“It’s local, it’s interesting, it’s current and it’s presented by people we know and trust. But it’s more than that. It is a radio station that supports local events and charities. It’s a station that supports the community and the community repays this by supporting the station.”
Sarah Barry is Harrogate through and through.
She grew up in the town, attended Granby High School and worked for Stray FM from almost the start of its existence in 1994 until its closure last year.
In her first media interview since becoming the club’s new chief executive officer three weeks ago, she told the Stray Ferret there are some surprising similarities between running a local radio station and a football club.
“When I was running Stray FM, our unique selling point was ‘local’. Our stakeholders were our community, listeners, advertisers, regulators and owners. It’s exactly the same with the football industry.”
The jump to league football
On the pitch, Simon Weaver and his players have brought Harrogate Town into the English Football League for the first time in their existence and have captured the imagination of the footballing world for their team spirit and style of play.
However, in some respects it’s been a difficult summer off the field.
Multiple safety issues at the ground forced the council to ban fans from attending a friendly, their online ticket booking system went down on the day of a match and there has been a public row between two rival fan groups.
Ms Barry said suggestions that the club was not prepared for the off the field rigours of league football are “grossly unfair”:
“It’s easy to say that on the outside looking in but I’ve been with the club three weeks and I’ve picked it up really quickly. I’m really protective of my team now. We’ve made some errors but we had to prioritise and make sure the team was ready to play football. It’s like having 20 tennis balls thrown at you, you can only catch so many of those.”
Wetherby Road
Key to Ms Barry’s role will be growing the fanbase and attracting more fans to the EnviroVent Stadium. It’s often said that Harrogate is not a “football town” but she believes there is potential to double their regular attendance to 6,000 people.
“We’re not [a football town]. That’s a fact. But we have the Harrogate district. Nearly 150,000 people live here and we can can reach out to them.
“We have got football fanatics, the schools and community who we really want to work strongly with.
“Leeds United have done a lot of work around here, but most people have two teams. They’ll have a bigger team and they’ll have a local team. Not everyone can afford to go off to Manchester United or Liverpool.”
The stadium is in a residential area and flanked by the busy Wetherby Road. The ground has been transformed after some serious investment from the club but it’s hard to ignore some well-documented issues.
It’s difficult to park, they’ve had to close the 1919 bar on match days, and fans spill out onto the road at the end of games. So will the ground be able to cope with 6,000 fans?
Ms Barry said “there are no immediate short-term plans” to move the ground but conceded it has challenges which she believes they can overcome.
She said:
“There has been a lot of work in years gone by to potentially move the ground. There are so many challenges [at the EnviroVent], we won’t hide from that.
“A decision was taken and there’s been a lot of investment. If we can make it happen to stay where we are that will be the first choice at the moment.
I’ve been to a stadium recently and the capacity was 20,000 but they had 5,500 fans in that. It looked empty, what would you rather have? A jam packed ground full of energy and atmosphere bouncing off every corner, like we had at Newport. I thought the atmosphere was electric. That’s what we’re after week-in week-out. I’d rather have that than a ground thats three quarters empty.”
Read more:
- New Harrogate Town CEO: ‘Ticketing system not fit for purpose’
- Harrogate Town boss nominated for Manager of the Month
Communication
As part of the restructuring at Harrogate Town, Garry Plant will move from managing director to commercial director with Ms Barry overseeing the whole operation.
Mr Plant has been the public face of the business side of the club and has been the scapegoat for some issues fans have had with the club, particularly around communication.
Ms Barry strongly defended his work.
“I’ve known Garry since he started at the club. He’s a great guy and has done so much that is unseen. He’s come in for some stick. I’ll defend him. 90% of the stuff he does is unseen. You see what happens on the football field, but what goes on behind that and the hard work, nobody sees that. I’m here to support him and he’s doing a great job.”
Ms Barry also stressed the importance of the club’s supporter liaison officer (SLO) Phill Holdsworth, who like Mr Plant, has faced criticism from a section of the fanbase. She wants to improve communication between the club and fans.
