A confidential cabinet report leaked to the Stray Ferret warns the Harrogate Convention Centre “will not survive” unless councillors approve a £46.8 million renovation project. 

The document presents councillors with three options: do nothing, do minimum or full renovation. 

But it says the first two options are “not economically viable” and urges members to vote for the third. 

Alternative proposals, such as selling the centre to a private buyer or changing its use, are not on the agenda. 

What’s the proposal? 

The council believes renovation will significantly increase income at the centre as well as in the town’s hotels, bars and restaurants. 

The report spells out the stark need for change, saying the centre’s financial performance has “declined significantly since 2008/9”. 

The venue is forecast to lose £710,000 in the last financial year 2019/20.  

Most recent figures show the centre’s income at £4.6m, a drop from £7.1m in 2008.

Long before it became a Nightingale, bookings had fallen as some longstanding visitors look elsewhere. 

Insurance conference Airmic, once regularly held in Harrogate, had jumped ship to the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. 

Other events previously held in Harrogate, including the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development annual conference and exhibition, and the Royal College of Nursing’s conference, were scheduled for Manchester and Liverpool respectively this year. 

The loss of exhibitions, which are more profitable and less prone to change locations than conferences, has been particularly acutely felt. 

The report says there is a “critical need” for investment. “If the council does nothing, there is a very real risk that the venue will not survive,” it adds.  

To add to the woes, the centre faces £19m maintenance costs over the next 20 years. 

The report said the backlog maintenance bill for the HCC will be around £19m over the next 20 years.

The document said:

“Compensation has increasingly been incurred as a result of heating and cooling failures caused by declining mechanical and electrical systems.”

The report describes the 40-year-old centre as “ageing” and of “poorer quality” than competitors, such as ACC Liverpool, Manchester Central and Hull Venue. 

Full renovation, it says, is necessary.  

Will it work and who will pay? 

The council report says the “do nothing or do minimum options are not economically viable to the centre nor the district as a whole”. 

So if councillors agree to full renovation, the authority will pay consultants £1.1m to develop plans for the upgrade and appoint a project manager, costing £155,000 over three years. 

The Rebuild:  

Phase 1: costing £18.7m, would see the refurbishment of the auditorium and halls Q and D and the creation of break-out rooms for 1,250 delegates in studio 2. 

Phase 2: costing £28.1m would see halls A, B and C demolished and the construction of a new 5,000 square metre hall, costing £15m. 

The second phase also includes work to improve the connectivity between the centre and the Royal Hall and a new glazed facade on Kings Road. 

The council would need to find £22m upfront to begin full redevelopment and hopes to find funders to share the costs. 

The report said: 

“Every council that has refurbished a similar venue or has built similar from scratch has received significant funding support from government, or match funding.” 

“The council will continue to explore opportunities to attract upfront grant funding via public bodies such as the local enterprise partnerships, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Visit England etc.” 

Even so, there is no guarantee of success despite a projected increase in visitors.   

Is the council best placed to deliver? 

This is a huge investment by the taxpayer. The question is whether the investment will work and whether a local authority is best placed to run a venue like the convention centre.  

Most other venues are privately owned. 

Paul Colston, managing editor of Conference & Meetings World, which covers the meetings industry, says investment in Harrogate has been frugal compared to its rivals and recommends the town considers copying Birmingham, where the city council’s sale of the NEC led to significant new investment.  

Mr Colston said: 

“I wonder, whatever the good intentions, whether local authorities can be the best managers of our convention crown jewels. 

“Look at Liverpool’s strides forward with its ACC Liverpool events campus built on its capital of culture campaign in 2008; Newcastle is now expecting a brand new convention centre on the Tyne and Manchester Central’s complex is drawing in many of the conferences and shows that used to come to Harrogate.” 

A 2016 council-commissioned report prepared by Sally Greenhill, of The Right Solution consultancy, described the council business ethos as “less dynamic than that of many of HIC’s competitors”. 

The report said:  

“Council processes are very risk averse whereas risk is a necessary part of events business”.  

