Further questions have been raised about the role of councils on Harrogate BID after outgoing board members said their plans were thwarted by local authorities.

After four board members including the chairman resigned last week, two of those behind the critical resignation letter have spoken out further.

Rob Spencer, who runs Townhouse Design, said he grew frustrated that the hard work of board members came to nothing when they tried to get the council to act or agree to their plans. He said:

“One of the things I’m passionate about is having our town looking great to welcome visitors and it certainly doesn’t look as good at the moment as it has done previously. Nobody can afford to be complacent.

“The town hasn’t been looked after to the standard it has been previously, yet council tax has gone up. When we presented that to the council members they were very defensive and very keen to get the BID to spend money from doing additional things to embellish the town or attract people but it shouldn’t be having to undertake basic duties to keep it to a reasonable level.

“It was met quite often with a lot of resistance when it was mentioned to council members on the BID. They would refer to other towns and say Harrogate was better and you would think, ‘that’s not relevant’.

“With our potential and history to encourage visitors, we do have a duty [to maintain a high standard] because Harrogate is a beautiful town and a spa town and quite unique. You can’t afford to think it’s going to stay successful because of that historic interest.”

His comments were echoed by fellow signatory Chris Bentley, of Hornbeam Park Developments, who said: “One of the board members volunteered to liaise with the council over street cleaning. They couldn’t get that any further forward. Now they’re trying to do it with third-party cleaners which brings another level of bureaucracy.”

Harrogate BID says it is working on initiatives to draw people back to town once the lockdown is lifted

The four board members who resigned last week were appointed after applying for the positions at the end of 2019, hoping to bring more positive action on behalf of local businesses. It followed after a difficult first year for the BID, which saw numerous board members step down and the first manager departing after less than four months in post. Mr Spencer said:

“I wanted to do some good and help the town. I had mixed reasons for wanting to come out. I run a small business and I’m involved in that day-to-day and that has to come first. Particularly at the moment, that’s more crucial than ever.”

‘Still a great town’

Last week, following their resignations, Harrogate BID issued a statement saying it was aware of the challenges facing the town and was dedicated to making improvements for the benefit of all its levy payers.

Both Mr Spencer and Mr Bentley praised the hard work of the remaining board members and some of the initiatives they had proposed, particularly to make the town centre as vibrant as possible during the run-up to Christmas, should social distancing allow.

But they said at a time when businesses were facing unprecedented challenges, they had to focus on areas where they could make the most difference, which meant spending time on their own businesses. Mr Spencer added:

“We’re still a great town and there are some great businesses. We’re in unprecedented times and I’m confident things will return and bounce back.

“Everybody in their businesses has to work very hard. When we’re investing in our businesses, we want to know that the council are doing the right things with people’s council tax and are not complacent about things.”

Harrogate Borough Council declined to comment on its involvement with the BID. The Stray Ferret approached North Yorkshire County Council for a comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.

Harrogate BID’s statement comes after The Stray Ferret yesterday reported on the resignation of its chairman and three of its directors.

The four sent a stinging letter of resignation to the board citing undue council influence, a lack of openness, and a business plan that does not reflect the reality of the state of the town centre.

Chairman Bob Kennedy and directors Chris Bentley, Robert Ogden and Rob Spencer cited an accumulation of negative impacts from the UCI Road World Championships and the Covid-19 lockdown, as well as a more general crisis for retail. Read the resignation letter in full here.

In its statement the Harrogate BID does not refer to many of the criticism’s raised in the resignation letter – but does say the BID recognises the challenges facing Harrogate:

“We are naturally very disappointed by the resignations of the four board members after only four months, but we would like to thank them for their contribution since the beginning of the year.

“The Covid19 crisis has meant that our programme of activities outlined in our business plan – which was revised at the beginning of the year and agreed unanimously by all the Board members including those who have resigned – is having to be re-thought.

“We are now looking at a number of innovations and promotions to ensure that, when the lockdown is ended, Harrogate is the first choice shopping destination for residents and visitors alike

“We are here to work with all town centre stakeholders – namely traders, transport providers, Harrogate Borough Council, North Yorkshire County Council, and of course our Customers who come here to shop, eat and be entertained

“We are certainly not under any illusion about the challenges that we face over the coming weeks and months.

“The departure of these four will not detract us from the job in hand. Our focus is firmly fixed on making the town the best it can be, enhancing what we already have here, and promoting the town centre and the diverse range of businesses that it is home to.”

The Stray Ferret has asked for a response from both Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council to the issues raised in the resignation letter and have not received a reply at the time of publication.

The chairman of Harrogate BID and three of its directors have sent a stinging letter of resignation to the board.

