Regional Wedding Award presented to Harrogate business

Harrogate Wedding & Events have been awarded the Regional Wedding Award for the Décor category.

Its partner business, DJMikeRobson, won the Regional Wedding Award for the DJ category.

The business, which provides wedding services in Harrogate, won the award for within the Yorkshire and North East region.

It was presented by the Wedding Industry Awards for the year 2022.

The awards bring together businesses in the wedding industry from across the UK and are held every year in London.

Ina Robson, owner of Harrogate Wedding & Events, said:

“We are delighted to receive the award and pride ourselves on excellent customer service. To know this award is also driven from customer feedback, means a lot to us.

“The industry itself has had a very difficult few years, but we are now looking forward to a bright future.

“I would like to thank all our clients and DJs for all of their support over the last year, and for helping to make our businesses a great success.”

New managing director appointed at Ripon BID 

Lindsay Elizabeth Mcphearson Austin has been appointed as managing director at Ripon BID.

News of the appointment was recently published on Companies House.

The appointment replaces former directors Sheila Webb and Sarah Blenkinsop.

There are currently twelve active directors as a part of the Ripon BID.

BIDs, which are funded by a levy on local firms,  aim to increase visitor numbers to towns and cities.

Real Food Harrogate asks for local food producers to join market

Real Food Harrogate market

Real Food Harrogate market, Crescent Gardens

Real Food Markets is looking for independent food producers to join its Harrogate market.

The not-for-profit organisation operates in both Harrogate and Ilkley and supports local, independent and speciality producers.

Real Food Harrogate is run by a selection of traders and volunteers on Crescent Gardens on the third Sunday of each month from 10-3pm.

Set up in 2022 with the support of Harrogate BID and Harrogate Council, the market has gradually expanded in size.

Now, organisers are looking for local food producers to take part in Real Food Harrogate.

To join their group of traders and volunteers, you can find out more information here. 

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Send us your firm’s business news and we’ll publish it.  Business Breakfast is a daily round-up of all things related to business and the economy in the district. Get in touch at contact@thestrayferret.co.uk

New monthly food market coming to Harrogate

A new monthly food market will take place at Crescent Gardens in Harrogate — and it starts this Sunday.

Real Food Markets, a community interest company that has organised a food market in Ilkley for six years, will be hosting food and drink and craft stalls on the third Sunday of every month.

The free-to-attend market will be based at Crescent Gardens opposite the old Harrogate Borough Council offices and will run from 10am to 3pm.

February’s market will feature stalls offering cheeses, sushi, sticky toffee puddings, scotch eggs and gluten-free products. There will also be stalls selling products including goat milk soaps, candles, fine art and blankets.

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Matthew Chapman, Harrogate Business Improvement District manager, said:

“We are delighted to be working with Real Food Markets who are looking to replicate the success they have tasted in Ilkley here in Harrogate.  This year, we are hoping to work with a host of different organisations to stage events in Harrogate town centre, which will offer visitors a different experience on each occasion.”

Tim Dabell, event management officer at Harrogate Borough Council, said

“We look forward to working with Lucy and her team in 2022 to encourage the residents of the Harrogate district to shop locally for products in a safe environment. We feel this addition will enhance the whole town centre shopping experience.”

Julia Gabler, owner of Harrogate children’s clothing brand 2 Little Mice, which is among the stallholders, said:

“Our items are ethically made at our Harrogate workshop. While online and retail trading takes up most of our time, we do love to meet our customers face to face and Real Food Harrogate will be a great way to interact with our wonderful customers and show them the faces behind the brand. “

Harrogate’s Valley Gardens to get monthly artisan markets

An artisan market is set to be held monthly in Harrogate’s Valley Gardens after the success of a festive event there this month.

Little Bird Artisan Markets will relocate to the sun colonnade in the gardens from February.

Little Bird Made, the company that runs the events, has held monthly markets at St Wilfrid’s Church on Duchy Road in Harrogate since the summer.

It plans to continue staging occasional pop-up markets at the church but its regular monthly events in Harrogate will move to the more central Valley Gardens.

