A man has been jailed for embarking on a two-month fraud spree at hotels in Harrogate and York at the end of last year.

Parmpareet Singh-Pooni, of no fixed address, admitted two offences at the Crowne Plaza on King’s Road in Harrogate when he appeared before magistrates in York on Monday.

He pleaded guilty to dishonestly obtaining accommodation, food and drinks by claiming he was called Nikko Singh and not paying for them between November 3 and 6.

Singh-Pooni also admitted trying the same ruse at the Crowne Plaza on either November 23 and 24.

He pleaded guilty to stealing £140 cash from behind the reception at the Dean Court hotel in York on December 17 and defrauding Malmaison in York by giving another false name and not paying for food and drink between December 27 and 31.

He was jailed for 10 weeks, with court documents saying he was jailed because of the number of offences, his record and due to the fact he was on recall.

Singh-Pooni was also ordered to pay compensation totalling £1,083 to the Crowne Plaza, £140 to the Dean Court Hotel and £452 to Malmaison.

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Firefighters were called out to a blaze in a Harrogate garden in the early hours of this morning.

The fire was spotted behind a property on Albany Road in Bilton and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service was called. 

A crew from Harrogate responded at 2.58am, and located the 2m x 2m fire, which was fuelled by household waste and a wheelie bin full of rubbish.

The crew extinguished the fire and dampened down the area. No injuries were reported.

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Harrogate Bus Company is set to merge two routes in Bilton as part of changes to its services.

Under a shake-up of its routes which will be introduced from February 19, the current 2A and 2B services will be merged to create a circular around Bilton.

The service will run every 20 minutes from Monday to Saturday and every hour on evenings and Sundays. The 2A and 2B each currently run every 30 minutes.

The bus company said the change will see the “busiest stops and main locations” covered.

The new 2 service to Bilton, as proposed by Harrogate Bus Company.

Meanwhile, the route of the 6 will also change in an effort to “speed up journey times”.

The route will stop at Pannal Ash Drive and The Lawns and “no longer service lightly used stops”, the bus company said. The loop up Harlow Avenue past the Green Hut will no longer be served.

The X6 route will not change and will continue to run along Otley Road serving all stops in both directions.

Harrogate Bus Company added:

“If you currently catch the 6 into Harrogate along Otley Road, you’ll need to catch the bus on the opposite side of the road before it goes around Pannal Ash.”

Changes to the 6 to Pannal Ash.

People who catch the 36 between Harrogate and Leeds will see the service run every 10 minutes, under the changes. The bus company added it would continue to run to “similar timetables and frequencies” between Harrogate and Ripon.

Meanwhile, those who use the 3 service to Jennyfields will see buses every 20 minutes from Monday to Saturday, slightly reduced from the current 15-minute frequency on weekdays, but up on the half-hourly Saturday service.

For more information on the changes to Harrogate bus services, visit the Harrogate Bus Company website here.

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Strong leadership and a nurturing environment have earned praise from Ofsted for a Harrogate day nursery.

Busy Bees on South Drive was rated ‘good’ in all areas in a report published at the end of December.

In her report, inspector Jan Batchelor said:

“Children are greeted warmly by staff when they arrive at the nursery. They are keen to go and find their friends.

“There are plenty of cuddles and reassurance for children who are a little unsettled or new to the nursery. Throughout the day, children are treated with the utmost kindness, care and respect by the nurturing staff team.”

Ms Batchelor praised the many opportunities for learning on offer at the nursery. Both indoor and outdoor spaces were found to be supportive of development, with staff helping children to build on their knowledge and understanding in each age group.

She said there was a “good balance” between staff-led activities and time for independent play.

The inspection, which took place in November, found two areas for improvement, including giving more consistent messaging about healthy eating to ensure children understood it.

It also found children missed out on learning time when they had to wait for meals to be served or for others to take off their coats and wash their hands after being outside.

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Ms Batchelor added:

“Staff’s skilful interactions with children make learning fun and meaningful. They use their knowledge of individual children’s interests to set up effective learning opportunities.

“Staff introduce new vocabulary as children play. They question the children to help develop their thinking skills. Children are always given time to respond.

“Where children are not making as much progress as others, additional support is put in place. Staff work closely with parents and other professionals to ensure that children’s needs are being met as effectively as possible.”

Busy Bees on South Drive – formerly known as Kindercare and still registered under that name with Ofsted – was previously rated ‘outstanding’ in its last inspection, in late 2018. However, Ofsted has since changed its inspection framework for childcare and education settings, meaning they have to meet much higher criteria in order to achieve the top rating.

Responding to the latest report, South Drive centre director Danni Catton said:

“Overall, we felt the inspection went very well and it was great to read that the report highlighted our commitment to the children’s learning and safety, and our effective partnerships with parents. Our team is committed to giving children the best start in life and we continuously strive to ensure the needs of children are being met at all times.

“We are pleased with our ‘good’ rating – we will take the inspectors’ improvements into consideration, and we will continue to work towards achieving an ‘outstanding’.”

