How the Covid era never ended: Harrogate hoping to end challenging year on a high note
Harrogate is hoping its reputation as one of the nation’s most Christmassy towns will bring a positive end to the year for two of its most important sectors – traders and charities.
In a week that has seen the launch of a series of major events as Harrogate pulls out all the stops for the festive season, for many this Christmas time is more important than most.
Not withstanding the town’s reputation for successfully riding national economic waves that could cause others to sink, traders and charities are having to work hard than ever in a challenging environment.
It’s now more than 1,000 days since all lockdown restrictions were lifted in England in 2022 but, for struggling businesses and struggling families, it’s as if the Covid era has yet to truly end.
The air of concern hasn’t been eased by financial measures in the recent Budget.
The Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ announcement of increased public spending in the NHS and education, in particular, may lead to better funded public services and support the economy's long-term growth.
In the short run, however, it has added to fears that the trying times of recent years are set to last longer than anyone expected or wanted.
News that, from next April, the rate of employers’ National Insurance Contributions will rise by 1.2 percentage points to 15% and that the National Minimum Wage for 18 to 20-year-olds will rise to £10 per hour, an increase of 16.3%, was met with despondency from many and anger from some.
To smaller independent traders, after four years in which the seemingly halcyon days prior to Covid never quite returned, it all had a feeling of the final straw.
The owner of one of Harrogate’s trailblazing independent cafes, Baltzersen’s, which first opened its doors on Oxford Street in 2012, compared the Budget to “Groundhog Day”.
"There is an element of groundhog day as we're all trying to roll with the punches, again, " said Paul Rawlinson, Co-Director of the Scandi-style Baltzersen’s.
"The Budget was heavily trailed that this was going to be a difficult budget and it certainly delivered on that.
"Hospitality and retail business owners will be shuffling their cards trying to come up with solutions to combat increased Employer National Insurance Contributions, rise in National Minimum Wage and the knock-on effect that has on wages throughout a business.
"Once they have done this they'll need to address the doubling of business rate bills in comparison with the last couple of years.
"I think we'll see prices within the sector rising significantly in early 2025 because with the inflation of ingredient costs over the last couple of years there aren't many other options to cover the gaps.
"I think the most disappointing part of the Budget is the overall message.
"I don't understand how the Government can ask businesses to bear the brunt of enormously increased tax bills and at the same time expect the private sector to be the driver of growth which the economy so desperately needs.
"I've been in business for 12 years and this is the first time I've had messages and conversations with business leaders I admire who are seriously considering selling or closing their very successful businesses."
If patience in the Harrogate business community is running thin even among those who are aware that Britain’s biggest economic problems did not begin the day after the General Election in July, the town's charity sector is the other side of the coin.
A small legion of volunteers in community-led groups in Harrogate and Knaresborough are acutely aware of the combined impact of past governments’ austerity policies, the sharp spike in inflation and high energy bills – and how many people are now in desperate need of their support.
Statistics supplied by The Trussell Trust for April to September this year show that there’s been a huge rise in demand for food parcels in North Yorkshire.
A total of 10,376 parcels were provided in the county in those six months - compared to 6,807 in the same period in 2019.
Resurrected Bites, a community organisation established in 2018 by its founder Michelle Hayes to reduce food poverty and food waste by setting up a series of grocery stores and cafes in Harrogate and Knaresborough is highlighting the threat caused by the Government’s decision to scrap the universal winter fuel allowance.
Michelle Hayes, CEO of Resurrected Bites, said: “David James, our community grocery manager, said that the most common issue he is hearing about at the moment is from pensioners who have lost the winter fuel allowance.
"One of our customers said that the impact of not receiving the winter fuel allowance means she is worried about putting the heating on.
"She is keeping warm with hot water bottles and spends as much time as she can out of the house and only puts the heating on when it gets below seven degrees.
"We are aware that there are many other pensioners and people on a low income who are facing the same issues about having to decide whether to eat or heat their homes.”
No matter which way it turns, the new Government faces major challenges.
The Russell Trust, a Charitable Trust supporting a broad range of local charities across England, reported recently that more than 3.1 million emergency food parcels were distributed by Trussell’s community of food banks in the past 12 months – the most parcels ever distributed in a year and nearly double the number compared to five years ago.
Harrogate may be better off than so many places but it is not immune from the concerns of the times.
Resurrected Bites is encouraging people to come to its grocery sessions to sign up for low-cost food provision so that they can use the money saved to heat their homes.
For more details, visit: https://resurrectedbites.co.uk