The report added that “political aims can be distracting from the running of the facility”, and the council pay grade “makes it difficult to recruit the talent needed”. 

It recommended creating an arm’s-length operating company wholly owned by the council as “the most effective operational model”. This has yet to happen. 

The council’s approach 

Paula Lorimer’s appointment as centre director last year led to a new business strategy focusing less on the declining exhibitions sector and more on conferences. 

If the work is done, the council forecasts business from national associations will increase from 25 per cent to 45 per cent while exhibitions will decline from 36 per cent to 14 per cent over the next five years. 

The Conservative Party’s decision to host its spring conference in Harrogate was a coup, although it never went ahead due to coronavirus. 

But the council believes renovation will set the council on a course that will benefit not just the centre but the entire town. 

The report said: 

“The wider economic impact of the proposals on Harrogate, the district and beyond is likely to be significant and understanding this is critical to the wider case.” 

Doing nothing, the council warns, may lead to the centre’s demise.  

Spending £50 million in such a competitive market however, is also fraught with risk. 

Read more:

• Why has the convention centres value to the local economy dropped from £60 to £35m? 

For the past decade, Harrogate Borough Council has publicly sold the HCC as having an economic benefit to the town of around £60m.   

Yet at a full council meeting in December last year that figure dropped to a value of £35 million.   

This week councillors will take a step towards taking one of the biggest financial decisions in recent decades – £47 million worth of investment of taxpayers’ money in the HCC in an effort to make it profitable.  

The question is – what is the real value of the HCC to the local economy?

Read more:

• Council considers £47m redevelopment of Harrogate Convention Centre
• Why some councillors think Harrogate should be compensated for the Nightingale
• How the extension of the Nightingale contract is a “huge blow” for local businesses

The £60 million figure has been included in almost all local authority reports, including its annual report in 2019.   

That figure has been based upon annual economic impact summaries carried out by the council and includes a range of assumptions, such as average visitor numbers, how much each individual spends and length of stay.   

An example of an economic impact summary used to assess the value of the HCC in 2016/17.

In its annual report in 2019, the council said: 

“We are responding to the challenges of the changing nature of the conference industry by redeveloping the Harrogate Convention Centre site.  

“The facility contributes around £55 million a year to the local economy and has an important role to play in the district.” 

That was until December that year when council leader, Richard Cooper, was quoted at a full council meeting as saying the HCC is worth £35 million to the town.

Minutes from the meeting said: 

“The leader reported on the performance for the last year and advised that the Visit Britain methodology was now being used to calculate the economic impact for the district. 

“The number of conferences and exhibitions had remained the same and using the new methodology it was estimated that the HCC would drive approximately £35 million of economic impact for 2019/20.”   

It brings into question how the council had previously reached a figure almost double that and whether it felt some pressure to justify continued investment.

And is that value just to Harrogate alone? There are those outside the town who argue that a huge amount of public money is spent on a centre that does not bring significant economic benefit to the wider district.

Convention Centre losses  

In the last 12 financial years, the centre has reported a loss on eight occasions and seen its income drop from £7 million in 2008 to £4 million 10 years later.

As a subsidised economic driver for the town, the HCC relies on taxpayer money to be able to operate the way it does.  

According to the council’s own statement of accounts, in the years where the HCC made a loss the total cost to the public purse was £5,793,606.

Harrogate Convention Centre.

Meanwhile, council papers leaked to The Stray Ferret show that it reported a £710,000 cost for 2019/20.  

Explaining the loss, the report said:  

“This is largely attributed to the increasingly ageing facilities which are of a poorer quality and scale than HCC’s growing number of competitors (many of which have also been redeveloping in recent years).   

“This in turn has led to a loss of market share and a fall in the number and scale of events.” 

It paints a picture of an operating model that requires radical change in order to better serve its customers.  

Years of indecision  

Four years and four consultants on, the HCC and its future remains uncertain.  

2016 –  The Right Solution published a report into the future of the centre and listed recommendations including an arms length company. Paid £32,572.

