Harrogate among top towns 'least at risk' of economic crisis from pandemic, research shows

Harrogate has been named as one of the best placed towns in the country to recover from the economic pain of the coronavirus crisis.
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Research carried out by Centre for Towns and the University of Southampton has crunched numbers to work out which areas are likely to be most affected by the strict social distancing measures that are crippling the economy.

It shows towns including Bridlington and Cleethorpes are the most at risk because they already rated poorly in terms of social and economic well-being.

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But at the opposite end of the table, Harrogate is among those faring the best - sitting just inside the top 100 towns least at risk.

Harrogate Town Centre. Picture Gerard BinksHarrogate Town Centre. Picture Gerard Binks
Harrogate Town Centre. Picture Gerard Binks

The research looked at a total of 805 towns - with Harrogate ranking 706th - and found commuter towns are economically safe places, with a huge 65 per cent of them in the least at-risk section.

By sharp contrast, coastal and ex-industrial towns are generally the most at risk because of their higher levels of unemployment and less diverse economies which rely heavily on sole markets such as tourism.

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The risk ranking has been calculated using the proportion of a town's population employed in industries that are temporarily shut down.

This includes hospitality, travel and tourism, public transport, childcare, arts and sports.

This has then been measured against other economic indicators, including social well-being, economic well-being, how well linked a town is and the proportion of the population that are elderly.

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Across the national picture, the data shows that Wales is the region at most overall risk from the pandemic.

And small towns are, on the whole, are being the worst affected by the current lockdown measures. Harrogate is listed as a medium town within the data.

The top five most at risk towns are all coastal; Mablethorpe, Skegness, Clacton-on-Sea, Bridlington and Kinmel Bay.

And the top five least at risk towns are all in the east, and south east, of England; Hertford, South Woodham Ferrers, Frimley, Chertsey and Egham.

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Analysis of the data concludes that recovery from the crisis will depend not just on sections of the economy opening up again, but also on other factors which will guide how quickly a town can bounce back.

And whilst it highlights how businesses across the country will suffer the adverse economic consequences of the pandemic for years to come, there are some early sings of hope for Harrogate.

By Jacob Webster, Local Democracy Reporter

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