Cornish Bakery has announced it will open its first Harrogate shop next week.

The eat-in or take-out bakery will be based in the former Paperchase unit that closed at the end of May.

Cornish Bakery, which has more than 50 shops in the UK, sells pasties, breakfast pastries, cakes and coffees.

The Stray Ferret revealed in July the company was heading to upmarket James Street. Now the company has revealed the opening date.

The shop, which will serve customers from 8am to 6pm every day of the week, will provide competition to the nearby Greggs bakeries as well as the Cornish Pasty Bakery in the Victoria Shopping Centre.

The unit was originally the home of a chemist and later part of the Ogden jewellery store, which is now its neighbour.

Steve Grocutt

Cornish Bakery founder and owner Steve Grocutt said:

“We are delighted to be opening our Cornish Bakery in the beautiful spa town of Harrogate.

“We are on a constant journey to redefine what a bakery is does and what it can be, and we therefore build all our bakeries differently.”

He added:

“We have taken on this historic Harrogate property, uncovering some interesting features within it that will be showcased in the beautiful interior we have created.

“We also believe a bakery should be part of the community so our newly employed team will be actively seeking opportunities to work with local organisations in the Harrogate area.”

Read more:

• Harrogate man unveils world’s first vertical bathroom
• Open-top bus added to Harrogate’s Christmas attractions

An artist and designer have combined their talents to open a gift shop in Harrogate.

Katie and Howard Shelmerdine opened Lighthouse Lane on Royal Parade.

The couple, who have two other shops, describe the venture as a “design-led gift, art, homeware and greetings card brand”.

Katie is responsible for the artwork and Howard specialises in the Yorkshire product range.

About half of the products are designed and often made in house.

Katie said:

“We opened our first retail store in Haworth in 2015. After welcoming our first child, we left our jobs working for a high street bank and decided to give running a business a go.

“We had no experience in the creative world but knew we were passionate about it and decided the time was as right as it could have been.”

They opened a second shop in Skipton in 2019 and have now set-up business in Harrogate. Katie said:

“We are very excited to become a part of the community of vibrant Montpellier independent retailers, cafes and bars.

“We hope that our store is a welcoming, fun and relaxing place to visit where you might find that special something to treat yourself to.”

Read more:

• Hotel group boss confident multi-million investment in Harrogate district will pay off
• More parking fines issued at Valley Drive than any other Harrogate street

A new upmarket national retailer is set to open a store on Harrogate’s West Park.

Mandarin Stone, which sells natural stone, porcelain and decorative tiles for homes and businesses, will open in the former Lynx Menswear unit.

Helen Cox-Rawnsley, a director of Montpellier Property Consultants, announced today it had let the site.

The site of the new store.

Mandarin Stone already has showrooms in 15 locations, mainly in southern England and Wales.

The family-run business, which is based in Monmouth, announced last week that its pre-tax profit for the year ended 31 December 2022 had increased to £7.5 million, compared with £6.9 million the year before.

Alma Small, managing director of Mandarin Stone who founded the business more than 30 years ago, said the company continued to grow “despite the challenges and uncertainty within the building sector”.

The company’s website says it has “the most innovative and exciting wall and floor surfaces to the UK market, placing Mandarin Stone at the forefront of interior design”.

Read more:

• ‘Collective will’ at council to rescue £11.2m Harrogate Station Gateway
• Plan to convert former Harrogate hostel into flats set for approval

A Cornish Bakery is set to open on Harrogate’s prestigious James Street.

The eat-in or take-out bakery will be based in the former Paperchase unit that closed at the end of May.

Cornish Bakery , which has more than 50 shops in the UK, sells pasties, breakfast pastries, cakes and coffees. It also provides a mail order service.

It is one of six new bakeries planned this year by the firm, which in February announced pre-tax profits of £3.1 million in the financial year ending May 2022. Its nearest store is currently in York.

Agents acting on behalf of Cornish Bakery founder Stephen Grocutt have submitted plans to North Yorkshire Council to display new signs outside the building.

Paperchase closed in May.

Recruitment adverts for positions within the company in Harrogate have also appeared online.

The planning documents do not say when the store will open. However,

The shop will be close to the Cornish Pasty Bakery in the Victoria Shopping Centre as well as two town centre Greggs, which also sells pasties.

