Harrogate town centre Sainsbury’s to open in next two months

Sainsbury’s is planning to open its new Harrogate’s town centre store in the next couple of months.

The supermarket chain had hoped for a late summer opening but only managed to get permission from Harrogate Borough Council in late July.

When the new Sainsbury’s Local shop opens it will create 25 new jobs and also bring the former Topshop unit at 33-37 Cambridge Street back into use after four years.

While there’s not been too much movement at the store in recent weeks, the internal fit out is due to start before the end of November.

The developer plans to split the building into three seperate units. Sainsbury’s would occupy the largest on the left side.

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Skipton Building Society is also planning to move in but it is unclear at this stage which business will take on the third unit.

Patrick Dunne, Sainsbury’s Property Director, said:

“We’ll soon be moving to the next stage in the fitout of our new convenience store for Harrogate and I’m looking forward to seeing it take shape as it really starts to look like a Sainsbury’s Local.

“It won’t be long now until residents, workers and shoppers in the town centre will be able to enjoy great value, high quality products as well as the improved convenience and choice that a new Sainsbury’s store will bring.”

Mr Dunne added that his team is also in the process of finding a charity to donate excess food to.

Sainsbury’s already has four stores in Harrogate: a large store on Wetherby Road and smaller Local stores on Leeds Road, King’s Road and Cold Bath Road.

Tesco Skipton Road supermarket ‘could put us out of business’

The owner of convenience store Number One Shop on Electric Avenue fears a new Tesco superstore a stone’s throw away might destroy her business.

Plans for the new store, exclusively revealed by the Stray Ferret, include a petrol station, 200 parking spaces and a new roundabout on Skipton Road. Tesco says 100 new jobs would be created. Planning permission is yet to be granted.

Claire Lewis has run Number One Shop for the last seven years with her husband.  The new Tesco would be built almost directly behind her shop on the old gas works site.

Ms Lewis told the Stray Ferret that she had always heard rumours that Tesco had planned to revive its plan to build a supermarket on the site, “but now it’s official”

She said:

“I can’t compete with a massive superstore chain.

“I’ll lose a lot of business.”

Ms Lewis said trade at her shop took a hit when Aldi opened on Skipton Road in 2016. However, she was able to compete with the German chain due to Aldi selling primarily their own branded products.

But with Tesco selling branded products, she fears its buying power will mean it can sell the same products she sells but at a cheaper price.

Workers who would stop into her shop for a pie, some crisps and a drink may also decide to go to Tesco for their £3 meal deal.

“I can’t buy in bulk. I can’t lower my prices anymore.”

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Since Tesco first proposed to build a supermarket on the site in the late 2000s, there has been an unprecedented level of housebuilding on Skipton Road and Killinghall in recent years and Tesco said the new supermarket would help reduce car journeys across Harrogate.

However, Ms Lewis expects traffic to increase on Skipton Road, which she said is already “manic” at times.

“There will be a lot of traffic. It’s already manic on Skipton Road at 4pm.”

Up against giant corporation, Ms Lewis believes one area they can compete with Tesco is community spirit.

Her husband was stuck in India for five months last year due to covid travel restrictions, and her regular customers rallied.

“With covid, everyone came together.

“Local people were so kind and gave me lifts. Most of my customers are elderly and even with the Tesco they’ll still come to the shop out of respect for me.”

Lidl store at Ripon retail park gets go-ahead

Plans for a new Lidl supermarket at St Michael’s Retail Park in Ripon have been given the go-ahead.

Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee today granted approval for the store, which the German retailer said will create up to 40 jobs and occupy three units at the £10m retail park.

Lidl also said the supermarket would represent a “multi-million-pound” investment into the Rotary Way site, which opened last year and is currently only occupied by Marks and Spencer.

Speaking at a meeting today, Liberal Democrat councillor Pat Marsh said she was happy to support the development because of the hundreds of homes set to be built in the area over the coming years, including plans for 1,300 homes at Ripon Barracks.

She said:

“This huge residential development is coming so there is a requirement to make sure that there is this kind of retail in Ripon.

“And what made me comfortable with this was the analysis of whether the store would impact on the city centre itself.

“Once that assured me it wouldn’t, I was very happy to support this to give the people of Ripon a choice in their shopping.”

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The Lidl plans were submitted to the council in May following a virtual consultation with the local community earlier in the year.

