Harrogate architecture firm expands to Leeds city centre

Harrogate-based S&SA Architects will be expanding the company to Leeds city centre.

The architect practice, which operates out of a head office in Harrogate, will open its new office at Park House in Park Square in April.

The company had continued to grow during the pandemic and received several notable commissions in the healthcare and residential sectors, which created a demand for its expansion.

Inside the new office at Park House

Inside the new office at Park House Credit: S&SA Architects

It plans to recruit people in roles at all levels, including in apprenticeship and senior positions.

Chris Paraskos, associate architect at S&SA Architects, said:

“We’re incredibly excited about this expansion. The office location is easily accessible for our diverse London and Leeds clients, being only a few moments’ walk from the station.

“It also offers all our staff the ability to work flexibly at home and across both offices. It will encourage collaboration between teams and better wellbeing, which is a part of our cultural response to the changing world of hybrid work post covid.”

S&SA Architects specialises in residential, retail, logistics, healthcare, sports and leisure sectors. Clients include Tesco, Keepmoat, Exemplar Healthcare and Broadacres.

Read more:

 

Bill posters from Harrogate’s Royal Hall reveal varied past

Bill posters from Harrogate’s Royal Hall show the venue has hosted a surprisingly varied range of performances including boxing, sea lions and even a game of football.

Since opening as The Kursaal in 1903 it has welcomed some of the biggest names in entertainment, including The Beatles, Louis Armstrong and Little Richard.

Other huge names of the 20th century such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sir Ernest Shackleton also visited to perform lectures in Harrogate.

A collection of bill posters from the Royal Hall’s past are held in its artifacts room. They were collected and donated to the Royal Hall by the late Mike Hine, who was a leading member of the Royal Hall Restoration Trust.

If you’d like to find out more about the history of the Royal Hall, it runs several open days throughout the year.

We’ve included some of Mr Hine’s collection below.

Read more:

Ripon pub set to unveil new £170,000 renovations

The Golden Lion pub in Ripon is set to open a new beer garden after undergoing renovations costing over £170,000.

The pub in Allhallowgate will open the space, which the owners describe as a “secret garden”, this weekend.

Pub owner Nigel Ayton explained:

“We started renovations before Christmas and are set to open this Saturday. We’ve called it the secret garden due to the fact that looking at the pub you would have no idea it had such a beautiful open area at the rear.”

Mr Ayton and partner, Shelly Herron, initially took over The Black Swan in 2019 on a trial tenancy, before taking on a pub in Easingwold.

But due to the location and the distance from their families, Mr Ayton and Ms Herron decided to move back to Ripon after enquiring about The Golden Lion in January 2021.

Read More:

Despite initially being told it wouldn’t be a long-term agreement, in October 2021, Greene King announced they would invest £170,000 into the pub.

Mr Ayton added:

“It’s not been the best of starts for us as we decided to go into the pub trade/business in December 2019, only to be faced with lockdowns. But now we feel things have turned the corner and can’t wait to get the Golden Lion on the map.”

Hot Seat: Leading the Harrogate district’s leisure revolution

Public leisure centres in the Harrogate district are experiencing their greatest investment ever.

Harrogate Borough Council is spending more than £40m on new pools in Ripon and Knaresborough and on a major refurbishment of The Hydro in Harrogate.

Mark Tweedie, managing director of Brimhams Active, oversees 250 staff responsible for delivering services at these sites as well as several others.

Brimhams is the council-owned company set up last year to promote health and wellbeing in the district.

It operates swimming pools in Harrogate, Ripon, Knaresborough, Pateley Bridge and Starbeck. All of these sites, except the magnificent old Starbeck Baths and the soon-to-be-rebuilt Knaresborough Pool, also have leisure or fitness centres.

Mark Tweedie and Jack Laugher

Mark Tweedie with Jack Laugher at the opening of Ripon’s new facility.

Brimhams also oversees Fairfax Wellbeing and Community Hub in Harrogate, Jennyfield Styan Community Centre, a children’s nursery and the Harrogate Turkish Baths.

Mr Tweedie, 54, a former PE teacher with considerable experience of the leisure sector, was hired by the council in November 2020 to support the creation of Brimhams before transferring to his current role in July last year.

He says he was attracted by the council’s vision of using leisure to improve the health and wellbeing of people in the district, backed by its willingness to invest serious money to make it happen.

Difficult start

It hasn’t been an easy ride. There have been costly delays at the new Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre in Ripon due to sinkhole issues that long pre-date Mr Tweedie. A report due imminently will determine how much more work needs to be done before the site can fully open. He says:

“I’m absolutely confident it will be resolved. Yes, it’s been frustrating. I know customers have been desperate to come back since Spa Baths closed.”

