Interview - Harrogate Convention Centre boss on why a sticking plaster approach won’t work

Times may change, issues come and go but if there has been one question in Harrogate which has never stopped generating controversy over the last 40 years it has been ‘what to do with Harrogate Convention Centre’?
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From the moment it was first opened in 1982, this strikingly modern building on King’s Road has divided opinion.

Some see it as the cornerstone of the town’s precious conference trade.

Others regard it as, perhaps, the ultimate white elephant.

Harrogate Convention Centre director Paula Lorimer - We used to do a lot of national association conferences and political conferences that would bring big numbers to the town. To attract them we need to have top-notch facilities."Harrogate Convention Centre director Paula Lorimer - We used to do a lot of national association conferences and political conferences that would bring big numbers to the town. To attract them we need to have top-notch facilities."
Harrogate Convention Centre director Paula Lorimer - We used to do a lot of national association conferences and political conferences that would bring big numbers to the town. To attract them we need to have top-notch facilities."
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Being owned and run by Harrogate Borough Council doesn’t lessen the scope for politics to rear its ugly head.

But, from the very beginning its supporters have argued the question isn’t solely about whether the convention centre itself does or doesn’t make a profit.

It’s what the 2,000-seater venue and associated exhibition halls contribute to the economy in a town where hundreds of jobs have been dependent on the conference trade since the end of the Second World War.

Still, the political wrangling about its performance, its cost and its role has remained constant.

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During this year of pandemic, Harrogate Convention Centre finds itself facing a crossroads once again.

Unless a new renovation project - which may ultimately cost £47 million - goes ahead, there is a “very real risk” that Harrogate’s financially troubled convention centre will not have a future.

Such is the urgency of the situation, councillors voted last Wednesday to spend £1 million on a business case ahead of the potential £47 million investment.

The current director of Harrogate Convention Centre Paula Lorimer, who was appointed in January 2019 after lengthy experience in Manchester’s conference sector, said the decision was not simply between the options of spending lots of money or spending nothing - as doing nothing would spell disaster.

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After 40 years of wear and tear and constant change, a major refurbishment and upgrade of facilities is now essential to “keep the wolf from the door.”

Harrogate’s existing position in the conference trade was already under threat before the pandemic as major conferences took their business to newer and bigger arenas, leaving the town with the less financially beneficial trade exhibitions.

The first phase of the plans will come at a cost of £19,385 million with phase two estimated at £26,873 million.

But even standing still would prove to be expensive.

Paula Lorimer said: “The maintenance and repair costs run into millions in good times.

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“We used to do a lot of national association conferences and political conferences that would bring big numbers to the town in the 1980s.

“To attract them these days, which must be our prime aim, we need to have top-notch facilities, as well as the space.

“At the moment, 52% of all our conference business is trade exhibitions compared to conferences. Ideally, we want that mix to be 35% to 65%.

“Harrogate Convention Centre only has enough breakout space for 560 people when we are looking to attract high density conferences with 1,500 to 1,600 delegates.

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“The world has changed. One of the first things on the checklist of clients now is a venue’s environmental policies and its carbon footprint.

“The convention centre is one of the largest eaters of energy in this region.

“A sticking plaster approach won’t work anymore.”

Enticing the bigger, more lucrative conferences back to the town will involve more than simply improving facilities, says Harrogate Convention Centre’s director Paula Lorimer, it’s about everyone working together.

Paula Lorimer said: “We are working on a Destination Management Plan (DMP) and hope to create a Destination Management Organisation over the next three or four months, as happens in other towns and cities.

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She said: “As well as pushing ‘The Harrogate Story’, it would hopefully, involve creating a convention bureau to actively win events for the whole of Harrogate, not just the convention centre.

"Nothing has been decided yet but next year we would hope to create a subvention fund pot to provide funding to attract not-for-profit events to happen here.”

While Harrogate retains huge advantages in its battle for conference trade, including the unique character and beauty of the town itself, Covid-19 has set in motion new dangers.

While Harrogate Convention Centre, the exhibition halls and the Royal Hall remain closed right now to host Harrogate’s NHS Nightingale Hospital, rivals such as Birmingham who are in a similar position, are already planning to reopen in October.

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Paula Lorimer said: “We are sitting on a goldmine here. We have everything we need in Harrogate to be successful.

“But we don’t want to make the mistakes Blackpool made where it didn’t upgrade its facilities and it lost its business to rivals in Manchester and Liverpool.

“We could end up in the relegation zone in the second tier of conference destinations, the leisure zone where people don’t spend as much money.”

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