Yorkshire showground ‘boosts economy by £47m each year’

The Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to the North Yorkshire spa town every year and research by Leeds-based economic development consultancy Genecon, carried out last month, sheds light on the scale of the venue’s financial contribution to the town and region.

Within the headline figure, analysts say that some £35m directly benefits the local Harrogate economy and supports the equivalent of 550 full-time jobs.

A wealth of employment opportunities are generated by events at the showground, from programme sellers at the Great Yorkshire Show to stewards and car parking attendants.

The economic impact study was commissioned by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society (YAS), a charity formed in 1837 and whose flagship event each year is the Great Yorkshire Show which takes place every July.

The financial assessment also takes into account events staged by the YAS’s event organising arm, which incorporates Pavilions of Harrogate and the Yorkshire Event Centre, both of which are located at the showground. Weddings, dinners and parties are popular functions at Pavillions and among the forthcoming events at the Yorkshire Event Centre are The Yorkshire Wedding Sale, Countryside Days and Harrogate Speciality Food Show.

Heather Parry, deputy chief executive of the YAS, said: “We attract around 422,000 visitors to the showground each year, to a total of 582 events which means that on average we hold 1.6 events each day of the year.

“With so many events attracting big visitor numbers it’s not surprising that the financial benefit to the region is significant – whether that’s in terms of hotel rooms booked, meals bought in local restaurants, or in the number of people we employ.”

She added: “We are very much a part of the local community so it’s good to be able to quantify the amazing impact of our events in boosting the region’s economy. We were particularly pleased to see that each year Harrogate District benefits by a substantial amount – £35m.”

Events noteable for drawing large crowds to the Showground, besides the Great Yorkshire Show, include Countryside Live in 
October, the Harrogate Spring & 
Autumn Flower Shows, the Model Engineering Show in May, antiques shows and various conferences.

To evaluate in detail the showground’s economic benefits, YAS said that a number of elements were examined including the charity’s spending within the supply chain, its employees, exhibitors and visitors.

YAS spends more than £5m each year, predominantly with local businesses, to help stage events such as weddings, corporate gatherings and national exhibitions,

Profits are reinvested into the charity’s budget to help continue its work in supporting agriculture and rural life across the North of England, as well as further afield.

Its support of the agricultural sector ranges from educational initiatives, including events which bring schoolchildren from across the region to the showground, to the Society’s Nuffield Scholarships and hosting the Yorkshire Rural Support Network.

YAS has invested extra resources to prepare for this year’s Great Yorkshire Show, which runs between July 9 and 11, after the showground was inundated by rainwater last year bringing the event to a premature end.

The weather forced motorists to be towed clear of boggy fields and led to the show’s cancellation after the first day – the first time the weather had led to its cancellation in its 154-year history.

The annual bill for staging the event which attracts around 130,000 visitors is £3m. An additional £500,000 has been dedicated to improving drainage infrastructure and to increasing car parking capacity by 5,000 spaces to prevent similar problems from effecting the show this time round.