Harrogate Archives - Page 322 of 795

Two Harrogate primary schools to install solar panels

Rossett Acre Primary School and Oatlands Junior School are to install solar panels on their roofs to generate renewable energy.

Plans were approved by North Yorkshire Council this week to install the technology under permitted development rules, which don’t require full planning applications.

Rossett Acre will see around 120 panels installed with a capacity to generate up to 50.90 kWp of renewable electricity.

Around 48 panels will be installed at Oatlands with a capacity to generate up to 20.40 kWp.

Schools have been particularly affected by the rise in energy bills with the National Education Union warning last year that children’s education could suffer as headteachers face extra cost pressures.

From April, the government extended its energy support for schools by a further 12 months but it only applies to those paying the highest gas and electricity rates.

Both Oatlands and Rossett Acre are part of the Red Kite Learning Trust. Its estates manager Samantha Shuttleworth wrote in planning documents about both applications:

”It is considered that the proposed solar panels would be complementary to the character of the building.

”The visual appearance of the solar panels on the roofed area is considered appropriate for the school building, thereby enhancing the visionary appearance of the site as an up-to-date centre for learning, creating responsible citizens for tomorrow’s world with an appreciation for their surroundings and a duty of care for the environment.

”It is considered that the panels could have a positive impact on the character of the building and no overall detrimental impact on the surrounding area.”

Sharp rise in overseas nurses recruited at Harrogate hospital

The number of nurses recruited from overseas to work at Harrogate District Hospital has jumped from fewer than five in 2017 to 31 last year, figures show.

Harrogate & District NHS Foundation Trust, like many health trusts across the country, has increasingly relied on overseas workers to plug the gap left by UK-based nurses leaving the profession.

Recruitment within the NHS has been highlighted recently by the striking nurses’ union the Royal College of Nursing. It has said low pay and working conditions are leading to a “mass exodus” of young nurses from hospitals.

A report published by the royal college in February found that between 2018 and 2022, nearly 43,000 people aged 21 to 50 left the Nursing and Midwifery Council register.

Figures on overseas nurses at Harrogate hospital. Data: Local Democracy Reporting Service.

A freedom of information request submitted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service found that 31 nurses were recruited from overseas last year, which is almost three times higher than the figure for 2021.

The figures also show 10 doctors were recruited last year from abroad.

Since 2017, the trust has recruited nurses from India, Nigeria, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and the USA but a trust spokesperson said the number makes up a small number of its total workforce.

The social care sector has also looked to employ more overseas workers to help ease a well-documented staffing crisis, with North Yorkshire Council recently bringing in over 30 care professionals from South Africa and Zimbabwe.

A Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said:

“Recruitment from outside of the UK is an important part of the workforce supply strategy of NHS organisations, including HDFT. Recruiting internationally enhances our workforce with different skills, experience, expertise and perspectives.

“Whilst the majority of our workforce are employed from within the UK, we have an active programme of recruiting nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals from overseas, which complements our national recruitment activity as well as supporting the development of a multicultural workforce more representative of the people we serve.

“To ensure ethical recruitment, we do this work in collaboration with other NHS organisations. For instance, we are in partnership with the Kerala Government in India for nursing and allied health professional recruitment via the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership.

“Staff members who have been recruited from overseas have stayed in Harrogate to continue their careers in the NHS and are a valued part of our workforce, and we will continue to recruit internationally in the future.

“Whilst overseas recruitment has grown over the last few years in a number of areas, it still remains a small part of our recruitment activity.

“We value every member of our workforce and the important role they play in providing a health care service that we can all be proud of.”

Business Breakfast: Knaresborough energy company appoints finance officer

It’s time to join the Stray Ferret Business Club. Our next networking event is after-work drinks at Manahatta, on May 25th at 5:30.

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 Knaresborough green energy company has appointed a new chief financial officer.

Harmony Energy, which is based at Conyngham Hall Business Centre, has hired Rob Scott to the position.

Mr Scott, who lives in Boroughbridge, previously worked at Key Group, as well as AA and Saga.

He will be tasked with overseeing finance, IT and human resources at Harmony Energy.

Peter Kavanagh, Harmony Energy’s chief executive and co-founder, said:

“I am delighted to welcome Rob to the business.

“He brings with him a wealth of experience and will provide the strategic guidance, insight and leadership we need as we continue to grow, not only in the UK, but overseas as well.”

Mr Scott said:

“Harmony Energy presents an exciting challenge for me, as it’s a business that I believe has the ambition and drive for growth.

“It has a fantastic team led by an exceptional management team who collectively are committed to delivering excellence in the global renewable energy sector.

