style windows that were purchased from Lightwater Valley.”

Aelita has a growing order book from local, regional and national customers.

She is pictured above with an elegant French-style antique chair that she has fully refurbished for a customer who lives in Scotland and is a regular visitor to Ripon.

Aelita pointed out:

“Having seen The Repair Shop programme on TV, they wondered if I could renovate the chair and source a hunting print fabric for it.”

It now has pride of place back in the customer’s home, while many other sofas and chairs, have been diverted from a trip to the tip and returned to their former glory.

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This story is sponsored by Halls of Ripon.

It has been a sparkling first year for the 20 plus independent retailers at Halls of Ripon.

At Red Buttons – one of the jewels in the department store’s crown – the celebrations continue for owners Mike and Liz Cooper as they will soon reach a golden milestone, having married in August 1972.

The couple, along with Hedley Hall, Ben Butler and Lloyd Sheard, were instrumental in the re-birth and re-invention of the unique retail destination on Fishergate, under the famous Halls name, so fondly remembered in Ripon and across the Harrogate district, for the quality of its goods and the excellence of its service.

In their own golden wedding anniversary year, Mike and Liz have launched a sale of select rings and other jewellery items, offered at discounted prices that customers can purchase to mark their own special occasions, from silver to gold, diamond and platinum.

The special anniversary sale of select jewellery items is now on at Red Buttons

Mike, who worked for more than 40 years in senior management at some of the best-known jewellers on the UK high street, said:

“Jewellery is a personal, emotional and sentimental gift that carries deep meaning and lifelong memories.

“Over the years it has been a pleasure to share in everything from marriages and the earliest wedding anniversaries, to the birth of a child, by helping people to find the appropriate piece or pieces of jewellery.”

Mike pointed out:

“For some customers, diamonds have been selected as the mile-stones that tell the story of their lives.

“The sentimental value goes on when single items or entire collections are left to loved ones and become treasured heirlooms that will be passed on to future generations.”

Creating customised Jewellery

Red Buttons takes pride in providing a personalised service and experience for customers, supported by designers and craftsman jewellers who can create customised pieces, often involving the recycling of a family’s redundant and damaged items.

Mike explains:

“A lady brought gold rings inherited from her parents, that she was unable to wear and within a matter of days we transformed them into a simple, but stylish cross that can be worn every day.

The gold heart with diamonds, created from wedding rings and an engagement ring

“For another customer, the wedding ring of her late mother and grandmother’s diamond engagement and wedding rings, were united in a single gold and diamond heart, whose sentimental value is beyond price.”

Red Buttons’ services include free jewellery cleaning and inspection, re-sizing, stone replacement, claw re-tipping and replacement. Part exchange is also available for customers with items that they wish to trade.

A community of independent retailers 

Liz Cooper, said:

“Our independent retailers cover all ages, from clothes for babies and children to hand-made furniture and a newly-introduced repair shop where classic sofas and chairs are re-upholstered and returned to use.

“All traders have expanded over the past year and each has something special to offer that adds to the department store experience. The coffee, homemade cakes and sandwiches at The Hive cafe within the store are highly recommended.”

Ripon-based investment and development company Sterne Properties is in the process of acquiring the city’s historic Spa Baths from Harrogate Borough Council for an undisclosed sum.

In an exclusive interview with the Stray Ferret, company director Robert Sterne, said:

“It is our intention to restore the Grade II listed building to its former glory, when it was the centrepiece of the city’s spa quarter.

“Turning the clock back to 1905, it started life as a leisure and hospitality attraction, designed exclusively for the richer members of society, but our proposed hospitality-based regeneration of the building will make it fit for the modern world and open to all.

“Through a painstaking and detailed refurbishment, working closely with architect Andrew Burningham of AB Architecture, the spa complex will be returned to its days of Edwardian elegance.”

Sterne Properties has ambitious plans to refurbish the Grade II listed building.

Ornate and classical features, originally designed to attract well-heeled Edwardians to take spa treatments, will be seen once more in their full splendour and will be accessible to the people of Ripon and visitors to the city.

With its expertise in developing buildings for the city’s leisure, hospitality and retail sectors – including Curzon Cinema, Claro Lounge and Halls of Ripon – Sterne Properties feels well-equipped to take on the challenge of Spa Baths’ renaissance.

Mr Sterne said:

“We have had success in returning redundant properties such as the former NatWest Bank building next to Ripon Town Hall and an empty furniture store on North Street, into destinations that add value to the city’s offer.

“At this stage, we are considering a number of different community-focused uses.

“The initial planning application that we have lodged with Harrogate Borough Council, in the run up to completion of our acquisition of the building, is for a careful ‘strip back’ which will reveal design features that have been either covered up or out of sight since the 1930s, when the spa was re-purposed to accommodate a public swimming pool. “

Mr Sterne added:

“Our thinking is guided by knowledge of Ripon’s people who, like myself, learnt to swim at Spa Baths and see it, with affection, as part of their own and the city’s heritage.

“We believe that by working alongside all interested parties, including the city council and civic society, we can, subject to all relevant planning permissions, deliver an enhanced community asset, with new features, such as a conservatory, that we can all enjoy and take pride in.”

Martin Sterne, who set up the family-run property business in 1990s, added:

“We aim to make our mark on our home city by investing in it and creating developments that leave a lasting legacy.”

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