Business and Pleasure at the Great Yorkshire Show 2025
Business and Pleasure at the Great Yorkshire Show 2025 by Tara Stagman, long-standing member of the Harrogate District Chamber Management Group and FD of Ake & Humphris Wine Merchants
I enjoyed having the opportunity to attend the Leaders’ Event at the Great Yorkshire Show arranged by George Jabbour, the Chair of North Yorkshire Council, in conjunction with Martin Mann, the Chief Executive of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce.
The morning included breakfast and networking followed by a policy discussion. Moderated with humour by the astute Dean of Ripon, the Very Reverend John Dobson DL, we heard from a panel that included the Leader of North Yorkshire Council Cllr Carl Les, the Member of Parliament for Harrogate and Knaresborough Tom Gordon MP, and the Chief Executive of York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority James Farrar.
The sun was blazing in through the windows of the Nidd Room at The Pavilions on a room packed with business, political and community leaders from around North Yorkshire and local journalists and photographers too. Questions asked ranged from topics on education funding, to business support, how to promote and support our rural economy, the possible introduction of a tourist tax in the region, transport issues and on to progress on the York and North Yorkshire devolution process. A key message that came across during the session was a desire for people to work together to achieve results, with Carl Les referring fondly to his time spent with Bedale Council where he felt the attitude of collaboration across all areas led to significant progress.
Chamber President Phill Holdsworth and I later attended a light lunch with Richard Flinton, Chief Executive of North Yorkshire Council, who I was interested to speak to about the challenges he and his team are facing now they are two years into the devolution process across an area that was previously under the care of eight separate councils. On the topic of investment in Harrogate town centre, Richard expressed an interest in the plans to open a new Ake & Humphris hybrid wine bar and retail shop on Oxford Street later this year, aiming to extrapolate the success we’ve had with the new business model we have recently implemented at our stores on Leeds Road, Harrogate and in Collingham just south of Wetherby.
Phill and I took the opportunity to have a look around the show with fellow Chamber member, Chris Matthewman, admiring livestock in their prime, enjoying a cool drink from the bar and making essential hat purchases from country retailers to fend off some of the glorious sunshine. We also visited fabulous food and drink stalls in the pleasantly air-conditioned halls. There is just so much going on at the Great Yorkshire Show! It was encouraging to see lots of children of all ages enjoying activities and taking in the sights and sounds, which brought local business owner (and mum), Suzanne Vaughan’s plea to the panel at the start of the day to the forefront of my mind, “to encourage more schools to let pupils have the day off to attend the Great Yorkshire Show”. Surely it is a rich educational opportunity with a rural focus right on our doorstep that is too good to be missed!
If you have a business in the area and want to get involved in events like this, please consider joining the Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce
