Harrogate’s deep clean is underway

A deep clean of Harrogate town centre began last night as retailers prepare to re-open next Monday.

The four-year contract for the clean was given to a team from the Yorkshire-based company UK Nationwide Cleaning services. The team began on Market Street and Cross James Street.

The clean is expected to take three weeks with a team working through the night, five days a week. The pavements and street furniture will be power washed throughout Harrogate’s retail space.

The cleaning team began in the heart of the retail town today.

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Once the town centre clean is complete, it will then continue into the wider BID area.

Harrogate BID Interim Manager Simon Kent said:

“The deep clean of Harrogate town centre has been a long time coming, and I’m delighted that it has now got under way. In a recent survey by Harrogate BID, the majority of businesses who responded said they saw this as the number one priority. UK Nationwide Cleaning Services, whom we awarded the contract to, are experts in this line of cleaning, having worked successfully with BIDs across the UK, including a number in Yorkshire.”

 

District farm shops see rise in customers during lockdown

More of us shopped in farm stores during lockdown – that’s according to the Farm Retail Association.

The FRA, which is managed by the Yorkshire Agriculture Society,  said 92% of farm retailers it surveyed reported a “significant” rise in new customers. It said the success of the stores had secured jobs and helped food suppliers.

One Harrogate farm shop owner said she’d seen unprecedented orders during lockdown. Julia Corbett, from Roots and Fruits, said:

“We have definitely seen an increase, we’ve had so many people come to us who have never used independent shops before. When lockdown happened we moved to delivery only to protect our staff and customers in our small shop. We had 30 deliveries per week before lockdown but after three weeks we’d hit 550. I think people love how fresh and quick their order is and we offer a really personal service that you can’t get at the big supermarkets.”

Packages of fresh produce have become popular over lockdown

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Heather Parry, managing director of Fodder, which is based at the Yorkshire Showground said:

“We have worked hard to adapt quickly to ensure our customers continue to have access to quality, fresh locally-produced food without disruption.

“The feedback we have received from new and returning customers has been hugely rewarding and gives me enormous hope that they will keep shopping with us, long after the coronavirus pandemic ends.”

As lockdown measures ease, independent shops in the district are hopeful new customers will remain loyal to them. .

 

Harrogate retail prepares to fight for survival

As nearly 10% of Harrogate town centre’s retail spaces sit empty, traders prepare to fight to survive as lockdown is eased.

After 10 weeks of closure, retailers and independent boutiques now face the task of making up lost ground, earning a living and protecting their customers at the same time.

Non-essential shops, such as clothing outlets, can reopen from Monday. But the aim for some is to see if they can survive the challenge that comes with social distancing measures and the cost of the crisis.

As an economic downturn looms, Harrogate’s outlets face an uphill task in surviving. During lockdown, among those retailers to leave the town’s prestigious James Street is Jack Wills.

Among traders’ concerns ahead of Monday include:

Despite support from government and the local authority, it may not be enough as traders face the difficult decision of whether to open up or not on Monday.

Sophie Hartley, who owns Sophie Likes boutique on Beulah Street in Harrogate.

One of the shops reopening is lifestyle boutique Sophie Likes, which has been operating on Beulah Street for the past six years.

Sophie Hartley is the owner and sole employee in the store and has prepared for social distancing. But she said it will be difficult for local traders to make a living after lockdown.

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The closure of the shop left Sophie’s family without some of their income. She received a government grant but still hopes to have discussions with her landlord to help make it through until the end of the year.

She said: “It’s been pretty scary.

“All of a sudden you have the close the shop and you have no income.

“We are still not sure of our opening hours because we do not know how busy it is going to be.”

Another store owner, who did not wish to be named, said she had been “stung” financially by the lockdown and may have to close the store in future due to a lack of customers.

She said she had to seek advice after discussions about rent support with her landlord broke down and that Harrogate was a “ghost town” and the financial situation may lead her to reconsider the future of the store.

She said: “I cannot just keep going for face value.

“The high street is suffering and Harrogate is already a ghost town.”

Despite these difficult times, there is no place for small businesses to turn to for support when negotiations with landlords prove to be difficult.

Retail in Crisis

This week we report on Retail In Crisis as stores prepare to reopen after lockdown.