2018 – IPW Consultancy is brought in to review market analysis of conferences and exhibition centres and 

2018 – Property advisor Cushman and Wakefield was appointed by the council to come up with a business case for the site. Paid £137,550.

2018 – Group Ginger was also appointed to develop a masterplan of the redevelopment. 

But a further £40,000 was granted in November 2019 to commission a consultant to look into a different option for the site following a change in leadership at the HCC.

The borough council appointed Cushman and Wakefield as the consultants for the plan. 

The report said: 

“The HCC redevelopment project poses significant commercial, reputational and financial risks to the council and in order that we are able to make sound recommendations for investment decisions, we are now seeking to commission further specialist advice to test and compare how the alternative, client-led option performs against the status quo position and the original project objectives.” 

Now again in 2020 the borough council looks set to spend £1 million, most of which will be borrowed, to consult further on one set of design proposals.

Is there a different vision? 

The decision going to the council offers only one vision – to keep the site as a convention centre. The only question put to councillors is how much money they want to spend on refurbishing it.

Could there be a different vision for the site that could provide a sustainable economic driver for Harrogate? That is not on the table.

The borough council it seems has put all of our eggs in one basket in the hope the centre will finally start to make a profit and bring more income to Harrogate.

Read more:

• EXCLUSIVE: Leaked report reveals dire financial state of Harrogate Convention Centre

Just nine days remain until the end of the contract for the Nightingale hospital in Harrogate – and there is still no confirmation of its future.

Although the Prime Minister announced on Friday that £3bn of funding was being given to the NHS to fund Nightingale hospitals through the winter if needed, the future of the Harrogate facility has not been confirmed.

Both Harrogate Borough Council, which owns the centre and the NHS have said no decision has been made on whether the contract for the venue will be extended after the end of July.

The venue has been home to the field hospital since late March, when it was set up in just three weeks by NHS staff and the armed forces. The initial contract ran until the end of June, before being extended to the end of July.

Now, with conferences and events across the country able to resume from October 1, businesses are calling for clarity on HCC’s future so they can plan for their recovery from lockdown.

Andrew Manby, a director of family events firm Joe Manby Ltd, which was founded 46 years ago, said the future of the town’s economy is in the balance. He asked the NHS to announce a decision soon:

“No decision is equally damaging as the wrong decision. If they do keep the Nightingale, I understand those needs and people’s health is paramount, but it puts Harrogate into a very difficult position.

“This is potentially a game-changing time. What will be left of the events and meetings industry in Harrogate if this thing goes on through to the middle of next year?”

Andrew Manby is calling for more support for local businesses

This week, the NEC in Birmingham confirmed it would be reopening in full as its Nightingale hospital was decommissioned, leaving a small non-Covid stand-by facility in place until March. With 20 halls, however, only a fraction of its space was taken up by the Nightingale, whereas almost all of HCC has been occupied.

Meanwhile, Manchester’s Nightingale hospital has been placed on stand-by ready for future cases, after treating Covid patients earlier this year. If Harrogate’s Nightingale were to close, Manchester would be the closest alternative for patients from across Yorkshire and the Humber, along with Washington, Tyne and Wear.

Read more: 

• Council considers £47m redevelopment of Harrogate Convention Centre
• Hospital parking to remain free for NHS workers

A spokesperson for the NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire and the Humber said:

“We welcome the news that more funding is being made available to fight the Covid pandemic. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank the people of Harrogate for their invaluable support to date. We continue to work closely with our colleagues at NHS England and Harrogate Borough Council to agree the next steps for our regional temporary hospital at HCC.”

Harrogate Convention Centre has been set up as a field hospital since April, but no Covid patients have been treated there

For Harrogate, the question is not just whether the Nightingale will remain in place, but what happens to the local economy if it does.

HCC says it brings £35m into the area through trade and public events during a normal year. Hotels, bars, restaurants and cafes all benefit from HCC visitors and have previously raised concerns about how they will survive without that trade over the coming months.