She said:
“I’m new to this and don’t know whether [the criticism of the SLO] is warranted or not. Some of it is not defensible in any way shape or form. I want to help him as well improve those relationships. It’s fundamental to have an SLO. It will really help us as a club. We need to nip some of these things in the bud and understand if there’s any upset or hostility and try and prevent it. Everyone is in this for the same reason.”
The Weavers
Ms Barry said her role at the club came about through the friendship she forged with Simon during her time at Stray FM.
It’s clear the reverence she has for both him and his dad, the club chairman and owner Irving Weaver.
I almost daren’t broach the subject of what would happen if a club higher up the leagues approached them about Simon Weaver becoming their new manager. She said: “You’d have to ask Simon that question. I’d obviously like him to stay!”
She wants to help the club achieve further success and reward the Irving family for what they’ve put into the club over the past decade.
Harrogate Hospital Radio wins three-year fight for FM licence“Simon is amazing and inspirational full stop. He’s probably the reason I’m sat here. Listening to him speak, he’s eloquent and has this sincerity that is genuine. He’s got respect and there’s no spin.
“I want to see all the effort money, and time come to fruition over the past years for the owner.”
Harrogate Hospital Radio is preparing to go on to the FM airwaves after earning a licence on its third attempt in three years.
It will be a major step for the station when it starts to broadcast for the first time on 95.3FM from 9am on September 1.
The charity radio station, which has been keeping hospital staff and patients entertained since October 1977, has had a long journey to get to this point.
Read more:
- Thirty-one Harrogate schools take part in ‘walk to school day’
- State of roads in Ripon comes under spotlight
Mark Oldfield, Harrogate Hospital Radio’s chairman, was knocked back by regulator Ofcom twice, but took the loss of Stray FM as a reason to take up the fight again.
He started a petition to drum up support, which was signed by nearly 400 people, and said:
“I can’t begin to tell you what this means to Harrogate Hospital Radio. An awful lot of hard work has gone into our submission.
“I’d like to thank MP Andrew Jones and Harrogate Hospital Radio NHS Trust chair Angela Schofield, and its chief executive, Steve Russell, for their support.
“Early this year, I was invited to resubmit my application and, finally, at the end of May, I got a call from Ofcom to inform me my application had been successful.
Harrogate District Hospital now has 300 FM radios so even more patients will be able to listen to Harrogate Hospital Radio.
The chairman hopes that it will become the dedicated radio station for not only the hospital, but the surrounding area as well.
Your Harrogate set to launch tomorrowYour Harrogate is set to launch its online radio service tomorrow with familiar faces from Stray FM.
The show on Monday at 8am and promises to offer the “best of life in Harrogate.”
Currently Your Harrogate is only available online and people can listen on their phones through an app or through a smart speaker.
Your Harrogate will launch with an all-male lineup who are all former DJs on Stray FM, which closed last year.
Read more:
- How local is Stray FM’s replacement station?
- Stray FM broadcasts its final shows before national take-over
Nick Hancock will be on breakfast duty and promises to set listeners up for their day with local weather, travel and school news.
Pete Egerton will be on daytimes, Ricky Durkin on weekday afternoons, Alex Cann on weeknights, Will Smith on weekends and David Whittle on weekend afternoons.
Stray FM broadcast its final show at the end of August ahead of a merger with national station Greatest Hits Radio.
Bauer Media, the owners of Greatest Hits Radio, promised to keep the show as local but there have been complaints on social media that it has not delivered.
The full line up is as below:
Weekdays
6am Early Breakfast
7am Nick Hancock
10am Pete Egerton
2pm Ricky Durkin
6pm Alex Cann
Saturdays
7am Ricky Durkin
10am Will Smith
1pm David Whittle
Sundays
7am Alex Cann
10am Nick Hancock
1pm David Whittle
As 2020 draws to a close, the Stray Ferret looks back at the news stories that stood out among a year of extraordinary events.
Today, we reveal the most popular stories on our site since we launched at the beginning of March.
