This week, we spoke to Lee Bellwood, owner of Major Tom’s Social in Harrogate.
Tell us in fewer than 30 words what your firm does.
We make fresh pizza and source some of the best beer you can get in the UK and abroad. We do cocktails as well, and in the next couple of weeks we’ll be starting to do lunches and brunches.
What does it take to be successful in business?
You need a good team behind you, consistency, and a USP (unique selling point). Ours is that we’re a ‘youth club for grown-ups’. We wanted to create somewhere to go where we felt comfortable, and where you could bring your kids. That’s the ‘social’ side of Major Tom’s Social.
What drives you to do what you do every day?
Basically, I just want to be in a business where I can enjoy work and not have to answer to anyone else. I like food and I like drink, so this is something I really love doing.
What has been the toughest issue your company has had to deal with over the last 12 months?
My business partner, Toby Smith, left the business to do something else, so I’ve taken it over from him. Before, I was more hands-on, but now I’m a lot more involved with payroll and VAT returns.
I’ve just opened a new bar in Otley, the Curious Hop Bière Café. It’s a bit tricky at times – it’s going well, but I just have to balance my time between the two.
Which other local firms do you most admire, and why?
I admire any independent business that can keep its head above water after covid. It was such a difficult time.
Baltzersen’s brought out its bakery just as covid was hitting and did very well out of that.
Stuzzi have done well with their gins, and opening a new site in Leeds.
Paradise Tap & Taco is doing very well too – owners Josh and Ellie were both my old managers for about five years.
Lee Bellwood, owner of Major Tom’s Social in Harrogate.
Who are the most inspiring local leaders?
I don’t really admire any local leaders, to be honest. I struggle to answer that question.
Anyone, locally or further afield, who works to combat racism and climate change, I take my hat off to.
What could be done locally to boost business?
Any time there’s a big event going on, I find it difficult to find out about it. I normally find out at the last minute. For example, if there’s a craft fair in the Valley Gardens, I may only find out about it the day before, but businesses like mine need plenty of notice about these things.
There needs to be a really good social media group – on Facebook or Instagram – to share information about these events so we can plan ahead.
Best and worst things about running a business from Harrogate?
That’s quite hard! The people we get in here are really nice and friendly – our customer base is great. We also get a lot of visitors to the town, which helps us, and it’s also great to work above Steve [Elvidge] in Space [the vintage and retro shop on The Ginnel].
The sense of community between all the independents in Harrogate is really nice: Starling, Paradise, Cold Bath Brewing Co, and Thug Sandwich Company. If I run out of pizza boxes, I can always borrow a load from one of the others, and we all have our staff do’s in each other’s places.
The worst? The parking fees. Also, the amount of licences the council gives out to premises nearby. Since we’ve been here, there have been eight or nine places given alcohol licences within 100 yards of here.
What are your business plans for the future?
We hope to introduce slightly longer opening hours over the weekends, with brunches and lunches, and we want to use the space as more of an events centre. We already have pop-up painting on Sundays, but I’d like to see more exhibitions and talks as well, giving it a real community feel. I want it to be open to everyone too, so it’ll be quite inclusive.
What do you like to do in your time off?
I love hiking, paddleboarding, travelling, hanging out with my family – and not eating pizza!
Recently I went paddleboarding on Coniston and that evening we saw the Northern Lights. It was almost like a religious experience: the best day ever!
Best place to eat and drink locally?
Obviously here. Apart from us, though, Paradise is nice, Stuzzi is good, and Baltzersen’s is good for coffee and cakes.
But my favourite is the Wild Plum Café on Hookstone Road. I go there with my mum and mother-in-law. The food is always interesting, with lots of foraged ingredients, and it’s all tasty and inventive.
This is the latest in a regular series of weekly Business Q&A features. If you’d like to suggest someone in business in the Harrogate district for this feature, drop us a line at contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.
Read more:
Brew York to open today in historic Knaresborough pub
Brew York acquired the pub, whose future appeared uncertain after it closed last year.
The Mitre is one of three venues taken over by the independent brewery via an agreement with Market Town Taverns.
Brew York, which was founded in 2016 on Walmgate in York by Wayne Smith and Lee Grabham, has also acquired the Horse & Farrier in Otley and Coopers Bar and Brasserie in Guiseley.
Founders of Brew York Lee Grabham (left) and Wayne Smith
The Mitre, which opened in 1923, is next to Knaresborough’s grade two listed train station. The venue has a large central bar, function room, outdoor seating area and rooms to let.
Brew York beers are on offer from traditional hand-pull cask and keg. The pub has best sellers such as Juice Forsyth, a fruited Indian Pale Ale, Tonkoko, a milk stout and Golden Eagle, a Czech style pilsner on tap.
All Brew York beers are brewed in York either at the original brewery on Walmgate or at the main production facility in Osbaldwick.
Over the bank holiday weekend Frango Eduardo will be serving Portuguese chicken while details of permanent food offerings are finalised.
Brew York beers on tap in The Mitre, Knaresborough
Wayne Smith said:
“I’m really excited to be reopening the Mitre, it’s a pub I used to visit regularly when it was ran by market town taverns and pleased we have been able to take over and get it back trading again. We will be making some enhancements over the coming months and appointing a permanent street food vendor, but for the first few weeks will be bringing in a new vendor each weekend, starting with Frango Eduardo this bank holiday. We will be bringing a wide range of brew york cask and keg beers with something to suit everyone’s tastes.”
Read more:
- Plans for extension at Knaresborough Waterside home approved
- Sketches by Magritte to go under the hammer in Ripon
One of the best known gastropubs in the Harrogate district has gone on the market for £1.2 million.
The General Tarleton at Ferrensby, near Knaresborough, closed several months ago.
Leeds business broker Christie & Co is now marketing the freehold for the property, which comes with 15 en-suite bedrooms, a 90-seat restaurant and a private dining and function room. The 0.8-acre site also includes a car park and outdoor terrace.
The marketing details say:
“This impressive and imposing coaching inn boasts a wealth of period charm including oak beams and exposed stone walls and flooring and has been recently refurbished and upgraded to an excellent standard by the present owners, and very much deserving of its AA five-star inn accreditation.”
Father and daughter Jonathan and Sarah Morris spent £500,000 refurbishing the venue after taking over from previous owners, Suzanne and John Topham, in 2021.
The marketing information adds:
“The sale represents an excellent opportunity for an owner operator or hospitality-led group to capitalise on the significant capital investment made by the current owners, as well as the enviable reputation and client base, and to take the business to the next level.
“The business has only been trading in the hands of the current owners since mid 2021 but in that time, they have carried out a significant revamp and overhaul or the building and the operation. Turnover for the 12 months to the end of October 2023 is around £850,000 with trade splits as follows: food 42%, drinks 26% and rooms 32%.
It also says the site has “the possible option of further expansion and development, subject to appropriate planning permission”.
Read more:
Harrogate pub set to rebrand
The Swan on Devonshire Place in Harrogate is to be rebranded by new owners.
The Harrogate pub will reopen as The Mucky Duck, under the ownership of Appetite for Life Ltd.
The company also run SO! bars in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon, the Devonshire Tap House in Harrogate and Tap On Tower Street in Harrogate.
The High Harrogate venue was previously owned by Market Town Taverns, a Harrogate company which operates a chain of pubs in Yorkshire and north-west England.
An application for a pavement licence has been submitted to North Yorkshire Council by Robert Thompson, who is named as the licensee of Appetite for Life Ltd on Companies House. He and Alison Thompson are the new owners of the venue.
The application, which was submitted at the start of the month, is for ‘the ability to place several tables and chairs outside the front of the premises for the sale of food, drinks and alcohol’.
The new signage is set to go up this week with the pub expected to open in May, although there is no confirmed date at this time.
Mr Thompson said:
“We knew the area lacked a good quality pub, serving great freshly prepared British & pub classics with a modern flare, great familiar beers, and a proper friendly welcome, so that’s what we plan to do”.