There has been some discontent about the consultation and need for a new leisure centre in Knaresborough, where work is due to begin next month on a 65-week building programme due to finish in July next year.

How Knaresborough’s new pool will look.

Mr Tweedie says the transition from old to new site will be “seamless”, with the current facility operating until the new one opens — something that didn’t happen in Ripon, where the Spa Baths closed four months before the new pool opened due to delays.

Now there is the looming nine-month closure of The Hydro, which will leave Harrogate without a council-run pool.

Staffing has also been difficult — Brimhams has been consistently operating with 20 to 30 vacancies. Opening hours have been affected. Mr Tweedie says:

“It’s been a significant challenge, and it’s shared across the sector nationally.”

Read more:

But there is little doubt that when all the projects are completed, the district’s facilities will be significantly better than they were pre-Brimhams. He says:

“We are through the worst and back on track and people in the Harrogate district and our staff have got a lot to look forward to.”

Aim to nearly double membership 

The aim is to increase total membership at the sites in Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough to 5,000 within six months of the new facilities opening. Membership totalled about 3,000 at its pre-covid peak so it would be a considerable achievement but Mr Tweedie is “very confident” of achieving it. He says 400 people joined the Ripon centre in the fortnight after it opened.

A computer generated image of how the Hydro would look.

How the refurbished Hydro will look.

Brimhams’s current monthly rate is £38.95. Customers at The Hydro are being offered a reduced rate of £32 to use the other sites while it is being refurbished. They will also be able to take part in group exercise sessions at the nearby Jennyfield Styan Community Centre.

Large private gym chains such as Pure Gym and Coach Gyms, which offer membership at about £20 a month, have extended their tentacles into the district, which can’t make life easy for council-run alternatives, but Mr Tweedie insists they are serving different markets.

“The private sector is dealing with the 15% that want to join a gym. The question is, what happens to the other 85%? How do we use public facilities to reach out to them?”

He talks about Brimhams taking “a more holistic approach” that leads to a “deeper and more purposeful relationship” with customers. People won’t come just to use the pool or gym, he says, but also to access a wider range of service that are being developed, such as mental health support, nutritional advice and mindfulness. It’s no coincidence that two Brimhams Active sites now include ‘wellbeing’ in their names — it’s clearly the way ahead.

A new software system, due to go live at the end of the month, will enable online booking and a “better digital relationship with customers”, as well as capturing footfall data that Brimhams can use to improve services.

Will it consider 24-hour opening, as many private gyms are? Mr Tweedie says:

“We have no plans for 24/7. We feel we can deal with our customer base between the hours of 6.30am and 10pm.”

Starbeck Baths

The scale of the council’s investment in leisure leads Mr Tweedie to say confidently there are no plans to reduce services or close Starbeck Baths, which is a constant threat to such an ageing facility. He adds:

“What the commercial approach is not about is reducing wages and staff and providing the bare bones of a service.”

All change next year

But his reassurances are tempered by the fact that Harrogate Borough Council will be abolished next year and control of Brimhams will transfer to the new North Yorkshire Council.

Brimhams staff will have a new employer from April 1 and, in time, a new strategy run by different managers.

Mr Tweedie, who lives in Morpeth and divides his time working from home and in the Harrogate district, says it could take at least a couple of years to implement whatever model the new council introduces so his role could exist for some time yet. He says:

“I want to deliver our three-year strategic plan and I am already working with other district leisure service leaders and North Yorkshire colleagues to manage the transition to the unitary authority.”

The important thing, he adds, is that customers don’t notice any sudden changes next year and that frontline staff, such as lifeguards and receptionists, are looked after. He says:

“It’s business as usual for us. We have a vision. We have a strategy. We have a plan we will deliver on that with a high level of tenacity.

Nidderdale Pool

Nidderdale Pool and Leisure Centre in Pateley Bridge.

 

Decision delayed on £13m Knaresborough Leisure Centre after residents not invited to speak at meeting

A decision on a planned £13 million leisure centre in Knaresborough has been delayed after a “technical error” meant residents were not invited to speak at a meeting.

Harrogate Borough Council was due to make a decision on its own plans yesterday, but this has now been pushed back to a “later date”.

A council spokesperson said: 

“Unfortunately, due to an unforeseen issue, the notification to advise interested parties of the opportunity to speak at today’s planning committee about the Knaresborough Leisure and Wellness Centre proposals, was not sent.