10. Events company folds after 46 years
Andrew Manby, director of Joe Manby Ltd.
The tenth most-read story on our site this year was a sad one for those involved – and for many others.
After months of uncertainty for the events industry, long-standing family firm Joe Manby Ltd was put into liquidation.
Director Andrew Manby had been warning for many months about the threat to the sector, with events unable to go ahead and no sign of improvement on the horizon.
Readers and fellow business owners expressed shock and sympathy after the news was announced.
9. Eat Out to Help Out
Restaurants and cafes took part in the Eat Out to Help Out scheme
When the government scheme to encourage hospitality spending was launched, businesses in the Harrogate district signed up with enthusiasm.
Residents were also keen to show their support, as our ninth most popular story shows. With more than 100 businesses on the list, locals checked in to see where they could get a discount on dining out early in the week.
8. Six workers rescued from Ripon takeaway
In September, six people were rescued from a Ripon takeaway after local residents raised concerns about their living and working conditions.
Agencies including the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, Immigration Enforcement, Harrogate Borough Council and the police and fire service swooped on the takeaway, which was not publicly identified.
As a result, six people were placed in temporary accommodation. Officers reported several possible indicators of labour abuse but could not find any signs of modern slavery offences.
The council and the fire service said they would investigate a number of housing and fire safety issues at the property.
The story was our eighth most-read of the year.
7. Many hospitality businesses will not reopen
In his first column for the Stray Ferret, Peter Banks, MD of Rudding Park, gave an honest account of his expectations for the future of his industry.
Writing in early May, he said the first week of the pandemic’s impact was the worst of his professional life. However, in a rapidly changing climate, he soon found himself trying to work out how the hotel would reopen – and concluding that, for many, it would never happen.
The column proved hugely popular, especially with our audience on social media, and is seventh on our list of most-read stories of the year.
Today, we published Mr Banks’s reflections on the year in hospitality – including the last-minute bombshell delivered by the government to scupper plans for New Year’s Eve.
6. Long queues outside Harrogate shop after pubs close
Queues formed outside the Tesco Express shop in Harrogate’s town centre just after 10pm.
When the 10pm curfew on hospitality came in, many said it would only lead to a rush of people onto the streets all at the same time.
This appeared to be true, as the queue outside Tesco on Cambridge Road showed on Saturday, October 24 just after 10pm.
The same happened again the following week, and both stories proved popular with local readers. It’s at number six on our list.
5. Harrogate district to enter tier two restrictions
As the second national lockdown ended in early December, the decision about which tier the Harrogate district would be placed in drew a lot of attention.
Readers were eager to find out what restrictions they would face – and local businesses were also keen to know if they could open and trade in the vital few weeks before Christmas.
The story was the fifth most-read of the year. Yesterday’s announcement of the district’s move into tier three from New Year’s Eve is the most-read story in December.
4. Coach and Horses has alcohol licence revoked
Police were called to the Coach and Horses pub by concerned locals in May
In July, long-standing West Park pub the Coach and Horses had its alcohol licence revoked by Harrogate Borough Council after a dispute over their compliance with lockdown rules in May.
The pub opened to sell take-out beer, but as crowds gathered on the pavement and across the road by the Stray, police and council enforcement staff arrived.
Their accounts of the situation suggested landlord John Nelson had been “aggressive and abusive”, though at the licensing hearing his lawyer said he accepted he had made a “chronic error of judgement”.
The committee revoked Mr Nelson’s licence with the support of North Yorkshire Police, and the report on the decision was our fourth most read story of the year.
Three months later, his daughter Samantha was successful in her application for a licence to reopen the pub.
3. Police attend serious incident near Harrogate town centre
A man died and another was treated in hospital after an incident on Harcourt Drive, on the edge of Harrogate town centre.
On a quiet Sunday evening in late August, the incident shocked neighbours and the wider community. It was the third most read story of 2020 on our website.
Police later confirmed the incident was not being treated as suspicious and an inquest would be held to examine the circumstances of the man’s death.