“We have made Harrogate our home since the mid-nineties and knew the pub was known as The Black Swan before it was the Swan on the Stray but was affectionately known as the Mucky Duck by locals. We wanted to modernise the pub a bit, but with a nod to its past, hence adopting the locals nickname for the pub”.
Read more:
- Drivers face delays as four-week Pannal gasworks start
- Harrogate Steel Company enters administration
Plans to convert ‘unviable’ pub near Pateley Bridge refused
Plans to convert an “unviable” 110-year-old former pub near Pateley Bridge into a holiday home have been refused.
The Birch Tree, at Lupton Bank in Glasshouses, closed in March 2020.
Planning permission was granted to convert the majority of the pub into three holiday flats while retaining a small public bar.
A subsequent application to convert the remaining pub into a two-bedroom cottage has now been refused.
Planning documents by Dacre Banks-based firm Yarntex Two said the building had attracted “no local interest or expressions of interest from further afield”.
They added:
“Sadly, there appears to be no viable future for the pub and provision of a further holiday cottage to supplement and enhance the others is surely the best option for the building.”
But North Yorkshire Council rejected the proposal this week.
The council said it was “not satisfied that the pub has been marketed at a suitable value”. Pateley Bridge Town Council had raised the same concern during the consultation period.
North Yorkshire Council’s decision report added:
“No details have been provided of the sales particulars, value it has been marketed at and original sale price. Additionally trading accounts, license details and opening hours have not been provided. Marketing of the pub has not continued for 12 consecutive months.”
It also said the interior of the pub had been stripped, which would “put off potential buyers” and no attempt had been made to market the pub for alternative community uses.
Read more:
- Pump track could replace BMX track in Pateley Bridge
- Fresh plan to convert pub near Pateley Bridge into a cottage
Harrogate’s Pitcher and Piano gets new name and owner
The Pitcher and Piano in Harrogate has been taken over by the company that used to run the town’s Viper Rooms nightclub.
The bar, on the hospitality-rich John Street, will be known as The Harlow from Monday.
Paul Kinsey, who owns Harewood Group, announced the news today.
Mr Kinsey said in a statement:
“We are pleased to announce that from Monday, November 27 we have taken over the former Pitcher and Piano on John Street in Harrogate. In the short term it will be renamed The Harlow.
“We aim to immediately introduce live music and DJ Christmas party nights and create a great night out to complement our existing high quality food and drink service.”
John Street is a popular night spot.
He said the company was recruiting staff and management to add to the team it had inherited.
Mr Kinsey added:
“Then In the new year an exciting new concept will be introduced which we think our customers will love as much as we do.
“This is the start of our relationship with major pub companies taking over some of their sites and introducing the high quality management and entertainment that are our trademarks.”
Harewood Group owned the Viper Rooms, which closed in December last year.
Mr Kinsey lives near Harrogate and has continued to keep his eye on the market for opportunities.
The Stray Ferret reported in September that the search was on to find a ‘self employed pub partner’ to take on the Pitcher & Piano.
Read more:
- Harrogate’s Pitcher & Piano to change name and management
- Harrogate’s former Viper Rooms building still empty despite interest
Harrogate pub gets into Christmas spirit with festive name-change
A Harrogate pub will be undergoing a seasonal transformation for the next few weeks – and even changing its name.
The Coach and Horses on West Park will be renamed the Sleigh and Reindeers over the Christmas period.
The new signage at the pub, which is owned by Provenance Inns, is already up, but the official name change will apply from Friday, November 17, and last until the second week of January, when the school Christmas holidays end.
Anthony Blundell, head of business development at Provenance Inns, told the Stray Ferret:
“We’re turning the Coach and Horses into Harrogate’s most festive pub. At the Sleigh and Reindeers there’ll be festive ales, mulled wine, mulled cider, egg nog and a festive menu too, so you can have a turkey dinner every day of the week.
“Hopefully, we’ll create great times for guests and anyone wanting to get into the festive spirit. It’s not everywhere that you’ll be able to have Christmas dinner seven days a week.”
It’s not the first time the pub has had a temporary change of name. In 2014, it was renamed the Cavendish and Horses when the Tour de France came to Harrogate, in honour of rider Mark Cavendish, whose mother lived in the town.