Even if the Nightingale hospital is removed, Mr Manby said organisers will be making difficult decisions about whether their events can go ahead safely – and if they are viable with fewer visitors.

Working across the UK, he said his fears were for the local, independent hospitality businesses that make Harrogate unique, and for the resulting impact on the town’s future prospects.

“When HCC come back, as they will, what facilities are going to be left that we can promote the town with?

“It’s the smaller independents that make Harrogate the unique facility it is. If they aren’t going to survive, that’s the unique offering Harrogate has. It’s going to change the whole shape and form of the town – forever, possibly.

“It will be the serious demise of Harrogate as an event and exhibition facility, which has been built up over 50-plus years. It could be gone.

“We will work hard to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Harrogate Borough Council is considering a major £46.8 million investment in the Harrogate Convention Centre.

The council will ask the cabinet next week to spend £1 million on detailed design and project work. The majority of that £1 million will be borrowed. It is unclear how the council will fund the full refurbishment.

Harrogate Convention Centre is now over 40 years old and the council has acknowledged that the infrastructure and equipment are both reaching the end of their useful life.

Council documents estimate that without investment, it would cost £19 million in long term maintenance costs and the “venue will not survive.”

It is also unclear when the project would start as the NHS has extended the Nightingale Hospital contract over the past few months.

The Prime Minister recently confirmed it could stay until March 2021, though no agreement has been reached with the NHS.

Read more:

• How long Harrogate’s Nightingale will remain in place
• Why some councillors think Harrogate should be compensated for the Nightingale
• How the extension of the Nightingale contract is a “huge blow” for local businesses

The council is proposing to refurbish the conference centre, auditorium and two of the main halls. They also plan to divide the space known as Studio 2 to create “breakout facilities” for up to 1,850 delegates.

Plans also include “refreshing the look” of the outside of the building and improving access between internal spaces. To improve the centre’s energy costs the council also plans to improve the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

The second phase of the plans also proposes demolishing a part of the site to make way for a new 5,000 square metre events space. The report assumes a three year delay between the first and second phases.

The centre’s managers said they are moving away from focusing purely on exhibitions to include large national association conferences, attracting more than 500 delegates. They said this will increase the £35 million economic impact brought to the town by the venue.

Paula Lorimer, the director of Harrogate Convention Centre, said:

“Our exciting plans will reinvigorate and re-establish the convention centre. My ambition is for us to return to the top tier of conference and exhibition centres in the UK as we attract new – and bigger – events in the future. This will have a significant, positive, impact on the local economy.”

Business organisations have called for events to be moved to other venues in Harrogate while the convention centre is out of use.

Events and conferences will be able to resume from October 1 under new government guidance, but Harrogate Convention Centre is expected to play host to the NHS Nightingale hospital for another eight months.

It could mean that events scheduled to take place there will move elsewhere – and, once lost, the business may not return in future years. Harrogate BID said it will do all it can to help organisers and venues keep events in the area, to help local businesses survive. Acting chair Sara Ferguson said:

“It goes without saying that this is a blow for Harrogate’s conference and exhibition trade. We now need to do all we can to ensure that whilst the Convention Centre, Royal Hall and exhibition halls are out of commission, those events that are due to take place are offered alternative accommodation within the town, be it in hotels or at the Great Yorkshire Showground.

“Harrogate BID will help in whatever way it can, which could include sponsoring shuttle buses between the town centre and the showground. We are also looking at a calendar of events that will bring people into the town centre on a regular basis.”

Harrogate BID has deep cleaned the town centre and vowed to do all it can to keep events in the local area

The managers of Yorkshire Event Centre and Pavilions of Harrogate, both on the Great Yorkshire Showground, said they are keen to host events and help local businesses. They said an independent report last year found the venues brought an economic impact of £73.7m to the area. Managing director Heather Parry said:

“Harrogate remains the ideal destination to hold events and our local economy needs events to thrive. This year has clearly been a different picture but we are here, prepared and ready to open safely in October.