2. Harrogate’s Stray FM to close
Owners Greatest Hits Radio announced the end of Stray FM in May
Residents of the district were shocked by the announcement in May that Stray FM would be disappearing from the airwaves.
Though owners Greatest Hits Radio described the plans as a ‘rebrand’, the reality was that there would be mostly national programming on the station from September, with one regional show each day at drivetime.
As well as the ending of a familiar brand established in 1994, community groups expressed their sadness at the loss of the station’s valuable support.
The announcement of the plans was our second most-read story of 2020.
1. Town centre roads closed by police
Police closed off Mayfield Grove junction with Bower Road. Picture: Sharon Canavar.
A police incident near the centre of town on a Friday afternoon drew our biggest audience of the year.
A man was arrested for saying he had a knife and making threats to other residents.
Officers closed a number of roads around Strawberry Dale while they dealt with the situation, leading to congestion on surrounding routes. The roads were reopened after around 90 minutes.
A second man was arrested for obstructing the police, separately to the original incident.
Read more:
- Looking back: Happiness in Harrogate district amid the challenges of 2020
- Looking back: Clap for carers and scrubbing up for key workers
How local is Stray FM’s replacement station?
Loyal listeners of Stray FM have been asking an important question this week – just how local can Greatest Hits Radio be if it covers the nation?
The Stray FM brand has been wiped off the internet. The station no longer has its local presenters. There is one regional drive time show each day.
Instead of Stray FM, those tuned into the frequency will find a different experience. Most of the schedule is filled with music from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. On the hour there is a mixture of local and national news stories. The Harrogate and Yorkshire Dales version of Greatest Hits Radio featured Harrogate-only advertising when we tuned in today.
In July Dee Ford, group director of Bauer Radio, said:
“Our plan at this stage is to deliver local news much as it is currently delivered by Stray FM.
In fact, we expect access to the size and scope of the wider Bauer news team will enable the local team to better cover major local stories and issues.
Read more:
- Stray FM broadcasts its final shows before national take-over
- Harrogate MP gives ‘cautious welcome’ to Stray FM assurances
- Ripon councillor criticises Dawn French following Stray FM’s demise
David Dunning, a local radio expert currently based at the York Mix, told the Stray Ferret that the regulator is to blame:
“This is clearly not the same station as Stray FM. When you take away the local station you take away the presenters who have a real connection with the community. I do not think that it is right to blame Bauer Media for this. Ofcom are to blame for allowing this through.”
David Dunning is a local radio expert with 35 years experience.
It has been a controversial move for fans of Stray FM who have seen those behind Stray FM leave the radio station.
Sarah Berry, Stray FM’s managing director, is the latest to leave. She had been at the station since it launched in 1994 and said:
Stray FM broadcasts its final shows before national take-over“I’d like to thank each and every single person who has connected with us over the years, I include all our stakeholders from listeners, charities, emergency and public services, suppliers and advertisers. I am incredibly proud to have been part of Stray FM and I wish everyone well for the next chapter.”
The Stray FM brand will disappear from the airwaves this weekend as owners Bauer Media merge it with national station Greatest Hits Radio.
The station, which was founded in Harrogate in 1994, will lose its local presenters in favour of national programming, with one regional drive time show each day.
it means familiar voices on the airwaves, including breakfast show presenter Nick Hancock, will today give their final broadcasts to audiences across the Harrogate district. Community groups have expressed their sadness at the loss of the station’s local support for many vital events and services.
John Fox, who has worked with Stray FM over many years to fundraise for Harrogate’s Christmas lights as well as organising the Volunteer Oscars, said the loss will be felt by many in the community.
“It’s very sad. It was the best local radio and part of the community.
“They supported small organisations and individuals, and they were also there when the community needed them for inclement weather like snow or flooding. They’re the ones who got us to work and home again. On top of that, they were committed to supporting local businesses – they were passionate about it. It’s a great loss.
“I was overjoyed when we got the licence for a local station – I felt Harrogate was on the map with its own proper radio station. This is a sad day for Harrogate.”