Now is your time to shine with the Stray Ferret Business Awards. We are encouraging businesses of all sizes from right across the Harrogate district to enter for our awards and get recognition from our top panel of judges. Entries close on January 16.

Benchmark Capital has acquired a majority stake in a Harrogate-based financial and wealth management company.

The Horsham firm has confirmed an agreement is in place for a 51% shareholding in Oculus Wealth Management, subject to approval from the Financial Conduct Authority.

Oculus, which is based on Grove Park Court, offers financial planning and wealth management advice to business owners, professionals and the retired.

The acquisition of the company, an existing Benchmark partner which looks after £2 billion of client assets, will provide Benchmark with a broader range of services.

Ed Dymott, managing director at Benchmark, said:

“We are thrilled to welcome Oculus to Benchmark and provide the support to allow further growth and progression for an already highly successful business. Oculus have been incredibly successful in helping advisers who have previously worked at larger wealth managers and private banks set up their own practices, and we see this as a key growth area in the market.

“Their business-in-a-box model, bringing together Benchmark’s and Oculus services, is a compelling proposition, and we have seen great demand for this offering.

“We have known the team for several years and are excited by the potential for the future with our new partnership.”

Harrogate company customers win awards

A Harrogate-based website company is celebrating after 11 of its customers picked up awards.

Garages Services Online, which is based on Hornbeam Park, builds sites for independent garages as part of a subscription service.

This past year, the company has seen its customers win at the national Top Garage and Top Technician Awards.

Across all seven categories, the company celebrated four of its independent garage customers being category winners, one being a runner-up and one being a finalist.

Meanwhile, five other customers won their respective categories in the Motor Ombudsman Star Awards, Servicesure Awards and GroupAuto Awards.

Among the winners include Shaikly Motor Company in Colchester and Hunters of Linlithgow.

Jim Lang, managing director of Garages Services Online, said:

“We’re incredibly proud to be the company behind the online presence of these 11 award-winning garages.

“They’re all thoroughly deserving of their accolades and have worked incredibly hard to get to this level. A common factor is they all have one of our websites; I’d like to think it’s not just a coincidence.”

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A fitness studio in central Harrogate has closed today with immediate effect.

Lear, on Montpellier Street, offered pilates classes, along with personal training, physiotherapy and sports massage.

However, a message sent to customers at lunchtime today said:

“With great sadness and regret, we have had to close Lear Harrogate with immediate effect.

“All classes and appointments from today onwards have been cancelled.”

There was no further information provided, but the Harrogate branch’s social media accounts have all been closed. Reference to the Harrogate studio has also been removed from the Lear health partners website.

The business’ other branch, in Leamington Spa, appears to be trading still, and has posted on social media in the last few days.

It is not known whether any jobs have been lost as a result of the closure, nor whether any members have lost out on sessions they had already paid for.

The Stray Ferret contacted the parent company for a comment but had not received a response by the time of publication.

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Lear Harrogate offered membership packages for £99 and £139 a month, as well as pay-as-you-go options including pilates classes at £19 each.

Earlier this year, a planning application was submitted to turn the ground floor of the building into retail space, with 11 new one-bedroom apartments on the first and second floors, as well as a new third floor.

However, new plans were submitted in December showing the number of apartments had been reduced to eight, on the first and second floors only.

The third floor and roof terrace were no longer planned, with a “high performance ‘warm roof’ built up flat roof” instead. The number of windows on the first and second floors had also been reduced.

An office for hire is set to open at Harrogate Railway Station in March.

Sheffield-based Workfromhub has designed the facility to create private working space for an “ever growing remote workforce”.

The start-up company has already introduced hubs in Sheffield and Swinton in Greater Manchester.

People will be able to book the Harrogate hub at a rate of £8.99 per hour for one or two hours or £5.99 per hour for eight-plus hours.

The facilities include space for two people along with internet access, a second screen and desk space.

Neal Byers, founder of Workfromhub, told the Stray Ferret the hub would also encourage people back to railway and bus stations.

He said:

“We are working closely with Northern Rail to help transform underused spaces within stations. We can see the need for people who are on the move to have somewhere private and connected to work from.

“We feel that there are not enough remote working private spaces around to keep up with the demand of a growing remote workforce.

“We also see transport links such as rail stations, park and rides and interchanges, have suffered from covid-19 and are trying to encourage users to come back and use their facilities. WorkfromHub can help resolve both these issues, reimagining underused spaces and creating great places to work from.”

The hub space advertised at Harrogate station.

Those who book will receive a code to enter the facility for their allocated time.

Booking for the Harrogate facility is set to open in March.

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The founder of Harrogate Lifestyle Apartments has sold the business to SJM Properties — the company which owns the building.

Harrogate Lifestyle Apartments provides 18 one-bedroom and two-bedroom serviced apartments on King’s Road, close to the town centre.

Andrew Armstrong has stepped down after 17 years of offering hotel alternatives in Harrogate to the public.

Jessica Lister, who was Mr Armstrong’s general manager, has been promoted to director under the new owners.

Mr Armstrong, who lives in Ilkey, said he felt it was time to spend more time with his wife Claire and his three children.