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Harrogate Borough Council invited Little Bird Made to Valley Gardens to attract more visitors to the town at the start of the first Harrogate Christmas Fayre, which was held from December 3 to 12 in the streets of Harrogate town centre.

At the time, Cllr Andy Paraskos, cabinet member for environment, waste reduction and recycling, said the council hoped that first event would lead to a longer-term relationship.

The two-day event in the first weekend of December hosted about 60 stalls and a steady stream of visitors.

Jackie Crozier, managing director of Little Bird Made, said it was one of the company’s busiest events so far. She said:

“We are really excited to be moving our monthly Little Bird Artisan Market to the bigger venue of Valley Gardens in the heart of the town from February 2022.

“Valley Gardens is the natural progression for Little Bird to expand and offer more opportunities for small local business and to promote our ethos of shopping local.

“It will be great to work with Harrogate Borough Council throughout 2022 and we are looking forward to delivering our events with them.”

When can you next visit Little Bird artisan markets in the Harrogate district?

ATM outage frustrates Knaresborough stallholders

Stallholders have vented their frustration over an ATM outage in Knaresborough’s town centre where there is no longer a bank.

Both the cash machines at the Tesco Express and the Sainsbury’s Local on the High Street are out of service today. They have reportedly been out for the past five days.

Anyone in need of cash either have to queue up at the busy Post Office in the town or head out for a 40 minute round walk to the ATM at the Co-op petrol station on Manse Lane.

Halifax closed its Knaresborough branch in March 2021. Halifax blamed changing customer habits for the closure, which left the town’s 15,000 residents without a bank.

The lack of cash availability has been felt particularly keenly today at the Knaresborough market. The market is held every Wednesday from 7.30am to 3pm in the market square.

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Ted Wray, who has sold jewellery and old cash at his stall for the last three years, told the Stray Ferret:

“I think it has put people off buying things at the market today. Some of my potential customers ask if I take cards but it’s not possible when I am selling items for a couple of pounds.

“It has been very difficult. All of us in the market who do not use card machines have felt this as an issue.”

Paul Greene, who runs a fruit and vegetable stall under the name Paul Veg Man, also added:

“The ATMs have been out since Saturday. Customers have also been complaining about it, the machines don’t have any cash in them.

“It has been putting a lot of people off. We have no banks and only one post office where everyone has been sent.”

Jared Clark, who runs a bakery stall on the market with a card machine, said:

“We have had a few customers who have said they can’t get any cash, so it is not ideal. The only place is the Post Office where people often have to queue.

“Footfall is down at the moment so it is not great. Knaresborough deserves better, we need more cash points or a bank.”

The Stray Ferret asked both Tesco and Sainsbury’s why their ATMs are currently out of use. We had no response by the time of publication.

Update: A Tesco Bank spokesperson said:

“We are aware of an issue affecting the ATM at Tesco Knaresborough High Street that has caused the machine to be temporarily out of service. We are working hard to fix this and expect to have the ATM available for use again later this week. We are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused our customers.”

First Harrogate Christmas Fayre set to showcase local charities

The new Harrogate Christmas Fayre is set to showcase local charities when the festive market comes to town next month.

Organisers Market Place Europe have set aside a stall for 10 charities, which they can use to raise awareness and fundraise.

Across the 10 days, Samaritans of Harrogate and District, Harrogate Town AFC Community Foundation, Bilton and Woodfield Community Library, Dementia Forward, Harrogate Skills 4 Living Centre, Harrogate Easier Living Project, Citizens Advice Craven and Harrogate Districts, Harrogate International Festivals, Harrogate Hospital and Community Charity and Horticap will also use the stall.

A press release today by Harrogate Borough Council, which is organising the event in partnership with Market Place Europe, said the charities ‘were identified through the council’s Local Lotto initiative’, which conducts weekly prize draws that generate money for local charities.

Nick Rhodes, chief executive of Market Place Europe, said:

“Almost 50 coach companies are set to arrive across the 10 days, along with the thousands of Harrogate district residents and regional visitors, so it is anticipated that traders, local businesses and charities are going to benefit from the additional footfall the fayre will bring.”

The organisers hope the stall will help fill the void left by the original Harrogate Christmas Market on Montpellier Hill, which over the last five events contributed more than £90,000 to local charities.