Read more:
- Harrogate MP gives ‘cautious welcome’ to Stray FM assurances
- COLUMN: The excitement and nerves of being the first voice on Stray FM
After news of the closure was announced in May, the Liberal Democrats set up a petition to save it, gaining 2,000 signatures in the first week. Andrew Jones, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, voiced his concerns about the planned changes and said he “cautiously welcomed” Bauer’s response to a letter he sent.
In it, Bauer promised that Stray FM would still cover local news and issues with a local team of journalists, and would have “improved options” for businesses to target audiences through advertising.
However, the company has not yet confirmed what the new local team will look like and how many, if any, of the local events covered by Stray FM will continue to receive the same level of support. A spokesman told the Stray Ferret it will continue to support Bauer’s national charities and will launch a new Getting North Yorkshire Back to Work campaign. She added:
“We have made no decisions as yet on buildings, however the station will retain local content and services and a presence in Harrogate.”
Will Smith, Nick Hancock and Sarah Barry at the Knaresborough Bed Race in 2017
Stray FM broadcast live from many events, including Bilton Gala and the Knaresborough Bed Race. Kevin Lloyd, bed race chairman for Knaresborough Lions, told the Stray Ferret:
Battle for the Harrogate airwaves intensifies“This is terrible news for us and other charities and organisations across the district. As a community-focused radio station, they have been fantastic advocates for all kinds of causes from their local heroes awards to the incredible support that they have given us over the years in making the bed race the highly successful and much-enjoyed event that it is today.”
This week’s launch of a second community radio station for Harrogate, and the forthcoming rebrand of Stray FM, has reshaped the local radio landscape.
HG1 Radio, which employs 17 staff, began broadcasting on Monday.
The station, which is available online, as an app or on smart speakers, is owned by YO1 Enterprises, which also runs YO1 Radio, a community radio station for York.
Chris Marsden, programmes director at Y01 Enterprises, said the growth of community radio in Harrogate reflected the national picture as more and more independent local radio stations were bought by large companies. He said:
“The big guys are swooping in and taking over independent stations.”
He said people were “incredibly sad” about the changes to Stray FM, which was bought by Bauer Media last year and will become Greatest Hits Radio in September.
Bauer Media announced in May that Stray FM would become Greatest Hits Radio.
More than 3,000 people have signed a petition set up by the local Liberal Democrats to save Stray FM. Marsden said changes to Stray FM created opportunities for community radio stations.
Marsden, who presented the Stray FM breakfast show 15 years ago, said HG1 Radio would attempt to emulate Stray FM’s traditional role by supporting community events and having high profile local presenters.
“It will be polished, commercially viable and easy to listen to,” said Marsden, who said Y01 Radio currently had “tens of thousands” of listeners.
He added the station would apply for an FM licence.
Read more:
The arrival of HG1 Radio provides an alternative to Harrogate Community Radio, which will celebrate its first birthday on 1 August.
Andrew Backhouse, one of three co-founders of Harrogate Community Radio, said he wished HG1 Radio “the best of luck”.
He added:
“We all cater for different audiences. We are run by volunteers and don’t have adverts. We try to be as democratic as possible. We are a not-for-profit organisation that is run by the community, for the community.”
Backhouse said the number of listeners had increased on average by 20 per cent each since the station launched. He said:
Harrogate MP gives ‘cautious welcome’ to Stray FM assurances“We don’t want to make any money out of it. We just want to let people who don’t have a voice, have a voice.”
Harrogate and Knaresborough MP, Andrew Jones, has given a cautious welcome to assurances from Bauer Media over the future of Stray FM.
Mr Jones wrote to the owners of the local radio station following its decision to come off air and become Greatest Hits Radio.
Since then, more than 3,000 people have signed a petition set up by the local Liberal Democrats to save Stray FM with hundreds submitting stories of what the station means to them.
Read more:
- Andrew Jones MP writes to Bauer Media for assurance over the station he calls a “winning formula”.
- Thousands sign petition to save Stray FM
In response to Mr Jones, Dee Ford, group director of Bauer Radio, said:
“Our plan at this stage is to deliver local news much as it is currently delivered by Stray FM.
