Council refuses to say if jobs at risk at Harrogate Convention Centre

The review launched last year and is expected to conclude in April.

It is being headed by centre director Paula Lorimer who has a core team of 21 staff including managers, accounts and admin staff, and events planners.

Harrogate Borough Council, which owns the venue, said in a statement that changes to the staffing structure are being considered as the reopening of the centre after Covid restrictions has "highlighted a need" to review how events are delivered.Council refuses to say if jobs at risk at Harrogate Convention Centre

However, the council refused to say if any jobs are at risk of redundancy.

A council spokesperson said: “Following on from successfully redeploying two thirds of the convention centre’s employees to assist in delivering our critical frontline services, the return to providing event operations in a post-pandemic industry has highlighted a need to review how these are delivered.

"This review is ongoing and is anticipated to be concluded in the spring.

"At this stage, there is nothing further to add."

The staffing review is due to be discussed at a meeting of the council's human resources committee on 10 February.

The committee previously discussed the changes behind closed doors in December, and it is likely this will happen again at next week's meeting.

Ms Lorimer - who is one of the council's top earners with a £104,502 salary - said in a report that the convention centre did not earn any income from events in 2021/22.

She said this was because of Covid cancellations and the venue's use as an NHS Nightingale hospital, although she added events have since made a positive return.

Ms Lorimer said: "Following venue reinstatement and the reopening of the events industry we have welcomed back a significant number of existing and new clients, contributing to the prosperity of the district.

"Our sales strategy continues to focus on attracting larger association

conferences.

"There have been a number of events attracted to the convention centre as a result of both the sales strategy and the national publicity regarding the use of the venue as a NHS Nightingale."

Harrogate BID offering grants for high quality entertainment in town centre

The staffing review comes after the council created a new destination management organisation in 2020 when Gemma Rio was appointed as its head to promote the Harrogate district as "exceptional place to visit, meet and invest".

It also comes as the council is pushing ahead with plans for a major redevelopment of the convention centre.

This week the council's cabinet backed the spending of £2.8m in cash reserves to speed up the first phase of the works at the venue's studio two.

Overall, the whole project could cost up to £47m over three phases if approved and involve three exhibition halls being demolished to make way for a new 5,000 sq m hall and a refurbished auditorium.

A decision on the plans is expected from councillors in summer.

By Jacob Webster, Local Democracy Reporter