Calls to protect town's economy during lockdown

The organisation’s chairman Robert Kennedy, who owns two independent clothing shops, Porters and G23, said most traders in the town centre fell outside the terms of the Government’s much-vaunted £25,000 “survival” grants.

At the moment, under rules introduced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak to support businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, only businesses with rateable values up to, and including, £51,000 are eligible for the desperately-needed emergency grants.

Now Mr Kennedy is urging local traders to back a national campaign called Raise The Bar to push the Government to increase the rateable value threshold up to £150,000.

He said: “While the Government’s rates grants have benefitted many of our businesses, there are plenty more that it hasn’t.

“All of Harrogate’s town centre hotels fall outside of the £51,000 threshold and so do a large number of shops, restaurants and bars.

“Raising it to £150,000 would help many, but not all of our town centre businesses. Getting the grant could also be the difference between reopening their doors or closing for good.”

The Harrogate BID chairman’s appeal comes as leading figures in the town this week called on businesses to “get ahead of the game” in preparation for the hoped-for easing of lockdown restrictions.

Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce president Steve Scarre said: “The key for now is to get the Harrogate district into a position where, when restrictions do begin to lift, we can take advantage of what’s possible and give our economy the boost it needs to spring back to life.

“We don’t know what the future holds but Harrogate must try to be one step ahead of the game.”

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones said people were getting “restless with lockdown” and it was time for businesses to adopt new ways of operating.

Mr Jones said: “Businesses who have a plan and can demonstrate how they will operate in a range of scenarios are more likely to emerge from lockdown quicker and more successfully than those who cannot.”

Harrogate BID’s commitment to making sure businesses across Harrogate town centre are still operational when the pandemic crisis eases saw it launch an online Covid-19 Impact Survey of local businesses to help it formulate a recovery plan for the town centre once the lockdown has been eased.

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Protecting the Harrogate economy during lockdown

Comments by Simon Kent, interim manager of Harrogate Business District

"Whilst we don’t yet know the Governments plans to ease the current lockdown restrictions, all the indications are that it will be a cautious and phased approach and we are hopeful that the bulk of Harrogate businesses will re-open, albeit with new social distancing measures in place.

"We have already seen a number of businesses innovate as they seek new ways of serving customers needs and I am sure that we will see more of this in the future.

"The BID are planning a number of initiatives in readiness for the relaxation of the restrictions and are also working with BID’s across the country on a campaign with a simple message to the Chancellor: increase the threshold from £51,000 to £150,000 and save tens of thousands of businesses from shops to restaurants, cafes to pubs and clubs to hotels and leisure attractions from going under by allowing more businesses the opportunity to access the £25,000 grant”.

"The #RaiseTheBar campaign was launched last week and we are calling on industry leaders, business owners, their employees and customers, celebrities and the general public to back the campaign and sign our petition here at Change.org [ https://bit.ly/2yJt7T8]

"It only takes 60 seconds to sign the #RaiseTheBar petition. Everyone can spare 60 seconds to save the nation’s High Streets and our local communities."

Protecting the Harrogate economy during lockdown

Comments by Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce

Chamber chief executive Sandra Doherty said: "As we come out of Covid-19, hopefully in a controlled and safe way, businesses will need to make plans and become customer-ready.

"Many of our customers and clients will have had frightening experiences, both with their own health or with their nearest and dearest, and in watching their own businesses navigate through the shutdown.

"It is hard to know yet just how the situation will unfold, but it is likely that a return to 'normal' business will take time and will come gradually. These are the times when we will all need to pull together to support one another, business to business, and encourage joint support for those in most need.

"For those businesses who are directly customer facing, the market may have changed due to habits being formed, but hopefully people will have been cooped up for long enough that the need to browse and enjoy our town will encourage an upturn in spending.

"Where businesses are in a position to grow, now is the ideal time to take advantage of the opportunity to prepare and look ahead, and plan to be in a position to go forward with confidence later in the year. The Chamber will do all it can to support all businesses, whatever their position, both now and as the landscape changes over the coming weeks and months."

Chamber president Steve Scarre said: "The longer this lockdown continues, the worse it’s going to be for those businesses that are not able to do things differently. It will take some time for them to recover and for some, sadly, we may not see them again.

"A lot of businesses are doing things differently now, such as restaurants, bakeries, cafes, pubs, off licences, food halls, grocery shops etc, who are operating delivery and collection services. It's fantastic to see them adapting to the current situation and to witness the brilliant support being given by their customers in the community, to help them keep trading until they can open their doors properly again.

"I hear the term “when we get back to normal” but I’m not sure what “normal” will look like in the future. People may have grown used to working from home, so perhaps there won't be the same numbers using their lunch breaks to visit our town centres. Maybe groups of friends will have grown used to meeting online for a drink on a Friday evening, instead of in the pub. However, I'm confident our great local businesses will be enough of a draw to get people back out, in line with guidance at the time.

"We don’t know what the future holds for our lovely town but what we can do is use this time to be ready for the next stage. It will take some time for people to travel again but we must prepare for that and be one step ahead of the game, ready to welcome locals and visitors back to a vibrant and inviting district. We can do this and still recognise the importance of social distancing.

"The key for now is to get the Harrogate district into a position where, when restrictions do begin to lift, we can take advantage of what's possible and give our economy the boost it needs to spring back to life."

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