Taxpayers bear multi-million pound losses on Harrogate’s vacant Royal Baths

The long-term vacancy of two prime retail units in Harrogate’s Royal Baths has cost the taxpayer almost £1 million in lost rent and service charges, the Stray Ferret can reveal.

North Yorkshire County Council paid £9.5 million for the Grade II listed building in 2018. A current council report has valued it at £7 million and forecasts it to generate an investment return of just 1.64%.

But in addition to the £2.5 million decline in property value, the long-term vacancy of both buildings is haemorrhaging lost rental income each month.

A year ago today (December 9, 2022) the council evicted the owners of the Viper Rooms nightclub — one of four commercial units it lets in the Royal Baths.

The venue has stood empty since, despite repeated claims by the council of “significant interest”.

The former Potting Shed bar, which along with the JD Wetherspoon pub and Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant make up the other commercial units, has been empty since the council acquired the historic complex five years ago.

The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council, which succeeded North Yorkshire County Council in April this year, about the cost of the ongoing vacancies.

A council statement said rent for the Viper Rooms premises “would have been in the region of £90,000 since December last year”.

It added maintenance for the building is covered by a service charge which is approximately £75,000.

The council added no business rates are payable due to an exemption for the premises as a listed asset.

As for the Potting Shed space, the council said the original rent was £125,000 a year when the county council acquired the vacant unit in 2018. That figure represents a loss of £625,000 over five years.

The vacant former Potting Shed unit.

It did not give a figure for the loss of service charge income at the Potting Shed but said no business rates were payable on either premises due to an exemption for them being a listed asset.

The council said “no agent’s fees have been paid at this time” to Savils, which has been marketing the Viper Rooms, adding any fee “will be made when the unit has been let”.

Asked why it was taking so long to find a Viper Rooms tenant, despite the apparent interest, the council said:

“The leisure market continues to be highly variable. Savills has conducted a significant number of viewings, and we do now have offers for both vacant units.

“An offer for the Viper Rooms unit has been accepted while the offer for the Potting Shed is due to be considered shortly.

“The situation of having vacant units is by no means unique and is a widespread issue nationally following the impact of the covid pandemic and the cost of living situation.

“Harrogate’s Royal Baths do, however, cover their costs and the council has not had to use funds from alternative budgets to support the asset.”

Council urged to “get their act together”

Former Conservative councillor Richard Musgrave branded the Royal Baths an “under-performing trophy asset” in 2021 because of the sum paid and returns generated.

The continued loss of rental income since, the depreciation of the value of the asset and its low investment returns has again raised questions about the council’s business acumen.

The Royal Baths forecasted return of 1.64% is by far the lowest in the council’s portfolio.

Cllr Stuart Parsons, leader of the Independent group on Conservative-controlled North Yorkshire Council, said the situation was “extremely concerning”. He said:

“The council really ought to get their act together and get it sorted immediately.

“A 1.64% return on investment is very low. They could have put the money in the bank and got just under 5%.”

Cllr Parsons said the newly formed council was still going through its investment portfolio to decide which assets to keep.

The Royal Baths complex

Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough at the next general election, said:

“North Yorkshire Council’s approach to business and investment in Harrogate is disappointing, and we deserve better.

“The continued cuts to local government from the Conservative government have left local authorities scrambling to buy up investment properties as new revenue streams. Often they do not have the skills of expertise to make a success of such investments, and we can see how that plays out first hand with the Royal Baths as one example.

“Their approach has been shortsighted, resulted in the loss of local businesses, and decreased the value of the assets they purchased. Someone should be accountable for this decision.”

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Asked to respond to claims that it lacks the commercial acumen to run businesses, the council said:

“North Yorkshire Council has a wide range of skills among its own staff, but also recognises that external support is necessary for assets that are more complex. A number of external professionals assist the council in managing this asset is the best interests of local residents and taxpayers.”

Paul Kinsey, who owned the Viper Rooms, has been locked in protracted negotiations with the council over the fixtures and fittings, declined to comment.

 

Viper Rooms owner says Harrogate landlords need to ‘get real’ with rent

The man who owned Harrogate’s last nightclub has spoken of his frustration at trying to operate in the town.

It is now six months since Viper Rooms was re-possessed by landlord North Yorkshire County Council.

It has remained empty since, despite repeated claims by the council of “significant interest from potential tenants”.