Over the coming days, we will look at the fear of shoppers returning to the High Street, how trade associations are working to entice customers into Harrogate and the long view of the future of retail in the town.

Tomorrow, we look at shoppers anxieties over returning to shopping in town.

Council plans for leisure have ‘no overwhelming support’, say Unions

Union bosses in Harrogate have claimed there is no overwhelming public support for council-run leisure services to be handed over to an arms-length company.

Officials from Unison have sought further information on the proposal after they say they have had no contact from the authority on the matter.

Harrogate Borough Council has consulted with residents on plans to hand over services to an authority-run company which it says will save £400,000 a year.

It comes as the council faces an estimated £15 million deficit as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

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If given the go-ahead, it would mean facilities such as Harrogate Hydro, the Turkish Baths and Ripon Leisure Centre would be run by the new company.

But unions say they fear that the move could lead to job losses and have requested further information on the survey carried out by the council.

A spokesperson for Unison Harrogate Local Government Branch said today: 

“To date Unison, have had no proactive contact from the council on the LACC, either before or after the consultation period ended.

“We do not believe there is overwhelming public support for such a change so we are seeking further information.

“We have recently requested information on how many residents had previously stated the cost of sport and leisure was too high (at 37p a week), which the council have said is one of the drivers of the move to a LACC.

“We have also requested to know how many residents have responded to the recent survey and what the responses are.

“We do know staff are worried because there has been an increase in our membership in sport and leisure since the proposal became public and our concerns remain around changes to terms and conditions, together with pension provision if staff transfer over.  There should be no doubt that this can happen if the council ultimately decides to go ahead with the transfer.”

Harrogate Borough Council has been approached for comment.

No coronavirus deaths as Harrogate total cases pass 300 mark

Harrogate District Hospital has not reported any new coronavirus deaths but the number of cases in the district is at over 300 since the start of the pandemic.

Statistics from the government’s coronavirus tracker show that there have been 308 confirmed cases of the virus in the Harrogate district. North Yorkshire as a whole has confirmed 1,320 cases of coronavirus.

The hospital has, so far, recorded 70 deaths where the patient has tested positive for COVID-19.

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On Thursday, the hospital reported that it had discharged 118 patients who tested positive for coronavirus – an increase of nine on the previous week.

The number of deaths and discharges as well as a further 72 who have died in care homes accounts for the majority of cases in the area.

Less than a half of Yorkshire dental practices re-open today

Less than a half of dentist practices in the region will open today despite the lifting of restrictions- many only providing a skeleton service.

However the British Dental Association (BDA) have conducted a poll which reported that only 42% of Yorkshire’s dentists will re-open.

Amongst those opening is Swan Dental Practice in Harrogate, their principal dentist Richard Bannister said:

“We won’t be running a full service straight away as we will only have one surgery open at a time. We will be focusing on the people who have had problems in the last three months, but right now we will be unable to do big procedures such as root canals as anything that uses aerosol sprays has been severely limited under the guidelines.”

Further data from the BDA has said that 54% of practices in Yorkshire don’t have the necessary PPE to resume face-to-face care. At the Swan Dental Practise, Mr Bannister said:

“We were very slow in receiving guidance from the government about PPE, but we have adequate supply for now unless the guidance changes. It has been challenging for us as there have been increases in the price of equipments, masks for example have gone up approximately 500% in price”.

Dental practices in the district have opened today, with a limited capacity for appointments.

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The BDA Chair Mick Armstrong warned:

“Those expecting dentistry to magically return on Monday will find only a skeleton service. Practices reopening across Yorkshire and the Humber now face fewer patients and higher costs and will struggle to meet demand. Dentists returning to work still lack the support offered to our neighbours on the high street, and even clarity on key worker status when it comes to childcare. Ministers must change tack if dentistry is going to survive the new normal.”

 

“I was bored at home” – a Harrogate 6 year old’s verdict of being back at School

Woodfield Community Primary School in Harrogate reflects on its first week back after re-opening to limited year groups on Tuesday.

Woodfield Primary has remained open throughout the lockdown for the children of key workers. However, all pupils in nursery, reception, and year 1 are now also able to go back to school.

