Harrogate BID Newsletter March 2025
Hello all and welcome to the latest edition of the Harrogate BID newsletter – as we move into Spring!
March has been a busy month for team BID as we plan, prepare and organise some of our most popular events of the year – the Harrogate Dog Show and Celebration of Fashion.
The Dog Show returns in mid-April with categories including ‘Cutest Puppy’ and ‘Best Trick’. We can’t wait to once again welcome the Yorkshire Shepherdess Amanda Owen as our star judge on the day too…
If you could see yourself as a model, why not get involved with the Celebration of Fashion this year?! Strut your stuff on the catwalk to show off some of the best clothing, accessories and more on offer from our town’s fantastic retailers.
Late March saw the return of the Harrogate Mothering Funday, with hundreds of children and families heading into the town centre to take on our ‘Wipeout’ challenge to win some top prizes – including a £100 Harrogate Gift Card!
We have now re-launched our Shop Front Match Funding Grant to support with improvement works, helping to not only create a great first impression for visitors to the town, but allowing residents and businesses to take pride in our place.
We’ve got loads coming up over the next few months and can’t wait to deliver a range of events, campaigns and services all for the good of our town!
Yours sincerely,
Simon Midgley
BID Chair
‘Cutest Puppy’ and ‘Best Trick’ feature in top categories for Harrogate Dog Show 2025
Harrogate BID is delighted to announce details of the official categories for the Harrogate Dog Show 2025.
The popular event, which is set to return to the town centre for its fourth year on Saturday, April 12th, will feature seven different categories for owners and their furry friends to enter across the day.
From ‘Handsomest Dog’ and ‘Fanciest Female’ to ‘Cutest Puppy’ and ‘Dog the Judge Would Most Like to Take Home’ – there’s a broad range of classes for you and your dogs to get involved in.
There will also be the overall ‘Best in Show’ prize handed out by celebrity star judge The Yorkshire Shepherdess Amanda Owen after all of the classes have taken place. Amanda will judge all of the categories on the day, meeting each of the entrants to help with her decision.
For the first time ever, our Dog Show will include a pets-themed market on Cambridge Street! Traders will host stalls offering a varied range of products, advice and services all to help, support and benefit your pets.
Shop Front Match Funding Grant relaunched by BID to support business community in Harrogate
Harrogate BID is delighted to relaunch a popular match funding grant scheme to support the town’s business community with store front and accessibility improvements.
Every year, the Business Improvement District (BID) provides the match funding to its member businesses for support with improvement works, helping to not only create a great first impression for visitors to the town, but allowing residents and businesses to take pride in their place.
The grant offers investment into repairs and redecorations of entrances and fronts, refurbishment or replacement of graphics and signage and improvements on accessibility including the installation of ramps, handrails or automatic doors.
BID calls on models to join catwalk for Harrogate Celebration of Fashion 2025
Harrogate BID is calling on local aspiring models to join the catwalk for this year’s Celebration of Fashion!
The event returns to the town centre on Saturday, May 17th and will celebrate the North Yorkshire town’s fantastic retail offer. It’s the perfect chance to strut your stuff on the catwalk and show off the fantastic fashion offer in our town.
If you could see yourself as a model and would like to get involved, please email the BID team on info@harrogatebid.co.uk
Children and families take on ‘Wipeout’ challenge to win top prizes in Harrogate Mothering Funday
Many children and their families turned out to take on the ‘Wipeout’ challenge during the Mothering Funday in Harrogate town centre.
The Harrogate BID team were delighted to deliver yet again another successful Funday, with hundreds of people heading to the Piazza area to join in with the fun and take on the inflatable challenge.
More than 300 people, both young and old, took on the ‘Wipeout’ challenge on Saturday March 29th – with one youngster managing to stay on their feet for longer than 6 minutes!
BID Chief Executive joins panel discussion with MP for Disability Action Yorkshire
Harrogate BID’s Chief Executive Matthew Chapman was invited to join the panel for an open discussion and forum for disabled people to share concerns and seek answers from key experts.
The event held at The Crown Hotel in Harrogate in February, was chaired by Tom Gordon MP and offered a fresh perspective to tackle local accessibility challenges.