Viper Rooms owner Paul Kinsey said he had been in protracted negotiations over a new lease with the council before it re-possessed the building.

Mr Kinsey added he still owned the fixtures and fittings and had continued to negotiate with the council about re-occupying the site.

But a deal has not materialised and his frustration has prompted him to speak out.

The Viper Rooms unit was part of the grade two listed Royal Baths, which the council bought for £9 million in 2018. The baths also includes the former Potting Shed unit, which has been vacant for five years.

Viper Rooms and Potting Shed

Still vacant: the former Potting Shed and Viper Rooms — both part of the Royal Baths.

Their ongoing closure led Mr Kinsey to claim councillors “haven’t got the commercial experience or knowledge” to run large commercial assets and they were making unrealistic demands on tenants.

He said he spent £370,000 refurbishing the club pre-covid and the council was now requesting £150,000 a year on rent and service charge even though the landscape had changed post-pandemic. He said:

“If they think they can get £150,000, good luck to them. It’s a difficult market. The council grossly overpaid for the Royal Baths without doing proper due diligence. It was a trophy asset.

“I can understand them wanting to get a good deal because of that but they have to get real.”

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‘Crippling overheads’ on Parliament Street

Mr Kinsey, who lives near Wetherby, said he still wanted to have a venue in Harrogate and had his eye on one site.

But he questioned the appeal of the town to leisure operators, adding the main reason he was so keen to return to the Royal Baths was because he owned the fixtures and fittings and had spent so much on refurbishing it pre-covid.

He said many commercial landlords over-estimated the value of Harrogate and pointed to the number of failed ventures on Parliament Street as evidence of “crippling overheads”.

“I don’t think Harrogate is on many people’s target list. You get more bang for your bucks in other places.

“People who don’t know the area believe the streets are paved with gold. There is a good wealth profile but they spend elsewhere — Leeds, London or abroad.

“Look at how many businesses haven’t been able to make it work on Parliament Street. These are good operators, not cowboys, but even they couldn’t make it work.”

The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council, which succeeded North Yorkshire County Council on April 1, if it had a response to Mr Kinsey’s claims but it did not issue one.

The Viper Rooms site is being advertised

Asked for an update on the Viper Rooms, which is now being advertised by agents Savills, and the Potting Shed, it said it had nothing to add to its last statement two months ago, when Gary Fielding, the council’s corporate director for strategic resources, said:

“A unit which did house the Viper Rooms is continuing to attract significant interest, and an agent has been appointed to co-ordinate discussions with potential tenants.

“A lease has been signed for the final unit and a dialogue with the tenant is continuing to establish when the new venture will be launched.”

The council’s £9 million spending on the Royal Baths also included the JD Wetherspoon pub and the Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant.

New tenants soon for Harrogate’s Viper Rooms and nearby bar?

Harrogate’s struggling Royal Baths could soon have two new tenants.

North Yorkshire County Council bought the site as an investment asset for £9 million in 2018 but it has not generated the returns hoped for.

When the council bought the site, the units were occupied by J D Wetherspoon, The Potting Shed bar, the Viper Rooms nightclub and Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant.

But the Potting Shed has been closed for years and the sudden demise of the Viper Rooms in December left half the units unoccupied.

Days after the Viper Rooms closed, the council said the site had attracted “significant interest from potential tenants”. But three months on it remains empty.

In an update today, Gary Fielding, the county council’s corporate director for strategic resources, said:

“A unit which did house the Viper Rooms is continuing to attract significant interest, and an agent has been appointed to co-ordinate discussions with potential tenants.

“A lease has been signed for the final unit and a dialogue with the tenant is continuing to establish when the new venture will be launched.”

The new North Yorkshire Council will assume control of the Grade II listed Royal Baths on April 1 when the county council, along with seven district councils including Harrogate Borough Council, ceases to exist.

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No.12: End of an era as Harrogate’s last nightclub closes

In the last article of our series on the 12 stories in the Harrogate district that shaped 2022, we look back at the story of the closure of Harrogate’s last night club – the Viper Rooms.

For generations of young people growing up in Harrogate, nightclubs have been an essential part of weekend life.

The likes of Carringtons, Jimmy’s and Josephines are still talked about fondly by people of a certain age. So it’s hard to believe not a single nightclub remains.

The last one, Viper Rooms, closed on December 9 — and the end was swift and brutal.