“The Yorkshire Event Centre and Pavilions of Harrogate are both light and airy venues with easy access to outside space and have extensive free car parking, all of which are key to offering safe and accessible spaces.  All profits generated from our venues go towards helping to support the charitable work of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.

“We are hoping to support our districts hospitality sector by hosting a wide range of events. In times like these we must all pull together and support each other.”

Similarly, the DoubleTree by Hilton Majestic Hotel – which should this week have hosted marquees as part of the Home & Gift Fair at HCC – said it stands ready to play its part. General manager Andy Barnsdale said:

“Of course the loss of the Convention Centre for the foreseeable future is a disappointment, and it is crucial that we don’t lose any events to other towns and cities.

“Harrogate is one of the most popular destinations for conferences, trade shows and events in the UK. Delegates and organisers love coming to Harrogate and we need to let them know the town is very much open for business.”

Read more: 

• Calls for government to offer compensation over loss of event trade in Harrogate
• Council leader warns some businesses will not survive coronavirus crisis

Though Boris Johnson today said £3bn of funding was being arranged to enable the Nightingale hospitals across the country to remain in place until the end of March, Harrogate Borough Council said the contract with the NHS has yet to be finalised. However, Nightingale hospitals around the UK are expected to remain on stand-by in case a second wave of cases overwhelms existing hospitals, and in the meantime will offer additional testing and treatment facilities for other illnesses.

Decline in investment

While business owners who have spoken to The Stray Ferret in recent months have not questioned the value of additional NHS facilities to deal with the Covid pandemic, they have raised concerns about the ability of the town to survive without a major source of income through the year.

Events including the Knitting and Stitching Show, the Country Living Christmas Fair and the Bridal Show bring in thousands of visitors who, as well as visiting the halls, stay in local hotels or guesthouses, eat out in town, and visit local shops.

Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce said the drop in trade could see a decline in investment in the area and even the loss of some businesses with a “hard winter” looming. Chief executive Sandra Doherty said:

“Whilst Harrogate has never completely relied on the conference and exhibition trade, it has been the business which underpins the leisure trade.

“There is the choice and number of bed spaces in Harrogate solely due to the Convention Centre trade, and without it we may well see a decline in investment and perhaps the loss of some of these businesses. The number of places to eat and drink also relies on the influx of large numbers of visitors and delegates during conferences and exhibitions.

“What will happen to these is anybody’s guess as they continue to suffer from the impact of Covid restrictions.

“Harrogate is a town which enjoys popularity and status. I really hope this will help us through what could well be a hard winter for many.”

Government should compensate for a loss of business at Harrogate Convention Centre due to the Nightingale Hospital extension, say opposition councillors.

Pat Marsh, Liberal Democrat leader of the opposition on Harrogate Borough Council, said the hospital was needed but added that the government should offer support for the impact of having the convention centre out of action for longer.

It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced £3 billion worth of funding to maintain the Nightingale Hospitals across the country until the end of March.

NHS England will be given the money in preparation for a potential second wave of covid-19 this winter.

Read more:

• Harrogate’s Nightingale hospital to remain until March
• WATCH: Harrogate’s Nightingale opens: A rapid feat of construction and engineering
• Fears for local economy as hospitality and events remain on hold

But Cllr Marsh said the conference centre “underpins” Harrogate’s economy and the government should be made aware of its economic impact.

She said:

“We do need the hospital as a fallback. But I think we need the government to give us some compensation to filter down to those businesses that are going to be left high and dry.

“The government needs to know what impact it is having. It needs to step up to the plate.”

Earlier this year, local businesses raised fears about the impact of having the convention centre unable to host events for at least a year.

Harrogate Borough Council said it is still discussing with NHS Yorkshire and Humber over what role the Nightingale at the convention centre will play.

The prime minister has confirmed that money has been set aside to keep the Nightingale hospitals available until 2021. We continue our discussions with NHS Yorkshire and Humber about what role @HgtConventions will play, but nothing has yet been decided. pic.twitter.com/e6Z4njx8Vl

— Harrogate Borough Council (@Harrogatebc) July 17, 2020

Andrew Jones, Harrogate and Knaresborough MP, has been contacted for comment but had not responded by the time of publication.