“We will ensure this issue is resolved and interested parties will be notified as soon as a new decision date has been arranged.

“We apologise for any confusion caused and to those residents who unfortunately were unaware of the deferral and attended the committee meeting.”

The proposed leisure centre includes a six-lane pool and exercise studios, and has been hailed by the council as a “fit-for-purpose” facility to meet growing needs.

However, several concerns have been raised since the plans were first revealed two years ago, particularly as the proposals involve building over a play area and the demolition of the existing Knaresborough Swimming Pool at Fysche Field.

Read more:

There are also concerns over the environmental impacts of demolishing a large building to replace it with another.

Knaresborough Civic Society has called on councillors to reject the plans in favour of rival proposals from the ‘Not on Fysche Field’ campaign group which has produced designs to upgrade the 30-year-old swimming pool.

A civic society spokesperson previously said: 

“Knaresborough Civic Society urges the planning committee to reject this short-sighted recommendation in favour of an alternative solution which will not result in the loss of mature trees, vital outdoor play facilities and green space.

“We have played an active role in campaigning for a more considered approach to this project and have made our views clear that building on the existing site – as was promised at the public consultation – should be the preferred option.”

The public consultation on five potential locations for the leisure centre referred to locating it “on the site of the existing pool”.

However, it was only several months after this that the council revealed it wants to build the facility over a play area behind the existing swimming pool.

The other locations previously considered included Knaresborough House, Hay-a-Park, Conyngham Hall and a plot of land at Halfpenny Lane.

Knaresborough councillor supports £13m leisure centre ahead of crunch vote

A Knaresborough councillor has called on Harrogate Borough Council to lead by example and “go green” with its plans for a new leisure centre.

The council’s planning committee is due to vote tomorrow on whether to build the new £13 million facility over a play area to the rear of the existing pool at Knaresborough’s Fysche Field.

The plans, which are recommended for approval by council officers, have divided opinion, with some welcoming a modern new leisure centre and others criticising the design and environmental impact.

Hannah Gostlow, a Liberal Democrat who represents Knaresborough Scriven Park on the council, has covid and is therefore unable to attend tomorrow’s meeting.

Hannah Gostlow

But in a statement today she said the scheme must be environmentally friendly and that key issues such as access and car park design needed to be considered.

She said the footpath to the site should be improved and any resurfacing of the car park should use environmentally friendly materials. She added:

“I am supportive of securing the future of Knaresborough’s swimming pool with this planning application, but I ask Harrogate Borough Council to lead by example and make the development as green as possible.

“It is being built by our own borough council and so we need to make sure we are setting the right example and working to the highest standards of ‘green’ design.”

Cllr Gostlow also said the pool needed to be fit for children’s swimming lessons so it would require changing rooms big enough to accommodate local schools as well as a suitable depth of water.

Read more:

‘Industrial warehouse’

Knaresborough Civic Society has described the proposed building as looking like an “industrial warehouse” and urged councillors to reject the plan.

It said demolishing the existing facility was “unnecessary” and questioned what would happen when the local authority dissolves in 2023.

Designs for the new site.

The plans include a new six-lane pool, learner pool, fitness suite, spin studio, sauna and steam room, and dry and wet changing facilities.

The council’s website says there have been objections from 28 residents and two letters of support for the plans.

If approved, the project could be completed by the end of 2023.

£13m Knaresborough Leisure Centre recommended for approval

Plans to demolish Knaresborough Swimming Pool and replace it with a £13million leisure centre have been recommended for approval by council officers.

Harrogate Borough Council wants to build the new facility over a play area to the rear of the existing pool at Fysche Field.

It would mark Knaresborough’s biggest building project in decades and has been hailed by the council as an opportunity to provide “modern and fit-for-purpose leisure facilities” for the town.

But the proposals have been met with opposition from residents and groups who have criticised the designs and questioned the need for a new facility.

Knaresborough Civic Society described the proposed building as looking like an “industrial warehouse”, while a ‘Not On Fysche Field’ campaign has claimed to have gathered the support of around 940 residents in a petition.

Knaresborough Leisure Centre

Sport England has also objected over the loss of outdoor playing space, although the council said it had amended its plans and was awaiting feedback.

Read more:

There have been further criticisms over a council-run survey, which asked residents where the new facility should be built out of five locations.

Play area fears

The survey referred to locating the new leisure centre “on the site of the existing swimming pool”, but it was only several months after this that the council revealed it wants to build over the play area.

Despite the opposition, the council claims its plans have been well supported by many residents and it has now made a recommendation of approval to councillors.

