90 jobs at stake as struggling Ripon firm Farmison seeks buyer

Struggling Ripon premium meat online retailer Farmison & Co is in negotiations with a potential buyer.

The firm, which employs 92 staff, is in advanced discussions with another online butcher, Tom Hixson of Smithfield.

A company called Tom Hixson Farmison was registered with Companies House this week. Thomas Hixson is listed as the sole director.

It is hoped the deal will be finalised next week and save jobs at one of Ripon’s biggest employers.

Farmison

Farmison is based on Bondgate Green in Ripon

Last year Farmison founder John Pallagi sold the firm, whose customers include Harrods and Fortnum & Mason, to Scottish private investors Inverleith LLP.

Mr Pallagi remained as chief executive and a new three-year business plan was agreed.

But Mr Pallagi told the Stray Ferret today the plan had “faltered” and he hoped the situation would be resolved soon.

He has approached Ripon and Skipton Conservative MP Julian Smith and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for help after the company encountered “choppy waters” caused by issues such as war in Ukraine, the cost of living crisis and Brexit.

Mr Pallagi added:

“The most important thing now is protecting jobs and protecting the supply chain. I’m hoping a sale will support that.

“I’ve got people who have worked with me here for 11 years and we have gone from nothing to staying open during the pandemic and delivering seven days of the week.

“It’s unfortunate that we have got into this situation.”

Mr Pallagi said he was “not overly chuffed” at seeing the company he had built up face difficulties.

But he added he believed the Farmison model was the right one and the firm could have a strong future.

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Mr Pallagi co-founded Farmison to work with local farmers and encourage people to ‘eat better meat’.

Despite sales doubling to £12m in 2021, the company then made a loss of £2.6m and faces an uncertain future if a deal is not reached.

The Stray Ferret has approached Tom Hixson of Smithfield for comment.

 

A Quarter of a Century: 25 Years of Myrings

This story is sponsored by Myrings Estate Agents 

This year marks a special anniversary for Myrings: 25 years in the property business!

Where have all those years gone? It’s hard to say, but as a company our plans, hopes and ambitions remain focused on the immediate future and the year ahead.

We are delighted to report (especially at the start of a new year) that Myrings has never been stronger. We are recognised as a leading player in several important and growing areas, including both the rental and the ‘Land & New Homes’ sectors.

Throughout 2023, we are expecting the Harrogate market to make a significant return in both residential sales and lettings after an inevitable blow during covid. Nevertheless, we will continue to invest heavily in our clients, infrastructure and working practices – ultimately offering all associates of Myrings an even better service.

Recently, we have integrated our sales and rental departments in order to optimise efficiency and create a seamless synergy between services. In addition, we understand the importance of an aesthetic and technical workspace, and, thus, redecorated and re-equipped our Harrogate offices – including updated state-of-the-art IT systems.

The universal birth of social media has coincided with our years in business and has inhabited itself as a fundamental part of our marketing strategies. Rising to the ever-changing developments of the online world, we adapted our marketing to the necessary and hugely advantageous nature of social media – and it’s only going from strength-to-strength. Interacting with the local community has become a vital cog in our marketing functions, and we have been lucky enough to sponsor the likes of Harrogate Town FC, Ripon Tennis Club, St Michael’s Hospice, Martin House, Henshaws and more.

Employee development remains one of our core values. Over the years, we have continually trained our staff and two new apprentices, supported them in their studies for professional qualifications and recruited several property professionals to strengthen our teams further.

Children to set up shop in street to raise money for Saint Michael’s

A group of community-minded children will set up shop in the streets of Harrogate tomorrow to raise money for Saint Michael’s Hospice.

The children will sell cakes they’ve baked along with bric-a-brac for what has become an annual event on Valley Mount.

It was started in 2015 by sisters Yasmin and Louisa Stokes when they were aged five and three respectively. Last year’s event generated £647.

In 2019 the group was invited to visit Saint Michael’s headquarters at Hornbeam Park to see where their funds had gone.

Yasmin and Louisa will be joined at this year’s sale by friends Ben and Chloe Annett and Annalise Plummer-Rooke.

It will take place from about 9am on Valley Mount until the cake sells out.

Saint Michael's bake sale

Presenting a cheque to Saint Michael’s in 2019.

Harrogate fields valued at £5m sold as ‘development opportunity’

Thirty acres of land valued at £5m on the outskirts of Harrogate has been sold.

Land agents Lister Haigh had been marketing the green fields, which are adjacent to Forest Lane and Forest Moor Road, as having potential for future development subject to planning permission.

