Ripon Inn Archives - The Stray Ferret

Electric scooter rider sought after car damaged in RiponHarrogate hotel bar named best pub in North Yorkshire

The Harrogate Inn has been named the best pub in the county at the Pub & Bar Magazine’s 2024 awards.

The inn opened after a multi-million-pound renovation in July 2023. One of the major changes from its previous incarnation as the St George Hotel was the new Barking George bar within the Ripon Road venue.

Owned by Newcastle-based pub company the Inn Collection Group, Barking George hosts live music on Friday nights and has an outdoor terrace overlooking the hustle and bustle of Crescent Gardens.

Inside the Barking George

General manager Henry White said:

“We’re naturally delighted to have picked up the award for North Yorkshire. To be named best in a county where there is some serious competition is humbling. Since opening in July, it has been great to see the bar establish itself and the team settle into providing a welcoming place for people to come and we’re looking forward to our first full summer this year.”

The Inn Collection Group, which also owns the Ripon Inn and the Knaresborough Inn, won three accolades at the National Pub and Bar Awards.

The Bull’s Head Inn and The Swan Grasmere were named as the best pubs in Gwynedd and Cumbria respectively.

Tristan O’ Hana, editor of Pub & Bar magazine said award winners “represent all that is great about the modern on-trade”.

The winners will now go on to the National Pub & Bar Awards in London this June, where 15 regional winners and an overall champion will be revealed.

Barking George bar

Business Breakfast: Harrogate shoe firm celebrates 30 years

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Daniel Footwear, a Harrogate-based independent footwear business that was the first in the world to sell Jimmy Choo shoes, is celebrating 30 years’ trading this month.

The company was founded in Leeds by Daniel Buck, and now employs about 50 people at eight shops across the North and in north London, including in its flagship store on Parliament Street in Harrogate.

Mr Buck said:

“In 1993, the Daniel brand was born, with the distinctive Daniel logo adorning the footbed of every pair of shoes. By 1995, sitting alongside the Daniel brand were the likes of Gucci and Prada, and we became the first supplier of Jimmy Choo worldwide.

“Over the past three remarkable decades filled with ups and downs, I have had the privilege of collaborating with exceptional European suppliers and travelling the world to source the finest fashion offerings.

“I am fortunate to work alongside the most exceptional individuals within our company, all working together to make the next 30 years just as fantastic as the last.”

To commemorate its 30th anniversary, Daniel Footwear is offering discounts of up to 30% throughout November in all its stores.

In addition to the Harrogate shop, Daniel has branches in Leeds, Beverly near Hull, Alderley Edge in Cheshire, and four in north London, in Mill Hill, Muswell Hill, Stanmore and Hampstead Garden Suburb.

Local hotels part of Which? recommended group

The Inn Collection Group, which owns and runs the Harrogate Inn, the Ripon Inn and the Knaresborough Inn, has made it onto a list of the UK’s best hotel chains.

The pubs-with-rooms operator is now rated as a Recommended provider by Which?, following a survey of 5,000 people who rated their experiences at 37 hotel chains across the UK.

Revealing its list of the best and worst hotel chains of 2023, Which? said The Inn Collection Group offered inns that were “cheaper, better and with more character” than other leading operators, citing warm welcomes, posh pub grub and a decent beer selection as key features.

The Newcastle-based group was placed third in the small operator listings, with a customer score of 78%, which combines overall satisfaction and likeliness to recommend. The highest-rated operator earned an 80% mark.

Kate Bentley, rooms director at The Inn Collection Group said:

“When you look at the scores across the areas measured by the survey, ours are in line or better than the benchmarks set by some of the biggest operators in our industry, so it is a massive endorsement of the hard work our site teams are putting into looking after our guests.”

The Inn Collection Group has 32 sites across the north, 26 of them trading and six undergoing refurbishment.

The group bought the historic Hotel St George, opposite the Royal Hall, in Harrogate in February 2022 and reopened it as the Harrogate Inn this summer. It bought the 15th-century Dower House in Knaresborough in December 2021 and reopened it as the Knaresborough Inn in September; and it bought the Spa Hotel in Ripon in June 2021 and reopened it as the Ripon Inn two weeks ago.

Ripon defibrillator donation made in memory of paramedic

A defibrillator installed this week at the newly-opened Ripon Inn will provide a fitting reminder of the work of former paramedic Martin Faulkner.

Mr Faulkner, who worked for Yorkshire Ambulance Service and was one of its first personnel to serve as a paramedic, died in October 2022 after a long illness.

On Monday, the defibrillator purchased in his memory, was unveiled by his widow Patricia and son Chris at a ceremony also attended by Ripon Inn general manager Dan Chrisp, Eleanor Hartas and Alec Lutton of Defibs Ripon, Joanne Watson of Yorkshire Ambulance Service, Roger Fay of Zion Baptist Church and Cllr Pauline McHardy.

Martin Faulkner was one of Yorkshire’s first paramedics.

The life-saving device, was paid for with money raised by the Faulkner family and a donation from the Zion Baptist Church in Blossomgate, where Ms Faulkner is a member.