Provenance Inns owns and runs eight pubs and hotels across North Yorkshire, including the Punch Bowl Inn at Marton cum Grafton, and the West Park Hotel, just a few doors along from the Coach and Horses.
Read more:
- Search for Harrogate’s best Christmas shop window begins
- Christmas market to be held at Ripley Castle
- No Christmas lights switch-on event in Harrogate this year
Fresh plan to convert pub near Pateley Bridge into a cottage
Fresh plans have been lodged to convert a 110-year-old former pub near Pateley Bridge into a cottage.
The Birch Tree, at Lupton Bank in Glasshouses, closed its doors back in March 2020 due to the covid pandemic.
Since then, the former pub has been subject to numerous planning applications to convert it into a cottage.
However, the plans were refused by Harrogate Borough Council planners on the grounds that the loss of the pub “was not justified”.
Latest proposals tabled to North Yorkshire Council would see the empty public house changed into a two-bedroom cottage.
The site has already seen three cottages built under a previous planning permission, with the pub reduced in size.
In planning documents for the fresh proposal, which was submitted by Yarntex Two Limited, the developer said the building had been put on the market without success.
It said:
“Sadly, there appears to be no viable future for the pub and provision of a further holiday cottage to supplement and enhance the others is surely the best option for the building, while still promoting local tourism and employers and making a positive contribution to the local economy.”
The developer added that the site had been marketed extensively without success by both Christie and Co and Hopkinsons Estate Agents.
It said that “no local interest or expressions of interest from further afield have been forthcoming”.
North Yorkshire Council will make a decision on the latest plan at a later date.
Read more:
- Plan to convert Glasshouses pub into holiday cottage rejected
- Bid to list church near Ripon as asset of community value rejected
Village near Knaresborough left in dark over fire-damaged pub’s future
Uncertainty surrounds the future of a Harrogate district village pub which suffered its second fire in three years over the summer.
The Tiger Inn in Coneythorpe, north of Knaresborough, is believed not to have been renovated since the blaze and its tenants, Ian and Barbara Gill, are understood to have left the property permanently.
The pub’s phone number directs customers to its website, which features a pop-up box stating: “Due to an extensive fire in our kitchens, we are not open at this time”. That redirects visitors to a Facebook link that no longer works.
The property lies empty, but according to sources in the village, cleaners have been in and the pub is checked on periodically.
When the Stray Ferret visited this week to try to find out what was happening, one person, who asked not to be named, said:
“No-one in the village knows what’s going on. Nobody’s told us anything. It’s such a shame, because the pub’s the hub of the village and we miss it, especially coming up to Christmas.”
It is not known why the tenants have left. Barbara Gill is the sole director of MGG Developments Co Ltd, which trades as The Tiger Inn, and the company’s latest accounts filed on June 15, 2023, paint a picture of a business with a future.
It is referred to as a going concern “despite suffering a fire to the business premises during the previous year which caused extensive damage”. It continues:
“This is fully subjected to an insurance claim which is not expected to have any long-term financial implications to the company.”
Read more:
- Village pub near Knaresborough suffers second fire in three years
- Coneythorpe pub rises from ashes to reopen after 11 months
- Villagers left devastated after fire at Coneythorpe pub
Jon West, a Coneythorpe resident who sits on Arkendale, Coneythorpe and Clareton Parish Council, told the Stray Ferret:
“The only fact I can share with you is that the Tiger Inn is shut and for an unknown period. All other information I have is hearsay or guesswork which is not mine to share.”
The Tiger Inn suffered its first fire in November 2020, just four months after reopening from the national covid lockdown. The blaze started in the kitchen and lasted for six hours, causing widespread damage.
It reopened after renovation and refurbishment in October 2021, and the Gills marked the occasion by presenting a cheque for £5,000 to the Fire Fighters Charity in thanks for the efforts of the fire crews from Harrogate, Knaresborough and Acomb who put out the blaze.
But less than a year later, firefighters were again called to the pub, after an overheating ice machine caused a second devastating fire.