Citing undue council influence, a lack of openness and a business plan that does not reflect the reality of the state of the town centre, the four – more than a quarter of the board’s 15 members – have stepped down with immediate effect.

The letter highlights the desperate situation which chairman Bob Kennedy and directors Chris Bentley, Robert Ogden and Rob Spencer believe Harrogate is now facing. It refers to an accumulation of negative impacts from the UCI Road World Championships and the Covid-19 lockdown, as well as a more general crisis for retail.

It says:

“Without a consensus view on the board of the dire state of the town’s economy, particularly its retail heart, and its causes, addressing the key issues cannot be achieved.

“The strong influence of Borough and County Council on the board of an organisation that according to government guidance is supposed to be a ‘business-led’ partnership means that any initiative that addresses the councils’ input is endlessly debated, and sensible options resisted. It has not even been possible to garner cross-board agreement that the current aesthetic state of Harrogate town centre is not adequate, something that is self-evident to business leaders and residents alike but is constantly denied or excused by councils.”

Chairman Bob Kennedy is among four directors to have resigned from Harrogate BID

The letter then says the original business plan created by the BID will waste money on some areas and fail to fund others adequately. The plan should have been re-written and the budgets re-allocated to reflect the changing challenges of the last 18 months, according to the four signatories.

They also cite a lack of openness in the way the BID is being run:

“From the start, Harrogate BID was set up not to operate in the open or transparent way it should, with addended confidentiality provisions for directors that other BIDs, for instance York’s, do not have and which we are informed are incompatible with it performing a public function. Recent events reinforce this view, and BID is currently pursuing an approach that appears to be more about suppressing criticism and spinning positive messaging than acknowledging the hard realities of the situation.”

Strong council influence

Finally, the directors say they have lost confidence that the board is going to spend its money in ways which will benefit businesses, not least because of the influence of the two local authorities. Funded by a compulsory levy on rate-payers in the town centre, it has an annual income of around £500,000. They say:

“Such transformative commercial imperatives as free parking would be unlikely ever to be championed by Harrogate BID, as they have been by other BIDs across the country, while there is such a strong council influence on its board, and the business plan forces spending on areas that do not address the key issues.”

The resignations come just 10 days after the announcement of a new manager for the BID, Simon Kent. The four directors recognise his appointment and wish the remaining board members well, but say:

“Much as it pains us to state this, Harrogate was struggling before COVID-19. Now, the reality of the situation is becoming very serious indeed.”

More:

Read the resignation letter in full

Where does Harrogate BID go from here?

Harrogate BID was established in the course of 2018 with the aim of giving businesses a greater say in the way their town developed.

It was always supposed to be business-led – a fundamental rule of all BIDs is that they cannot be used to replace the work of local authorities. The blurring of the lines between the BID, Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council, however, lies at the heart of today’s resignations.

Harrogate BID is a limited company and is funded through a levy that is paid by all the business rate payers within a designated BID area, in addition to the business rates bill.  The levy in Harrogate’s case earns the BID more than £500,000 a year.

Because its properties fall within the BID area, Harrogate Borough Council is a significant contributor to that income, and its leader, Coun Richard Cooper, sits on the BID board alongside NYCC’s corporate director for business and environmental services, David Bowe. With Sgt Alex Sellars of North Yorkshire Police, they fill the three public sector positions on the board of 15.

Local authority representation is recommended in the government’s best practice advice to BIDs. It says:

“It is essential that you establish a positive relationship with your Local Authority. It is important you identify a key contact at the authority and keep them informed of progress at every stage.

“An authority will have its own plans for the area and will need to appreciate the benefits to businesses and the community of having a BID. It will want to be assured that the BID arrangements complement and preferably enhance the local authority’s proposals.

“Ideally the local authority will have a seat on the BID Board. The authority and BID will need to agree the additional services the BID intends to deliver.”

According to the four who resigned today, however, that relationship has hampered Harrogate BID’s ability to progress its plans for the benefit of its levy payers. After today’s resignations, all three of the board’s positions for independent businesses are vacant.

Changes to the board

In the spring of 2019 in the BID’s first newsletter, the then chairman, John Fox, talked of “exciting projects” to help attract more footfall to Harrogate.

However, in the months that passed, the BID struggled to find a way of working: only three of the current 15 board members have been in place since this time last year. John Fox stepped down at the end of 2019 and a manager appointed last July left the post within four months.

Today’s letter of resignation by its new chairman – only appointed in March – and three other board members, all from the private sector, shows how frustrated and disempowered they felt at not being able to get things done – how BID proposals were either resisted or subject to “endless debate” about the local authorities’ work. There were arguments too over what was the council’s responsibility and what was the BID’s.

The Harrogate BID website says the aim of the BID is to “empower local businesses to tackle local issues…” Today’s letter makes clear that the Chairman and directors who resigned have no faith in the ability of the BID to tackle Harrogate’s issues – which, they say, run much deeper than its board is willing to admit.

Interim BID manager, Simon Kent

Earlier this week, the new interim BID manager, Simon Kent, told The Stray Ferret he wanted “to turn conversations and plans into real actions” and outlined its priorities. Mr Kent’s job to achieve those goals got a whole load more difficult today.

There are questions now for the two local authorities about how they have worked with the BID and how they can answer the criticism levied at them in the resignation letter.

Concluding their letter with a warning that Harrogate was struggling before the current lockdown, the chairman and directors say “the reality of the situation is becoming very serious indeed” for Harrogate town centre. There is huge pressure now on remaining board members to make levy payers feel their contribution was worth it and for the BID, despite the current circumstances, to deliver some meaningful results.

The new interim manager of Harrogate BID wants to turn conversations and plans into real action over the coming weeks.

Simon Kent believes the money put into the BID by its levy payers – businesses in Harrogate town centre – should be put to good use in making the organisation one of achievements, not just ideas.

“It’s difficult in any organisation where you have got a board of people all with their own businesses to run,” he said. “It’s easy to sit around agreeing things, but getting things done is another matter.”

In his previous role as director of Harrogate Convention Centre, Mr Kent (pictured above) said he was an advocate of setting up a BID in Harrogate from the outset. It was first proposed in 2017 by John Fox, at the time leading a group of volunteers to fundraise for the annual Christmas lights, and Mike Procter, president of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce.

Mr Kent said:

“There are lots of people in Harrogate with similar ambitions for the town. I saw the BID as a way of moving these things forward.

“It would generate money which means, rather than just ideas, you can make things happen. That has always been the driver for me: it puts the town centre businesses in charge.

“I live in Ripon and I used to live in Knaresborough. They’re smaller towns but they also have a stronger sense of community. They have parish councils that effectively become the focus for the activities. There’s no equivalent parish council in Harrogate town, so I saw the BID as slotting into that gap.”

After he helped to get the BID established in late 2018, Mr Kent was vice-chairman for the first few months while the board at the time was working on getting the organisation established and setting up its ways of working.

Only three of the current 15 board members have been in place since this time last year, with resignations including then-chairman John Fox, who stepped down at the end of 2019 and was replaced by Bob Kennedy in March. The manager appointed last July, meanwhile, left the post within four months.

Now, having had his first meeting of the current board via video last Thursday, Mr Kent says it is a happy group:

“It’s difficult, because joining an organisation where you can’t meet people face-to-face is very strange. I’ve spoken to all the board members for an hour, or two in some cases.

“I understand their aspirations for the BID and their goals. It’s interesting how aligned everybody is. There’s a number of projects and some people are advocates of some over others. There’s good, healthy debate, but everyone is focused on a common goal.”

List of priorities

For the next three months, Mr Kent’s part-time role will be to help move some of the BID’s upcoming projects forward. Although the coronavirus crisis makes it difficult to set up events, the board has a list of priorities which it will be carrying out as soon as it can. These include:

• joining other BIDs to lobby for the coronavirus grants scheme to be extended to any business with a rateable value up to £150,000, rather than £51,000 as it currently stands.
• Investing “significant sums” in deep cleaning the town centre
• emphasising Harrogate’s floral reputation with more displays
• planning for improved Christmas lights
• making the run up to Christmas “really magical” with events and activities in the town centre to help businesses recover from the coronavirus shut-down

With questions raised about whether levy-payers’ contributions should be spent on work like street cleansing, Mr Kent argued that although it is a Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) responsibility, the BID’s money could complete cleansing work over and above the levels done routinely by the local authority.

Harrogate BID wants to prioritise street cleaning, to make the town centre attractive when shoppers return

Asked about the many groups in Harrogate and their overlapping work, such as Think Harrogate, Independent Harrogate and the proposed new destination management organisation with links to HBC and Harrogate Convention Centre, Mr Kent said the BID would play its part alongside others.

“I think it’s an exciting time,” he said. “The key thing is that the BID brings is a bit of extra money. The businesses have put into it and there’s a responsibility to spend that money wisely on making Harrogate the best it can be.”

This column is written for The Stray Ferret by Bob Kennedy, Chair of the Harrogate BID (Business Improvement District) which aims to promote the town centre.  Mr Kennedy is the owner of G23 and Porters menswear stores in Harrogate. 

Where do we go from here?  This is the question on many retailers’ minds up and down the country. I’m an independent retailer with two shops in Harrogate and one in Ilkley. We have been trading our G23 and Porters stores in Harrogate since 1993 and so whilst I can only guess at the situation for the major national chains, I do believe I understand the independents problems and particularly in my home town of Harrogate.

Retail has been a struggle for many in Harrogate over the last few years. We can clearly see this with the likes of H&M, Topshop, Cath Kidson, Gap and now Jack Wills all deciding to leave, but what is causing this downturn in Harrogate’s fortunes?

There are many reasons nationally why high streets are struggling and these debates seem to go on and on with little being done to make the changes needed.

Some blame greedy landlords and this might have been the case in the past but in my experience landlords seem willing to talk now and are willing to negotiate new rental terms.

Then there’s the internet. We all know how easy it is particularly at Christmas to sit at home and order online but this is a big reason for the decline in footfall. If we want to have a lovely town centre we need to support the shops in the town centre. Ilkley is a great example of locals supporting the town.

Next up is car parking. Whether it’s expensive to park or not, car parking seems to be a real issue. People hate paying to park. They hate having to look at their watch and dash off before they get a ticket. As a retailer, it always amazes me that there are so many traffic wardens constantly patrolling Harrogate and so few police. It’s no wonder people choose to visit a retail park with free parking or shop online.

Lastly, retailers have been faced with crazy business rates over the last few years. The amount of money we have been paying the government / local authority over the last few years has been extortionate. I personally pay around £50’000 a year and in return receive nothing, they don’t even empty the bins!

So, how are the retailers of Harrogate going to fair after lockdown?

There’s no doubt that some will fold, collapse into administration before lockdown lifts but my worry is the six months after lockdown. Many will be able to survive during lockdown, after all, the landlords seem to be holding off and trying to share the burden, business rates have been cancelled until April 2021 and the government is giving 80% support to cover wages for staff on furlough. Suppliers to shops like mine are being fair, not pushing for payment and trying to find ways to support.

No, I think we will be fine for a few months of lockdown. The problem comes when we reopen.

Let’s hope that we eventually begin to see a decline in coronavirus and we can reopen our stores at the end of May.  It’s at this point we may have some problems.  Although restrictions will have been somewhat lifted, social distancing will still be advised and people will be wary of catching the virus. This will mean that footfall in shops will be severely down. Maybe only thirty to forty percent of the usual footfall pre coronavirus, but it’ll mean there’s much less money going through the tills. We’ll be open again so the patient suppliers will want paying for all their summer stock but we’ve not had a chance to sell it and they will want to deliver the Autumn ranges. The landlords will want paying, after all, you’re open, you’re trading. Lastly, your staff will be back at work and therefore there is no more support from the government to cover wages. All of this for possibly six months, with a reduced footfall of possibly thirty to forty percent. For many stores across the country this will not add up.

Support for the high street and your town centre has never been needed more. Organisations like the Harrogate BID are working hard to try and make Harrogate a great place to visit this Autumn but support from government, Harrogate Borough Council and the people of Harrogate is also needed. Without this we could see a very different looking Harrogate next year.

Debenhams could be missing from Harrogate town centre once it re-opens following the coronavirus crisis, after the national chain filed for administration.

It is the second time that the company has called in administrators, and it said the move was designed to get it through the current challenges in order to re-open stores once restrictions are lifted.

However, it is unclear how many and which of its branches will re-open, with 50 permanent store closures already announced. One Harrogate business leader said he was unsurprised by the news, as the chain had been in trouble for some time, and he did not expect the Harrogate store to re-open.

Bob Kennedy, chairman of Harrogate BID, said: “I’m sure there will be a Debenhams that comes out of administration. I would be very surprised if the Harrogate store was part of their plans.”

Mr Kennedy said he felt it was more likely the building would be split into smaller retail units on the ground floor and residential above. Such a large building was not likely to be appealing to many retailers, he said, as changes on the high street continue to affect brands’ needs.

The size of the Debenhams store makes it unlikely to appeal to a single retailer, according to Bob Kennedy

Regarding the pressures on other town centre businesses while the coronavirus continues, Mr Kennedy said the BID is doing all it can to ensure they make a strong start once trading is possible again.

“While nothing can be done physically at the moment, the board members are trying to put things in place so when we do all get re-open we are in the best possible position to try and catch up on some trade we’ve lost,” he said.

 “One of the main priorities is to make sure the town has had a good deep clean. Then to focus on the autumn and the run up to Christmas and making sure we try to have plans in place to make that as good as it can possibly be.

“For all these businesses that have lost an absolute fortune, hopefully it’s a chance to catch up and pull at least some money back.”