Business Breakfast: Harrogate shoe firm celebrates 30 years

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Daniel Footwear, a Harrogate-based independent footwear business that was the first in the world to sell Jimmy Choo shoes, is celebrating 30 years’ trading this month. 

The company was founded in Leeds by Daniel Buck, and now employs about 50 people at eight shops across the North and in north London, including in its flagship store on Parliament Street in Harrogate. 

Mr Buck said: 

“In 1993, the Daniel brand was born, with the distinctive Daniel logo adorning the footbed of every pair of shoes. By 1995, sitting alongside the Daniel brand were the likes of Gucci and Prada, and we became the first supplier of Jimmy Choo worldwide. 

“Over the past three remarkable decades filled with ups and downs, I have had the privilege of collaborating with exceptional European suppliers and travelling the world to source the finest fashion offerings. 

“I am fortunate to work alongside the most exceptional individuals within our company, all working together to make the next 30 years just as fantastic as the last.” 

To commemorate its 30th anniversary, Daniel Footwear is offering discounts of up to 30% throughout November in all its stores.

In addition to the Harrogate shop, Daniel has branches in Leeds, Beverly near Hull, Alderley Edge in Cheshire, and four in north London, in Mill Hill, Muswell Hill, Stanmore and Hampstead Garden Suburb.

Local hotels part of Which? recommended group

The Inn Collection Group, which owns and runs the Harrogate Inn, the Ripon Inn and the Knaresborough Inn, has made it onto a list of the UK’s best hotel chains.

The pubs-with-rooms operator is now rated as a Recommended provider by Which?, following a survey of 5,000 people who rated their experiences at 37 hotel chains across the UK.

Revealing its list of the best and worst hotel chains of 2023, Which? said The Inn Collection Group offered inns that were “cheaper, better and with more character” than other leading operators, citing warm welcomes, posh pub grub and a decent beer selection as key features.

The Newcastle-based group was placed third in the small operator listings, with a customer score of 78%, which combines overall satisfaction and likeliness to recommend. The highest-rated operator earned an 80% mark.

Kate Bentley, rooms director at The Inn Collection Group said:

“When you look at the scores across the areas measured by the survey, ours are in line or better than the benchmarks set by some of the biggest operators in our industry, so it is a massive endorsement of the hard work our site teams are putting into looking after our guests.”

The Inn Collection Group has 32 sites across the north, 26 of them trading and six undergoing refurbishment.

The group bought the historic Hotel St George, opposite the Royal Hall, in Harrogate in February 2022 and reopened it as the Harrogate Inn this summer. It bought the 15th-century Dower House in Knaresborough in December 2021 and reopened it as the Knaresborough Inn in September; and it bought the Spa Hotel in Ripon in June 2021 and reopened it as the Ripon Inn two weeks ago.

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Fountains Abbey tops survey of UK’s best historic attractions

Fountains Abbey near Ripon and the Royal Yacht Britannia in Edinburgh have tied in first place in a survey of the best historic attractions in the UK.

The two sites were the joint favourite attractions of 63 that were ranked in a survey of almost 3,000 members of consumer organisation Which?.

The survey looked at nine criteria including overall value for money, helpfulness of staff and lack of crowds.

Both achieved an overall score of 88 per cent, beating well-known attractions including York Minster, Stonehenge, Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London to the top spot.

Fountains Abbey, which is a World Heritage Site managed by the National Trust, is one of the largest Cistercian abbey ruins in Europe. It was a thriving monastic community for 400 years until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539.

Fountains Abbey

Light shines through the cellarium at Fountains Abbey.

Those who rated the attraction highly praised the ‘calm atmosphere’ and ‘leisurely walks’ on offer in over 800 acres of grounds, with the attraction scoring a full five stars for lack of crowds, as well as how accurately the description matched reality.

The Royal Yacht Britannia, which served the Royal Family for more than 44 years, is now docked permanently on the Firth of Forth in Leith.

Durham Cathedral was the highest scoring free attraction, with a customer score of 86 per cent. It ranked joint fifth in the table overall, tying with Stirling Castle.

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At the other end of the table was Shakespeare’s birthplace, the playwright’s childhood home in Stratford-Upon-Avon, with a score of 63 per cent. While respondents praised the building’s cultural significance, it scored just two out of five stars for value for money and facilities, and rated no more than three stars in any category.

Guy Hobbs, acting editor of Which? Travel, said:

“This year two very different but equally impressive historic attractions topped our survey, and it’s easy to see why. Both Fountains Abbey and the Royal Yacht Britannia offer a unique day out with visitors telling us they enjoyed the opportunity to immerse themselves in a slice of history for the day.

Which? surveyed 2,944 members between April and May 2022.