If cases remain at a manageable level for existing hospitals, the Nightingales will continue to offer extra capacity for routine testing and treatment. The Nightingale hospital in Harrogate has been offering CT scanning to non-Covid patients since June 4.

It was set up by armed forces and NHS professionals in just three weeks in spring to offer additional treatment facilities for patients from across Yorkshire and the Humber. Staff were trained on site, staying in local hotels, but no Covid patients were ever admitted and the hospital was eventually put on stand-by.

The NHS was not paying any rent for use of Harrogate Convention Centre under the initial contract. It is not yet clear whether rent will now be payable to Harrogate Borough Council, which owns and runs HCC.

The NHS Nightingale hospital will remain at Harrogate Convention Centre until next March, the Prime Minister has confirmed.

Additional funding of £3bn has been given to NHS England to maintain the emergency hospitals across the country in case of a second wave of Covid cases this winter.

In a briefing from Downing Street, Boris Johnson said:

“This will allow the NHS to continue to use the extra hospital capacity acquired from the private sector and also to maintain the Nighingale hospitals until the end of March.”

If cases remain at a manageable level for existing hospitals, the Nightingales will continue to offer extra capacity for routine testing and treatment. The Nightingale hospital in Harrogate has been offering CT scanning to non-Covid patients since June 4.

It was set up by armed forces and NHS professionals in just three weeks in spring to offer additional treatment facilities for patients from across Yorkshire and the Humber. Staff were trained on site, staying in local hotels, but no Covid patients were ever admitted and the hospital was eventually put on stand-by.

The NHS was not paying any rent for use of Harrogate Convention Centre under the initial contract. It is not yet clear whether rent will now be payable to Harrogate Borough Council, which owns and runs HCC.

Earlier this year, local businesses raised fears about the impact of having the convention centre unable to host events for at least a year. With the local economy heavily reliant on hospitality trade from public and trade events, many hotels, restaurants, bars and cafes could see a significant drop in their annual turnover as they try to recover from the coronavirus lockdown.

Read more:

• WATCH: Harrogate Convention Centre transformed into NHS Nightingale
• Fears for hospitality sector as events remain on hold

Despite spending millions, Harrogate Borough Council still faces problems with its new civic centre. 

The amount of parking on offer has been controversial from the outset and results in staff having to park elsewhere – taking up valuable commercial spaces and clogging residential streets. 

While HBC argued its move to the new civic centre would save £1m a year, this would have been true no matter which site the council chose for its new headquarters. 

The building itself has no mayor’s parlour for civic occasions, a choice which was queried by groups including Harrogate Civic Society, leaving nowhere to host visitors.

The council also made the move knowing that changes could lie ahead for local government, with the future shape of local government in North Yorkshire being debated at the time. Now, with HBC having only been in the civic centre for two years, even the existence of district councils is up for debate as North Yorkshire prepares for devolution.

Why is parking a problem? 

From the outset, the amount of parking was controversial.  

• Previously, 266 spaces were available across HBC’s five sites 
• Knapping Mount has just 95 spaces for staff and visitors 
• 561 staff are based there (though not all are there five days a week) 

As a result, the council is using spaces at the nearby Harrogate Convention Centre as overflow parking. In its plans for using up to 130 of these spaces, HBC acknowledged that it could result in a reduction in the £150,000 annual income from the public using the HCC car park 

When events are held, staff can park free in the Victoria multi-storey car park, using permits issued by HBC.  

• Usual cost of £11.70 for nine hours 
• Annual parking pass costs a member of the public £1,512 
• 786 parking spaces available 
• 698 parking passes have been issued to staff 

While it is unlikely they would all be used at the same time for the full day, there is no limit on how many spaces in the Victoria Car Park can be taken up by council staff. 

Not only does this mean that staff are being given free parking in a prime spot for shoppers who could be supporting local businesses, but it also limits the potential income for the council from parking spaces. 

