Bishop’s blessing for new Ripon M&S store

The Bishop of Ripon, The Rt Revd Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, has given her blessing to the new M&S Food store opening in Ripon tomorrow morning.

Dr Hartley, who joined the Mayor of Ripon Councillor Eamon Parkin for a preview visit, said a prayer of blessing as members of M&S staff gathered at a safe distance with their heads bowed.

The preview was arranged because tomorrow’s planned opening ceremony, due to be carried out by Cllr Parkin, had to be called off because of the coronavirus crisis – which itself saw the original April 29 opening rescheduled.

Cllr Parkin told The Stray Ferret:

“This is a fabulous development for Ripon and a vote of confidence in our city at this difficult time for the retail sector. It gives us hope and brings us very welcome new jobs.”

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The Mayor of Ripon and the Bishop of Ripon with M&S Food manager Paul Nicholl

Paul Nicoll, centre, showed Mayor Eamon Parkin and Bishop Helen-Ann Hartley around the new Ripon store

Before he showed them around the store, which is part of the £10 million St Michael’s Retail Park development, manager Paul Nicoll said almost 60 jobs had been created and 90% of the workforce has been recruited from the Ripon area.

As the Bishop and Mayor looked around, they saw a hive of activity among staff putting the finishing touches to the filling of shelves where thousands of items are already in place.

Mr Nicoll added:

“We’ve gauged from what we’ve seen on social media that local people have been looking forward to us opening.”

M&S is returning to the city years after it closed a small shop unit in The Arcade. It joins a line-up of supermarkets in the city including Aldi, Booths, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s, while Lidl has recently announced that it is also looking for a suitable site in Ripon.

Marks & Spencer likely to open Ripon store in mid July

Marks & Spencer is likely to open its M&S Food store in Ripon in mid July, The Stray Ferret understands.

The M&S store, on Rotary Way, was originally due to open on April 29 but that was put on hold because of coronavirus.

It is part of the £10 million Saint Michael’s Retail Park development. A spokesperson for M&S said:

“We’re working hard to finish our Ripon store and as soon as we have more information on the opening we will update the community.”

The new store, located close to the Ripon bypass, was first granted planning permission by Harrogate Borough Council in 2017. It will provide up to 80 new jobs, including people who have been recruited locally.

Ripon is currently served by four supermarkets – Aldi, Booths, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s.

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German budget supermarket Lidl, which already has a store in Chain Lane, Knaresborough, has announced that it plans to open up to 89 new stores in Yorkshire and has Harrogate and Ripon on its list, saying:

The company, which is hoping to double the number of stores it has in the UK added, that it was looking for ‘prominent sites  in town, district, edge of centre or out of town locations, ideally with main road frontage with easy access and strong pedestrian or traffic flow.’

“We want to double our portfolio. To continue our phenomenal growth we require further sites across the country.”

The proposed locations for Lidl stores in Ripon and Harrogate is not as yet known.

Harrogate’s deep clean starts on Monday

Harrogate town centre is set to undergo a deep clean next week ahead of non-essential retail shops reopening after 10 weeks of lockdown.

Harrogate BID has contracted Yorkshire-based UK Nationwide Cleaning Services for the work which will be carried out from Monday (June 8).

The four-year contract will see the company power wash pavements and street furniture on a night and is expected to take two weeks to complete.

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It comes as non-essential shops, such as clothing stores and electronic outlets, will reopen from June 15 as the lockdown is eased.

Simon Kent, Harrogate BID interim-manager, said:

“In a recent survey of the town centre businesses, the vast majority of those who responded said their number one priority was a deep clean. I’m delighted to say that we are now just days away from fulfilling this.

“We have awarded this contract to UK Nationwide Cleaning Services. The company is no stranger to this type of work, as they already work with BIDs across the UK.

“From next week, life will slowly start to get back to normal, and we want Harrogate to look superb. The deep cleaning will be a major fact in helping us achieving this.”

Meanwhile, Harrogate Borough Council has been handed £141,000 as part of the European Union Regional Development Fund to help reopen high streets safely.

The money is designed to fund measures such as new signs, temporary barriers, street markings and marketing campaigns to reassure people that High Streets are safe. However, the authority said a plan for the money is still being devised.