“The company has achieved great success to date, and I look forward to adding to that as we build on what has already been accomplished.”

Harrogate business group meeting to focus on tourism

A Harrogate business group’s next monthly meeting will focus on tourism in the town.

Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce is holding the event, which will include its annual general meeting, on Monday, May 15.

The meeting will include a presentation from Helen Suckling, destination events manager at Destination Harrogate, about the organisation’s strategy for 2022 to 2025.

The event, which is being held at Windsor House on Cornwall Road, will include a networking session and refreshments for guests.

For more information and to register attendance, visit the EventBrite page here.

Guests can arrive at 5.30pm and the meeting will start at 6.15pm.

Jobs lost as Harrogate firm restructures

An IT firm has laid off 16 staff in Harrogate.

Techbuyer, which refurbishes IT equipment, said in a statement today the job losses were part of a restructuring.

The company, which was founded by Kevin Towers in Harrogate in 2005, is based on Hornbeam Park and operates sites in the United States, Germany, France, Australia and New Zealand.

Chief executive Mr Towers said:

“These decisions have been really hard to make, they have not been taken lightly and have come in the face of market pressures since January. Many other IT businesses, large and small, UK based and global, have had to restructure since then.

“Myself and the management team have explored every angle to avoid this unfortunate situation, but have been left with no alternative but to restructure, including these staff reductions, in order to protect the business moving forwards.”

The Stray Ferret was alerted to the news by a whistleblower, who criticised the way the company handled the news last week.

Mr Towers said the company had focused heavily on rewarding staff over 18 years, adding:

“As we’ve grown, we have shared our success with very generous companywide bonuses, cost of living crisis bonuses, consistent pay increases, community and charitable donations and more. Unfortunately, during this challenging time, we have had to make some very difficult choices as well.

“I thank everyone for all their hard work at Techbuyer, it is appreciated. To stress the point, decisions like this would not be taken unless absolutely necessary and I wish all those affected all the best for the future.”

Techbuyer, which employs 203 of its 297 global workforce in Harrogate, works with partners, including manufacturers such as HPE, Dell and Lenovo, to promote the environmental, cost and performance benefits of refurbished enterprise IT hardware.

According to its website, it configures over 5,000 servers every year and erases data from more than 12,000 hard drives every month in the UK.

Harrogate man jailed for ‘sexualised’ online chats with young girls

A Harrogate man has been jailed for over three years after his debauched online chats with young girls led him into a trap set by police.

Benjamin Shutt, 30, “cruised” the internet in search of easy targets and found them on social media apps installed on his phone, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor David Hewitt said police forensic officers downloaded no less than 816 pages of chats which “began innocently and soon became sexualised”.

Shutt, who told one girl she “needed a sugar daddy”, used the KIK messenger app to contact the first under-age child, who told him she was 14 years old.

Mr Hewitt said there were about 220 messages sent between Shutt, of Grove Park View, and the teenager between April 20 and May 16, 2020.

Shutt sent her a picture of his private parts, which he followed up with a request for her to “send me more please, baby”.

Mr Hewitt added:

“He asked for some photos of her body in the bath.”

He told the girl he wanted to have sex with her “so badly” and then they talked about meeting up.

The girl agreed to meet, but Shutt told her they “probably couldn’t” because he was twice her age.

There were further sexual conversations in which Shutt talked about “the various things he would like to do to her”.

After the girl sent him a very intimate picture of herself upon request, Shutt asked her if she had photos of herself when she was younger.

He then sent her a link via the KIK app to videos of him performing a sexual act on himself and urged her to watch them.

Shutt targeted another young girl on the Whisper app in December 2020. He asked how old she was and when she initially told him she was 12, the messages continued regardless.

He asked her if she “enjoyed” the conversations and urged her to send him an intimate photo.

The girl later told him that her real age was 14, to which Shutt replied: “That’s fine with me.”

He said he wanted to have sex with her and “advised” her on how to perform a sexual act on herself. He then sent the girl an image of himself performing a lewd act.

Police trap

On Valentine’s Day 2021, Shutt ran out of luck when the 12-year-old ‘girl’ with whom he thought he was chatting turned out to be an undercover police officer posing as a teenager who posted a message on Whisper asking: “Why are boys so rubbish?”

Mr Hewitt said:

“The defendant replied and invited her to engage in private chat.”

The chats moved to another online platform and lasted about five weeks to the end of March 2021.

Mr Hewitt said:

“He told her that she needed a sugar daddy and explained what this was.”

Shutt asked the ‘girl’ if she had ever performed a sexual act on herself and offered her an “instruction” on how to do so. He then urged her to carry out the act.

Police raided on his home in Harrogate in April 2021 and found him in his bedroom. They seized his mobile phone.

