Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal.
A Christmas shop window competition for businesses in Harrogate is to return this year.
Organised by Harrogate Business Improvement District in partnership with the Rotary Club of Harrogate, the contest is set to include awards for large retailer, medium retailer and small retailer.
The competition, which is returning for its third year, promotes town centre shopping and broadcasts the ‘shop local’ message in the run up to Christmas.
The competition is limited to 50 entrants within the BID Levy area. Before dressing their windows, participants are asked to take into account the following criteria:
Sara Ferguson, chair of Harrogate BID, said:
“We are delighted to announce the return of the Harrogate Shop Window Competition, once again in partnership with the Rotary Club of Harrogate.
“The town was beautifully presented last Christmas, with scores of retailers getting in the festive spirit and entering the competition. With the return of the competition, as well as our dazzling Christmas lights, Harrogate will very soon be looking at its absolute best.”
The competing retailers must have their windows completed by 8am on Tuesday, November 29 in time for shortlisting, with judging taking place on Thursday, December 1, between 3.30pm and 8pm.
The awards will be presented at prize giving ceremony being held on Tuesday, December 6, at the West Park Hotel.
Businesses in Ripon have made nearly £30,000 worth of savings following the introduction of a support scheme nine months ago.
Ripon Business Improvement District launched the savings scheme with Place Support Partnership in an effort to help local firms.
To date, Ripon BID says they have identified £29,829 of savings against the project with several businesses taking on their advice and contracting services or renegotiating with their suppliers.
Helen Thornton, director of Ripon Museum Trust said
“Ripon Museum Trust has just fixed its utility contracts in the most challenging of circumstances with the help of Rishi Sood from Place Support Partnership provided by the Ripon Business Improvement District. Rishi came to see us and gave us very level-headed and honest advice.
“All the usual norms of the market for buying gas and electricity have basically flown out of the window recently and none of us in the trust are remotely qualified to understand the market – except we all knew it was going to be a pretty terrifying price.”
A final round of visits from PSP will be announced in the New Year, but businesses are urged to register their interest now via info@riponbid.co.uk.
Halifax closure leaves Ripon with one remaining bankFollowing this afternoon’s closure of the Halifax, Ripon will have one remaining bank and no access outside shopping hours to city centre cash machines.
The closure comes less than three months after the long-established Barclays branch closed its doors on August 25, leaving HSBC – which has no external cash machine – as Ripon’s only bank.
The Barclays bank Ripon branch closed in August.
Cash machines are available during shopping hours at Sainsbury’s on Market Place East and Booths at the Marshall Way Retail Park.
Announcing its branch closure in July, Halifax said in a statement:
“Like many other high street businesses, we’ve seen people using our branches less frequently in recent years as more customers choose to do most of their everyday banking online.
“We’re responding to the way our customers use our branches. We’ll continue to invest in our branch network, but we have to make sure our branches are where customers need and use them most.
“As a result, we’ve made the difficult decision to close this branch because customers are using it less often. In addition the majority of customers are also using alternative ways to bank.”
A report produced by Barclays in May to explain the rationale behind its closure decision, showed that more than 3,000 customers visited regularly for personal or business banking purposes in the last year.
But the bank added that only 121 customers use the branch exclusively for banking. Eighty percent of customers also use online and telephone banking.
The report said 41% of Ripon customers also use nearby branches, such as Harrogate and Thirsk.
A 22-year-old man has been arrested following a disturbance on Ripon’s Finkle Street.
Police were called to the incident at 2.40am in the early hours of Saturday.
The victim, a 23-year-old man was found with serious facial injuries and taken to hospital for treatment.
The 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of wounding with intent, he has been released on conditional bail to allow for further enquiries to be carried out.
Crime scene investigators were summoned and a scene guard was put in place to allow officers to retrieve any evidence from the scene of the incident.
Crime scene investigators at the site on Saturday.
North Yorkshire Police is urging anyone who witnessed the incident but has not yet spoken to police to get in touch on 101. The incident number is 12220200870.
If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Morning ‘traffic chaos’ on A61 between Ripon and Harrogate
Motorists have endured a morning of misery between Ripon and Harrogate this morning due to lengthy delays on the A61.
Roadworks at Bishop Monkton combined with a broken down bus in Killinghall caused a double delay for people using the main route.
