It’s time to join the Stray Ferret Business Club. Our next networking event is lunch at Manahatta, on June 29th at 12.30pm.

Don’t miss out on this chance to network with businesses from across the Harrogate district. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.

A Harrogate brewery has announced it is to host its first beer festival to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

Harrogate Brewing Co, which is based on Hookstone Chase, is set to hold the event from August 11 until August 13.

It will include pop-up bars from Northern Monk, Amity Brew Co and Bini Brew Co, as well as live music and street food vendors.

A family day will be held on the Sunday (August 13) where outdoor games and a face painting will take place.

The event will be an all-ticket event and admission prices will be £8 for adults and £3 for children aged between five and 14. A full weekend ticket is priced at £15.

The brewery was originally founded by Anton Stark in 2013. It was taken over by current owners Julie and Joe Joyce four years ago.

For more information on the anniversary event, visit the Harrogate Brewing Co website here.

Harrogate private health group donates to skin charity

A Harrogate private health group has donated £10,000 to the British Skin Foundation.

Circle Health Group, which runs the Duchy Hospital, has made the donation to help fund further research into skin conditions.

As well as the Duchy, the group runs Thornbury Hospital in Sheffield and the Huddersfield Hospital on Birkby Hall Road in Huddersfield.

On making the donation, David Uregbula, head of business development and partnerships at Circle Health Group, said:

“With specialist dermatology services available across our national network of hospitals, we understand the importance of the British Skin Foundation’s work. 

“We are delighted to be playing a pivotal role in supporting their drive to improve research and treatment for future generations.”

Matthew Patey, chief executive at the British Skin Foundation, said: 

“We still have lots of work to do to improve the lives of patients in the UK and across the world.

“This substantial donation from Circle Health Group gives the scientific community’s most talented researchers more resources to continue their ongoing mission.”

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Over 17,000 microbreweries have signed a petition to stop government plans on a tax increase. Harrogate Brewing Co. is one of many to object.

In July, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, announced plans to remove a 50% tax relief on the general beer duty rate for microbreweries.

Currently the Small Brewers Relief (SBR) is given to all microbreweries making up to 5000 hectolitres (880,000 pints) a year. Under his new proposal only much smaller microbreweries will continue to get relief.

Joe Joyce, owner of family-run Harrogate Brewing Co. said:

“There’s a tranche of microbreweries that are going to lose out on this and that’s not fair. We’re currently producing below the proposed amount but anything that adds more burden to the microbrewery is not where we want to be.”

First set up in 2002, the purpose of SBR was to help newer breweries become profitable and compete against big breweries. Now, there’s risk it could become a lot harder to even enter the beer-making industry.

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The idea was announced as part of July’s fiscal statement. It could come into affect from October when the government’s Autumn budget is announced.

Mr Joyce said:

“For a lot of microbreweries this is our lifestyle, this is our business, we are putting our houses and mortgages on the line because this is what we do. I will be surprised if other local brewers haven’t signed it.”

Grassroots organisation Campaign for Pubs, run by leading pub campaigners and publicans, is heavily endorsing the petition which can be found on the government website.

Breweries in Harrogate and Knaresborough are reporting healthy sales ahead of pubs reopening tomorrow, but the long-term landscape remains uncertain.

When lockdown began, drinkers agonised at reports of breweries and pubs having to pour gallons of unwanted beer down the sink. However, Robert Millichamp, head brewer at Daleside Brewery, told the Stray Ferret they managed to bottle most of their stock as demand for drinking at home soared.

He said even though pubs have been shut for three months, “people haven’t been drinking less”.

Daleside is now sold out of bottled beers and is trying to meet a big local demand for cask ales. But Robert said beyond this weekend it’s hard to predict how busy pubs will be.

He said:

“We’ve no idea but we’ve brewed as much as we can with the ingredients we’ve got. We need to replenish the stock after running out very quickly in the last three days.

“After that, we’re going to have to be reactive. Within a few weeks we’ll hopefully find some stability.”

Daleside also sells its beer around the world and they’ve seen steady demand from Sweden during lockdown, one of the only countries in Europe where pubs didn’t close.

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In Knaresborough, Aron McMahon from Turning Point Brew Co, told the Stray Ferret he is looking forward to supplying beer and lager to local pubs again. Their stock is sold in several independent bars in Harrogate and Knaresborough including Major Toms Social, Blind Jacks and the Old Bell Tavern.

He said:

“They’ve all bought beer which is great but not many [of the pubs we supply] are opening on Saturday, which is probably quite sensible.”

Aron said one of their 4% beers takes around two weeks to brew, which posed a challenge as the government only gave the green light for pubs to reopen two weeks ago. He said Turning Point began pre-emptively brewing ahead of the announcement to ensure they’d have beer to sell.

Turning Point also has a tap room and Aron is looking forward to welcoming drinkers back from July 11.

“When people get a beer and chat among their groups then people will enjoy themselves despite the measures we’ve put in place.”

Harrogate Brewing Co is also gearing up for pubs reopening in Harrogate and Knaresborough. A typical barrel of beer has 164 litres but owner Matthew Joyce told the Stray Ferret they have been delivering smaller 20-litre boxes of beer to pubs who are unsure of how much footfall there will be.

He said:

“Some pubs requested them as they were conscious over whether people would come to the pub.

“They didn’t want to crack open a full cask and then tip it because they only have about five or 10 people coming to the pub. That seems unlikely and I think the pubs will be very busy.”