She said:

“Martin was a quiet man who didn’t seek recognition, but he would be proud of what has been achieved today.

“Our hope, as his family, is that this defibrillator placed outside the Ripon Inn, will help save the life of someone’s loved one, perhaps over the years, many lives.”

Mr Lutton, pointed out:

“This is the 23rd defibrillator to be installed in the Ripon area and I thank the Faulkner family and Zion Baptist Church for this wonderful gesture.”

Three-times Mayor Of Ripon, Cllr Pauline McHardy, added:

“I was delighted to be invited to today’s unveiling and it’s reassuring to know that the number of defibrillators we have in the city makes it one of the safest places to be if you have a heart attack.

“Having worked for more than 40 years as a nurse in the NHS, I know that swift action is essential and does save lives. With this in mind, it is also important for people to go on the training courses provided by the Yorkshire Ambulance Service to learn how they can use a defibrillator.”

Sneak Peek: the new Ripon Inn hotel

Invited guests got a sneak preview today of the new Ripon Inn hotel.

The Inn Collection Group, bought the former landmark Ripon Spa Hotel in June 2021 and began redevelopment work 13 months ago. The group’s managing director says the final bill for the work has been ‘close to eight figures’.

The new Ripon Inn has 58 bedrooms, two bars and will employee 78 staff.

Today, press and guests were invited to take a look – paying guests will arrive from Monday. Here are some images of what they can expect when they arrive:

The hotel main bar

A family bedroom

One of the bedroom’s en-suite bathrooms

Sean Donkin, the Inn Collection Group’s CEO, told the Stray Ferret that they hope the hotel will bring economic benefits to Ripon:

“We’ve operated in similar sized areas before and the provision of overnight accommodation is key if you are going to do something meaningful.. If you’re 80% occupied you’re talking about a couple of hundred people staying in the city who otherwise would have stayed outside it.

“We don’t expect people to be sitting here all day, we expect people to walk into the city and visit local cafes, restaurants and pubs.”

Mayor of Ripon councillor Sid Hawke says a hotel of The Ripon Inn’s size has been desperately needed:

“This is an inspiration to Ripon, it is what Ripon has needed – when you look around, there is nothing in the same line as this.

“If you have a big occasion in Ripon, there is nowhere to stay and this is what is what is needed.

“It’s wonderful that it’s been converted from an old building to a modern building”

The Northumberland-headquartered group also bought and redeveloped the The Knaresborough Inn – formerly the Dower House and The Harrogate Inn, formerly the George Hotel in Harrogate.

Ripon Spa Hotel reopening date revealed

Ripon Spa Hotel is to reopen on October 16 with a new name and look.

The Inn Collection Group, which bought the property in June 2021, revealed the date today.

The historic Park Street hotel, which will be known as The Ripon Inn, has undergone a multi-million pound refurbishment.

The Northumberland-based owners, who have over 30 venues, market their properties as “inns with rooms” rather than hotels so the change is likely to be considerable.

With a strong emphasis on dining, the company hopes to attract local people as well as overnight guests.

The Inn Collection Group has already re-opened the St George Hotel in Harrogate and the Dower House in Knaresborough as The Harrogate Inn and The Knaresborough Inn respectively this year.

The Spa Hotel will be reopened by its new ownersrs

Ripon Spa Hotel before the multi-million pound refurbishment.

The Ripon venue will hold a VIP launch event on Thursday, October 12 before opening to the public on the following Monday.

The elegant Edwardian 40-bedroom Spa Hotel, which was in the ownership of the Hutchinson family for decades, opened a year after the nearby Spa Baths.

The two buildings, nestling alongside Spa Gardens and Spa Park, were key elements of Ripon’s stylish spa quarter.

Dates set for reopening historic hotels in Knaresborough and Ripon

An historic Knaresborough hotel will reopen next month after a refurbishment and renaming by its new owners.

The Knaresborough Inn – previously known as the Dower House – is set for an official opening on August 31.

It follows the closure of the hotel last summer, with a contractor appointed for the work at the end of the year.

Visitors to the refurbished facility will find its spa and gym have been replaced by an additional nine bedrooms.

A new portico entrance has been built on the Grade II-listed 15th century building, with an accessible ramp to the entrance and repairs to its roof and brickwork.

News of a reopening date follows the company’s unveiling of The Harrogate Inn, formerly the St George Hotel, on July 3 after a 152-day refurbishment.

Chris Moor, operations director for The Inn Collection Group, said:

“We’re excited that The Harrogate Inn has been received so positively since reopening and we are looking forward to unveiling The Knaresborough Inn as our second North Yorkshire site to complete refurbishment in a few weeks.

“Creating a new-look for a much-loved venue has been a painstaking process as has the renovation programme, making sure we take great care of what in parts dates back to the 15th century but we are confident that we have done what we set out to achieve.

“The inn will breathe new life into the venue and retain it as a resource and vital hub for the local community as much as guests coming to stay.

“We will be announcing plans for our reopening celebrations very shortly and I look forward to seeing the doors back open before the end of the summer.”

Meanwhile, The Ripon Inn, which used to be the Spa Hotel, is now set to welcome guests from October 2.