Forensic analysis showed there were seven category C indecent images of children on Shutt’s phone. Mr Hewitt said there was also evidence to suggest Shutt had been chatting with other children, although this didn’t lead to further charges.

Shutt was charged with two counts of attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity, two counts of attempted sexual communication with a child, one count of attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act and one count of possessing indecent images of children.

He admitted all the offences and appeared for sentence today.

‘Corrupting young girls’

Defence barrister Andrew Stranex said Shutt had endured a traumatic childhood and had been chatting with the girls during the coronavirus lockdown.

He added that Shutt was an “isolated and marginalised” figure with few friends and that his offending had had a “massive” impact on his family.

Judge Sean Morris told Shutt:

“You pleaded guilty to a whole series of offences which involved you cruising the internet looking for young girls to corrupt.

“There were two real victims before you were caught by an undercover officer patrolling the internet.

“As far as you were aware, that was (an underage) girl. You were obviously sexually aroused by young teenage girls.”

Shutt was jailed for three years and five months and placed on the sex offenders register for life.

He was also given an eight-year sexual-harm prevention order mainly to curb his internet activities.

Police sack Harrogate officer convicted of sexual assault

A Harrogate police officer convicted of sexual assault has been sacked.

Joseph McCabe, 27, was found guilty of one count of sexual assault and given a suspended sentence in March this year.

McCabe was given a six-month jail sentence suspended for two years. He was also placed on the sex-offenders register for seven years, fined £808 and given a three-year restraining order.

Following a misconduct hearing on Friday (April 28), North Yorkshire Police has now dismissed the 27-year-old without notice.

A decision notice published after the hearing, which was conducted by chief constable Lisa Winward, said:

“Having assessed the misconduct here as serious misconduct, which caused both direct harm to a victim that amounts to violence against women and girls, it is also an aggravating factor in respect of the seriousness of the allegations.

“It also has the potential to cause serious damage to the public confidence in the police and bearing in mind that the misconduct was so serious that it also amounted to an offence of sexual assault, in my judgment the only appropriate outcome is one of dismissal without notice.”

McCabe was sentenced on March 31 at York Magistrates Court for sexually assaulting a woman at a Travelodge at Scotch Corner, where he was attending a wedding with a number of colleagues.

At the time, district judge Tan Ikram told McCabe he had given “no credible explanation as to why (the victim) would make up such a serious allegation”.

Following the outcome of the hearing, deputy chief constable Mabs Hussain commended the victim for coming forward.

He described the 27-year-old’s actions as “disgraceful”.

Mr Hussain said:

“Our communities need to know that they can have complete trust in their police, and that we demand the highest level of integrity from our officers and staff.

“McCabe’s disgraceful actions fell far below that standard. I commend the victim for her courage in coming forward so we could take action. I also hope the case sends a clear message that there is no place for this behaviour in policing – and that we will secure justice against perpetrators, no matter who they are.”

New terrace and kiosk at Harrogate Town approved

Plans for a new terrace and merchandise kiosk at Harrogate Town’s EnviroVent Stadium have been approved.

The club submitted the proposal for a 100-person terrace near to the north stand turnstiles, to Harrogate Borough Council before the authority was abolished.

It will also see a kiosk installed to serve fans refreshments and Harrogate Town merchandise.

North Yorkshire Council has now approved the proposals.

The club said the new terrace was required because the English Football League will no longer accept perimeter standing at stadiums.

In planning documents, it said:

“The proposed terrace will accommodate spectators which use the existing perimeter standing areas and will therefore not increase the overall ground capacity.

“The small kiosk building will be used for the club shop selling on site merchandising on match days, as well as a replacement (non-alcoholic) drinks servery to replace a kiosk within the AON Terrace that was recently converted to WCs.”

It comes as the club recently saw its proposal to upgrade its Envirovent Stadium approved.

It will see almost 1,000 seats installed to bring the ground up to EFL standards.

To the south of the ground, the Myrings terrace will see 264 seats installed and the 1919 bar will be demolished and replaced with a new standing terrace.

A total of 603 seats have been installed in the Black Sheep Brewery stand.

The changes will not increase the overall capacity of 5,071 but will see the number of fans that can be seated rise from 1,193 to 2,060.

A strong end to the season has seen Simon Weaver’s team secure their status in Division Two of the EFL. They are currently 19th with one match remaining.

Historic Harrogate house to be auctioned next month

One of the most historic homes in Harrogate is to be auctioned next month.

Pineheath, which was built on Cornwall Road in the 1890s, was formerly the home of Indian shipping magnate Sir Dhunjibhoy Bomanji and Lady Frainy Bomanji.

