Regeneration

Client:Harrogate Borough Council

Brief:Town Centre Masterplan

What was undertaken?

One of the undisputed jewels of Yorkshire, Harrogate is a major visitor destination, renowned for its elegance, shopping, quality food and drink, Betty’s and the emerging Montpellier Quarter. In the HIC, the town enjoys a conference and expo venue the rival of large cities like Manchester and Glasgow and eclipses everything else in the region.

In many ways, Harrogate already does much that is excellent. What was required was a sense of savvy to enable the town to consolidate and move to the next level. The analysis of physical provision and performance was benchmarked with Leeds and York, to give a sense of areas of strength and lag.

For conference and expo, Manchester and Glasgow were used as a bench to give a sense of the competitive marketplace and the strengths that Harrogate offers. A comprehensive review of town centre marketing and the perceptions of Harrogate from key online forums, publications and sites like Tripadvisor was also undertaken using wordles and other techniques. This mix of physical and perceptional analysis was key to the approach.

The outcome

A suite of bold, imaginative initiatives and products aimed at converting market opportunities, meeting visitor requirements, ensuring distinctiveness and cementing the town as a ‘must visit’, event and tourist destination. Proposal included a modern 5 star spa hotel, a string of external events spaces and work to support the HIC.