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Gemma Rio, Harrogate Borough Council’s head of destination management, said:

“There is a lot of excitement building for the market, and we are anticipating thousands of people visiting Harrogate this festive period, so I’d like to thank Market Place Europe for donating a stall that will no doubt raise the profile of local charities and The Local Lotto.”

Location and dates for new Harrogate Christmas Fayre

The Harrogate Christmas Fayre will feature around 50 stallholders on Cambridge Street, Market Place, Station Square and Cambridge Crescent.. They will be spaced out wider than usual to encourage social distancing.

Your guide to Harrogate’s three Christmas markets

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…So, with a few changes to the plans this year, we have compiled this guide of everything you need to know about Harrogate’s Christmas markets.

After the loss of the original Harrogate Christmas Market, the festive offering has splintered into three markets.

While some of the original stalls will be at the newly-refurbished Crimple Hall at the end of November, new stall holders will be at events across the town centre and Valley Gardens in December.

Harrogate Christmas Fayre across the town centre

Market Place Europe is taking on the main event in Harrogate but rather than Montpellier Hill this new Harrogate Christmas Fayre will take place across the town centre.

There will be a mixture of local and European stallholders on Cambridge Street, Market Place, Station Square and Cambridge Crescent.

The Harrogate Christmas Fayre will feature around 50 traders spaced out wider than usual to try to encourage social distancing.

Rather than the usual four-day market, the Market Place Europe event will take place over a week from December 3 until December 12.

Market Place Europe is behind the Harrogate Christmas Fayre.

Christmas Market Weekend at Crimple Hall

Brian Dunsby, co-organiser of Harrogate Christmas Market, has worked with some of the stallholders who were planning to go to his cancelled event to get them at a new venue.

Crimple Hall will hold the Christmas Market Weekend, which will feature more than 20 food and craft stalls.

There will also be plenty of children’s activities, a festive animal farm, face painting, treasure trails, wreath making demonstration and live music.

The Christmas Market at Crimple Hall will be held on November 27 and 28, from 8am to 7pm on the Saturday and 10am to 4pm on the Sunday.

There will be a festive offering at the new Crimple Hall.

Artisan Christmas market in Valley Gardens

Little Bird Made, which has made a name for itself across North Yorkshire with its artisan markets, is set to hold a festive version of its market in Valley Gardens.

More than 60 local traders and producers will sell a variety of festive arts and crafts, clothing, homeware, jewellery, as well as locally produced food and drink.

This is a new addition to the town called Artisan Festive Market, with the organisers working with Harrogate Borough Council.

It will be held on the weekend of December 4 and 5 between 10am and 3pm.

The Artisan Festive Market will be held in Harrogate's Valley Gardens.

The Artisan Festive Market will be held in Harrogate’s Valley Gardens.

New artisan market to open in Knaresborough this Saturday

A new artisan market is set to open this Saturday on Knaresborough’s Market Place.

The market set up by Little Bird Made will sell artisanal products – varying from food and drink to clothes and plants.

Working with Knaresborough Town Council the new artisan market will be monthly.

Hazel Morrison, press officer at Little Bird Made, said:

“Little Bird Made run a number of markets across the North Yorkshire area and with Knaresborough being well known as a market town, set within a beautiful setting, what better place to expand our portfolio of venues to include.”

“The dates for the market until the end of the year are, Saturday 2 of October, 6 of November and 19 of December. We are currently working on our programme of dates for 2022 and the market will take place monthly, with set dates to be confirmed.”

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The market will contain 50 curated stalls – catering to a wide range of customers. It will run from 9am to 3pm.

Little Bird Made is also organising the new Christmas market in the Valley Gardens, Harrogate from December 2 to 4.

For more information click here.

Ripon to host another weekend of free family entertainment

As the school summer holidays draw to a close, families can look forward to another free weekend of entertainment on Ripon Market Square.

The August Bank Holiday weekend, will see the return of fairground rounds for young children and a climbing wall for those a little older.

The event-staged by Ripon City Council on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 August, follows the Yorkshire Day weekend, that brought hundreds of people to the city centre.

