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Welcome to Yorkshire requests extension to £500,000 council loan

North Yorkshire County Council looks set to approve another extension to a £500,000 loan given to Welcome to Yorkshire.

The troubled tourism organisation took out the loan in September 2019 and secured it against a property it owns on Tadcaster Road in York.

The loan, which has been used to help cashflow, was due to be repaid in full by November 2020.

Council officials later agreed to extend the terms until November 2021, giving WtY more time to repay.

Now, senior councillors have been urged to grant another extension until April 2022 following a request from WtY.

A report due before the council’s executive next week says the loan will continue to be secured on the investment property and at the same seven per cent interest rate.

It says:

“Such an extension has been requested for administrative reasons as the new period would then simply span the whole of the Welcome to Yorkshire financial year.”

WtY posted losses of £198,997 in the last two years, according to its latest accounts.

WtY published two sets of accounts last month, which covered the six months to March 31, 2020, and the 18 months to September 30, 2019.

The organisation, which is a limited company, was bailed out last year by Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council, plus other local authorities.

Both authorities approved funding totalling more than £300,000 after WtY warned it faced a £1.4 million funding gap amid the coronavirus pandemic.

A spokesperson for the organisation told the Stray Ferret previously that it had been a “difficult time” but added the organisation had undergone “significant operational, staffing, cultural and strategic changes” since the periods covered by the two sets of accounts.

The spokesperson said:

“The accounts were filed after an extended period as a result of issues relating to the coronavirus crisis, including subsequent uncertainty of funding which had previously been assigned from the North and West Yorkshire Business Rates Committee.

“The organisation is focusing on the future, moving forward and supporting the economic recovery of the tourism sector in Yorkshire through the coronavirus crisis and post-pandemic to reopen, recover and rebuild as part of Welcome to Yorkshire’s tourism recovery plan, working closely with the county’s businesses and local authorities.”

Welcome to Yorkshire posts losses of £200,000

The troubled tourism organisation Welcome to Yorkshire lost about £200,000 in two years, according to its latest accounts published this week.

The organisation, which is a limited company, was bailed out last year by Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council, plus other local authorities.

Its accounts for the six months to March 31 2020 and the 18 months to September 30 2019, which were both released on the same day this week, lay bare the organisation’s financial struggles in the aftermath of the resignation of its former chief executive, Sir Gary Verity in March 2019.

The organisation has undergone significant changes since the accounts were published.

The accounts reveal the organisation spent £151,568 on staff termination costs in 2018/19, which covers the period Sir Gary left. A Welcome to Yorkshire spokeswoman told the Stray Ferret the costs referred to one member of staff.

The organisation spent another £71,133 in termination costs in the 2019/20 period.

It also spent £323,000 on legal and professional fees over the combined two-year period.

Asked why the fees were so high, the spokeswoman said the figure included the cost of two independent reports by accountants BDO and solicitors Clarion, recruiting a new chief executive and other one-off costs.

It lost £127,140 in 2019/20 and £71,857 in 2018/19.

The spokeswoman acknowledged it had been a “difficult time” but added the organisation had undergone “significant operational, staffing, cultural and strategic changes” since the periods covered by the two sets of accounts.

In the last 16 months it has appointed Peter Box as chairman, James Mason as chief executive, introduced an audit committee and governance panel and reduced the workforce by more than half to 24, she added.

The spokeswoman said:

“The accounts were filed after an extended period as a result of issues relating to the coronavirus crisis, including subsequent uncertainty of funding which had previously been assigned from the North and West Yorkshire Business Rates Committee.

“The organisation is focusing on the future, moving forward and supporting the economic recovery of the tourism sector in Yorkshire through the coronavirus crisis and post-pandemic to reopen, recover and rebuild as part of Welcome to Yorkshire’s tourism recovery plan, working closely with the county’s businesses and local authorities.”

Harrogate Borough Council gave Welcome to Yorkshire £31,000 last year to help keep it afloat. North Yorkshire County Council awarded it £290,000.

Stunning Harrogate district walks included in new guide

Walks around Pateley Bridge, Ripon, Boroughbridge and Harrogate are among those included in a new campaign to promote Yorkshire as the walking capital of the world.

The year-long initiative, known as Walkshire, began yesterday. It includes 365 walks in God’s own county — one for every day of the year.

Tourism agency Welcome to Yorkshire, which is behind the campaign, hopes it will encourage more people to discover Yorkshire’s spectacular scenery and history on foot.