A report to a meeting of the council’s planning committee next Tuesday said: 

“The enlarged facilities are required to meet the growing population need of Knaresborough and its surrounding area.

“This would help meet an existing undersupply of fitness stations in the locality and meet increased demand as the population increases.

“The public benefits of the scheme weigh heavily in favour of the proposal and are considered to outweigh the harm arising from the development.”

Six-lane pool

The plans include a new six-lane pool, learner pool, fitness suite, spin studio, sauna and steam room, and dry and wet changing facilities.

A total of 28 residents have lodged objections on the council’s website, while two letters of support have been received.

The other locations previously considered by the council included Knaresborough House, Hay-a-Park, Conyngham Hall and a plot of land at Halfpenny Lane.

If approved, the project could be completed by the end of 2023.

Your chance to shape free summer activities for Ripon children

Schools, organisations and individuals in Ripon are being urged to help develop plans for a second summer of free sports and activities for children.

Ripon Together, which organised last year’s Summer of Play to support families during the summer holidays, has launched a city-wide survey to build on that experience.

Last year’s events ranged from formal team sports such as cricket and football to karate and croquet, dance, yoga, mindfulness and orienteering, as well as nature hunts at Fountains Abbey.

There were also activities for disabled people, including wheelchair bowls at Hugh Ripley Hall.

Ripon Together, a not-for-profit partnership organisation, has circulated a letter about this year’s activities. It says:

“We want to offer things that are relevant, useful and fun for children, young people and families, connecting organisations and showing what is available for them around Ripon.

“We are now formulating plans for 2022 and if there is anyone in your organisation who could give us their ideas, then please ask them to complete the survey. The more information we have the better that we can prepare.”

Read more:

 

The Summer of Play 2021 was designed to help children and their families after the lifting of the covid lockdown restrictions ln July, which had seen sporting, cultural and other group activities put on hold.

Any questions or queries can be emailed to info@ripontogether.com or you can call David Ingham on 07775 731276.

 

 

‘Waste of money!’: Harrogate council criticised for spending £700 on social media influencer

Harrogate Borough Council has been roundly criticised for spending £700 on a social media influencer whose posts about the town received little attention.

The Stray Ferret reported yesterday that the council paid Bristol travel blogger Heather Cowper to praise its new Harrogate Christmas Fayre.

But her post about it on Facebook received just two likes, which included one from the council itself. Her post on Twitter generated no likes but a series of posts on Instagram performed better, generating up to 65 likes.

Liberal Democrat councillor for New Park, Matthew Webber, who sits on the council’s audit and governance committee that scrutinises council spending, told the Stray Ferret he was “appalled by this waste of money”. He added:

“I would have thought it was possible to arrange to pay social influencers by their results and clearly this time the results were extremely disappointing.”

Cllr Matthew Webber

Cllr Webber said the council should have used local residents to promote the town instead.

“It probably received less likes on the various social media platforms than we could have got from just posting a similar article ourselves or other local residents who have social media profiles.”

‘I’d have done it for free’

Mary Beggs-Reid is a Harrogate resident who runs a Christmas page on Facebook that has over 500,000 members. She told the Stray Ferret she would have promoted the Christmas Fayre on the page for the council for free.

Ms Beggs-Reid, who found fame for starting the Christmas jingle, said she posted a video of Knaresborough market traders in the group that received 14,000 views in an hour.

“I’d do anything for my town. I’d have done it for free.

“But they’ve paid an out-of-towner to promote us. The council don’t look into what’s going on in our town”.

Mary Beggs-Reid

‘Online vanity project’

The £700 spend was also criticised by the national group Taxpayers’ Alliance, which campaigns for a low tax society.

Harry Fone, its grassroots campaign manager, said:

“Taxpayers will be absolutely livid at this terrible waste of money.

“The council should be ashamed that it has spent public cash so poorly.

“In future, town hall bosses should focus on frontline services rather than online vanity projects.”

Read more:

It wasn’t all criticism, however. One reader contacted the Stray Ferret to say the article was unfair as Facebook is not Heather on her Travel’s primary channel.

The reader said Ms Cowper’s posts about Harrogate had performed better on Instagram although she added she wasn’t suggesting it was good value.

Destination Harrogate

The decision to use a social media influencer to promote the town was made by Destination Harrogate, the council’s tourism body.

The organisation is headed up by Gemma Rio who was appointed in September 2020. A job advert from when before Ms Rio was appointed advertised the role for a salary of around £60,000 a year.