North Yorkshire County Council, which owns the site on Parliament Street, sent in bailiffs to repossess the building and change the locks just hours before the club was due to welcome Friday night revellers.

Viper Rooms

Repossession notices on door.

Viper Rooms, owned by Paul Kinsey, did not hold back in a social media post announcing the club’s demise after 15 years. It said:

“Having tried for nearly three years to negotiate a new lease with our landlord in good faith and after spending £350,000 refurbishing the club in 2019 they have taken possession of the site, hijacking the process and causing 30 team members to be laid off and causing the cancellation of all the pre-booked Christmas parties.”

Paul Kinsey

Gary Fielding, corporate director for strategic resources at the council, responded by saying it was “protecting the best interests of North Yorkshire’s taxpayers”.

Mr Fielding added:

“We have tried hard to understand the difficulties all our tenants have experienced as a result of the covid pandemic and to offer them our support. This has, in turn, had an impact on our own finances.

“Residents and businesses here rightly expect us to ensure that every effort is made to protect public money and we have a duty to do just that.

“While we do not want to comment on individual cases, we must be fair and consistent and act in the best interests of the public who we serve.”

Viper Rooms is no more.

The closure of the Viper Rooms means two of the four commercial units in the Royal Baths, which North Yorkshire County Council bought off Harrogate Borough Council for £9 million in 2018, are now empty.

The  JD Wetherspoon pub and the Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant continue to trade. Mr Fielding said the Viper Rooms site had already generated “significant interest from potential tenants” and a “new agreement for the final one is in the final stages of negotiations”.

So what about Harrogate’s nightclub scene? In its social media post announcing Viper Rooms’ closure, the owners said they would release a “new venue announcement soon”.

But with so many pubs and bars staying open late these says, nightclubs no longer mean as much to many young people.

Have they become an inevitable victim of social trends, or is Harrogate’s nightclub scene set for a revival? The next year should provide some answers.

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‘Significant interest’ in Harrogate’s former Viper Rooms, says council

Harrogate’s former Viper Rooms has already attracted “significant interest from potential tenants”, according to landlord North Yorkshire County Council.

The nightclub, which was part of the historic Royal Baths, closed suddenly on Friday last week when bailiffs changed the locks.

Nightclub owner Paul Kinsey said on social media the landlord had repossessed the building after the two parties failed to agree a new lease and that 30 people had lost their jobs.

Gary Fielding, corporate director for strategic resources at the council, said in a statement last weekend it had acted “in the best interests of North Yorkshire’s taxpayers” but declined to elaborate.

The closure of the Viper Rooms means two of the four commercial units at the Royal Baths are now empty.

Asked about the council’s plans for the Royal Baths, Mr Fielding indicated all four units could be occupied soon. He said:

“Two of the four units which are overseen by ourselves are occupied by a JD Wetherspoon pub and the Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant.

“A unit which did house the Viper Rooms has already attracted significant interest from potential tenants, while a new agreement for the final one is in the final stages of negotiations.

“We remain firmly committed to working constructively with tenants where this is in the interests of both local residents and businesses.”

 

Viper Rooms

Viper Rooms

Mr Fielding said North Yorkshire County Council inherited the terms of the Royal Baths lease when it bought the grade two listed building from Harrogate Borough Council for £9 million in 2018. He added:

“Among those conditions is Harrogate Borough Council continuing the lease arrangements on a peppercorn rent for two units, which are occupied by the Tourist Information Centre and the Turkish Baths.

“The significance of the visitor economy to Harrogate is well-documented, so both of these units serve important roles in providing information to visitors as well as housing a renowned attraction in the Turkish Baths.

“Alongside the units at the Royal Baths, there are various car parking arrangements at the site including a long-term lease to Harrogate Borough Council and some private arrangements that generate income.

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Mr Fielding defended the council’s decision to repossess Viper Rooms. He said:

“We have tried hard to understand the difficulties all our tenants have experienced as a result of the covid pandemic and to offer them our support. This has, in turn, had an impact on our own finances.

“Residents and businesses here rightly expect us to ensure that every effort is made to protect public money and we have a duty to do just that.

“While we do not want to comment on individual cases, we must be fair and consistent and act in the best interests of the public who we serve.”

Mr Kinsey has said he does not wish to comment further at this stage.