The new civic centre car park has 95 spaces, with 561 staff based there

A report to HBC’s cabinet in November 2014, before building work began at Knapping Mount, rejected the multi-storey car park as an option. It said: 

“The use of Victoria Car Park as a potential location for employee parking has been considered, however feedback suggests that this may not be well utilised by employees due to the facility being more distant from the Knapping Mount site.” 

However, staff are now given passes for that car park when the convention centre is in use. If they do, as predicted, feel it is too far, the only option left to staff who drive is to park on surrounding streets. 

North Yorkshire County Council, which looks after on-street parking, warned during the planning process that it would have to enforce residents’ parking zones if neighbouring streets became congested. It said it would review the situation annually for five years after the new civic centre was occupied, in December 2017. 

The county council told The Stray Ferret it was working with HBC to monitor the situation, but follow-up surveys to its initial report have not been possible during the pandemic and would not give a representative picture of normal working days. Allan McVeigh, NYCC’s head of network strategy, said:

“Harrogate Borough Council is not only obliged to monitor how staff travel to the civic centre and where they park, it has also committed to promoting sustainable travel and encouraging staff, councillors and visitors to reduce their car use.

“The borough council has provided us with a draft monitoring report that contains the results of a travel survey, an update on agreed travel plans as well as a number of initiatives to promote sustainable travel to the civic centre.”

The full report will be published on HBC’s website once finalised.

Read more:

• The Stray Ferret reveals the civic centre cost taxpayers £17m
• Expensive design choices as council sought to ‘express nature of democracy’
• The alternative site that could have saved £7m

What savings have been made?

An ambitious savings target of £1m per year was set by HBC when it planned its new civic centre, which the ruling Conservative party said would mean the £5m spend would pay for itself in five years. 

Taken from a Conservative leaflet distributed in 2014

In its 2019 annual report, HBC said:  

“Savings of £909k from our move to civic centre have been built into the base budget and approved budget for 2019/20.” 

According to the council, this is made up of: 

• Senior management review – £269,000 
• Running costs – £265,000 
• Facilities management and support services – £134,000 
• Reduction in annual provision for print equipment replacement – £13,500 
• ICT – £227,000 
• TOTAL – £908,500 

The same could have been achieved by a move to any modern building. Knapping Mount did not have to be chosen in order to reduce staff numbers and streamline IT.  

A move to any single site would have delivered the same results – so a site and build which cost millions less would have paid for itself much sooner. 

If the new civic centre is no longer needed

When the public consultation over the Knapping Mount proposal was held in 2015, concerns were raised about future changes to local government.  

At the time, Harrogate Chamber of Trade and Commerce said a potential move to a unitary authority in the coming years could mean Harrogate no longer has a council, being replaced by a single authority for the whole county. 

The chamber argued that the decision over a new office should be delayed until the future of local government was clearer. However, HBC’s response at the time was that, should a move to unitary authority be made, a new civic centre would put Harrogate in an ideal position to become its headquarters.  

With discussions about unitary authorities and devolution still going on, the council’s civic centre may not be needed in the next few years

Even with that level of uncertainty, HBC chose to spend millions on a new headquarters. Its five offices could have lasted a few more years until the future of local government had been confirmed. 

If it had deemed the move essential at the time, a more traditional building design would have been pragmatic: the council could have extended or sold the building, or even leased part of it to a commercial tenant, if its needs changed. 

As it is, one local expert told The Stray Ferret that the council’s choice of a round building has restricted its adaptability for re-use or sale in future, meaning it is less valuable than it might have been.  

Five years later, the issue of changes to local government is still being debated. North Yorkshire County Council leader Carl Les told The Stray Ferret last week that discussions are still being held about forming a combined authority for North Yorkshire – and Unison has issued a statement raising concerns about the situation. 

The future of local government in Harrogate is still uncertain – meaning the new civic centre may no longer be required just a few years after it was built.