Read more:

• Paperchase in Harrogate to close tomorrow
• Traffic order issued to close part of Harrogate’s James Street to vehicles

This story is sponsored by Lucy Pittaway.

One of the UK’s favourite artists says she has been “blown away” by the reception since opening her new gallery in Harrogate before Christmas. 

Lucy Pittaway already has four other galleries across the North – in Richmond, Yarm, Keswick and near her home in Brompton-on-Swale – where she sells original artwork and prints of her paintings, which she calls “art that makes you smile” – but wanted a presence a little further south. 

She said: 

“We’ve been blown away by the reception we’ve had in Harrogate – not just from other traders, but from local people coming into the gallery too.The feedback’s been wonderful. The gallery has been really well received, which makes us feel we’ve definitely made the right decision opening here.

“Footfall’s been incredibly strong. We were getting people wanting to come in before we’d even opened. It’s actually been quite challenging, because we’ve had to take on more people just to cope with demand.”

Lucy Pittaway graduated from Northumbria University with a degree in Graphic Design, and went on to teach and lecture at Darlington Technical College of Art and Design. It was only after she had started a family with childhood sweetheart Neil that she felt it was the perfect time to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a professional artist.  

Her pictures, which often feature scenes, animals and characters from the Yorkshire Dales, can now be found in homes and galleries across the UK and beyond. 

She has won an armful of prestigious awards from the Fine Art Trade Guild, including Best Up-and-Coming Artist, Best Art Website of the Year, and the UK’s Most Popular Published Artist in 2018, 2019 and 2022. 

Nevertheless, when Lucy decided to open her gallery in the heart of Harrogate, on Prospect Place at the end of James Street, she had little idea of how local traders would respond – but she needn’t have worried. 

She said: 

“Coming to Harrogate has been really eye-opening. It’s a very welcoming town. From a business-to-business point of view, we were really quite overwhelmed by the help we received from [tourism body] Destination Harrogate. They took a lot of time out to answer all our questions about recruitment, seasonality, advertising and business organisations.

“Other businesses have been very supportive too, and I think that says a lot about the genuine nature of businesses in Harrogate. They want to do the best for their customers and are interested in improving choice on the high street.”

Buoyed by the success of the Harrogate opening, Lucy is now hoping to repeat the achievement in other towns in the region. 

She said:

“We’ve just gone through some major renovation at our head office in Brompton-on-Swale, and have invested a lot in new warehousing and office space, which will help us feed more galleries and expand. 

“We want to bring a vibrancy to the high street to make people smile. We’re planning to open more galleries this year – so watch this space!” 

Find out more:

Discover why Lucy Pittaway is the UK’s most popular published artist by visiting her newest gallery at 21 Prospect Place, Harrogate.

Or check out her latest paintings on her award-winning website, lucypittaway.co.uk.

A new shop selling items handmade in Yorkshire is to open in Harrogate’s Victoria Shopping Centre today.

Boggle Hole sells items made by about 90 crafters, artisans and designers in Yorkshire.

The shop, run by Mel and Andrew Turner, stocks a wide range of items from jewellery to children’s wear.

Ms Turner is a holistic therapist and Mr Turner served 22 years in the armed services.

The couple already have a similar shop in Northallerton, which they opened in July 2020.

Mr Turner said:

“Harrogate has a good feel about it with the right kind of people to appreciate quality handmade goods.

“There’s something for everybody. We work with 90 to 100 people that make something unique.”

Read more:

• Prologue to open ‘luxury showroom’ for bikes in Harrogate
• Prestigious building on Harrogate’s James Street put on the market

Performance cycling business Prologue is to open the bike equivalent of a “luxury car showroom” in Harrogate tomorrow.

The showroom will display some of the finest quality bikes on the market, ranging in price from £3,000 to £15,000.

The showroom is based in Wellington House, the former hotel on Cold Bath Road.

John and Rachael Reid opened Prologue in another unit in Wellington House in 2014 — the year the Tour de France came to the Harrogate district.

Since then Prologue’s distinctive yellow branding has become a feature of Cold Bath Road. It has a shop selling cycling gear and clothing, a workshop, a bike fitting area and a café open to everyone.

But it doesn’t sell many bikes simply because there isn’t space.

The new showroom, in the former White Stone Ski and Sports Store, will address that by stocking up to 40 bikes.

The white lines of a road have been painted in the middle of the showroom and bikes will be displayed there, as well as hung from the walls to create a high end feel.