 

 

Viper Rooms: council issues statement after repossessing Harrogate nightclub

North Yorkshire County Council has said it acted in the “best interests” of taxpayers after it repossessed Harrogate’s Viper Rooms.

Bailiffs acting on behalf of the council entered the Parliament Street nightclub on Friday and changed the locks.

Notices pinned to the doors said any attempt to re-enter the premises would result in criminal or civil proceedings.

It prompted the club to announce on social media, hours before it was due to open, that it had closed with the loss of 30 jobs.

The venue, which was Harrogate’s last remaining nightclub, is part of the Royal Baths commercial investment portfolio acquired by the council for £9 million in 2018.

Viper Rooms

The club is part of the Royal Baths.

Gary Fielding, corporate director for strategic resources at the council, said in a statement to the Stray Ferret:

“We are unable to discuss details about specific cases that North Yorkshire County Council is involved in.

“However, we will pursue our policies that protect the best interests of North Yorkshire’s taxpayers, and will therefore act accordingly.”

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The council has been under pressure to generate better returns on the Baths.

It was described as an “underperforming trophy asset” by one councillor last year because of its low rate of investment returns.

Last month the council warned it would take a tougher line on tenants following further poor investment returns.

Mr Fielding said the council “has done all it reasonably can to support its tenants” through covid, adding:

“We work with our tenants to understand their circumstances in order to maximise the income into the council.

“However, it is not the council’s responsibility to support tenants indefinitely, and if businesses are not sustainable then we work with tenants to bring tenancies to a close.”

 

 

 

Questions raised as Harrogate Royal Baths loses £2.5m in value

The value of Harrogate Royal Baths has fallen by £2.5m since it was acquired as a commercial investment by North Yorkshire County Council in 2018.

A council report reveals the Grade II listed building, built in the 1890s, was valued at £7m in March this year, compared with £9.5m when the local authority bought it. The council paid £9m but was prepared to pay £10m.

The report also reveals the Baths had only generated a 1.82% return on investment by September 30, which marked the end of the second quarter of the financial year.

The depreciation of the asset, along with the low rate of return on investment, has sparked fresh questions about the council’s decision to buy the Baths and its ability to manage commercial assets.

Last year Conservative county councillor Richard Musgrave said he was “absolutely speechless” to learn the council had paid £9m, adding “the performance looks very, very poor” and describing it as a “trophy investment”.

Speaking about the latest figures, Cllr Stuart Parsons, leader of the council’s Independent group, said local authorities should aim for investment returns of between five and 10 per cent and although times were hard the 1.82% figure was not acceptable. He added:

“The main problem is local authorities should not really own these properties because they don’t know what they are doing.

“I just don’t think there’s enough commercial nouse in the local authority to be running these sites.”

Harrogate Royal Baths

Figures contained on p134 of the council report.

Cllr Parsons said the new North Yorkshire Council, which comes into existence in April, should “hire proper commercial people” to run key assets like the Baths and the loss-making Harrogate Convention Centre, which he said had been “a millstone around Harrogate Borough Council‘s neck for a long time” and in danger of becoming a “white elephant”.

He added:

“This should be the last chance. Give commercial people a couple of years to turn them around and if they can’t, the council should think about disposal. There has to be a proper policy.”

‘Severely impacted by covid’

Asked about the latest figures, North Yorkshire County Council’s corporate director for strategic resources, Gary Fielding, said:

“This particular investment was an opportunity to invest not only for a direct financial return but also in our locality. To the end of the last financial year, returns have been in excess of our standard treasury investments. The issues experienced have been the result of a global pandemic and more recently other issues beyond UK borders.

“Investments are made for the longer term — balancing risks that can reasonably be foreseen and having sufficient cash flow and reserves to deal with shorter term shocks.

“As we move towards a new unitary council from April 1, 2023, we will see the freehold of Harrogate baths pass to the new council. Whilst the investment from North Yorkshire County Council will cease at this point, the ongoing relationships with tenants will continue.”

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Mr Fielding indicated the council would take a tougher line on commercial tenants to maximise income.

“The hospitality sector has been severely impacted by the covid pandemic and the council has done all it reasonably can to support its tenants through these difficult times for the benefit of the local economy and taxpayers generally.

“We work with our tenants to understand their circumstances in order to maximise the income into the council. However, it is not the council’s responsibility to support tenants indefinitely, and if businesses are not sustainable then we work with tenants to bring tenancies to a close.