The Stray Ferret has requested an interview with Ms Rio on three separate occasions. These have all been refused.

Gemma Rio

‘Digital landscape has changed’

The council sent a pre-written statement from Ms Rio in response to our story yesterday.

“The digital landscape has changed significantly in the last few years with around 80% of adults (53 million) using social media daily, with the average user spending almost two hours on these platforms.

“Like many other destination management organisations – as well as most businesses – Destination Harrogate is keen to capitalise on this incredibly effective marketing tool to target specific audiences, especially around the tourism and travel sector.

“Heather Cowper was chosen as she regularly appears on the lists of top 100 travel blogs worldwide and has established herself as one of the best traveller bloggers. Regularly receiving thousands of views every month on her videos, photos, podcasts and blogs.

“Heather’s content is also incredibly well written – having spent many years sharing her own travel experiences and insights – and also attracts our target demographic.

“The joy of using social media as a marketing tool is that it is often more cost-effective and engaging than traditional advertising, as we can utilise photography and video as well as words. All adverts and promotions can also be evaluated extensively; whether that’s reach and engagement or driving traffic to our website, for example.

“We can also continue to adapt and tailor our approach to future campaigns, attract new visitors, as well as understand the behaviours of our target demographic to ensure a return on our investment.

“Social media advertising and the use of influencers to increase brand awareness looks like it will continue to be one of the most beneficial marketing tools. We’re keen to continue using it to showcase what the Harrogate district has to offer and stand out amongst competitor destinations.”

Brimhams Active defends its stance on £8,000 increase for use of Ripon pool

The managing director of Brimhams Active, which operates Harrogate Borough Council’s leisure centres, has defended the company’s stance on a proposed £8,000 price increase for one of its users.

This has, however, led to a clash with Ripon City Council leader, Andrew Williams.

Volunteer-run Ripon City Swimming Club (RCSC), which has been teaching children to swim for more than 100 years, said it had been priced out of using Ripon’s new swimming pool.

The club, which had previously held weekly sessions at now-closed Spa Baths at an annual cost of £4,500, told the Stray Ferret it was ‘mortified’ by a price hike to £12,500 per annum for use of the city’s newly-constructed facility, when it opens later this year,

Cllr Williams described the increase as ‘disgusting.’

This, in turn, prompted Brimhams Active managing director Mark Tweedie to contact the council leader by email, in which he said:

“For commercial, safety and quality assurance reasons we are mandated to be the sole provider of swimming lessons in the facilities we operate on behalf of the local authority.

“In this regard we have had numerous meetings and correspondence with RCSC over a significant period of time to try and come to an arrangement that would allow the club to continue to hire the pool with an adjusted offer that meets set standards and does not duplicate the Brimhams Active Learn to Swim programme.”

Read more:

In the email exchange, which has been seen by the Stray Ferret, Mr Tweedie added:

“The Brimhams Active Learn to Swim programme is accredited by Swim England (the governing body for swimming). It teaches swimmers how to be competent and confident in the water through a recognised quality assured framework.

“Young people joining the scheme have the added value benefit of free access to Brimhams Active operated pools during any general swim sessions providing more opportunities to develop their swimming and love for swimming.”

‘We need to operate commercially’

He added:

“We have offered to work with and directly support the club to enable them to adjust their offer so they can continue to help young people develop their swimming without duplicating the Brimhams Active Learn to Swim programme.”

“Working with us to adjust their offer would enable the club to continue to hire the pool at the same rate they were previously paying. However, should the club want to maintain their current offer we have provided the option for them to hire the pool at a commercial rate recognising the club would be in effect competing with the Brimhams Active Learn to Swim programme.

“The club would also need to adhere to the same rigorous safety and quality standards as Brimhams Active. The commercial rate is an exclusive rate offered to the club and is based on the true costs of hiring the facility.

“We need to operate commercially in order to cover the operating costs of the facility as well as generate vital funds for the local authority to continue to be able to provide efficient and effective public services.”

‘You need to rethink’

In his response to Mr Tweedie, Cllr Williams, said:

“You state ‘for commercial’ as your first words and that is exactly the problem, you are seeking to use your position to have a monopoly on the way in which children are taught to swim by using only your lessons.

“The Ripon (City) Swimming Club have taught many children how to swim and in a way which is affordable for many hard-pressed families.

“You conclude again with the need to operate commercially. Might I remind you that the land upon which the yet to be opened pool sits was gifted to the children of Ripon for recreational use not for the commercial benefit of a soon to be defunct local authority.

“You need to urgently rethink your approach on this matter.”