Routes in the Harrogate district include:

53 miles of the Nidderdale Way

14 miles Bramhope to Harrogate via Arthington viaduct

9 miles Ripon to Fountains Abbey

8 miles Hackfall woods near Masham

5 miles Thruscross reservoir

6.5 miles Burton Leonard, Copgrove and South Stainley

2 miles Ripon canal

The routes can be viewed here:

Arthington viaduct. Credit: Welcome to Yorkshire

James Mason, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said:

“2020 has been a tricky year for all and certainly a time to reflect on the importance of health and well-being so what better way to start the new year and continue through 2021 than promoting walking in Yorkshire to the world and welcoming visitors to the most diverse of counties.”

The campaign features a daily walk and businesses can sponsor and nominate routes.

There are four big seasonal walks and special plans for Yorkshire Day on August 1, as well as a Tour de Walkshire to replace the postponed Tour de Yorkshire cycle race.

People are invited to participate in Walkshire by sharing their own favourite walks using the hashtag #Walkshire.

Harrogate-based Yorkshire Cancer Research is the official charity partner of Walkshire.

Strayside Sunday: bailing out Welcome to Yorkshire was the right thing to do

Strayside Sunday is our weekly political opinion column. It is written by Paul Baverstock, former Director of Communications for the Conservative Party.

Gary Verity once bestrode the Yorkshire scene. Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, God’s own county’s tourism promotion body, Verity succeeded in bringing the 2014 Grand Depart of the Tour de France to Leeds. Glorious weather bathed riders in sunshine as they rode through our unmatched scenery, watched by spectators ten and twenty deep. Such was its success that Verity was knighted for his efforts and the subsequent Tour de Yorkshire became a permanent fixture on our calendar, ensuring an annual pay day for the local economy (although Covid-19’s long shadow has caused its postponement to 2022).

All was not as it seemed. Behind the scenes, the mercurial Mr Verity was accused of creating a culture of bullying, had to attend behavioural management counselling and eventually left Welcome to Yorkshire on health grounds under the darkest of clouds, facing, among other things, allegations of misuse of funds. To spend more time with his sheep, no doubt.

In the aftermath, two investigations into the management of the body cost almost £500,000, a financial shock that would have been hard to bear even in good times. On top of this came Covid-19 and a consequent £1m collapse in the business rate and membership fee income upon which it ordinarily relies. All of this required the body to ask for a £1.4m bailout from contributing councils across the county. Harrogate Borough Council is the latest to help, pitching in £31,000 to enable Welcome to Yorkshire to continue to “support tourism in Yorkshire and the Harrogate district at a time when it is needed the most.”

We are blessed to live in this beautiful county and it is important to bring its joys to the world. Bailing out Welcome to Yorkshire is the right thing to do, but let’s hope that the money from Harrogate and other councils across the ridings (and South Yorkshire) comes with the oversight and governance that public money warrants and which, sadly, was so lacking during Verity’s tenure. Yorkshire is a brilliant brand, the challenge for Welcome to Yorkshire now is to rebuild its own reputation to match.

Another mercurial bully on his way out this week is Dominic “Barnard Castle” Cummings. Back in the day Cummings worked as Director of Strategy for Iain Duncan Smith. His volatility was legend in Conservative Party circles and, during his five months in post he managed to offend almost every member of shadow cabinet. During his brief tenure he introduced IDS to the plight of those in our inner city sink estates. His “help the vulnerable” campaign exposed Duncan Smith and the Conservatives to the horrible reality of life for some in Gallowgate and elsewhere in contemporary Britain. It made a lasting impression on IDS and informed his desire to reform the welfare state while Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. Now lost in the mists of time we should remember that the reforms were initially welcomed and praised by civic society organisations and even the Labour opposition.

Cummings left the party having told Michael Howard to go forth and multiply during a typically foul mouthed and shouty display around the shadow cabinet table. Dominic was then and remains a disruptor in the fullest sense of the word. In fairness, Michael Howard didn’t much like advisors, nor did he in any way agree with those of us who felt that fairness needed to become a central pillar of party policy in the post-Thatcher era. A point he made crystal clear when he fired me a day or two after becoming leader when IDS was ousted.

Cummings is a formidable campaigner, as his Vote Leave triumph demonstrated. But he is simply not temperamentally suited to government. In his time in government (can it only be a year?) he wanted to focus on three things only; getting Brexit done, the levelling up agenda and reforming the civil service. Like the rest of us he hadn’t bargained on what Harold Macmillan called “events dear boy, events.” Covid-19 has so consumed affairs of state that winning the Brexit peace, balancing our economy and transforming Whitehall have become secondary. The pandemic has robbed this government of the time and space it needs to pursue its agenda and, by definition, is so unpredictable that it makes it lays waste to the relevance and longevity of government by slogan.