He and Ms Lister had worked together since 2011, when she became booking coordinator for 10 Harrogate holiday lets Mr Armstrong ran near Hales Bar.

Andrew Armstrong

Over time her role developed into sales, then marketing, followed by office manager and general manager.

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The two of them opened 18 luxury serviced apartments now known as Harrogate Lifestyle Apartments on King’s Road in 2017.

Ms Lister said:

“Starting up a new business and of course getting through a worldwide pandemic has been no means an easy ride.

“Like many business and households we’re sadly sure to be facing harder times ahead. Following two years of sustained recovery across the hotel sector, with the cost of living crisis, energy prices, staff shortages and other inflationary costs and a recession on the horizon we facing another challenging period ahead.

“But I am pleased to say we are a business who will always be committed to our wonderful guests that still need a place to stay in Harrogate North Yorkshire for work, for leisure and often somewhere to live between renting or buying a home in Harrogate.

“Our team remains optimistic and dedicated to making every visitors time in Harrogate a special one.”

Education inspector Ofsted has given its seal of approval for the opening of a new school in Harrogate for pupils requiring additional support.

Strive for Education currently provides alternative provision to 28 students aged 14 to 19 from Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough for one to three days a week.

Many struggle in a mainstream school environment due to social, emotional or mental health issues and are at risk of exclusion. Often they are referred to Strive by local schools.

Strive now wants to open as an independent school catering for 18 pupils in September, with a view to expanding numbers. Most of the pupils would be on its roll full-time, rather than sent there part-time by other schools

As part of that process, it underwent a pre-registration inspection from Ofsted in November.

The inspector’s report, published last week, concluded the school “is likely to meet all the independent school standards when it opens”.

Andy Brown

Strive, which was set up by former Harrogate Grammar School assistant headteacher Andy Brown and his wife Sonja in 2020, is now awaiting confirmation from the Department for Education that it can open as an independent school in autumn. Mr Brown said:

“We’ve grown and grown and got to the point where we need to be an independent school. It will make a huge difference for students that require extra provision.

“There’s a huge lack of support for special education needs students who need extra support beyond what mainstream schools can offer.”

Local shortage

Mr Brown said local students requiring additional support currently often had to travel to places such as Leeds or Darlington because of a shortage of local provision.

Students with special educational needs can apply to their local education authority for an education, health and care plan, which identifies their needs and the additional support required.

Those assessed to have the greatest need receive personal budgets, which can be used to fund additional support such as that provided by Strive, which will charge annual fees starting from £25,000.

Strive is based on North Park Road in Harrogate and has a workshop in Starbeck.

It will continue to use these sites but Mr Brown said it was “definitely looking for a suitable venue to increase our size and additional numbers”.

If Strive’s plans are successful, it will initially have 12 full-time pupils on its own roll.

It also wants to maintain alternative provision for six pupils to fulfil demand for this from local schools.

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A Harrogate-based law firm has made a new appointment to its senior team.

Jones Myers has appointed senior family law specialist Neil Dring to lead its office on Victoria Avenue.

Mr Dring joins the firm’s financial remedies department, which is regularly instructed in multi-jurisdictional proceedings and cases involving complex corporate and offshore trust structures.

He said:

“Jones Myers’ standing as an award-winning leader in its field which attracts the best family lawyers is acknowledged on a regional and national level. Its esteemed Children’s Department is also renowned internationally.

“The firm’s ethos of seeking non-confrontational solutions to relationship breakdowns resonates with my approach and values, and I am looking forward to playing a key role in the practice’s continued expansion.”

Richard Peaker, Jones Myers managing partner who heads the financial remedies department, said: 

“Neil is a highly respected and well-known family lawyer whose breadth and depth of experience highly complements our expertise and approach in delivering bespoke solutions for our clients.

“We warmly welcome him to the team as we continue to go from strength to strength in Yorkshire and beyond.”

Harrogate BID to host counter-terrorism workshops

Harrogate BID is set to host counter-terrorism workshops for its members this month.

The workshop will deal with ‘Document Awareness’ and is aimed at those in HR or those responsible for recruitment in their organisations, helping recruiters identify false documentation.

This initiative coincides with an announcement that new counter-terrorism legislation will be introduced for UK venues as a reaction to the 2017 attack at the Manchester Arena during an Ariana Grande concert.

Bethany Allen, Business and Marketing Executive at Harrogate BID, said: 

“At the same time as Martyn’s Law shores up the UK’s venues against attacks, the BID is partnering with Counter Terrorism Policing North East to help Harrogate’s business stay prepared.

“It essential that criminals seeking unlawful access into an organisation be caught in the recruitment stage, which is exactly what our workshop should help business accomplish.

“The practical workshop is approximately two hours long, and provides detailed training in how to identify document fraud, looking at passports and driving licences, comparing features of real and false documents.”

The workshop will take place on Thursday January 12, between 1.30 and 3.30pm at The Crown Hotel, Crown Place, Harrogate, HG1 2RZ.

BID Members wishing to attend this session should email info@harrogatebid.co.uk.

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