The company said the location benefited from nearby commuter access to Leeds and York from Starbeck and Knaresborough train stations.

The fields between Harrogate and Knaresborough are designated as green belt land to prevent urban sprawl.

Current planning rules prohibit housing from being built on the green belt unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Other exceptions are for agricultural and forestry buildings and some outdoor sports facilities.

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The land is not allocated in Harrogate Borough Council‘s Local Plan, which sets out where development can take place until 2034.

The fields are in the division of Liberal Democrat county and district councillor Pat Marsh.

Cllr Marsh said:

“The land in question is green belt and therefore protected from development. There are exceptional circumstances such as a sports pitch and the needs of forestry workers, other than that the only other reason would be lack of housing land and Harrogate is certainly not short of that. I am keeping a firm eye on the land.”

The Stray Ferret asked Lister Haigh for more details on the sale but it did not respond.

Harrogate pregnancy brand raises £2m to grow company

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal. 

A Harrogate business specialising in maternity products has raised £2m to help grow the company.

My Expert Midwife offers 19 products designed to help women prepare and recover during pregnancy, birth and early parenthood, as well as midwife-developed webinars, antenatal classes and ebooks.

Its products are sold online and in Boots, John Lewis, Ocado, JoJo Maman Bébé and Next.

The £2m fundraise was led by Pembroke, which invested £1.5m alongside existing shareholders and private investors.

Lesley Gilchrist, registered midwife and co-founder of My Expert Midwife, said:

“Our driving vision is to help all parents-to-be on their journey to parenthood, every step of the way, from preconception, through pregnancy and birth, to recovery and caring for their new baby, whether that be through our expert information guides and ebooks, our midwife-developed products or our antenatal education services.”

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New coffee shop opens in Harrogate

A new coffee shop called Espresso House has opened in Harrogate.

The shop is on Beulah Street in a unit that was previously home to Subway.

It joins a flurry of new food and drink openings on Beulah Street over the past year, including Turkish cafe Sirius, which is over the road from Espresso House.

Harrogate’s Odeon cinema up for sale for £7m

Harrogate’s historic Odeon cinema building has been put up for sale for £7m.

The art-deco cinema was built in 1936 and has been home to the Odeon ever since.

The building is currently leased to Odeon on a 25-year term, with over eight years left of the current deal, which means it will be remaining as a cinema.

The 5-screen cinema has 892 seats and was refurbished in 2008. The sale is for the freehold of the building and is being marketed by property firm CBRE.

Alfie Stephenson, CBRE’s operational real estate team, said:

“This iconic building has prospered under the operation of Odeon since it opened and is a firm fixture on the Harrogate leisure scene.

“The long-income investment opportunity enables a keen investor to acquire the freehold interest on a cinema leased to the UK’s largest operator on a term that benefits from annual RPI-linked rent reviews.

“Our research shows that the cinema sector is set to have a strong 2022 with attendances anticipated to return to 100% of 2019 levels which makes this a timely opportunity.”

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Last year, Harrogate historian Malcolm Neesam wrote about the history of Harrogate’s cinemas for the Stray Ferret.

On the Odeon, Ms Neesam wrote:

“On 17th June 1935, the Council approved plans from Odeon Theatres ltd for a new Cinema on East Parade which was initially publicised as having 1,800 seats. A flutter of excitement passed through the town’s many cinema enthusiasts, who realised that this was to be the first new cinema built in the town that was designed with “talking pictures” in mind, rather than an updated relic from the days of “silent” films.

“Named the “Odeon”, the new cinema had been designed by the famed architect Harry W. Weedon for Odeon Theatres Ltd whose Managing Director, Oscar Deutsch, was rumoured not to like cinema organs. Whatever the truth of this, the new Odeon had no organ, but was furnished with the latest sound reproduction equipment manufactured by the British Thomson-Houston Company.”

“Externally, the strikingly handsome art deco design was faced with cream and black tiles, highlighted with neon lighting strips in orange. Internally, perfect screen viewing was available from every one of the ground floor’s 1,000 and the balcony’s 600 seats, due to there being no pillars, and the décor was predominantly gold and silver, countered by carpets and upholstery in blue and green.”

Harrogate school fundraiser raises over £500 for Ukraine

St Robert’s Catholic Primary School in Harrogate has raised £504.98 for a Ukraine humanitarian appeal by selling crafts and old school uniforms.

St Robert’s has a large number of Eastern European children so the school wanted to do something to help at such a difficult time.

Mum Catherine Maguire made Ukraine-inspired crafts, including painted stones, cards, bookmarks, ribbons, pom-poms and cupcakes.

