A council report has warned Harrogate Convention Centre will suffer huge losses of £250 million unless a major redevelopment is carried out.

The ageing centre is facing a pivotal moment in its 40-year history as it presses ahead with renovation plans while competition from new conference venues – including one planned for Leeds – ramps up.

Harrogate Borough Council owns the venue and has proposed an investment project which could cost £49 million in what would mark the single biggest spend by the authority in its lifetime.

Without this, the council has warned the centre will “fall behind in the market” and “may fail to survive”.

£250 million losses

A report to a meeting of the council’s cabinet next week said the venue could be hit by £250 million losses over the next 40 years which would have to be subsidised by taxpayers.

The warning comes as the clock is ticking until the centre is handed over to the new North Yorkshire Council next April and as questions mount over how the redevelopment could be funded after cash was not included in a devolution deal for the county.

Harrogate Borough Council has also bid for convention centre cash from the government’s Levelling Up Fund.

However, the maximum amount available per project is £20 million and Harrogate is ranked as a low priority area.

The report to next Wednesday’s meeting said: 

“The redevelopment of the Harrogate Convention Centre (HCC) site offers the only opportunity to modernise facilities, improve connectivity within and replace failing mechanical and electrical systems – and to turn around the financial performance.

“HCC plays an important role in the district’s and region’s economy, attracting visitors and significant spend each year.

“It is the only event venue in the Yorkshire and Humber region that is able to compete with major facilities in cities elsewhere, such as Liverpool, Manchester, Gateshead and Glasgow.”

Read more:

• Harrogate Convention Centre redevelopment to seek levelling up cash
• Council leader ‘shares disappointment’ over lack of HCC funding in devolution deal
• Harrogate Convention Centre to face competition from Leeds events venue

The new events venue planned for the former Yorkshire Bank HQ in Leeds highlights a growing conference industry which is seeing more venues compete for big events that local economies benefit hugely from.

Council officials have estimated that Harrogate Convention Centre attracts over 150,000 visitors a year, with an economic impact of more than £35 million.

But the venue’s own financial performance has been poor over the last decade when its annual revenue has decreased by an average of 3% per year.

That is according to the new report which described the centre as “underutilised” and said increasing competition and operating costs have resulted in a need to “rethink” its offer.

Redevelopment plan

The redevelopment plans include a major refurbishment of event areas and upgrades to the venue’s heating and ventilation systems.

There are also plans to create a flexible events space for up to 1,200 people. These works were due to start in October after a warning that the centre could miss out on several big events next year, however, the plans have now been delayed.

The next stages of the redevelopment will see a £3.3 million contract awarded for further design, price and programming works.

More than £1.5 million has already been spent on the project before a final decision has been made. This is scheduled for July or August next year – meaning it will be the new North Yorkshire Council which will decide whether to proceed.

If approved, construction on a first phase of works would start in September 2023 for just over a year.

Harrogate Borough Council estimates the upgrades would increase the centre’s visitor numbers from 147,000 in 2020 to 192,000 in 2040, with profits of £29 million over a 40-year period.

The report added: 

“Investment in HCC will attract business visitors, support significant employment, encourage conversion of business to repeat leisure visitors and support inward investment.

“The redevelopment has the potential to provide a significant place-shaping, cultural and economic boost to the region.”

Strayside Sunday is our political opinion column. It is written by Paul Baverstock, former Director of Communications for the Conservative Party. 

This week my former colleague Greg Clark, then Director of Policy for the Conservatives, now Secretary of State for the tongue-twisting Levelling Up, Communities and Local Government signed-off and handed down North Yorkshire & York’s much anticipated devolution settlement.  The 32-page document awarded the area £540m over the next 30 years, along with devolved powers to help the region develop the skills, housing, and transport infrastructure it needs.  Whether this represents, as the government claims, “a once-in-a-generation chance to help tackle regional inequalities by not only reducing the North South divide nationally, but also helping to resolve economic differences that are being felt between urban and rural area,” remains to be seen.