Next:

• The questions still remaining over Harrogate’s civic centre

The Chief Executive of the NHS Sir Simon Stevens has given a strong indication that Harrogate’s NHS Nightingale at the Harrogate Convention Centre will stay in place for the winter.

The 500 bed Nightingale Yorkshire and Humber has yet to treat a single coronavirus patient. Its CT scans have recently started to be used for regular NHS patients.

Sir Simon Stevens appeared on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show this morning. He was asked about the use of the Nightingale hospitals in the future.  His response was the strongest indication yet that the Harrogate Nightingale will stay beyond its existing contract with Harrogate Borough Council, which owns the HCC,  that runs until the end of July.

“We are going to use them in two ways, first of all as we’re doing in Harrogate and Exeter, we want Nightingale type diagnostic care to ensure people can get tests and check ups and also we need to sustain a significant part of that capacity going into the winter, given the concerns of a resurgence of the virus.”

“We’ve seen in other countries in Australia, Spain and Germany that local lockdowns are required because coronavirus will be with us for months if not years to come.”

Harrogate Nightingale Hospital was lit up blue yesterday evening to celebrate the 72nd birthday of the NHS.

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Sir Simon has said that this virus could be “with us for months if not years”. His comments will have been closely watched by the hospitality industry in Harrogate as events at the HCC bring in millions of pounds of businesses.

The Stray Ferret previously reported that the borough council was preparing to reopen the convention centre in the autumn if the NHS did not renew its contract.

Major events could return to Harrogate Convention Centre in the autumn, according to the council, bringing a much-needed boost to the local economy.

The centre is currently occupied by the NHS Nightingale hospital, but with the current contract set to run out at the end of July, discussions are being held with event holders to enable visitors to be welcomed safely..

Harrogate Borough Council, which owns the convention centre, said it is awaiting confirmation from the NHS about whether the contract will continue, but in the meantime is working to ready itself for events to return when government guidance allows.

The convention centre is offering additional space for free, including its landmark auditorium, in order to enable social distancing. A spokesman for the council said:

“Much work will need to be done to return the convention centre back to normal from its role as a Nightingale hospital supporting the national response to the coronavirus pandemic.

“That will involve more than just cleaning.  We will be putting measures in place to ensure future events can go ahead safely and in line with social distancing rules.

“We look forward to welcoming back clients as soon as we are able to.”

Harrogate Convention Centre, currently home to a Nightingale hospital, could be opened for events from September

Sandra Doherty, Chief Executive of Harrogate District Chamber Commerce, said events returning to the convention centre would be “fantastic news for Harrogate’s hospitality industry and the town itself”. She added:

“Some accommodation providers had feared the convention centre and exhibition halls might have been out of commission until next spring, which would have been a disaster for many of them.

“Those who rely on the conference and exhibition trade can now look ahead to the rest of the year with a little more certainty. October and November are particular busy months, with the halls hosting a number of major shows, including Country Living and Knitting and Stitching.

“The creation of the Nightingale Hospital in the Convention Centre put Harrogate centre stage in the fight against Covid-19. Being able to host a 500-bed emergency hospital demonstrates its capabilities. We now need to capitalise on this and use it as a powerful selling tool to win new conferences, event and fairs.”

Among those preparing to go ahead are the Knitting & Stitching Show in November and the Country Living Christmas Fair in December, both run by Upper Street Events, which has been liaising with the convention centre. A spokesman said:

“The venue advised us some time back that they would be contracted with the NHS until the end of July. They then plan a deep clean and to complete some development work, they will be operational for ‘normal’ business from September.

“For this reason, we are continuing to plan the events. We are expecting some detail in the next few weeks on how the events industry should unlock and we will then be able to give guidance on visitor and exhibitors expectation, as you will have seen from other industries such as retail.”

Meanwhile, the Homebuilding and Renovating Show, has been postponed from November to February next year, with organisers also planning to return to their normal November dates at the end of 2021.

Comic convention Thought Bubble has also announced that this year’s event will be virtual and it plans to return to the convention centre in 2021.