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Council set to loan £500,000 to Harrogate housing company

North Yorkshire Council looks set to loan £500,000 to a Harrogate housing company to cover “high expenditure costs”.

Bracewell Homes was set up by Harrogate Borough Council in 2019 but is now fully-owned by North Yorkshire Council following this year’s local government shake-up.

It was created to generate a profit for the council and to intervene in Harrogate’s pricey property market by delivering much-needed rental and shared ownership homes at affordable prices.

It is currently marketing two-bed properties at Hughlings Close, Green Hammerton, and two and three-bedroom homes at The Willows on Whinney Lane in Harrogate.

However, the company requires a “drawdown” in order to cover high expenditure going into this financial year.

Council officials said it would cover costs before “high income amounts” are received.

A report due before North Yorkshire Council’s executive on Tuesday will recommend approving the loan.

It says:

“A drawdown of £500,000 is now required urgently in order to pay final invoices on sites that Bracewell are already in contract for.

“The loan will cover the high expenditure costs forecast for the beginning of the year before the high income amounts start to be received.”

The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council which sites the loan is designed to pay invoices for and when it expects the sum to be repaid, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

The move comes as questions have been raised over the performance of Bracewell Homes.

Last year, the company paid no dividends despite the now-defunct borough council budgeting to receive £267,000.

At the time, Paul Foster, who was head of finance at the council, said the company was still “extremely profitable” and that it had continued to sell properties, although at a smaller percentage of shares than expected.

He said:

“The company isn’t able to pay a dividend this year and the reason for that is a proportion of the shared home properties it has sold have been at shares of 25% and 30%.

“It would need to have sold shares of up to 50% for them to have enough cash to provide a dividend.

“In December, four or five properties were sold at a lower share than the company was forecasting and as a result there is less cash in the company.

“The company is not underperforming in particular. It is just not selling the larger shares which make it more cash rich.”

Gallery: Harrogate’s first Polish Heritage Day

Harrogate’s first Polish Heritage Day took place at Harrogate High School on Sunday.

Open to people from all backgrounds, it promoted integration and raised funds for the Polish Saturday School, which meets every two weeks at the high school.

Anna Chojnowska and Katarzyna Gorczak from the Saturday school led on organising the event.

The day began with a Poland vs England football. match, which the English team won 3-2, and included numerous stalls and activities showcasing Polish life.

Aleksandra Timberlake, a teacher at the Polish school, said there are an estimated 2,000 people of Polish descent in the Harrogate area and four Polish shops.

Ms Timberlake said:

“The event was an absolute blast. We couldn’t ask for a better result.

“Everyone had a fantastic time, from all the great independent businesses, that were there, to lots and lots of lovely people, who came round for a bit of fun.

“We managed to raise great amount of money, that will help us run our Polish Saturday School. As a charity every little help goes a long way.”

Here are some photos from the day.

There was a display of some classic Polish cars.

The Poland vs England football teams

(left to right) Kasia Gorczak, Magda Blazewska and Emilie Beles selling treats

Paintball was among the attractions

Patryk Gowin, vice-consul at the Polish consulate in Manchester, visited

There was no shortage of delicious food.

Traditional Krakow costumes

The event took place at Harrogate High School.

Business Breakfast: Masham brewery agrees beer listing deal with Asda

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 Masham brewery has secured listings at 240 Asda stores for one of its popular beers.

T&R Theakston confirmed the deal with the supermarket giant to sell cans of its Old Peculiar pale ale.

The agreement will also see 140 Asda stores nationwide sell cans of Theakston Best Bitter.

The news comes as the brewery says it has seen a rise in demand for its beers.

Simon Theakston, joint managing director of T&R Theakston, said:

“These two new listings are evidence of the continued strength of our portfolio. Theakston Old Peculier has continued to capture the attention of the country’s discerning drinkers, and we’re delighted that it is becoming more widely available as a result this growing partnership with Asda.

“Additionally, to see the increased off-trade success of Theakston Best Bitter speaks to a consumer preference for high-quality, handcrafted beers such as our own.”

Harrogate mobile company targets improved performance

A Harrogate telecommunications company is targeting improved performance amid a drop in revenue last year.

Mobile Tornado, which is based at Cardale Park, saw its reported turnover drop 12% from £2.59m in 2021 to £2.28 for the year ended December 31, 2022.

According to the company’s annual report, which was published in April, the loss of a customer in Canada accounted for 20% of total revenue and 10% of recurring revenues in the prior year comparative figures.

However, the firm said it now intends to improve its performance.

The company recently signed a deal with Leeds Bradford Airport, which will see it provide push-to-talk over cellular equipment for the airport’s workforce.

Jeremy Fenn, chairman of Mobile Tornado, said:

“The board is fully committed to maintaining the technical advantages that have been established, at the same time driving a much deeper and wider business development operation.

“The outreach campaign that has been running since the start of the year has already generated a good flow of new partner and customer opportunities, many of them in new geographic markets. We believe that this momentum can be accelerated significantly if we can successfully deploy our solution into a public safety organisation.

“Our teams worked hard on multiple trials during the last 15 months and we are hopeful that we will very shortly see a successful conclusion with full platform deployment. This would represent a significant commercial breakthrough, and we are confident will lead to a material uplift in financial performance as we push towards profitability in 2023.”

Harrogate florist strikes gold at Chelsea Flower Show

A Harrogate florist has won gold at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London.

Helen James Flowers was one of three gold medallists in the floristry and floral design awards category.

The florist, which has a shop on Station Parade, was selected for its lamppost design ‘On the verge’, which was inspired by recent planting projects on areas of wasteland.

Helen Pannitt, of Helen James Flowers, with her prize-winning blooms.

It shows how mini wildlife havens can be created to counteract the impact of human life on the environment.

The display contains hundreds of water filled test tubes attached to a hand made trellis, and the base materials were arranged on metal pin-holders — a process that took many hours.

The result was a colourful and seasonal display incorporating flowers such as eremurus, dahlias and ranunculus.

Helen James Flowers’ shop is closed until May 30 due to the team being at Chelsea.

Gallery: Sunshine and crowds make Harrogate Fashion Show a hit

Hundreds of shoppers basked in the sun last weekend for the Harrogate Fashion Show.

The event, organised by Harrogate Business Improvement District with the Stray Ferret as media partner, saw retailers show off their latest collections.

Models took to the catwalk throughout the day outside Victoria Shopping Centre, which sponsored the event.

A seated area enabled fashionistas and passers-by to soak up the sun and see the latest styles.

The day was divided up into different fashion themes – the summer season, upcycling, wedding wear, Harrogate on the high street, activewear and children’s celebration.

Here are some pictures from Saturday’s event.

RAF Menwith Hill submits fresh plans to expand

Plans have been submitted to construct new buildings and roads at US spy base RAF Menwith Hill.

Menwith Hill, which is on the outskirts of Harrogate, is one of the United States’ largest overseas surveillance bases.

Its 37 giant radomes, or ‘golf balls’, are a distinctive feature of the 500-acre site, where much of the secretive activity takes place underground.

A request for an environmental impact assessment screening opinion, which comes before a full planning application, has been submitted to North Yorkshire Council to put up new structures on the northern side of the base.

No new radomes are planned but the project would see the construction of an administration building and another building for technical equipment.

Planning documents say the works would also involve putting in generators, air-cooled chillers, transformers and power distribution modules.

Access roads, a refuelling bay, footpaths, a small car park and a secure perimeter fence surrounding the facilities would also be built.

Several new radomes have been built at the site in recent years and in 2022 plans were approved to build a new visitor centre, vehicle canopy and changes to the road junction on Menwith Hill Road.

RAF Menwith Hill was built in the 1950s and leased to the US during the height of the Cold War but it has continued to be used to support American military operations abroad including during the war on terror.

The site is also used by UK intelligence agency GCHQ.

Leaked documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden identified Menwith Hill as providing the intelligence for a significant number of operations to “eliminate” targets in the Middle East.

Harrogate Station Gateway: new report reveals financial risks

The £11.2 million Harrogate Station Gateway is set to move another step closer next week — but a new report lays bare the financial risks of the scheme.

North Yorkshire Council will meet on Tuesday to discuss whether to submit a full business case to West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

Karl Battersby, corporate director of environment at North Yorkshire Council, has recommended councillors agree to do so.

If they back his recommendation, a 300-metre stretch of Station Parade will be reduced to single lane traffic and James Street partly pedestrianised to encourage cycling and walking.

Station Square would undergo a major overhaul, with the ‘little temple’ outside Victoria Shopping Centre destroyed.

Station Square

Mr Battersby’s report to the council’s executive says the gateway would arrest town centre decline by increasing footfall, even though many businesses remain opposed.

There are also concerns about other aspects of the scheme, including congestion and parking, and some 2,000 people have signed an online petition opposing it.

Mr Battersby, however, suggests the gateway could be the start of a wider town centre redevelopment. His report says the project will “provide a central active travel ‘hub’ from which ‘spokes’ of further improvements can radiate”.

It adds:

“The project is anticipated to have an overall positive impact on the local economy and the attractiveness and accessibility of the town centre with no exceedances of the annual mean pollutant air quality objectives and a minimal increase in journey times and flows in the worst-case traffic modelling.

“The project therefore provides an overall good contribution to strategic objectives and good value for money.”

The key changes

Mr Battersby’s report to councillors outlines the main changes. They are:

Work is due to start in winter and the report acknowledges the scheme “could impact congestion in the short term before people switch to active and sustainable forms of transport”.

Businesses fear it could affect Christmas trade but the council is under pressure to spend most funding in the current financial year to comply with the terms of the scheme, which is one of three funded by West Yorkshire Combined Authority using Department for Transport funds.

Funding deadline ‘a significant risk’

Mr Battersby’s report warns that if the final cost exceeds budget, savings would be made by either reviewing the materials or “descoping” the project. It says:

“The current funding deadline of 31 March 2024 represents a significant risk to the council as the project is no longer deliverable within this timeframe.

“This risk will be reduced if agreement to extend the deadline is reached, however, the risk of delivery within the set deadline remains and any spend after the funding deadline would be at North Yorkshire Council risk.”

Cllr Keane Duncan, executive councillor for access at North Yorkshire County Council.

Cllr Keane Duncan in Harrogate

Cllr Keane Duncan, the council’s executive member for highways and transport, said in a statement:

“The Harrogate scheme represents a landmark investment, aiming to rejuvenate the town centre, support businesses and encourage people to travel more sustainably.

“We have responded to councillors’ feedback by pledging to review the Odeon roundabout design prior to final submission and to consider key junctions outside of the scope of the gateway project — Ripon Road/King’s Road/Cheltenham Parade — to further limit congestion.

“The full business case submission would represent a huge step forward for the scheme, enabling us to stay on track to start work in winter 2023.”

Harrogate’s Victoria Avenue to close overnight for pothole repairs

Harrogate’s Victoria Avenue will be closed overnight for two nights this week as roadworks are carried out.

The road will be closed from 6pm until 11pm on Wednesday (May 24) and Thursday (May 25).

Parking bays on Victoria Avenue will also be suspended.

The move comes as North Yorkshire Council’s highways department is set to carry out work on the road.

It will see potholes filled on the street.

According to the council’s roadworks map, the authority will “renew 20 patches” as part of the work.

Business Breakfast: Harrogate hotel group recognised in national workplace guide

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 hotel company which runs three hotels in the Harrogate district has been listed in a Sunday Times workplace guide.

The Inn Collection Group has been recognised as one of the best places to work in the national guide for 2023.

The firm, which operates the Harrogate Inn, Knaresborough Inn and Ripon Inn, was included alongside organisations such as the Alzheimer’s Society Bella Italia, and Octopus Energy.

The inns were previously known as the St George Hotel, the Dower House and Ripon Spa Hotel.

Local companies CloudNine and LCF Law were also recognised.

Liz Robertson, people director at the Inn Collection Group, said:

“We’re delighted that our people are enjoying their time with ICG and that we have been officially recognised as a great place to work as a result.

“Supporting our teams is incredibly important for us, be that with our exciting development programmes, our Inn Safe Hands initiative or even just our excellent benefits package.

“Making people happy is what we are about and that extends to our own too.”