Linda Birnie called the Stray Ferret to say it took her an hour and 10 minutes to get from her home in Ripon to Ripley. She said:
“The traffic this morning was absolutely appalling. I would have gone through Knaresborough if I’d known.”
Ms Birnie set off at 8am and shortly afterwards hit a two-mile queue caused by lights near the garden centre at Bishop Monkton.
According to North Yorkshire County Council’s live roadworks map, there are two-way signals there until Friday due to work being carried out by Yorkshire Water.
It always says there are separate roadworks at Wormald Green until Wednesday this week.
Ms Birnie said after getting through that queue, there was a brief period of respite before she encountered another large tailback before the Ripley roundabout due to a broken down bus in Killinghall.
She had travelled to Harrogate because she is a member of the Harrogate Borough Council-owned leisure company Brimhams Active and her yoga class had been moved because of ongoing work caused by ground stability issues at Ripon’s new leisure centre.
Other motorists got in touch to inform us of lengthy delays on the same route this morning.
A foggy day of remembrance across the Harrogate district
From Ripon Cathedral to Knaresborough Fire Station, people fell silent for two minutes across the Harrogate district today to pay their respects to the war dead.
Thousands of people stood 20-deep in the fog around the war memorial in Harrogate for the traditional parade and outdoor service.
Thousands of people also gathered at Spa Gardens and on nearby streets in Ripon, where services were held at the war memorial and in Ripon Cathedral.
Ripon Spa Gardens
Starbeck observed a minute’s silence at 11am before the main ceremony at 3pm.
Starbeck war memorial
Further afield, Junior soldiers from Harrogate’s Army Foundation College took part in a Remembrance Sunday service at Merville Battery, France, as part of a trip learning about the Normandy invasion.
Junior soldiers from Harrogate in France today. Pic: Matt Allen / MOD Crown Copyright 2022
Besides the formal ceremonies, many people took time out of their day to observe the two-minute silence.
Firefighters at Knaresborough lined up to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Knaresborough Fire Station
It marked the culmination of commemorations, which started with a minute’s silence on Friday. November 11 at 11am.
Pateley Bridge, which traditionally holds its main service on the 11th whatever the day, did so again this year.
Harrogate’s Ashville College also held a service on Friday before students and staff, along with members of the governing body and former pupils, gathered in front of the memorial to hold a two-minute silence and to lay wreaths and poppies.
Of the 300 former Ashvillians called up in the First World War, 38 died in the conflict. Eight of those were killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
In the Second World War, 465 former pupils and teachers volunteered for the forces, and of those 59 were killed.
Ashville College
North Yorkshire Police crime scene investigators are attending an incident on the corner of Finkle Street and Allhallowgate in Ripon.
The corner site has been cordoned off with blue and white police tape.
A crime scene investigation vehicle, mobile police office and a further police vehicle and officers have been at the scene.
Police at the scene are not giving any details about the nature of the incident.
Guide to Remembrance Day services in the Harrogate district
No Annual Remembrance services will take place across the district this weekend to honour the fallen.
Below is a list of events. If you know of others, let us know so we can add them to this guide. Email us at contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.
Sunday November 13: 11am – Remembrance Sunday service at the war memorial in Spa Gardens, where there will be a two-minute silence before wreaths are laid in honour of the fallen, by civic dignitaries, members of the armed forces, the RBL and representatives of other organisations.
Those planning to attend are asked to arrive by 10.30am.
Town centre
Sunday November 13:
Town Centre
10.30am – Parade and wreath laying ceremony at the Harrogate war memorial. The service will include the Army Foundation College, the Royal British Legion, regimental associations, uniformed cadets and scouts and guides.
Stonefall Cemetery
1pm – Harrogate Brigantes Rotary has arranged a service for 1pm at the Commonwealth War Graves. Wreaths will be laid by the Harrogate Mayoress, Andrew Jones MP, the Army Foundation College and representatives from the Commonwealth.
Starbeck
11am – gathering of residents at the war memorial on the Starbeck High Street.
3pm — Ceremony at Starbeck war memorial. The service will include the Royal British Legion, uniformed cadets, the brigades, students from Starbeck Primary Academy and local churches.
Sunday, November 13: 11am – ceremony at Knaresborough war memorial attended by local officials and Harrogate Army Foundation College.
