Princess Royal to speak at conference

The Princess Royal will join other speakers including broadcaster and campaigner Esther Rantzen and London 2012 Olympic rower Katherine Copeland for the annual general meeting of the Townswomen’s Guild on Wednesday next week.

The director of the spa town’s showpiece conferencing venue, Simon Kent, claimed the staging of the event was a clear indication of the ambition to drive forward the venue.

He said: “The Townswomen’s Guild AGM is exactly the kind of event we have been trying to bring back to Harrogate since I took over in April. And the fact it returns with Princess Anne and some fantastic VIP speakers is a real coup for us. It’s good to know Harrogate, and its attractions, was one of the main reasons for the return of the event.”

The Yorkshire Post revealed last week that Mr Kent had admitted the business has been blighted by complacency in the past which allowed rival locations to erode Harrogate’s multi-million pound conferencing industry.

The HIC has endured a downturn in trade as conference organisers have either cancelled or scaled back events owing to financial constraints, prompting a new business strategy to be drawn up.

Princess Anne will be at the conference as she has been the patron of the Townswomen’s Guild for the last 30 years. The guild is the UK’s largest campaigning women’s group and among the issues which will be on the AGM’s agenda is the controversial debate surrounding euthanasia.

Sarah Wootton, the chief executive of Dignity in Dying, will present an update on the issue to delegates.

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