Why we need to ensure that the Harrogate Convention Centre thrives - Carl Les
From now on such results will no longer be seen as remarkable in the same way that as in my Party, electing female leaders, female Prime Ministers, leaders of colour, and Prime Ministers of Asian descent are “seen as no big deal” to quote Rishi Sunak. The important point as Chris McCausland, this year`s Strictly champion, said is that with “opportunity, support and determination” anybody can achieve what they set out to do.
Levelling up was about providing that opportunity of financial support across the country. We were disappointed that only one Levelling Up Fund bid submitted by councils in North Yorkshire was successful. This was a £20m project to create a centre of community in the middle of Catterick Garrison, for years a town without being seen as a town. The private sector provided the usual retail centre, with hotel, cinema and shops to stop the leakage of consumer spending to Darlington and beyond, especially Teesside Park. The missing link of improved open space and community hub by necessity comes from public funds and will be welcome when complete.
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Hide AdPerhaps the other bids weren`t good enough, unfortunately it takes as much time and effort to write a bid that fails, as one that wins. We had hopes that the bid for Harrogate Convention Centre would be a winner, but it wasn`t to be, so the grand plans to invest multi-millions have had to be revisited.


This week the Executive of North Yorkshire Council came together to discuss what should be done , and what can be done. There is no doubt that when busy the Harrogate Convention Centre (HCC) contributes significantly to the economy of Harrogate town, filling hotel bedrooms, restaurant seats, car parks and shops as attendees buy souvenirs or miss you gifts.
This benefit can be felt more widely depending on the size of the audience. Big conferences can buy hotel beds for miles around. Surrounding connectivity to the main line rail network and beyond has improved by virtue of increased passenger footfall into Harrogate itself. There is evidence conference delegates return for holidays.
Keeping the HCC busy is the challenge, and as anyone in a business that is customer-facing will affirm, sales promotion is only one part, the fundamental is that the product must be right, fit for purpose, up to date, and at least as good as the competition, if not better. All this takes investment, not only in the maintenance of the equipment and fabric but also ensuring the facilities are what are needed.
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Hide AdPut simply, the Council alone could not afford the grand plans, even with Levelling Up monies we would have been significantly challenged. So a compromise was needed, which was to scale back to what improvements could be afforded. The largest auditorium in the north is a huge asset, the weakness was that not all attendees want to be in the same space, all the time. We will invest in break-out spaces, individual rooms with flexibility of space and purpose, to be on a par with nearly all other conference facilities that have been developed since HCC opened. None of this comes cheap, unless you want to do it cheaply and then it fails because it is seen as cheap. And some essential maintenance and refurbishment has been budgeted for in our decisions. Essential. Not optional.
Of course the Harrogate economy will not depend on HCC alone. Originally a spa town, although this clinical aspect has diminished when compared to European centres such as Spa, Baden Baden, Evian, the Baltic resorts, it still retains many features from its high days. Some places have parks and open spaces – few have the Valley Gardens, the Stray, and Harlow Carr. Very few have a brand of mineral water that is exported around the world. These are unique selling propositions (USP) that need supporting. Of course the real USP of Harrogate is its retail offer, especially its small individual shops. Not so many as in days gone by, there are still clusters along James Street, top of Station Parade, Commercial Street, West Park, Cold Bath Road.
My orbit of personal shopping is quite tight, I won`t mention individual names, but they are all individual shops in style in Bedale, Northallerton, Ripon, Easingwold, but the top of my hierarchy for leisure shopping is Harrogate. Ever since my mother would take my brother and I to town every Thursday afternoon when we were small. School uniform from Allen’s, the social epicentre of North Yorkshire, books from WH Smith on Parliament Street, toys from Smarts, I`ve used the same hairdressers for years, the same dentists nearly all my life.
This doesn’t need preserving, as change happens, but it does need “protecting by promoting”, and supporting the HCC in this way is a way of doing so.
Carl Les is the leader of North Yorkshire Council.
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