What we do know is that the money comes with the promise that we’ll get a Combined Authority, likely next year, with an elected Mayor to follow in 2024.  This must be a good thing, with the shining examples of Tees Valley’s Ben Houchen and the West Midland’s Andy Street demonstrating the positive leadership possibilities an elected Mayor can bring.  Both have used the special powers of the office to create special purpose Mayoral Development Corporations to buy land and assets to drive local economic regeneration and employment, to great effect.  Houchen famously returned Teeside Airport to public ownership and, just this week, Street announced Birmingham as the new home for a large portion of the BBC’s production capabilities, testament to investments made in vital property infrastructure. Tracy Brabin, West Yorkshire’s elected Mayor, still relatively new in post, is yet to find her feet.

Whether or not North Yorkshire’s Mayor is a success will rest on strength of personality and imagination. Will they have the vision, communication skills and drive to push the limits of their newfound powers and make the most of them?  Let’s hope so.  They’ll need to be more persuasive than North Yorkshire Council’s representatives who made the bid for devolution.  Last week’s settlement was significantly less than the “ask”.  £750m over 25 years had been requested, versus the £540m over 30 years received.  Net, the new Mayor will have £18m per year to spend on their agenda, rather than the £25m per year hoped for.  The bid also hoped for £47m to redevelop the much-maligned Harrogate Convention Centre.  Much to Harrogate Borough Council Leader Richard Cooper’s disappointment this was turned down flat – with Westminster civil servants giving a “very strong steer” it would not be funded and should not be part of the devolution settlement.  The money for that will now have to be found from other means, with an application to Boris Johnson’s Levelling Up Fund in the works.  The Convention Centre’s future remains uncertain, not least because with the coming change in Conservative Party leadership there is no guarantee that existing spending commitments will hold.

And that’s part of the problem here.  £540m sounds like a big sum but, in truth we can’t be certain it represents new money.  We have little idea how it fits with the existing local government grant and public spending commitments.  What we do know is that it seems certain that tax cuts will be on the government’s agenda following the change of Prime Minister.  That, plus the most ominous macro-economic climate in a generation (recession, soaring inflation and rising interest rates) means that coming downward pressure on public spending seems locked in.  Whoever becomes Mayor of North Yorkshire and York will have their work cut out for them.

The same of course is true for the new Prime Minister.  It now seems likely (if polls are to be believed) that Liz Truss will win comfortably the Tory Party leadership contest and assume office.  Assuming I get a non-hacked voting paper from the Harrogate & Knaresborough Conservative Association I’ll be putting a cross next to Rishi Sunak’s name.  If Liz Truss does win it will be another example of the maxim that “he who wields the dagger never yields the prize”, Sunak having led with Sajid Javed the avalanche of ministerial resignations that finally put paid to Boris Johnson.

For the life of me I can’t see the logic of the aggressive tax cuts that Liz Truss proposes.  To paraphrase Maurice Saatchi’s famous “Labour isn’t working” political advertising slogan from the 1980’s, an argument can be made that “Britain isn’t working.”  The NHS has moved beyond perpetual ‘crisis’ and is now in real trouble, with waiting lists soaring for everything from cancer treatment to mental health treatment, nary an ambulance in sight when you need one and chronic staff shortages.  It takes an age to get a passport and, when you do, the airports are carnage.  The DVLA can’t get a driver’s license organised for love nor money and with a series of national train strikes and 7-hour queues to take a ferry to France, travelling in this country is becoming a Kafka-esque challenge. Planes, trains, and automobiles indeed.  I haven’t even mentioned the disaster that is immigration policy and our handling of the small boats influx on our shores.  Reform may well be part of the answer but setting all these right needs real money and competent grip.  Economists who support Ms. Truss’ plan to tax cut our way to economic growth to fund all this are thin on the ground.  Like North Yorkshire’s coming new elected Mayor, Ms. Truss’ real task is to find imaginative policy solutions to our problems, from skills to housing, from transport to health and then find a way to run them properly.  And that takes public money, gobs of it.

That’s my Strayside Sunday.