In fact, we expect access to the size and scope of the wider Bauer news team will enable the local team to better cover major local stories and issues.
“With respect to your question concerning the retention of a Harrogate-based news team, while we are yet to make any final decisions on specific staffing requirements, we expect to retain these roles.”
Ms Ford added that Greatest Hits Radio will still have locally based journalists and businesses will have “improved options” for targeting their advertising.
She said any money raised locally for its charity, Cash for Kids, would also go towards supporting local children.
Andrew Jones, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough.
Mr Jones said he welcomed the assurances from Ms Ford, but added that the “devil will be in the detail”.
He said:
Thousands sign petition to save Stray FM“This is positive movement on the issues local people have been raising and, frankly, a much more optimistic position than I expected we would be in. Any new arrangements for our local radio have huge shoes to fill and it is good to hear that several key principles about keeping it local, supporting local organisations and prioritising local advertising are understood and will be kept.
“However, we now need to see what those principles will mean in reality; how they will manifest themselves in what we hear when we tune in.”
“So, alongside local businesses and our community, I want to meet with senior management at Bauer Media to hear exactly how the promised local news will be delivered, practical examples of the community support they expect to do and the kinds of packages they will offer to local advertisers.
“It would be great too if we could retain some sort of local branding so that, if we can confirm the news content and the community and business support, the station doesn’t feel like a one-size-fits all operation even when it is still very much grounded in the community.
“In conclusion, this is progress and I am pleased certain principles about being a locally-based community-grounded radio station are confirmed. As ever, the devil will be in the detail and that is what we need to look at next.”
More than 3000 people have signed a petition to save Stray FM as its owners plan to merge it into a larger service.
As well as the signatures, the campaign to save Stray FM has received more than 200 stories about what the station means to local people.
The petition was set up by the local Lib Dems when the plans were announced by Bauer Media in late May. The group’s leader in Harrogate, Councillor Pat Marsh, has written to Bauer urging bosses to reconsider their decision to replace Stray FM with a national station, Greatest Hits Radio.
A regional drive time show covering Yorkshire and Lincolnshire is planned, but the remaining programmes will follow the national schedule.
Cllr Marsh said Bauer Media should “reconsider its decision and explore alternative arrangements which recognise the community asset that Stray FM is in its current form, providing ‘proper local radio’ to the area”.
The Lib Dims are against the plans to merge the local station and have rallied public support to save it.
Read more:
- Andrew Jones MP writes to Bauer Media for assurance over the station he calls a “winning formula”.
- Harrogate Theatre feel “relief” as the government announce a £1.5bn rescue package.
Cllr Marsh added:
Over 2000 sign petition to save Stray FM in a week“We’ve been overwhelmed by the number of people who have joined our campaign in just a matter of weeks, it’s a real testament to just how important it is to the community that we save Stray FM. Reading so many people’s personal stories of what Stray FM means to them has been nothing short of truly heart-warming.
“This is not a done deal. There are many avenues that we’re exploring and we will do all we can to see Stray FM continue.”
Over 2000 people have signed a petition to try and save local radio station Stray FM in just one week.
The campaign, launched by Liberal Democrats, calls for Bauer Media to reverse its decision to replace Stray FM with a national station.
Stray FM, a 26-year-old station based in Harrogate, is set to be replaced by Greatest Hits Radio with three hours a day of regional presenting covering Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
Liberal Democrat spokesperson Judith Rogerson told The Stray Ferret:
“We understand that it’s not an easy challenge to get a private company to reverse a decision once it’s been made, but seeing the community rally together like this and seeing all the words of appreciation is incredibly heartening. Local journalism is about so much more than large profits — we sincerely hope that this petition shows Bauer just how much ‘Proper Local Radio’ means to our area.”
Read more on this story
Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones has also written to Bauer Media to seek assurances over Stray FM’s future.
In a post on his website, he said he was “disappointed” that Bauer Media’s “winning formula is set to change.”
To view or sign the petition, click here.