Its opening has been delayed from an initial expectation of spring this year, later updated to August, and now put back a further two months.

All three hotels were bought by the Inn Collection Group over the last two years. Based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the company owns 32 hotels across northern England and north Wales.

Historic Harrogate hotel reopens after 152-day transformation

The former St George Hotel in Harrogate reopened yesterday after a 152-day transformation.

The hotel has new owners, a new name and a completely refurbished look and feel, which it is hoped will attract local people to eat and drink there.

Now called the Harrogate Inn, it has adopted a country pub feel that is the hallmark of owners the Inn Collection Group.

The Newcastle-based company has added the venue to its portfolio of 32 locations that also includes the Black Swan at Helmsley and the Wordsworth Hotel in the Lake District.

Closer to home, the Inn Collection Group also owns the Ripon Spa Hotel and Dower House in Knaresborough, which are due to reopen under new names the Ripon Inn and the Knaresborough Inn this summer.

The Harrogate Inn

The Harrogate Inn, which closed at the end of January for refurbishment, has a new entrance, a new bar and restaurant, six extra rooms, two new outdoor patio features. Meals are available from 11am to 9pm.

Louise Stewart, property director at the Inn Collection Group, said:

“The works have been extensive with a total refurbishment of the old function rooms and reception area of the old St George Hotel, the creation of the new grand entrance and remedial works to the building’s roof.

“It has delivered a venue which has been warmly received by those we have shown around prior to reopening, and I hope that the inn is going to delight guests going forward.”

The Harrogate Inn project has been managed by Silverstone Building Consultancy and delivered in partnership with 7Formation.

Sneak peek: Transformed Harrogate hotel to re-open on Monday

A new chapter in the history of one of Harrogate’s most famous hotels will begin on Monday when it reopens with a new name and completely fresh look.

The Harrogate Inn, formerly known as the St George Hotel, is one of three major local hotels to have undergone multi-million pound renovations by the Inn Collection Group.

Ripon Spa Hotel and Dower House will re-open shortly under new names the Ripon Inn and the Knaresborough Inn.

The Harrogate Inn has a new main entrance on Crescent Gardens that leads into a bar called the Barking George — a nod to its former name.

Visitors will walk into the Barking George bar.

The adjoining area, which used to serve food to hotel guests, has been transformed into a food and beverage area called Stray Away, which the owners hope will become a destination for local people.

It will serve breakfasts, morning and afternoon teas and coffees, lunches and evening meals in the hope of attracting customers for 18 hours a day. It also has a separate Sunday menu.

Six new ground floor suites have increased the number of rooms from 90 to 96.

One of the new suites.

The outdoor terrace has been redeveloped and the Ripon Road entrance will lead to another smaller bar. The existing rooms have undergone only minor changes.

An Inn Collection Group spokesman said:

“The reason we pitch ourselves as inns rather than hotels is because we make the space work from breakfast to night.

“It’s a new place to come and eat and drink. We want it to become a destination for locals to enjoy as much as hotel guests. Ultimately, that’s what will make us successful rather than just relying on high season visitors.”

Andrew Robson, senior communications and marketing executive and Louise Stewart, property director at the Inn Collection Group outside the Harrogate Inn.

The Newcastle-based Inn Collection Group has 32 venues in northern England, including eight in North Yorkshire.

Henry White, who previously managed the company’s Commissioners Quay in Blyth, has been appointed general manager.

The new name is displayed.

It will be the first of three local Inn Collection Group properties to reopen this summer.

The Knaresborough Inn — formerly the Dower House — is scheduled to reopen on August 20. It will have 57 rooms, compared with 41 previously, largely due to the closure of the spa.

The reopening of the Ripon Inn — formerly Ripon Spa Hotel — was scheduled for August 20 but may not happen until early September. The number of rooms will increase from 41 to 57.

The domed roof remains.

Historic hotels in Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough set to re-open

Three historic hotels in Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough have announced details of when they plan to reopen.

The St George Hotel in Harrogate, the Spa Hotel in Ripon and the Dower House in Knaresborough are all currently closed.

They have been acquired by the Inn Collection Group, which has 32 venues in northern England, and are undergoing major refurbishments.

They have also been renamed as the Harrogate Inn, the Ripon Inn and the Knaresborough Inn.

An Inn Collection Group spokesman revealed today the Harrogate Inn will reopen on July 3. It will have 96 rooms, six more than previously. The six extra rooms are all ground floor suites.

The former St George Hotel, Harrogate

The Ripon Inn will reopen on August 20 with 58 rooms, compared with 43 previously.

The Knaresborough Inn is expected to be the second of the three venues to re-open. A date has not been set but it is expected to be early August. It will have 57 rooms, compared with 38 previously.

The Harrogate and Ripon inns are both accepting bookings now.

The Dower House has a new name and look

The spokesman said:

“The three sites have have undergone significant refurbishment and investment.

“All three will have new look bar and restaurant areas on reopening, and also have had additional rooms added to their stock.”

As part of the reopening activity, all three sites are running a free dinner promotion for guests.

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