In my experience many MPs have a pathological need to be loved, or at the very least to feel they are needed. Warm and cuddly our Dom is not. Contempt and disdain are more his style. Given that and the manoeuvring and jealousy inherent in the political game, he is no doubt responsible at least in part for the growing sense of disquiet among parliamentary Conservatives. Backbench Conservative MP’s are delighted he is going and his scalp may well buy the Prime Minister more time with the restive. The irony of course is that for at least one faction, Jake Berry’s Northern Research Group, Cummings was the driving intellectual force behind the levelling up agenda in which they believe, and upon which, their parliamentary futures rest. His departure damages their cause. Be careful, they say, what you wish for.

That’s my Strayside Sunday.

Harrogate council gives £31,000 to Welcome to Yorkshire

Harrogate Borough Council has today agreed to pay £31,472 to troubled Welcome to Yorkshire to help keep the tourism body afloat.

Cllr Richard Cooper, leader of the council, approved the sum at a meeting with council officers.

It comes as Welcome to Yorkshire faces a funding gap of £1.4 million amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The tourism body revealed the shortfall in July and wrote to council leaders in the county asking for support – of which around £450,000 was needed from authorities in North Yorkshire.

The organisation was deprived of £1 million in business rates after councils in North and West Yorkshire saw the pandemic reduce their income.

A further £400,000 shortfall was created when Welcome to Yorkshire suspended its membership fees.

Now Harrogate Borough Council has followed North Yorkshire County Council, which has paid £290,000 in additional funding, to help bailout the organisation.

In a report before Cllr Cooper today, the council said it would fund the contribution from both its revenue budget and business rates retention reserve.

‘Positive projection’

Welcome to Yorkshire said failure to support it would reduce the “positive projection” of the county provided by the tourism body.

A spokesperson for Harrogate Borough Council said:

“This financial support will enable Welcome to Yorkshire to continue to support tourism in Yorkshire and the Harrogate district at a time when it is needed the most.”

Welcome to Yorkshire was hit by controversy when former boss, Sir Gary Verity, resigned in March 2019 on health grounds. He later faced allegations of bullying and inappropriately claiming expenses, which he denied.

Two inquiries carried out after Sir Gary’s resignation cost the tourism body £482,500.

Paul Scriven, a former leader of Sheffield City Council and a Liberal Democrat peer, told the House of Lords Welcome to Yorkshire had a “culture of toxicity” and misused public funds.

2021 Tour de Yorkshire cancelled

The 2021 Tour de Yorkshire has been cancelled, it was announced today.

The sixth edition of the event was due to take place from April 30 to May 3.

The 2020 race which was due to pass through Pateley Bridge, Kirkby Malzeard, Masham, Summerbridge and Beckwithshaw was also cancelled.

It means for the first time in years there will be no major cycling event in the Harrogate district.

James Mason, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said the organisation could not financially commit to it. He said:

“During these uncertain times Welcome to Yorkshire needs to focus on the immediate needs of the industry without committing both financial and human resources towards any activity or event that we cannot be certain of.

“Cycling has become synonymous with Yorkshire and the Tour de Yorkshire has become a firm fixture on the world cycling calendar due to the reception the riders and teams receive in our county.

“Whilst it is very disappointing that we will be bereft of this wonderful race for another year the decision we have made is the right one and perhaps the only one we could make.”

The Tour de Yorkshire has provided significant economic benefits to the county since it was created in the wake of the success of the 2014 Tour de France’s Grand Départ in Yorkshire.

It attracted four million roadside spectators.

Mason said the decision had been made after discussions with race organisers, French company the Amaury Sport Organisation.

Yann Le Moenner, director general of the ASO, said:

“We will collectively do our best to relaunch the event in 2022 and give the chance to the world’s best riders to be on the Yorkshire roads in front of one of the most enthusiastic audiences the cycling world has ever seen.”

Hotel closures deliver blow to Ripon tourism

The Old Deanery Hotel’s closure early next year, combined with the closing of Ripon’s Spa Hotel, is a double blow to the city’s tourism sector.

As the city slowly emerges from lockdown, concerns have been raised about its future tourism prospects with a reduced choice for overnight visitors.

Tourism in Yorkshire and Humber is worth more than the whole tourism expenditure in Ireland or Denmark, while the number of people in the region employed in the sector is approximately 250,000.