The fairground rides and the climbing wall will be in place from 2pm until 8pm on the Saturday and 10am until 4pm on the Sunday.

Photo of fairground ride

All the fun of the fairground – for free

 

Following the same pattern as the Yorkshire Day Weekend, there will be musical entertainment from 7pm on Bank Holiday Saturday.

This will feature three tribute acts,  singing a selection of chart-topping hits from the best-known boy bands, Paloma Faith and ABBA.

On Bank Holiday Sunday, in addition to the fairground rides, Market Square will host another Little Bird Artisan Market.

Open from 10am until 3pm, it will again include stalls selling goods ranging from food to home furnishings, produced by local and Yorkshire-based traders.

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In addition, to activities in the city centre, two temporary toilets have been installed by the city council for families visiting the Borrage Green Lane paddling pool.

These will remain in place until the end of the summer holidays.

 

Artisan market returns to Ripon today in another step out of lockdown

Today’s early May bank holiday has seen a buzz of activity on Ripon Market Square as the Little Bird Artisan Market returned.

About 40 independent businesses are selling homemade local products and handmade goods, including clothing, jewellery, hand-crafted wooden items and food.

It is the first public event to be staged by Ripon City Council for 18 months.

Jackie Crozier, owner and curator of Little Bird Artisan Markets, said:

“The Ripon artisan market celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit of the local traders, inviting visitors and residents to discover artisanal crafts from up-and-coming local businesses and further afield

“As someone who was born and lives in Ripon, I am very proud to hold events in the city I am passionate about.”

Artisan markets are planned throughout the rest of the year, along with activities on key dates in the city calendar.

Photo of queue at the Artisan Market

Stalls were spaced out across all of Market Square to ensure that social distancing could be maintained.

Ripon also awaits the return of the of the ancient hornblower ceremony to Market Square.

Its return and the staging of larger-scale events is reliant upon the removal of government social distancing requirements.

Currently, the earliest this can happen is 21 June.

The covid lockdown wiped out all public and civic events planned by the council in 2020.

They included the 75th anniversary celebrations for VE Day, Saint Wilfrid’s procession, Remembrance Sunday, switch on of the Christmas lights and the New Year’s Eve entertainment

Andrew Williams, council leader and chair of the city council’s events committee, told the Stray Ferret:

“It’s great to be able to hold events for local people once more.

“As lockdown restrictions ease we aim to hold larger-scale activities that can be enjoyed by both residents and visitors.

“This will attract more footfall that is beneficial to shops, cafes, restaurants, pubs and our heritage attractions.

For more information on the artisan market or to become involved as an artist, artisan or vendor, email info@littlebirdmade.co.uk.

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Harrogate farmers’ market enjoys strong trade on today’s return

Traders at Harrogate Farmers’ Market reported good sales today when they returned after the easing of lockdown restrictions.

The market was held on Cambridge Street for the first time since January and featured 25 stalls selling everything from a hog roast to woollen blankets to vegetables.

The market, organised by Yorkshire Farmers’ Markets, is normally held on the second Thursday of each month but it moved this month to coincide with the reopening of shops.

The town centre was busy today, with people enjoying a walk around the shops and a coffee in the sun.

Ryan Jepson, who pitched his cheese stall at the top of the street, said sales were comparable with pre-covid levels:

“Today’s back to where it was before really. It’s good to be back here. Of course, the more markets that reopen the better for us.

“The town looks different with places closed now. As cafes open indoors it’ll get busier again. It’s interesting to see how different people are shopping, using card over cash, keeping away from the stall etc.”

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One of the outdoor market’s longest-serving traders, John Piercy, of Piercy’s Pork was also pleased with how it went:

“Yes it’s been really good today, a lot of our regulars are back. Every market we get fresh customers and I hope they all cotton on to our product and come back. People are wanting to support local now. It’s nice to be back out again.”

Fran Cawthorne, from Yorkshire Blankets, was happy to be outside again after moving to online sales over lockdown:

“It’s been quite busy — we’ve done alright, it’s been a good day. It’s nice to be back out and chatting to customers again.

“We love coming to Harrogate, people have been buying a lot of blankets from us today for when people are sat outside in beer gardens.”