Read More: 

• Mayor for North Yorkshire agreed in £540m historic devolution deal
• North Yorkshire’s devolution deal: What’s in it and how will it work?
• Liberal Democrats call for public vote over North Yorkshire devolution deal

Harrogate Convention Centre is set to face competition from a proposed events venue in Leeds, which has been backed by the city’s planners.

The plans for the former Yorkshire Bank HQ have been recommended for approval by Leeds City Council, which said it had a “long-term aspiration” to bring a conference centre to the city.

A council report said the venue would be a quarter of the size of Harrogate Convention Centre and “focus on significantly smaller events”.

Yet it also said the venue could divert up to 6% of trade away from the convention centre, with further impacts on Harrogate town centre businesses that rely on events.

The proposals come at a crucial time for the 40-year-old Harrogate Convention Centre, which has planned a £47 million redevelopment after warning it is in “critical need” of an upgrade in order to keep its national appeal.

The venue would not comment on whether it supports or opposes the Leeds plans.

But centre director Paula Lorimer did say: 

“We would need to give careful consideration to any proposed development within the region to understand its likely impact on Harrogate Convention Centre and ultimately the town.

“Our convention centre attracts more than 150,000 visitors a year, has an economic impact of more than £35 million and supports thousands of jobs and local businesses.

“In the meantime, we will continue to press ahead with our own exciting redevelopment proposals and an update report will be presented to the cabinet on 17 August for consideration.”

Read more:

• Harrogate Convention Centre redevelopment to seek levelling up cash
• Council leader ‘shares disappointment’ over lack of HCC funding in devolution deal

Questions over how the £47 million redevelopment could be funded are lingering after cash for the convention centre was not included in a devolution deal for York and North Yorkshire.

The landmark deal was agreed last week, but Harrogate Borough Council leader Richard Cooper refused to sign a letter of support as he said it “falls short of what many of us expected in that it does not deliver guaranteed funding for the convention centre”.

Harrogate Convention Centre.

Separately, the borough council has also bid for convention centre cash from the government’s Levelling Up Fund.

But the maximum amount available per project is £20 million and Harrogate is ranked as a low priority area.

A decision on the bid is expected in autumn.

Meanwhile, the Leeds plans would see the former Yorkshire Bank HQ demolished and the conference venue, as well as two blocks of student accommodation, built in its place if the proposals are approved at a meeting next Thursday.

A report said Harrogate Convention Centre’s performance has been “poor” in recent years and that the proposed venue would “look to capitalise on the high demand Leeds events market” as opposed to diverting trade from Harrogate.

It also said the proposed venue would complement the First Direct Arena, which stands next door to the Leeds site on Clay Pit Lane.

The report said: 

“Leeds currently has no standalone dedicated exhibition space both for business-to business and business-to-client conferences and exhibitions.

“The provision of a multi-purpose events building, able to accommodate conferencing facilities, has been a long-term aspiration of the council.”

Harrogate Convention Centre has confirmed it will not bid for the Eurovision Song Contest to return to the venue at next year’s UK event.

Several cities and towns have already expressed an interest in hosting the event which organisers yesterday confirmed would not be held in last year’s winning country Ukraine due to the ongoing war.

But Harrogate Convention Centre – which hosted Eurovision in 1982 – has announced it will not be making a submission as the contest has outgrown its capacity.

Organisers the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) say host venues should be able to accommodate at least 10,000 spectators and 1,500 journalists.

Yet the convention centre’s auditorium has a capacity of just under 2,000 which was enough 40 years ago, but now falls well short of today’s requirements.

A convention centre spokesperson said: 

“Eurovision 1982 put Harrogate on the world map.

“We are very proud of that history and are always delighted to host major events in our beautiful spa town.

“To put things into perspective, 18 countries participated in 1982, and in 2022, 40 countries competed for the awards.

“The scale of Eurovision has more than doubled over the years and understandably it will require a hosting city with the capacity and infrastructure to match.”

Included in the cities bidding to host the 2023 event is Leeds which has received the backing of Harrogate Convention Centre.

Also in Yorkshire, Sheffield was among the first to announce a bid for the song contest.

