Business Breakfast: Ripon engineering firm partners with The British Heart Foundation

The Stray Ferret Business Awards, sponsored by Prosperis, will be held on March 9 at the Pavilions of Harrogate. Early bird tickets are available until February 9. The event will celebrate success and business excellence across the Harrogate district. It’s a night not to be missed! There’ll be a fabulous prize draw for all attending and Richard Flinton, the incoming Chief Executive of North Yorkshire Council, is guest speaker. 

Econ Engineering has launched a new charity partnership with The British Heart Foundation. The Ripon engineering firm makes more than eight out of 10 winter maintenance vehicles on UK roads.

The charity partnership will run throughout February – National Heart Month – until the end of 2023, with the aim to raise £20,000.

The money raised by Econ will help the BHF to fund research into heart and circulatory conditions such as coronary heart disease, strokes and vascular dementia.

Econ’s involvement with the charity stemmed from the death of one of the company’s managing directors, Andrew Lupton, who suffered a heart attack last year.

Andrew’s brother, Jonathan, who is now the sole managing director of the firm, said:

“We are proud to be partnering with the British Heart Foundation and are looking forward to supporting with its ongoing campaign to beat heartbreak forever”.

Employees will have the opportunity to participate in several BHF-supported health and wellbeing engagement activities, to ensure a healthier workforce.

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Knaresborough shops encouraged to bring a floral look to the town

Knaresborough and District Chamber is urging shops to order hanging baskets to maintain the town’s floral look this summer.

The baskets are created by Harrogate Borough Council, which waters them twice a week.

For the last decade, the chamber has taken orders for baskets directly from shop keepers. It has subsidised the cost to members and charged non-members the price charged by the council.

But the council has set up an online payment system this year and the chamber is concerned it might lead to a lower take-up.

Chamber member and hairdresser, Kelly Teggin, who was in charge of basket sales last year, said:

“The town looks so lovely when it’s in full bloom. I fear if it’s left to the shop keepers, we may not see as many baskets, so we want to encourage it as much as possible.”

Further details are available here.

Hair & beauty salon, Kelly Teggin, displaying its hanging basket.

Knaresborough urged to ‘think big’ to maximise growth opportunity

Experts have urged Knaresborough to ‘think big’ to help the town’s economy make the most of upcoming major political changes.

They said the town needs to focus on something eye-catching and big — such as a cliff lift — to maximise the potential of North Yorkshire devolution.

Knaresborough and District Chamber of Trade invited the experts to talk about how to seize the opportunities presented by the creation of a combined authority and mayor for North Yorkshire and York in 2024.

The changes will bring  £540 million into the county over a 30-year period and see transport, skills and education decision-making powers devolved to the mayor from central government.

James Farrar, chief operating officer for the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said town centres would be a major focus of whoever is elected mayor because the county does not have a large urban city.

He recommended the town focus on securing funding for one major, eye-catching initiative that would appeal to the whoever is elected mayor.

“Town centres will be important to the mayor and the places that do well will be the places that have a plan.

“Don’t wait for the money — get on the front foot. Have a clear plan and understand your priorities.

“Think about the one thing you want in Knaresborough.”

This week’s chamber meeting. Pic: Charlotte Gale 

Mr Farrar added many businesses were looking to move out of York because there was no more space to expand and towns like Knaresborough could take advantage.

Alan Reiss, director of strategy for the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, told the meeting devolution “massively amplifies the voice of a region” and that North Yorkshire looked like securing a “great deal” financially.

Christian Spence, an economist from Open Innovations, a not-for-profit organisation that uses data to help people make decisions, told the meeting the Knaresborough area was growing rapidly but not in the town centre itself.

By contrast, he said growth had doubled in the south of Knaresborough and Follifoot, over the last 10 years.

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Peter Lacey, an executive member of the chamber who owns a nationwide consulting firm, said Knaresborough had lots great ideas but needed to find a common purpose.

He was one of several people at the meeting to suggest a cliff lift could be the big idea that levered funding into Knaresborough. He said:

“We’ve got some great companies based here, but to date there’s been little joined-up thinking about how we can all add to the wellbeing of local residents, the community and how we see the future of the town as a thriving centre of innovation and growth.”