The school also donated all proceeds from a school uniform sale held at the same time to the Ukrainian disaster appeal run by the Catholic aid agency Cafod on behalf of the Disasters Emergency Committee.

Some of the crafts that were on sale

Ms Maguire said:

“It’s about showing our support for them and their families. It’s not just about raising money”.

The school also created a prayer tree where children could write prayers on a sunflower and hang them.

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Headteacher Jill Collins added:

“St Robert’s Catholic Primary has lots of children from different countries and especially eastern European countries. We want to extend our love and support to our families who have relatives in Ukraine and nearby countries.

“The fundraising event is small way of letting people know we are truing to help and support in any way we can.”

Thankful for support

Ukrainian couple Taras and Viktoriia Jakubiak, whose daughter Isabella attends St Robert’s, said they were thankful to everyone at the school for holding the fundraiser, which took place on Friday afternoon.

The Jakubiak family at the fundraiser.

Mr Jakubiak also spoke about his fears for close family members who are encircled by Russian forces in Ukraine and unable to flee.

Read the full article here.

Harrogate jewellers Fattorini sets closing date after 190 years

A well-known Harrogate jewellers which designed the FA Cup and has been in the same family for 190 years has set a date for its closure.

The Stray Ferret revealed in November that A.Fattorini The Jewellers was due to close when the current manager Anthony Tindall retires.

In the months following Fattorini held a closing down sale to clear the remaining stock before Christmas.

There are still some pieces left which Mr Tindall hopes to sell before he closes the shop for good on January 8.

If the jewellers have not sold everything by that date he plans to take whatever remains to an auction house.

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It is unclear what will happen to the iconic building where Fattorini has been based since 1884 when it closes.

A. Fattorini through the decades.

Mr Tindall, whose great, great grandfather Antonio Fattorini founded the business in 1831, hopes to find a buyer or tenant. He told the Stray Ferret:

“Ever since we said we were closing the response has been fantastic but I am certainly looking forward to that closing date now. I suppose you could say I am getting demob-happy.

“Ideally a buyer could take on the shop and continue the Fattorini name, but that would take a lot of trust. I have lots of special memories here.”

While there have been a couple of interested buyers, Mr Tindall believes the latest wave of coronavirus driven by Omicron has forced them to be a little more cautious.

How Stean Gorge bookings boom as search continues for buyer

How Stean Gorge has reported a bumper year for sales amid the UK’s boom in staycations as the owners continue to look for new buyers.

Like many attractions, coronavirus has been difficult for How Stean Gorge. But now winter is firmly out of the way the owners have said the phones have been off the hook.

That interest has also resulted in more bookings overall. There has been a two-fold increase in May 2021 when compared to the same time in 2019.

Ann and Stan Beer, who have owned How Stean Gorge since 2007, said:

“After a long and hard winter, negotiating lockdowns and Covid restrictions, we’re set to have our best year yet.

“The phone has been ringing off the hook, and bookings have increased two-fold.

“We’ve pro-actively moved facilities, built new ones, and employed new staff to meet the public’s demand for outdoor adventure.”

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The adventure facility offers abseiling, gorge scrambling, caving, canoeing and a high wire via a rare ferrata course as well as an upper pathway and caves.

How Stean Gorge’s unique geography also allows for rock sports and paddle sports.

Owners Stan and Ann have updated the site frequently over the years, expanding the camping, adventure and dining range.

Last year ahead of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, they also opened Vista Bistro with glass wall and floor panels over the gorge.

Stan added:

“We’ve made our biggest profit yet this year, with the largest pre-bookings for activities.

“All our outdoor activities have been in huge demand, particularly the gorge walking and water sports.

“There’s been an increase across the board, from the number of school trips we now support to hen and stag-dos due to the backlog of weddings.

“There’s just a massive appetite out there to embrace life, get into the great outdoors and experience adventure again.”

Trespass store in Harrogate holds ‘closing down sale’

Harrogate’s Trespass store has put up signs to warn customers that it is closing down.

The outdoor clothing shop on James Street plans to close its doors for good on October 21 – one of many to close following the coronavirus lockdown.

That date is subject to negotiations with the store’s landlord.

It had only reopened on June 15. Now the shop is holding a closing down sale in an attempt to clear its stock.

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The Stray Ferret has approached Trespass for a comment on the closure but received no response by the time of publication.

Several jobs at the store will go with the closure. The Trespass store in Leeds also plans to close on the same date in October.

The closure of Trespass follows a difficult pattern for James Street in recent months with the closure of Jack Wills and also Laura Ashley.