The country which wins usually stages the following year’s competition, but the EBU opened talks with the BBC last month after assessing the situation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Read More:

• 40 years on: Jan Leeming’s memories of when Harrogate hosted Eurovision
• 40 years on: Remembering when Harrogate hosted Eurovision
• Eurovision fans sing outside Harrogate Convention Centre to mark 40th anniversary

The BBC and EBU said they will consider all official approaches and publish a list of bidding cities and towns later this summer.

BBC director general Tim Davie said it was a “great privilege” to host the music competition, but regretful that Ukraine was not able to host.

He said the broadcaster would make the event “a true reflection of Ukrainian culture alongside showcasing the diversity of British music and creativity”.

Martin Österdahl, the Eurovision Song Contest’s executive supervisor, also said: 

“We know that next year’s contest will showcase the creativity and skill of one of Europe’s most experienced public broadcasters whilst ensuring this year’s winners, Ukraine, are celebrated and represented throughout the event.”

Remembering when Harrogate hosted Eurovision – and the future of the town’s convention centre 

The UK has hosted the Eurovision Song Contest more times than any other nation or country, with seven events in the cities of London, Edinburgh, Brighton and Birmingham since 1960.

But in 1982 it was a major coup for Harrogate which showcased the town’s newly-opened convention centre to millions across the world.

Eurovision 1982 held in Harrogate.

It was Germany which was crowned the champion of Europe at the then state-of-the-art venue.

But 40 years on, there are now warnings that the convention centre is in “critical need” of an upgrade in order to keep its appeal.

Harrogate Borough Council has proposed a major redevelopment of the venue which in total could cost around £47 million. Yet there are questions over how it could be funded and the plans have yet to be approved by councillors.

The proposed £47 million redevelopment of Harrogate Convention Centre will seek cash from the government’s Levelling Up fund.

Harrogate Borough Council is behind the major project and has today confirmed it will bid to the second round of the fund which has a limit of £20m per project and a submission deadline of July 6.

The redevelopment plans were first revealed in 2020, but questions over how the project would be funded have remained ahead of the council being abolished next April.

The council issued a statement today, but did not say how much it would bid for.

It said:

“We can confirm we will be submitting a formal bid through the government’s Levelling Up Fund to help support the redevelopment of Harrogate Convention Centre.

“If successful, a version without commercially sensitive information will be available on our website after the announcement.”

The Levelling Up Fund was set up to help areas in need of economic recovery and growth, and each project must have the support of an area’s local MP.

Cash for the 40-year-old convention centre has also been included in a proposed devolution deal for North Yorkshire and York, which is currently being negotiated with government.

It is expected that a deal will be reached this summer, although there are questions over what funding could be agreed for the convention centre.

The venue has been described as in “critical need” of an upgrade by the council which previously said that without investment its maintenance costs could reach £19 million over the next two decades.

The proposed redevelopment could involve three exhibition halls being demolished to make way for a new 5,000 sq m hall and a refurbished auditorium.

Read more:

• Harrogate Convention Centre investment could require county council consent
• Harrogate Convention Centre: What happens now?

Plans to refurbish the venue’s studio two with a flexible events space for up to 1,200 delegates are also included in the proposals.

A start date for these works was earmarked for October, although the wider project has yet to be given approval.

Figures revealed by the Local Democracy Reporting Service last year showed the council has already spent £1.5 million on planning the redevelopment ahead of a final decision from councillors.

Contracts have been awarded to several companies to produce design and feasibility works, an economic impact assessment and a business case.

These works will be presented to the council’s cabinet in “the coming months,” a spokesperson said.

In the first round of the Levelling Up Fund, Harrogate Borough Council and Craven District Council submitted a joint bid for £6 million for regeneration projects in Ripon, Skipton and Masham.

The projects would have included “high-quality place-making, improved cultural and community assets, and improved sustainable connectivity” in the three areas.

However, the bid was not successful and no funding was awarded.

A broken down lorry is causing travel problems in Harrogate town centre.

The large Waitrose lorry is stuck on King’s Road, outside Harrogate Convention Centre.

By 2.40pm today, it had been there for about an hour awaiting recovery.

There are two lanes, so traffic is currently able to pass on the inside of it.