Visitors are drawn to Ripon’s ancient church of St Peter and St Wilfrid, known as the Cathedral of the Dales, and the city’s heritage includes the world-famous nightly Hornblower ceremony.

As operators of visitor attractions look to the future, there are concerns about the loss of the bed spaces that they provided.

Ripon’s Prison and Police Museum

Helen Thornton, director of Ripon Museum Trust, which runs The Workshouse Museum, The Prison & Police Museum and Old Courthouse Museum, told the Stray Ferret:

“Covid-19 has impacted all tourism sectors and it is perhaps too early to say what the long-term picture will be. The closure of two hotels in Ripon is very sad and the decision must have been really hard but understandable given the circumstances we have all faced.

“I think it has long been acknowledged that a tourism city like Ripon could do with more hotel beds to develop the cultural and heritage tourism offer further. Undoubtedly Ripon as a whole would benefit from more hotel beds.”

The trust re-opened its heritage attractions in mid-July and secured the Visit England’s ‘Good to Go’ kitemark for all the Covid-19 safety measures put in place to keep visitors, staff and volunteers safe.

Helen added:

“We are cautiously pleased with our performance in August. We didn’t know what to expect in terms of numbers but so far so good! We certainly did have tourists visiting who were ‘staycationers’, staying in the area in a variety of accommodation types.”

The trust has benefited from Heritage Lottery funding and works with organisations including Welcome to Yorkshire, Visit Harrogate and we other attractions in Ripon and the surrounding area, to promote the city-wide offer.

Richard Compton, the owner of Newby Hall on the outskirts of Ripon, is also saddened by the loss of two hotels, but remains optimistic.

He said:

“There are many new ways nowadays through which people stay in a particular place to enjoy the tourism offer – AirBnB for example – and I hope that the hotels will re-emerge in some form or other as places that welcome visitors to stay so that they can service Ripon’s tourism offer.”

The Stray Ferret asked Ripon’s MP Julian Smith if he had any support to offer to operators of tourist and visitor attractions in his constituency, but no response was received by the time of publication.

County council approves £290,000 funding for Welcome to Yorkshire

North Yorkshire County Council has approved more than £290,000 worth of additional funding to under-threat Welcome to Yorkshire following a bailout request from the tourism body.

Senior county councillors today backed further funding for WTY, which faces a £1.4 million funding gap amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The troubled tourism body, which was marred by scandal only last year, revealed the shortfall in July and wrote to council leaders in the county asking for support – of which around £450,000 was needed from authorities in North Yorkshire.

The organisation was deprived of £1 million in business rates after councils in North and West Yorkshire saw a loss of income due to the pandemic. A further £400,000 shortfall was created when WTY suspended its membership fees.

Now the county council’s executive has backed further funding for the organisation.

In addition to the county council’s £84,378 standard yearly subscription, a further £76,600 and £215,000 will now be contributed from the council’s directors of development fund. It takes the total contribution up to £375,978.

Other authorities, such as Rydedale, have refused to give the tourism body any extra funding.

County council offices in Northallerton.

North Yorkshire County Council.

Cllr Gareth Dadd, deputy leader and cabinet member for finance at the county council, told an executive meeting yesterday that the funds were not an “open cheque” for WTY.

He said:

“That is an investment in their activities this year and I regard it as an ‘invest to save’.

“Tourism is a large part of our economy and I think it is absolutely vital that we continue to support that organisation.

“It is not an open ended cheque for years to come by any stretch of the imagination and we are looking very closely next year at their recovery plans in terms of their financial management and the outputs they achieve.

“It was my judgement that certainly for this year it was worth supporting, given the £9 billion a year to the Yorkshire economy and the substantial activity within the tourism and leisure sector.”

It comes after WTY was hit by controversy when former boss, Sir Gary Verity, resigned in March 2019 on health grounds but faced allegations of bullying and inappropriately claiming expenses.

Two inquiries carried out after Sir Gary’s resignation cost the tourism body £482,500, and former boss, Paul Scriven, told the House of Lords it had a “culture of toxicity” and misused public funds.

Investigators looked at expenses worth around £900,000, of which £26,000 were of a personal nature. Sir Gary has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.

County council ‘stands by’ under-threat Welcome to Yorkshire

North Yorkshire County Council has said it will stand by under-threat Welcome to Yorkshire after the organisation revealed it requires £1.4 million to survive amid the coronavirus crisis.

