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The
inaugural meeting of the new Harrogate Town Centre Development Group [HTCDG]
was held on Monday 5th September and attended by representatives
of nearly 50 Town Centre [TC] organisations across the centre’s full
business spectrum (i.e. Independent & national retailers, hotels,
restaurants, bars, residents, and many non-retailing professionals who’s
businesses are located within the Town’s Central area). To date a database
of 80 interested parties for the group has been compiled.
 This
new group is born from the observations, concerns and ideas of Peter Jesper
[PCJ], Managing Director of Jespers Retail Stationers who as a Vice
President of Harrogate Chamber of Trade & Commerce [HCTC], canvassed local
businesses and HCTC for their thoughts and feedback on issues facing TC
Business during the current challenging times.
In his
introduction, PCJ set out his rationale (as project leader) for forming the
group under the umbrella of, and administrative support of, HCTC and shared
his ideas and aims with the meeting in order to gauge interest and
commitment levels from those present. Currently, there is no intention to
charge for membership of the HTCDG, but the medium and long term wish of
HCTC is that HTCDG members would seriously consider the benefits of chamber
membership, as this organisation is extremely influential, well connected
and has a great level of support throughout the district.
PCJ has
compiled a SWOT analysis of Harrogate TC from contributions submitted from
the HCTC and several TC Businesses. The primary aim is to objectively
identify the centre’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats so
that the Group can accurately identify areas of concern for action.
All feedback is welcome -
click here
for Blank SWOT form and return as requested therein.
A copy of the
SWOT analysis is available by e-mail on request.
Full
regular meetings of the full group may occur quarterly as needed and
communication for the group will predominantly be by email and discussion
and input is to be encouraged through the use of a LinkedIn Group.
Click here to go
to the LinkedIn Town Centre Development Group.
Many
other direct offers of assistance were received on the night and the
specialities of those who expressed an interest to help are duly noted for
future use.
A
document listing 23 possible initiatives was tabled and PCJ requested that
the attendees ticked their ‘top 10’ so the Steering Group could identify and
prioritise a ‘to-do’ list for action ASAP.
Parking
charges was seen to be a very emotive topic with NYCC’s on-street increases
now in force and Harrogate Borough Council's increases due in the New Year.
This issue is seen as a priority for HTCDG to tackle.
Philip
Lunn of Lateral Property Group volunteered to host a meeting with the
Steering Committee ASAP in order to share TC data relevant to the group that
he has collated for his own projects (At a future date, he is to be invited
to present to the full HTCDG and/or The Chamber to expand on his plans to
develop Parliament Street environment.)
The
consensus of the meeting was that the basics had been established and PCJ
would communicate a meeting report for circulation and convene the 1st
steering group meeting before the end of the month in order to move matters
forward.
If you would like
to join the Harrogate Town Centre Development Group please send an e-mail to
info@harrogatechamber.org
including your name, company, address and phone number.
Click here for report on 6th July 2011 Launch meeting
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