“We have seen improvement over the last six months which is encouraging. However, with the ongoing cost of living crisis, the hospitality sector may unfortunately experience further pressures.”

Sneak Peek: Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant reopens

The Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant in Harrogate re-opened last night.

The restaurant, set in the Grade II listed Royal Baths, is one of the most historic and opulent places to dine in Harrogate.

It has been closed since the end of 2020 and was also shut for most of 2020 due to lockdowns.

But after extensive repair work due mainly to damp, people once again have the chance of a unique eating experience.

The building, which has a central dome and pillars down the side, was built between 1894 and 1897 and for many years was Europe’s premier destination for spa treatments. It is now owned by North Yorkshire County Council.

The restaurant has served traditional Chinese food for about 13 years and will continue to do so.

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A restaurant spokesman said the 100-seat venue would be similar to how customers remembered it, with the VIP room and terrace bar and dining area back in operation. However, the party room is currently unavailable.

He added:

“We have a new team of staff starting and ask people to be patient when we first re-open.

“But it’s very much the same Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant. We have been here for 13 or 14 years now and look forward to welcoming customers back.”

The owners opened the Royal Baths Express takeaway in Pateley Bridge in February.

They also continue to operate Haks Little Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant, on Harrogate’s Station Parade.

More pictures from The Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant

Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant bar

The bar, which leads to the outside terrace.

The terrace area.

The Grade II listed building was built from 1894 to 1897.

Inside the main dining area.

Owner of Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant opens Pateley Bridge takeaway

The owner of Harrogate’s Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant is opening a new takeaway in Pateley Bridge tonight.

The takeaway is called Royal Baths Express and is at 2 Park View on Bridgehouse Gate. A restaurant will also open at the venue at a later date.

It’s open on Sunday to Thursday from 4.30pm to 9.30pm and Friday and Saturday from 4.30pm to 10pm. The business is closed each Tuesday.

Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant in Harrogate has been closed for most of the last two years due to coronavirus lockdowns and an extensive refurbishment that began in May last year.

It is due to reopen soon but a date has yet to be confirmed.

The owners have continued operating at their other Harrogate site, Haks Little Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant, on Station Parade.

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Opinion: The big lie

The news that we are all facing extraordinary rises in energy prices, together with the forthcoming reorganisation of local government are but two aspects of the great lie and con trick played on us by decades of politicians and career officers, that bigger is always better.

It is this grotesque fallacy that has led to local people losing control of the services that they originally created, financed and administered, in exchange for services controlled by strangers for whom the screwing of as much profit as possible from their reluctant customers, with as low a service as possible, seems their only purpose.

Let me provide some examples relating to Harrogate, with the reorganisation of local government being a particularly topical issue.

Local government

The liars say that Harrogate has too small a population to be a unitary authority. Of course they say this, as it is in their interests to promote the concept of big authorities, as salaries and payments are invariably higher when applied to responsibility for a larger population as against a smaller one. They will say that the merging of – say – six local authorities will mean one chief executive instead of six, one borough planner instead of six, one treasurer, instead of six, etc. etc. Whereas in truth, the savings come at the dire cost of local people becoming further removed from control over the services for which they are paying.

Harrogate too small to be a unitary authority. Rubbish! Today, the Harrogate district’s population is around 161,000, that of the town being little over 75,000. Yet when Harrogate town had a population of only 26,583, about two thirds smaller than the Harrogate town of today, it was able from the yield of its local rates, to build the Royal Baths, the Royal Hall, a gigantic series of reservoirs and an unequalled water distribution network, to run its own electricity works, to build and run its own schools and pay the staff salaries, to administer its own fire services, run its own public health facilities and many other things. All this was possible because Harrogate had the authority to levy its own council rates (and to keep the greater part of the income) and for Harrogate’s Council to spend the proceeds in ways permitted by Acts of Parliament.

Kursaal,at height of Edwardian season. Walker-Neesam archive

The Royal Hall, previously known as the Kursaal, at height of Edwardian season. Pic: Walker-Neesam archive

Yet today, thanks to the gradual erosion of local democracy, the present North Yorkshire County Council takes the vast majority of every pound paid in council tax by Harrogate residents, with much less going to Harrogate Borough Council. Is it any wonder that our democratically elected Harrogate borough councillors are hamstrung at every turn when they try to provide the services demanded by local residents? The secret of true local democracy has little to do with population sizes, and everything to do with financial control, which must include the power to set local taxation and the power to spend such taxation within the town that supplied it – such powers being determined by Parliamentary authority.