But the house, which has a guide price of £3.5 million, has been derelict for many years and is not fit for viewing.

The property, which has planning permission to be converted into 12 flats, will go under the hammer in an online auction on June 8 at 3pm.

The lot includes the adjoining former chauffeur’s cottage, which has been refurbished into a pair of semi-detached coach houses that yield rent of £51,000 a year.

Pineheath. Pic: FSS

A 0.5 acre parcel of land next to the site, believed to be the last undeveloped parcel on the Duchy estate, is being auctioned as a separate lot with a guide price of £1.85 million.

Estate agent FSS, which began advertising the properties and land today, described Pineheath as ‘a truly unique opportunity’.

FSS partner Simon Croft said Pineheath’s private owner was keen for someone to redevelop the site. He added:

“It’s one of the most historic properties in prime Harrogate and it’s a shame that it’s become an eyesore on the street.

“The current owner has had a go with Harrogate planning department and has taken a pragmatic view that he’s probably not going to get anywhere and so he will let someone else take up the baton.

“The main house is derelict and unsafe. There are holes in the roof and the floors have rotted through. Any buyer would have to understand they would have some serious refurbishment work to take on or chance their arm by putting in a fresh planning application.”

Business Breakfast: Harrogate businesses invited to free ‘growth networking’ sessions

It’s time to join the Stray Ferret Business Club. Our next networking event is after-work drinks at Manahatta, on May 25th at 5:30.

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

Businesses in the Harrogate district are being invited to free growth events this month.

York St John University, York & North Yorkshire Growth Hub and the Made Smarter programme have partnered together to deliver a programme of free ‘Innovate to Grow’ events for companies.

Designed to appeal to medium and larger sized businesses based in York and North Yorkshire, the event programme starts on May 9 at Eden Camp in Malton and will be running until May 23.

One event will be held at Co-Lab on Kings Road in Harrogate on May 16 from 11.30am until 2.30pm.

Funded by Innovate UK, the events will provide opportunities for networking to collaborate and share ideas for innovation and growth with other local businesses.

Speaking of the events series, Michael Wilson, knowledge transfer manager at York St John University said:

“We are delighted to be running this series of free events for businesses across York & North Yorkshire.

“Working in partnership with York & North Yorkshire Growth Hub and Made Smarter, we look forward to seeing businesses form connections and to giving them useful information about the business support and funding that is available, whilst they enjoy some of the region’s most interesting venues.”

For more information and to register for the events, visit the York St John University EventBrite page here.

Harrogate manufacturing company hosts engineers day

A Harrogate manufacturing company hosted an engineers careers day.

Belzona, which s based on Claro Road, hosted nine engineering scholars from the Arkwright Engineering Scholarships programme at its facility.

As part of the event last month, the company devised an agenda designed to provide the scholars with an insight into the career opportunities within maintenance engineering.

Ian Wade, Belzona’s technical service manager, said:

“It was great to host the Arkwright Industry Connect Day here in Harrogate, investing time and offering developing engineers an insight to the roles available within STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

“We hope that the scholars found it beneficial to learn about how Belzona is used across many industries.”

The Arkwright Engineering Scholarships programme is run by the Smallpeice Trust which aims to identify, inspire and nurture future leaders in engineering.

Pictured above: Andrew Raby, Growth Hub Manager, York & North Yorkshire Growth Hub, Mike Pennington, Business Relationship Manager, York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership, Michael Wilson, Knowledge Transfer Manager at York St John University and Emma Rollason-Taylor, Business Relationship Manager, York St John University Enterprise Centre.

Bank holiday gathering leaves mess in Harrogate’s Valley Gardens

The boating lake in Valley Gardens had to be drained of rubbish this morning after a bank holiday gathering last night.

Gardeners were on site early this morning to clean-up after revellers left so much mess.

Numerous bin bags were filled and removed before the lake was refilled.

Jon Clubb, acting head of parks and environmental services at North Yorkshire Council, said:

“Last night we experienced some antisocial behaviour in Valley Gardens. This morning the gardeners removed rubbish, drained the boating lake and gave the surrounding area a clean. It is now refilled with water.

“This was due to take place tomorrow in anticipation of the three-day event to mark the King’s coronation at the weekend when we hope thousands of people will visit the beautiful gardens.”

Some of the rubbish

Jane Blayney, former chair of the Friends of Valley Gardens, noticed the clean-up operation this morning. She said:

“It was a dreadful mess. Sacks and sacks of rubbish were taken.

“I felt sorry for the gardeners, who are busy enough and were diverted from their preparations for the coronation weekend.”

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Police trap

‘Corrupting young girls’

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