Mr Reid said:

“It will provide that same level of experience you get in a luxury car showroom.

“If you’re buying a high quality bike you want to enjoy the experience of going through that process of looking at it and trying it and getting that personal service.”

Prologue is expanding on Cold Bath Road.

Harrogate’s cycling hub

Scottish-born Mr Reid, who previously worked in software sales, opened Prologue eight years ago when he was looking for a change of career and lifestyle.

A keen cyclist, he and his wife, who used to work in the same building on Cold Bath Road when it was home to Harrogate Interiors, funded the business themselves.

They now employ eight full-time staff and several part-time and the shop only closes three days a year.

The business has benefitted from a surge of interest in performance cycling and British success in the Tour de France but the couple have worked hard to create a social hub as well as a business.

Read more:

• Beech Grove decision leaves Harrogate in slow lane for cycling
• Refilling Station eco-shop in Harrogate to close

They quickly forged links with local clubs Harrogate Nova and Cappuccino Cycling Club, whose members often converge outside. They also host talks on subjects such as nutrition and training and have even hold film screenings.

A launch event for the new showroom at Prologue tomorrow will feature a bike belonging to Tom Pidcock, the Leeds cyclist who represented Team Ineos, the leading British cycling team, at this year’s Tour de France.

The Electric Bike Shop opened in Harrogate today, hoping to capitalise on cycling’s increased popularity since lockdown.

The shop, situated in the former Fulton’s Food unit on Leeds Road, has about 50 electric bikes in store, with more coming soon. Brands include Raleigh, Cube and Moustache.

It also sells cycling accessories and has an in-store workshop that undertakes repairs for electric and non-electric bikes.

Some of the bikes for sale.

The bikes range in price from £1,600 to £8,000 and contain rechargeable batteries that can last for between 20 and 70 miles.

It is The Electric Bike Shop’s ninth shop in England. Five have opened in the last 18 months, highlighting the impact of covid and environmental concerns on cycling participation.

Read more:

• Electric bike shop to open in Harrogate next month
• New moves to improve cycling in North Yorkshire

Kurt Davison, who manages the Harrogate branch, has been working in the electric bike market for eight years. He said:

“I’ve seen the industry grow and grow and it is now at a stage where it is no longer pigeon-holed as something for older people or people who don’t usually ride. Electric bikes make hills and headwind enjoyable!”

Harrogate Electric Bikes already operates in Harrogate and some other bike shops also include a selection of electric bikes.

The shop is in the former Fulton’s Foods unit on Leeds Road.

Alan Fowler, retail director of the Electric Bike Shop, said the quality of electric bikes had improved significantly in the last five years.

He added the product was well suited to Harrogate because it contained commuters to York and Leeds as well as pleasure riders in the Yorkshire Dales. He said:

“Harrogate suits our demographic really well.”

The shop employs three staff and plans to recruit one more.

Queues formed on James Street this morning for the opening of the new, relocated Hotel Chocolat store.  Around 30 people waited for the store to open at 10am with staff serving hot chocolate to them whilst they waited.

The new store is almost opposite the old one but is larger with a cafe that can seat 30 people at the back of the shop. The chocolate chain has seen rapid growth in recent years and the new store will have up to 15 staff in the run up to Christmas — double the number of the previous store.

The co-founder of Hotel Chocolat, Peter Harris, said there was demand in Harrogate for the store to expand:

” Harrogate is a beautiful location and town. The community here like to support local businesses. We’ve been here since 2009, people have loved it and wanted the full Hotel Chocolat experience of drinks and ices as well as a larger store.

“We’re also delighted that we can provide flat access for wheelchairs and buggies which is an improvement on the previous location, which had a step in it and was very narrow.”

Read More:

• £10.9m Harrogate Station Gateway will ‘boost business’
• New Harrogate cocktail bar to open next month

The new store is a boost for James Street which has seen mixed fortunes in recent years with loss of key brands such as Next and Laura Ashley.

Local businesses have expressed concern that plans to pedestrianise the top of the street as part of the Station Gateway proposal will be damaging for trade.  Harrogate Borough Council has argued that the plans will mean  “short-term disruption for long-term gain”.

James Ogden, a new recruit to Hotel Chocolat, said he was excited to be involved in a store opening:

“I’m super excited to be working in my local area – I love coming into work every day and making people happy with chocolate!”

James Ogden at the cafe bar in the new store.