The broken down lorry on Harrogate’s Kings Road.

However, it is causing some problems by backing up traffic turning on to King’s Road from Parliament Street and Ripon Road.

Motorists will be hoping the vehicle is moved before the Friday night rush hour begins.

Send us your traffic updates at contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.

Read more:

• Video shows lorry crashing into Harrogate traffic light
• Four-mile queues as traffic chaos descends on Harrogate

The world-famous Band of the Grenadier Guards has performed with young musicians in Harrogate.

The band joined schoolchildren from across North Yorkshire for a concert on Friday to mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee.

People cheered and waved flags as the military band – famous for its scarlet tunics and bearskin hats — made a grand entrance at Harrogate Convention Centre, playing the traditional British Grenadiers marching song.

The concert, which was organised by North Yorkshire County Council’s school music service, featured about 350 pupils.

Pupils playing at the concert.

Trumpet player George Hirst, one of the Grenadier Guards taking part, is a former North Yorkshire student who was a member of some of the music service’s ensembles.

The Band of the Grenadier Guards’ history dates back more than 300 years and played a key role in this month’s jubilee parade in London.

They are taking part in celebratory concerts across the country this year and North Yorkshire’s school music service’s request for the band to join the concert was accepted.

Read more:

• Grenadier Guards band coming to Harrogate
• Ofsted praise for Harrogate school that ‘turns around’ teenagers’ lives

Ian Bangay, head of North Yorkshire county music service, said the event was a “huge success”, adding;

“The children really entered into the spirit of the event, waving their flags and cheering as the band marched in.

“They sang well and the musicians from the music centres performed superbly.”

“The guards were fantastic, interacting with our children throughout the day. They were happy to talk about their roles and even let the children try on their bearskins and have pictures taken with them. It was a great end to an enormous amount of work put in by music service staff and the teachers at the schools taking part.

“We are hoping to continue our relationship with the guards and are looking in to taking the county youth big band down to London to rehearse with them and watch changing of the guard.”

The evening featured popular music from each decade of the Queen’s reign.

The Band of the Grenadier Guards performed Crown Imperial, music from West Side Story, Symphony by Clean Bandit and rounded off the evening with Pomp and Circumstance by Edward Elgar and the National Anthem.

Could Harrogate host Eurovision again?

Enthusiasm is mounting for Harrogate to put in a bid to host the Eurovision Song Contest again in 2023.

The European Broadcasting Union, which runs the event, announced yesterday it had concluded this year’s winner, Ukraine, was unable to host the event because of the on going invasion by Russia.

It leaves the door open for the UK, as runner-up, to be next in line to host the event next year.

Speculation has grown rapidly on Twitter about the potential host town or city – and Harrogate’s name has cropped up more than once.

Bring it back to Harrogate. https://t.co/khvYS1Loqy

— Duncan Woods (@the__DAW) June 17, 2022

The prospect has been welcomed by the town’s business leaders. Matthew Chapman, Harrogate BID Manager, said:

“I think it would be absolutely brilliant if Harrogate was to host next year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

“Harrogate is no stranger to staging major international events, and let’s remember 40 years ago Eurovision was held in the newly opened Harrogate Convention Centre.

“Once again, images of the town and wider district would be beamed into homes around the world. It would bring thousands of visitors into the town, give the local economy a massive shot in the arm and benefit many businesses.”

Jan Leeming hosted Eurovision live from Harrogate in 1982.

Sue Kramer, Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce president, said:

“Holding Eurovision would give the town and the district an enormous feel good factor, and with little disruption. It will also attract a significant number of visitors and a huge TV audience. Bring it on!”

Chamber chief executive David Simister added:

“I remember the excitement in the town when we staged it 40 years ago.

“Over the subsequent years the popularity of the Eurovision Song Contest has grown significantly, and hosting it would certainly be a fantastic opportunity for Harrogate.”

However, not everyone seems to feel so positive about it.

https://twitter.com/connormoseleyx/status/1537775214536364032

Having just celebrated the 40th anniversary of it being held in Harrogate, is there a possibility the town could be called on again to welcome fans, contestants and international media?

