OPINION: Peak season ahead for Harrogate hospitality - Simon Cotton, MD of the HRH Group

Walking through our beautiful town over the past fortnight has felt wonderful. To see everything springing to life, more local Harrogate people out and about, tourists coming from all walks of life to experience our spa town and businesses with doors wide open inviting the world in. The town is brimming with great positivity. In fact, I feel so upbeat about the future I could be tempted to break into song, but don’t worry, I’ll stick to hospitality for this article.

Events taking place in Harrogate are firmly back and I am delighted to see so many planned for this spring and summer across the area; in fact, too many to list here (but do take a look at the new Destination Harrogate’s Events website).

However, I will mention a few that I feel are certainly worthy at this moment in time to highlight. A Fire and Light Experience in the Valley Gardens last week was truly magnificent. Combining the nature of Harrogate’s spa town with the beauty of light really was something the whole team behind it should have been very proud of.

If you missed it, you really did miss out, but maybe it’s the perfect nudge or note to self to book at least one of Harrogate’s many wonderous events to support our town and its hospitality this spring / summer.

And, if you’re looking at what to book in the near future, then look no further than the Spring Flower Show. If you’ve not got your tickets, there’s a few available and some fantastic displays already taking shape, and with this being the comeback show, it is sure to be a crowd pleaser. In fact, for the first time ever The Fat Badger will be showcasing a garden at the Spring Flower Show.

Following our successful ‘Ales in the Dales’ garden last spring outside The Yorkshire Hotel and The Pickled Sprout, as a group we were invited to host a garden at the flower show. I, of course, jumped at the chance and couldn’t wait to get work on how we combine the beauty of our horticultural town with our infamous cheeky Fat Badger.

When thinking of the serenity and peace of a garden or woodland walk you don’t immediately think of a pint in your pub, but the two have something in common; escapism, albeit in different forms, they are not so dissimilar. Put simply, beautiful gardens or a walk in the woods and a pint down at your local, are both places you go to get away from the every day hustle and bustle of life and somewhere you switch off a little and relax.

If you’re planning on going to the Spring Flower Show, why not drop in to see what our Badger has gotten up to; I think you’ll like what we’ve done.

And now, onto something that has been an absolute pleasure and passion of mine for a number of years; The Harrogate Hospitality Awards.

Today, as showcased in this paper the shortlisted nominees for this years categories have been announced. From the Bar Person of the Year, to the Best Housekeeper of the Year and much more in between the team have worked hard to get these awards back up and running after a two year break.

A special thank you to everyone who has been involved in the awards, especially the judges who this year have had an extremely difficult job choosing the shortlist. With over one thousand nominations it is no easy task to sift through and choose a shortlist from such a high calibre of skilled hospitality workers. Congratulations to everyone who has been shortlisted. I look forward to seeing you all there on the night.

So, until next month, stay safe, enjoy a bit of Harrogate’s hospitality and fingers crossed for a bit more of that sunshine.