Naturally North Yorkshire’s councillors and career officers will seek to expand their spheres of influence, and to retain and enhance their existing stranglehold on Harrogate – it is absolutely in their interests to do so. But history shows that their ever increasing power to control our lives has been at the cost of local representation and accountability. The latest calamitous “reforms” of local government will further reduce the rights and powers of local people to control their own lives, with Harrogate becoming further prey to the financial leech which is bleeding the town to finance road repairs in Tadcaster, libraries in Skipton, schools in Easingwold, and social services in Selby.

Nevertheless, it remains my hope that one day – maybe in 50 or 100 years time – Harrogate will regain powers to control its own finances, and re-establish democratic control of its affairs by its citizenry.

Gas

When some Harrogate people decided the town should have access to a supply of gas, they obtained an enabling Act of Parliament in 1846, after which a gas works was built at Rattle Crag financed by local private shareholders.

After overcoming initial difficulties with the Improvement Commissioners, the gas company supplied the lighting of the public streets as well as gas for residential and commercial use. The profits produced went back into improving the gas plant and paying the salaries of those employed in the work, many of whom lived at New Park.

After several extensions of its area of supply, Harrogate’s gas company was nationalised by the Gas Act of 1948, which merged some 1,062 privately owned and municipal gas companies into 12 area gas boards.

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The York, Harrogate and District group of gas companies had already merged on 1 January 1944, comprising Harrogate, York, Malton and Easingwold, which were joined by the Yeadon, Guisley, and Otley companies on 1 October 1946. This arrangement, however, barely survived for two years, until the 1948 Gas Act changed everything.

With every enlargement, control of the manufacture, distribution and pricing of gas passed further away from the people who had created the company, and for whom its products were intended, to huge, impersonal and uncaring conglomerates.

This process has continued to this day, resulting in the crazy situation that Harrogate’s gas customers now have absolutely no control over the gas they use nor the rate at which it is priced. What would those Victorian founders have said on hearing that we are to some extent reliant on Russia for the continuance of our gas supplies?

Electricity

Electricty works 1897 opening ceremony Walker-Neesam archive

Electricity works opening ceremony in 1897. Pic: Walker-Neesam archive

In order to provide the people of Harrogate with an alternative to gas, Harrogate Corporation’s elected representatives built a Municipal Electricity Undertaking near to the site of the present Hydro, which opened in 1897.

The people’s democratically elected councillors regulated the supply and pricing of electricity with regard to the local situation, so that when in 1933, at the height of the terrible depression, many were experiencing economic hardship, the council reduced the unit cost of electricity from one penny to three-farthings.

When war came in 1939, Harrogate’s Electricity Undertaking was supplying 20,670 consumers, and selling 26,815,046 units of power, with a gross income of £178,857.

By the end of the year to March 1945, those figures had increased to 21,977 consumers, selling 39,254,676 units of power, with a gross income of £242,412 – an incredible achievement given the conditions of war time operation.

But in 1948, and by order of the government’s Electricity Act of 1947, Harrogate’s Electricity Undertaking was transferred to the enormous new British Electricity Board and thus removed from the town a valuable asset which had hitherto been controlled by local people.

Water

Turning on the reservoir water. Pic: Walker-Neesam archive

Just the same thing as described above applies to water. When a group of local people raised money to establish the Harrogate Water Company, following a Parliamentary Act of 1846, the townspeople supported the project, and the little company grew as the town grew.

In 1897, an Act of Parliament empowered Harrogate Corporation to buy out the private water company, which was then run purely for the benefit of the townspeople. Under the inspirational leadership of Alderman Charles Fortune, the corporation undertook a massive programme of reservoir and distribution construction, which ensured Harrogate had an adequate supply of water for the next 50 years.

Harrogate’s municipal water undertaking was one of the jewels in Harrogate’s crown until the 1945 Water Act, which paved the way for the creation of the huge Claro Water Board in 1958/9, which covered an area of 420 square miles, between one fifth and one sixth of the area of the West Riding of Yorkshire, with a population of 119,000. On such a scale, it was inevitable that the concern would no longer be run purely in the interests of the people of Harrogate, nor would its profits be returned to the local economy.

Malcolm Neesam, Harrogate-based historian