Sadly, it seems unlikely.

Read more:

• 40 years on: Remembering when Harrogate hosted Eurovision
• 40 years on: Jan Leeming’s memories of when Harrogate hosted Eurovision
• Eurovision fans sing outside Harrogate Convention Centre to mark 40th anniversary

In 1982, Harrogate Convention Centre was chosen because it was a brand new venue – a chance for the UK to show its modern facilities and ways of working.

However, its 2,000 capacity – perfectly adequate at the time – is unlikely to meet the organisers’ needs to accommodate the huge crowds who clamour to attend each year.

This year’s contest in Turin was held at the PalaOlimpico, which has a capacity of up to 15,657 for concerts. Rotterdam Ahoy, which hosted in 2021, can welcome audiences of more than 16,000.

So if not Harrogate, where?

The UK has hosted Eurovision eight times: four in London, and one each in Edinburgh, Brighton and Birmingham, as well as Harrogate.

Near neighbour Leeds is on the list of potential contenders, with the city council quick to confirm it will bid to hold the event at the First Direct arena, with its 13,781 capacity.

In a joint statement, council leader Cllr James Lewis and Cllr Jonathan Pryor, executive member for economy and culture, said:

“It goes without saying that Leeds will be bidding to host Eurovision in 2023. Together with ASM Global, the operators of the First Direct arena in Leeds, we have already been in touch with both the Government and the BBC to discuss our plans.

“Leeds has already proved that it has the capability and capacity to host major international events and ASM Global successfully hosted Eurovision in the Avicii Arena, Stockholm Sweden in 2016. Given that we will be mid-way through the Leeds 2023 year of culture, it could not come at a better time.

“We are extremely disappointed that Ukraine will be unable to host in 2023, but it would be an honour to host on behalf of them, especially given that West Yorkshire is home to a large number of Ukrainians. If we are successful with our bid, we will be looking to get the local Ukrainian community involved with our plans as much as possible.”

Still, Harrogate’s Eurovision enthusiasts can dream that perhaps one day the contest will return – and bring with it some of the profile that came 40 years ago as our European neighbours ask themselves again, “Où est Harrogate?“

A historic investment in Harrogate Convention Centre could require county council consent to go ahead should a devolution funding bid fail.

In what would be the biggest single spend by Harrogate Borough Council in its lifetime, the convention centre would undergo a £47 million revamp to create more space.

However, questions surround how exactly the authority will fund the project as the clock ticks down to April 2023 when the council is abolished.

‘Devolution negotiations under way’

Funding for the convention centre has formed part of a devolution deal for North Yorkshire, which has already been submitted to government.

The 140-page document, which has already been submitted to ministers, includes a request to “work with government to address the capital funding gap we have identified through our business case work to date”.

However, questions surround where the money would come from for the scheme should ministers not agree to the funding.

Read more:

• No final decision on HCC investment until 2022, says council
• Major redevelopment of Harrogate Convention Centre could start in October

Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, said there could be an opportunity to apply to the government’s levelling up fund.

He added that any investment by the borough council would also require joint county council consent as the authority is restricted to spending no more than £1 million on capital projects.

Cllr Les said:

“Negotiations about devolution for North Yorkshire and York are under way.

“We have made a strong case for more powers and funding in a number of areas, including the Harrogate Convention Centre.

“Discussions are still under way with government and we hope to know the final shape of the deal in July.

“If government does not choose to fund the HCC through a devolution deal, then there could be other funding routes, including the government’s Levelling-Up Fund.

“Harrogate Borough Council is still able to invest in the centre. If the investment was to be more than £1 million, there would need to be joint consent with the county council’s executive.”

Meanwhile, David Goode, chair of Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrats, said the £47 million investment should be paused.

He said:

“North Yorkshire needs to take stock of where the convention centre sits within its overall strategy and how they would like to manage and run it.

“The area as a whole would be worse off if it was closed.”

He suggested there might be a “lower cost” alternative to the £47 million refurbishment that could still result in the venue being “viable” for conferences and concerts.

Cllr Goode also suggested parts of the conference centre could be mothballed for periods of time to reduce costs.

