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The Harrogate Convention Centre
Christmas & Gift was up 11 % last year ; The Flooring Show , organised by Ocean Media Group , is set to grow by 20 % this year ; and Nursery Fair also showed an increase in attendance of over 20 % in October . Other notable events at the venue include the Knitting and Stitching Show and the AireCon Analog Gaming Festival , which grew from a games night in its founder ’ s living room to “ the North ’ s biggest games expo ” in just eight years .
Venue improvements Since arriving in North Yorkshire in 2019 , Lorimer has transformed operations leading to major long-term contracts and high-profile wins . After overseeing HCC ’ s transformation into the Nightingale Hospital , she then launched a new destination management organisation in March 2022 , Destination Harrogate . Lorimer is now preparing for upgrades to the venue to help support North Yorkshire
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County ’ s plans to be carbon neutral by 2030 . The venue is on the way to achieving a ‘ BREEAM outstanding ’ rating . Featuring 13,700 sqm of event space , HCC ’ s facilities include 12 exhibition halls , a listed Edwardian theatre , the Royal Hall , and a 2,000-seat auditorium that officially opened with the Eurovision Song Contest in 1982 . “ What we need going forward is investment ,” says Lorimer . “ We believe that with some modest investment , we can take the venue to the next level . “ Our heating , ventilation and air conditioning needs upgrading so that we can hit our sustainability targets . The challenge is that the customers are very excited about this because they want a more efficient heating system but they don ’ t want it to be fitted while their events are going on . So we ’ re going to have to do it bit by bit during the summer .” External consultant Green Circle Solutions is currently |
drawing up the venue ’ s sustainability strategy . It is also working with Don ’ t Waste to rationalise existing waste streams and work towards producing event waste reports for organisers . In addition , LED lighting and sensors offering 80 % energy savings have been fitted in most of the venue ’ s spaces , and drapes , carpets , digital signage and E-posters with touch screens were installed post-Covid to minimise single-use decoration . The venue also has plans to expand and reconfigure its Studio 2 area , turning it into a larger , multifunctional breakout room to be used for exhibitions and conferences . “ We tend to run most of our exhibitions in the lower halls now and that ’ s worked well , which means we can run more conferences and therefore they can both coexist ,” adds Lorimer . The venue also moved its catering offering in-house last year , which has seen an “ enormous improvement ” |
says Lorimer . The venue is also looking at introducing a shop and app for exhibitors . Lorimer adds : “ When it comes to retail catering , I think venues find it very difficult to get it right . We ’ ve added 20-30 % to our exhibition catering sales . That ’ s very important as we want people to stay inside the venue and not go into town . “ Our overall commercial strategy was employed because ultimately we ’ re owned by the local government and we ’ re here to provide maximum economic impact . Over the years , some of those business controls had trickled away , so we had to be more proactive .” As for Harrogate , the town is set to benefit from the DCMS appointing North Yorkshire as a Local Visitor Economy Partnership ( LVEP ). “ North Yorkshire will be promoted much more thoroughly and expertly . That will mean we ’ ll attract more visitors for all our events .” Lorimer adds that Harrogate benefiting from six direct trains from London has been a welcome addition since 2019 and helped to attract even more visitors to the venue . “ Every venue is different and has its strengths and weaknesses , but when you come to Harrogate and have a look around you can see how extraordinary it is . “ Some will say it ’ s chintzy and a bit John Lewis , I would say , ‘ What ’ s wrong with that ?” EN |
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18 — Spring |