Jo Marwood, headteacher at the school, spoke to the Stray Ferret about how they have found the first week back:

 It’s definitely not the normal… We have about 25% of  our children back. We are focusing on the ‘bubble’ element. We have no more than 10 in each group and we keep the bubbles completely seperate. They have seperate start and finish times, break times and we have two metres between each desk in the classroms. We are staggering the return of pupils, so year 6 pupils will start to come back from next week.

There are government guidelines for schools to adhere too but there is no set  “uniform” approach.” This means not all schools have re-opened, and the ones that are may all be taking a slightly different approach.

 No school is the same… It depends on the size of the building, how many pupils you have and also how you interpret the guidelines. We are doing absolutely everything we can to ensure the safety of our pupils and staff. I dont think at the moment we could have all of the children back… We just don’t have the staff or the rooms.

Despite the gradual re-opening of schools within the borough, it is up to individual parents to decide if they feel it is safe to send their children back.

Joy for grandparents meeting seven-week-old baby

A Harrogate family has been able to share the joy of a new arrival for the first time since lockdown began.

Jen Carne gave birth to Samuel on April 21 and, along with husband Rob Earl, was unable to introduce him properly to his extended family.

Though they visited and waved through the windows, the easing of lockdown restrictions this week enabled grandparents Ed and Rosie Carne to meet Samuel in the park for the first time – and catch up with his 20-month-old sister, Hannah. Jen said:

“There have been a few positives in that we’ve been able to spend a lot of time as a family without having lots of pressure to see lots of people, but we’ve missed out on family being able to come over and help. We’ve missed being able to see other mums and babies. I have missed a lot of Hannah’s groups – it has been tricky trying to entertain her while taking care of Samuel.”

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This week’s meet-up was a special moment for the whole family, who should have been gathering this week to celebrate Jen and Rob’s wedding, which has had to be postponed. However, Jen said they hope to be able to hold a small ceremony soon, with a reception at a later date.

Ed and Rosie Carne enjoyed a picnic with their daughter Jen, granddaughter Hannah and new grandson Samuel after lockdown restrictions were eased

Meanwhile, Ed and Rosie are just pleased to be able to meet their new grandson and see how Hannah has grown over recent weeks. Rosie said:

“I feel we’re very lucky we live so near so at least we can see them, but I find not being able to pick Hannah up very hard. We were helping out with looking after when Jen was working so I feel we’ve got quite a close relationship and sometimes she wants to crawl to us and we have to back off. We have a few little games we can do, but it’s not the same.”

 

No new coronavirus deaths at Harrogate District Hospital

Harrogate District Hospital has not reported any coronavirus deaths in today’s figures from the NHS.

The number of deaths at the hospital stands at 66. The hospital reported two coronavirus deaths yesterday.

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A further 179 people, who tested positive for coronavirus, have died in England’s hospitals. It brings the total number of confirmed reported deaths to 27,044.

Patients were aged between 12 and 97 years old. Four of the 179 patients, who were aged between 78 and 93, had no known underlying health conditions.

Harrogate’s deep clean starts on Monday

Harrogate town centre is set to undergo a deep clean next week ahead of non-essential retail shops reopening after 10 weeks of lockdown.

Harrogate BID has contracted Yorkshire-based UK Nationwide Cleaning Services for the work which will be carried out from Monday (June 8).

The four-year contract will see the company power wash pavements and street furniture on a night and is expected to take two weeks to complete.

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It comes as non-essential shops, such as clothing stores and electronic outlets, will reopen from June 15 as the lockdown is eased.

Simon Kent, Harrogate BID interim-manager, said:

“In a recent survey of the town centre businesses, the vast majority of those who responded said their number one priority was a deep clean. I’m delighted to say that we are now just days away from fulfilling this.

“We have awarded this contract to UK Nationwide Cleaning Services. The company is no stranger to this type of work, as they already work with BIDs across the UK.

“From next week, life will slowly start to get back to normal, and we want Harrogate to look superb. The deep cleaning will be a major fact in helping us achieving this.”

Meanwhile, Harrogate Borough Council has been handed £141,000 as part of the European Union Regional Development Fund to help reopen high streets safely.

The money is designed to fund measures such as new signs, temporary barriers, street markings and marketing campaigns to reassure people that High Streets are safe. However, the authority said a plan for the money is still being devised.