Business is booming in Harrogate

The area’s economy is set to grow by £330 million before 2020, creating an additional 1,500 jobs HBC’s local economy draft action plan predicts.

The draft plan, due to go to public consultation at the end of this month found that the district has a surplus of jobs, 19,500 travel into Harrogate to work while 18,600 residents work outside of the district.

Harrogate residents earn more than the Yorkshire average, taking home around £486 per week, however those working in the district tend to be paid less, £448 per week, and there are a high proportion of part-time jobs.

The high cost of housing is a problem for Harrogate companies, with businesses reporting difficulty in attracting staff.

Cabinet member for planning, Coun Michael Harrison (Con, Killinghall) said that this plan will help the council work towards its economic goals.

“When people think of the council, they think as a resident and don’t think about its role in encouraging businesses and economic growth.

“We need to work with other partners in the region to help to boost economies, make sure that we aren’t competing and looking to the government for funding. For example improved rail links to Leeds will benefit people travelling into Leeds from Harrogate and the other way round.”

Visitor economy

The Harrogate district’s strong visitor economy currently supports around 7,500 jobs.

Harrogate’s international profile has grown stronger following the Tour de France Grand Depart and the tourism industry in Harrogate is expect to grow over the next five years.

Annually 5.4million people visit the district, spending £300 million, however 4.7million of these visitors are day trippers.

Visitors to Harrogate have over 135 restaurants to choose from and there are over 15,000 bed spaces.

The council’s goal is to enhance the image of the Harrogate area ‘turning location into a commodity.’

Visit Harrogate will be allocated £50,000 for three years to promote the district and upcoming events including the Harrogate Big Bike Bash planned for the summer.

More employment land

One of the Harrogate’s priorities is to allocate land for employment and businesses in the local plan to ensure supply meets demand.

Mark Roberts, managing director of Beer Hawk which was set up in 2012 said the business struggled to find a suitable warehouse and office unit, before moving onto the Saltergate business park.

He said: “It was very difficult for us to find the right place, we started in managed offices and moved from there. It seems office space is easier to come by than warehouse space near the town centre.”

Jackie Wilson, property manager at Hornbeam Park said the business park receives a large number of enquiries from businesses.

She said: “We often see businesses grow from start-up sites to different offices for their different needs, often the start-ups grow quite quickly.”

Brian Dunsby, chief executive of the Harrogate Chamber of Trade, said he wanted to see the council do more to boost economic growth.

“At the moment the planning arm of the council are at odds with this. We need more economic land for offices and business parks, we have a system that is allowing the conversion of offices into houses, yes we need houses but we need economic land too.”

He added: “One half of the council says we need economic land, the other half says not in my back yard. Residents have a vote, businesses don’t, so councillors work in the interests of residents.”

Conference town

The Harrogate International Centre (HIC) attracted 230,000 people to the district in 2013 and 2014.

The HIC gen