A year since the troubled tourism body was marred by scandal, WTY wrote to council bosses across Yorkshire last week requesting financial support to stay afloat – of which around £450,000 is needed from authorities in North Yorkshire.

The tourism organisation was deprived of £1 million in business rates after councils in North and West Yorkshire saw a loss of income due to the pandemic. A further £400,000 shortfall was created when WTY suspended its membership fees.

Both North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire councils agreed in October 2019 to give WTY £1 million of public money to continue operating after it was suggested it would be more “cost effective” than closing the organisation down. Now, the body finds itself asking for more taxpayer money to survive.

A meeting of the tourism body’s board was held in private last week to discuss the financial gap, despite current chairman, Peter Box, promising to hold meetings in public when he was appointed last year.

It comes after WTY was hit by controversy when former boss, Sir Gary Verity, resigned in March 2019 on health grounds but faced allegations of bullying and inappropriately claiming expenses.

Investigators looked at expenses worth around £900,000, of which £26,000 were of a personal nature. Sir Gary has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.

North Yorkshire County Council says it will stand beside Welcome to Yorkshire as it faces a financial challenge.

Now, WTY has found itself in a financial hole amid the pandemic and has turned to local councils to bail it out.

Two authorities, Ryedale and Hambleton, have already said they will not pay their share to support the organisation.

Both the county council and Harrogate Borough Council confirmed they had received the letter from WTY and would continue to work to determine what financial support could be offered.

Gareth Dadd, deputy leader of the county council and executive member for finance, said:

“We are working with other councils across the region to work through funding support for Welcome to Yorkshire.

“We put great value on the very positive work the company has done, which has enormously enhanced the Yorkshire brand.

“Prior to the pandemic we were welcoming record numbers of tourists to North Yorkshire and the visitor and hospitality economy here employs tens of thousands of people bringing around £1.9 billion to the county’s economy.

“Now is the moment we need to get behind the tourist industry – so we are standing beside Welcome to Yorkshire as one of the key agents to make this happen.”

In a statement following its meeting last week, Mr Box said the body required further discussions with local authorities over financial support.

He said: “There’s more work to do before we can agree a way ahead. We will continue to talk to council leaders about financial support and the options that flow from that.

“The response we’ve had from leaders over the past few weeks has been encouraging and we were able to have a constructive discussion at this afternoon’s Extraordinary Board Meeting. We will have further talks before we plot a way forward.

“I’m grateful for the support we’ve already had from council leaders, and others, across Yorkshire. If we are going to deliver a successful economic and social recovery from the pandemic, tourism will have to play a crucial role in that.

“Without a thriving tourism industry, there won’t be the kind of recovery we all want to see in Yorkshire.”

Two North Yorkshire recovery plans launched to save tourism

Two county-wide recovery plans are set to be put in place to help tourism and hospitality as the industry faces a battle to recover from coronavirus.

Analysis by the York and North Yorkshire Enterprise Partnership has forecast 20,000 jobs losses and a drop in value of 40% across the sector this year as a result of the pandemic.

The industry in the wider-county, which is worth around £9 billion a year, has taken a hit due lockdown as hotels, attractions and the hospitality sector have been closed for the past three months.

It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to make an announcement today on the two metre distancing rule and further relaxing of restrictions.

Bosses at the North Yorkshire LEP have launched an economic recovery plan for the region which will focus on getting people back to work, greater digital connection and safer, greener public spaces.

David Kerfoot MBE DL, chair of the York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said:

“The Covid-19 pandemic has bought challenge in one way or another to every single one of us, yet it has undoubtedly impacted heaviest on those in our society who already had the least.

“It is absolutely crucial that this vision is realised. We must ensure those who have previously been left behind aren’t pushed further into the margins.

“We must seize the incredibly unique opportunity we have to grow and strengthen our economy, whilst positively mitigating against climate change.”

Meanwhile, Welcome to Yorkshire has also launched its own recovery plan to help the industry and its 225,000 employees.

The organisation has said it will offer regional support for businesses, introduce a Yorkshire gift card for customers and launch a marketing campaign for the county.

The move comes as owners of firms in the Harrogate hospitality sector have urged for clarity on the one metre rule in order for hotels, bars and restaurants to reopen.

But some restaurant owners have warned that some in the industry may not survive.

David Straker, co-owner of popular Harrogate restaurant William & Victoria told The Stray Ferret that the situation is perilous for many restaurants in the town.

He said:

“It’s hard. It’s really, really hard. We’re fortunate here as we own our property and we have a fantastic loyal clientele which is absolutely paramount to a business.”

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‘Positive projection’

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