Today’s approval comes after separate plans for a Lidl store at the former Lookers car dealership on Harrogate’s Knaresborough Road were approved by the council last month.

Lidl previously said this store will also create up to 40 jobs once built.

Business group: New housing means Harrogate Tesco could be needed

Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce has said a new Tesco on Skipton Road could be needed due to the “unprecedented” amount of new housing on that side of Harrogate.

The Stray Ferret reported this week that Tesco had revived plans to build a supermarket on the old gasworks close to the New Park roundabout. Multiple sources told us a formal planning application is expected before the end of the year.

David Simister, chief executive of the chamber,  told the Stray Ferret the housing landscape around Skipton Road and Killinghall had changed since Tesco first submitted plans to build on the site over a decade ago.

Mr Simister said:

“Since Tesco first put in an application more than a decade ago, that side of Harrogate has seen an unprecedented amount of house building.

“At the moment, the only large supermarkets serving this area are Aldi, on Oak Beck Road, and the Co-Op on Jennyfield Drive, and having another big name may well cut down on car journeys across town.

“Until we see the planning application, it’s impossible to know if there are any other employment or retail opportunities for the site.”

Tesco received planning permission to build a supermarket there in 2011 but pulled out in 2016, citing market conditions. At the time it faced opposition from business groups, including the chamber, which represents many businesses in the district.

In 2014, the chamber’s then-vice president Peter Jesper called on the supermarket chain to pull out due to safety fears related to the old gasworks and its impact on local businesses.

He said:

“We still strongly believe that this is not a suitable place for a new superstore.”

It is believed the supermarket, which would be built on land between Electric Avenue and Oak Beck, would be smaller than the one previously proposed.

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A 20-year history

Tesco has harboured ambitions to build on the site for almost 20 years.

Land Registry documents reveal the supermarket bought the site for £2.8m in 2003 and still owns it.

It submitted a proposal to build a supermarket there in 2009, which was approved by Harrogate Borough Council in 2011.

However, Tesco pulled out in 2016. An Aldi supermarket opened on the retail park just off Skipton Road in 2016.

A computer-generated image of the abandoned 2009 plans.

In a media statement in 2016, Matt Davies, Tesco’s UK chief executive at the time, said the site would be sold.

In 2018 Consolidated Property Group said it had agreed to buy the site from Tesco to develop a retail park but the plans never materialised, despite obtaining planning permission.

Lidl supermarket in Ripon set for go-ahead

Plans for a new Lidl supermarket at St Michael’s Retail Park in Ripon look set to be given the go-ahead by councillors next week.

The new 11,840 sq ft store, which would create up to 40 jobs, has been recommended for approval at a meeting of Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee on Tuesday.

If councillors agree with the recommendation, the supermarket would occupy two units at the £10m retail park, which opened in July last year.

A report to next Tuesday’s meeting said:

“The proposed development is acceptable and meets the requirements of the sequential and retail impact tests.
“The development will create jobs and provide economic benefits to the local area.”

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The plans were submitted to the borough council in May following a virtual consultation with the local community earlier this year.

Lidl previously said the store would represent a “multi-million-pound” investment into the Rotary Way retail park, which is currently only occupied by Marks and Spencer and owned by Leeds-based retailers Rothstone Estates.

Separately, plans for a Lidl store at the former Lookers car dealership on Harrogate’s Knaresborough Road were approved by the borough council last month.

The German supermarket chain previously said these plans will also create up to 40 jobs.

Lidl submits plans for first Harrogate store

German supermarket chain Lidl has submitted plans to open its first store in Harrogate.

If approved, the supermarket would create about 40 full and part-time jobs on the site of the former Lookers car dealership on Knaresborough Road.

The multi-million pound proposal includes a 1,263 square metre sales area, an in-store bakery, customer toilets and 94 parking spaces.

It would open from 8am to 10pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sunday.

Lidl GB said in a statement a public consultation in November revealed 87 per cent of more than 1,000 responses supported the scheme.

Harrogate Borough Council must now adjudicate on whether to accept plans to redevelop the site, which is surrounded by hoardings.

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Robert Beaumont, Lidl property director for the north of England, said:

“Following this extremely positive feedback, we have now submitted a planning application for the site to Harrogate Borough Council.

“We have been looking forward to bringing a new store to Harrogate for a while and we hope that the council agrees that this is a great location for a new supermarket to serve the local community.”

Lidl entered the UK market in 1994 and now has more than 800 stores across the country, including one in Knaresborough.