Council silent on HCC

Harrogate Borough Council has so far remained silent over a major £47 million renovation of the town’s convention centre as negotiations continue over funding for the scheme.

The borough council has already spent £1.5 million on contracts for the redevelopment, which has yet to be approved.

Figures revealed by the Local Democracy Reporting Service in December 2021 showed that the council had awarded contracts to companies such as KPMG, Arcadis, and Cushman and Wakefield.

This included design and feasibility work, a first phase business case and an outline business case.

Due to fears of a potential loss of £14.9 million worth of events, the council this year decided to accelerate part of its plans for studio two at the centre.

This would see seminar rooms created to accommodate up to 1,200 people.

According to council reports, a contract award for the acceleration is due to be put before senior borough councillors in June.

Following approval of the acceleration of the project, a competitive tender process was opened with a potential start date for the work earmarked for October.

However, the wider project has yet to be given approval. A spokesperson for the borough council said previously that a decision was due this year on the wider scheme.

With a planned £47 million renovation and a change of control to North Yorkshire Council on the horizon, the next 12 months are set to be pivotal for Harrogate Convention Centre.

Now that last week’s local elections are out of the way, the clock is ticking until one of the town’s major assets is handed over to the new unitary authority.

But key decisions on the convention centre, including the £47 million spend, have yet to be made.

Harrogate Borough Council currently controls the centre’s destiny, but that will no longer be the case come April 1 when it is abolished.

So what will happen with the convention centre and when will decisions be made?

Historic investment

In August 2020, the borough council outlined what would become its single biggest investment in recent times.

It tabled a plan to renovate the convention centre at a cost of £47 million over three phases.

However, while a plan to create seminar rooms in studio two to accommodate up to 1,200 people have been brought forward over fears the local economy could miss out on £14.9 million worth of events, the wider project has yet to be signed off.

Read more:

• No final decision on HCC investment until 2022, says council
• Harrogate Convention Centre boss warns big events ‘at risk’ unless £47m refurbishment is accelerated
• Major redevelopment of Harrogate Convention Centre could start in October

A spokesperson for the council previously said it intented to seek approval for the studio two project ahead of the first phase of the wider scheme.

The council also said that a final decision on the scheme was due to be put before councillors in 2022.

Meanwhile, questions also remain around how exactly the project will be funded.

Council officials have included an investment in the convention centre in a list of requests to government as part of a North Yorkshire devolution deal.

The 140-page document, which has already been submitted to ministers, includes a request to “work with government to address the capital funding gap we have identified through our business case work to date”.

The report adds:

“Our ‘ask’ is that stakeholders work together to develop a dialogue with government to meet the capital shortfall identified through business case modelling.

“Debt costs in meeting this high upfront capital expenditure will weigh-down the projects viability necessitating innovative funding solutions to enable these costs to be mitigated. 

“Finding a means to write-off or subsidise a portion of the upfront capital costs is considered necessary to enable the scheme to be viable.”

Ministers and council leaders in North Yorkshire are currently in negotiations over the devolution deal.

But given the government’s long list of funding headaches at the moment, there is a risk that ministers could not agree to the request – which would raise questions over how the scheme would be funded and who would stump up the cash.

Depending on timing, it’s likely that it fall to the new North Yorkshire Council to take the decision – it too will have funding pressures.

‘An integral part of Harrogate’

While the politics of the convention centre rumbles on, the prospect of any investment remains key to traders.

The centre continues to host a range of events, including bridal shows, political conferences and Thought Bubble Comic Con.

Sue Kramer, Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce president.

For businesses, the hope is that the convention centre attracts more visitors to the town who will then go onto stay, shop and visit the area.

Sue Kramer, Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce president, told the Stray Ferret:

“From a retail perspective, with the number of customers we have who have come to Harrogate specifically because of HCC I regard it as an integral part of Harrogate’s special and unique offering.

“The range of events held throughout the year attract a diverse range of visitors to Harrogate, many of whom then visit the town centre to shop, eat and stay. 

“The HCC is undoubtedly a huge benefit to local businesses.”