Friday, November 11: A service takes place at the Cenotaph in the Pateley Bridge & Bewerley Recreation Park led by the Church in the Dales and the last post will be sounded. There will also be a contingent of 40 junior soldiers attending who will be marching in public for the first time since joining the Harrogate Army Foundation College.
Following this the young soldiers will march to the Pateley Bridge & Bewerley Memorial Hall on Park Road.
There will also be a display of the Nidderdale people who went to war and returned and those who didn’t, displayed by Folk Finders Family History.
Sunday, November 13: 10.15am – ceremony at Summerbridge war memorial
10am Service at St James’s Church followed by a parade and wreath laying at Boroughbridge war memorial from 10.45am.
If you want to make a donation to the Royal British Legion click here.
Business Breakfast: Executive search firm moves to Harrogate’s Windsor House
Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal.
A n executive search firm the global chemical, medical and industrial sectors has moved into Harrogate’s Windsor House.
George Thomas, which was founded in 2018, helps with recruitment for senior management, executive and c-level placements.
The company has joined more than 115 other businesses in Windsor House, the former Grand Hotel, on Cornwall overlooking the Valley Gardens.
Thomas Flaherty, director of George Thomas, said:
“We are delighted to have recently moved into Windsor House, the building is the perfect location for us to operate in and offers us all the facilities we need to run our business.”
Windsor House is undergoing major refurbishment to its ground floor, which is seeing its communal areas modernised and the creation of new co-working spaces.
Karen Winspear, property manager at Boultbee Brooks which manages the building, said:
“We are delighted to welcome George Thomas and his 14-strong team to Windsor House.
“The company, our latest tenant, chose Windsor House because of the quality of office space, affordability, its proximity to the town centre, and onsite car parking.”
Grantley Hall has won a national award for best countryside hotel.
The hotel near Ripon picked up the award as part of the Condé Nast Johansens Awards for Excellence 2023.
Condé Nast set up the scheme to “acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across our recommended properties”.
Grantley Hall posted on its social media:
Bid to save bus linking Ripon, Thirsk and Northallerton“This would not have been possible without our loyal guests and our incredible staff.
“Thank you to all who voted for Grantley Hall.”
Ripon councillors are bidding to save the number 70 bus service that links the city with Thirsk and Northallerton.
They have agreed to contact North Yorkshire County Council and call for a re-think following an email to the city council that said funding for the service will come to an end from April.
The news from the passenger transport authority was met with disappointment at Monday’s full city council meeting, at which leader Andrew Williams, said:
“The loss of this service will mean that people from Ripon will not be able to use public transport to travel to Northallerton and go to North Yorkshire’s new seat of local government.
“This seems a ridiculous situation at a time when the COP 27 conference is being held in Egypt and world leaders are talking about the need to reduce carbon emissions by using more environmentally-friendly means of transport.”
Ripon residents can currently travel on the 36 bus to attend Harrogate Borough Council meetings or deal with matters such as planning applications.
Cllr Williams said:
“With devolution, this will all change from April when the new North Yorkshire authority comes into being and Harrogate Borough Council ceases to exist.
“That’s why we need to both protect and promote the valuable number 70 service and encourage more people to use it and make it viable.”
Cllr Julie Martin-Long said:
“The service is also a means of accessing mainline trains for travel to the north of England and onward links to airports in the north east.
New tree avenue to be planted on Harrogate’s Stray
An avenue of apple and maple trees will be planted on Harrogate’s Stray this month.
They will be among 800 trees planted by Harrogate Borough Council as part of National Tree Week.
The council will also be planting native trees, including oak, lime and sycamore, at Hay a Park in Knaresborough and at Paddies Park and Gallows Hill in Ripon.
About 500 of the trees have been nurtured at the council’s Harlow Hill nursery.
National Tree Week, which begins on November 26, is the UK’s largest annual tree celebration.
Councillor Sam Gibbs, the council’s cabinet member for environment, waste reduction and recycling, said:
“Planting more trees is a priority for us and this project supports a number of schemes – the White Rose Forest, for example – that will help address the climate situation and deliver carbon reduction initiatives throughout the Harrogate district.
“We couldn’t do it without the help of volunteers so I’d like to thank everyone who has either provided a sapling or will be planting a tree.”
More information about National Tree Week is available on the Tree Council website.