From housing and employment to healthcare and transport, the panel addressed the pressing issues impacting daily life for disabled people in Yorkshire.
New ‘Pride in our Town’ project in Harrogate
The Harrogate BID team are pleased to launch a new project in town in line with their ‘Pride in our Town’ objective.
The organisation is excited to reveal details of the brand-new project it has commissioned in our town centre.
The amazing artist Sarah Marsh has used fantastic floral artwork to brighten up a series of utility boxes in a prime town centre location!
The stunning creations have given the boxes a new lease of life and will support creating the best first impression possible for visitors.
Latest Harrogate BID Blog on ‘Social Value’
In the latest edition of our BID Blog, we delved deeper into the topic of ‘Social Value’ and how it impacts the work we do in our town.
As a not-for-profit organisation, none of the events, campaigns or services we deliver are designed to generate income for us, but instead to offer a positive return on investment for our Members – as well as creating effective initiatives for local residents and visitors to our town.
We feel that there is a ‘Social Value’ heart at the centre of all that we offer as the BID, as we don’t deliver anything with the aim of bringing in more money for our own benefit, but only that for the good of our town.
New store preparing to open in Harrogate
It has been revealed that the Danish home furnishing store Søstrene Grene is set to open on Cambridge Street.
You may have spotted new window vinyls that have appeared in the former Cosy Club unit…
An opening date has not yet been confirmed, but notices suggest it will be in the near future!
We can’t wait to welcome the organisation into our town’s business community.
BID proud to act as main sponsor for Odyssey Gaming Festival
We are again pleased to be acting as a main sponsor of the Odyssey Gaming Festival, set to return to Harrogate in May this year.
Featuring retro and arcade gaming, along with tech showcases, exhibition spaces and much more, it’s set to be another excellent event!
We’re pleased to share further details on the festival – and how you can get involved!
The Fragrance Shop opens doors in Harrogate
The new store has officially opened its doors on Cambridge Street!
The new shop, one of more than 200 branches nationwide, offers a range of high-profile brands including Tom Ford, Hermès, Christian Dior, Prada, and Viktor & Rolf.
Head into the town centre today to find out more!
Street Rangers continue deep cleans in Harrogate
Our Street Ranger team have been hard at work deep cleaning around the town centre using the top of the range equipment we invested in last year!
Recently they cleared the Kings Road steps, which used by many local people and visitors every day, now have a new refreshed look.
Whether its planned deep cleans, removing graffiti, painting improvement work or clearing away litter and other tricky materials, our Street Rangers are always on hand for the good of our town!
If you would like to request our Street Ranger service, please email us on info@harrogatebid.co.uk
HUQ update from March 2025
Analysing the latest figures from our data partners at HUQ, we can see that the total footfall within the BID area in March this year was 1,356,572.
This is a 22% increase on the same period in 2024, when the total footfall for the month stood at 1,070,279.
In March 2025, we can see that people travelled from the likes of Enfield, Grantham, Poulton-le-Fylde and Sutton-in-Ashfield to visit Harrogate.
Meanwhile, the town’s hotspots for the month were shown to be Parliament Street, Oxford Street and King’s Road.
The BID team will be collating a quarterly report for the HUQ figures in Harrogate, which is set to be released over the coming weeks.
Carbon Literacy in Harrogate
Zero Carbon Harrogate is running a session for professionals who want to deepen their understanding of carbon emissions and drive meaningful change but maybe don’t know how to do this, or where to start.
The training, set to be held on Wednesday June 11th at The Barn in Starling Café, is being delivered in partnership with an independent local BCorp business (Full Circle Funerals) who also aim to have a positive impact on the planet and our communities.
This is a nationally recognised accreditation which offers a strong snapshot of key facts to make sure that everyone is up to date on what’s happening, why and what we can do about it individually and collectively.
Town Council in Harrogate
New Town Councils are coming to North Yorkshire locations including Harrogate and Scarborough.
Elections will be held to elect councillors to these new town councils on 1 May 2025 for a term of two years.
Residents in the new town council areas have until Friday 11 April to register to vote.