Ripon retailers organise bank holiday buskers

Retailers in Ripon have organised for buskers to perform in the city centre this coming bank holiday weekend.

Organised by Ripon Business Improvement District and independent businesses, performers will be situated around the streets to draw in more people to the centre on Monday, May 29.

Visitors will be invited to follow a route around the city, taking in Kirkgate, North Street and Westgate.

Little Bird Artisan Market will be on the marketplace. From there, visitors can find maps showing the streets where buskers will perform and where shops are hosting fun activities and special offers.

Busking is throughout the city all afternoon, with music from Ripon and visiting guests from Teeside, York and Leeds.

For more information on the event, visit the Ripon BID website here.

Harrogate man jailed for perverting course of justice

A Harrogate man has been jailed for six months after he tried to get his ex-partner to drop assault charges against him.

Daniel Berisha, 33, contacted the victim through a third party demanding she withdrew the complaint she had made to police, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Michael Cahill said Berisha and the named victim started a relationship when she came to live in the UK in 2019.

She moved into his then home in Pendragon Way, Harrogate, but by the summer of 2020 the relationship began to break down due to Berisha’s cocaine use.

On November 4 last year, an argument broke out as Berisha pestered her for money to buy drugs.

The victim refused to give him the £80 but Berisha “followed her around the house, saying: “Give me the money’”.

Berisha told her that if she didn’t give him the money, he would personally transfer the cash from her account into his.

Mr Cahill said:

“He pushed her a few times (and) she fell to the floor.”

She managed to push Berisha away, but he grabbed her phone and began using it. Knowing that he knew the passcode for her account, she transferred the money into his account and locked the door. Berisha by this stage had moved out of the house.

The following day, in the early hours of the morning, Berisha bombarded her with text messages telling her he had “nowhere to go”.

She blocked him on WhatsApp and blocked his calls, but then received over 20 calls from an unknown number.

Shortly after the phone calls, Berisha, who was high on cocaine, got into the house. The victim “screamed for help” and warned him she would call police.

Furious, Berisha shoved her and put his hand over her mouth to stop her screaming. He then took her phone and told her not to call police.

The victim, who worked in the care industry, eventually managed to call police when Berisha went downstairs. When officers arrived, they found the victim with scratches to her hand and grazes on the bridge of her nose.

Berisha was arrested and bailed pending further enquiries. In the meantime, police requested a domestic-violence protection order from magistrates to stop Berisha pestering the victim. The order was granted.

However, on November 12, a week after the second assault, Berisha sent messages to a named third party asking her to tell the victim to drop the charges.

Furthermore, he told the victim through the intermediary that he had a “video of the (victim) at work” and would send it to her employer if she didn’t withdraw her complaint, warning her that she would “never get a job in the UK again”.

Berisha told her through the third party that the video was of “(the victim) with a male she cared for”.

However, the victim, whose work record was impeccable and knowing she had “nothing to hide”, knew that Berisha was bluffing and refused to drop the charges.

‘I’ve lost everything’

Berisha, lately of Redfern Mews, Harrogate, was charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice and two counts of assault. He ultimately admitted the offences and appeared for sentence today.

In a statement read out in court, the victim, who had since moved out of the area, said she had moved to the UK for a fresh start after a previous abusive relationship.

The mother-of-two said she had “endured a nightmare” at the hands of Berisha who had initially helped her settle into her adoptive country.

She added:

“I later found out this was too good to be true.

“I’ve lost everything, all my belongings, so he could get money for his drug use.”

Defence barrister Ismael Uddin said that despite the “unsavoury” episode, Berisha was a hard-working man whose employers thought highly of him.

Judge Sean Morris told Berisha:

“Trying to get (victims) not to turn up in court strikes at the very heart of the criminal justice system and civilised society.

“If these kinds of offences don’t (attract) custodial sentences, then they will become rife. As a matter of policy and as a matter of making sure others are deterred (from trying to pervert the course of justice), only an immediate prison sentence is appropriate.”

Berisha received a six-month jail sentence and was given a five-year restraining order banning him from contacting the victim and going to her home or workplace.

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The key changes

Funding deadline ‘a significant risk’

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‘I’ve lost everything’