Everybody's talking about Scarborough! Boom time for town

AS founder and CEO of Yorkshire In Business (YIB), which supports entrepreneurs on the coast, Jennifer Crowther has her finger on the pulse of what is happening in our seaside towns.

So when she says it is early days but Scarborough appears to be emerging from the pandemic in good shape, you sit up and listen.

The local economy is changing - as the big-name retail chains fold and leave the town, local independent businesses are moving in.

Jennifer’s organisation has recruited three part-time business advisors this autumn, funded by the local council.

And YIB is also opening its own shop, Explore Indy, in St Nicholas Street, to offer fledgling businesses a pop-up retail opportunity.

Jennifer said: "It is very early days but we are working with the council through this. They have put money into Covid recovery and we are now engaging with businesses to help them recover.

"There is a good feel on the coast from businesses. Premises have never been fuller. There is a massive demand for business space, businesses are growing and expanding, and moving on all the time, which is really good."

If there is one problem on the horizon, it is the lack of larger premises for growing business, says Jennifer, which is a matter the council needs to address.

Scarborough - full of opportunities

And the reason for the positive outlook? Obviously, Scarborough is a tourist destination, but locals are spending their money in the town too.

"People are staying in the town. Locals are supporting local businesses. Shops are collaborating. The council is getting support going and we need to tell businesses what is out there."

YIB has taken a three-year lease on the shop in St Nicholas Street. Jennifer says: "We will put small businesses in there until they can grow and take on their own premises."

She hopes it might be a successful model to replicate in the town centre, where a group of independents could join together and fill one of the larger units left empty by fleeing chain stores.

"We want to encourage local people to get to know these local businesses. We are a seaside town but can't rely just on tourists."

Dan Hargreaves is one of the local independent traders who has flourished during the pandemic.

After a career working in restaurants he set up his own outdoor catering company, Orchard Events, in 2015, serving pizzas from a wood-fired oven.

"I did events as well as private parties and freelance cheffing. But when lockdown happened I wasn't allowed to do any of that."

It spurred Dan into action. He hooked up with a B&B, The Orchard Lodge, just outside Scarborough and used their kitchen to make ready meals for customers.

And when lockdown lifted, the B&B ran a bar and Dan set up an outdoor kitchen catering for 100 people.

Local restaurateur Dan Hargreaves

"We called it the Two Orchards pop-up and it was brilliant. People came to support us every week."

It gave him the confidence to launch his own restaurant once Covid restrictions were eased. His Embers restaurant opened in Victoria Road in Scarborough in the summer - serving tapas and wood-fired meat and fish.

"People are loving it and we are very, very busy," says Dan.

He is feeling very optimistic for the future of the town. "I think Scarborough is catching up with everywhere else. You will always get your traditionalist who still wants steak pies and mushy peas, but we also have a couple of craft beer bars and a really good, proper, coffee shop, Koda, in Northway."

And the future? "My five-year plan is to open an Embers by the Sea - a venue by the beach selling oven-roasted lobster and fish."

Jennifer Crowther of Yorkshire in Business

Alex Richards is head of economic development and regeneration services at Scarborough Borough Council.

He also sees plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the town's future.

He said: "The affects of the pandemic were no different here from anywhere else, but the opportunities are significant, as is the investment. The plans are ambitious, but doable.

"Tragic as Covid is, to coin a phrase, we will build back better and come back stronger.

"It gives us an opportunity to reset and rethink and take the town forward."

One particular challenge lies in boosting wages and employment opportunities.

"We suffer from seasonal employment and in-work poverty. One aim is to extend the tourist season so people are not in seasonal employment.

"We want to create new sectors in arts, culture and invest in the technology sector.

"And provide new educational facilities."

Over the next ten years, some £300 million will be invested in the area, with £125 million coming through in the next five years.

Alex said: “Investment will come through a combination of public and private sectors including the council, health, education and transport sectors, business and industry and supported by Central Government funding through programmes such as the Town Deal, Levelling Up and shared prosperity funds.

“Our role is to lay the foundations through our early investment activity to give investor’s confidence that the borough presents a great opportunity.”

He said the borough had already been awarded £37 million from government's Town Deal Fund as part of its levelling-up agenda.

"The council intends to match fund that and undertake a number of investments," he added.

Some £22 million of council money will be spent on student accommodation and housing for key workers in the town centre.

There will also be the acquisition of redundant buildings which will be put to alternative uses.

"This will give us a more vibrant and mixed-use town centre with work and professional space as well as more hospitality and leisure space. We need a new model for retail activity," says Alex.

Scarborough has long enjoyed a tradition of independent traders, but where they were once on the periphery of the centre, now they are moving into its heart.

"We are seeing them migrate into the high street now. Our role is to bring businesses, landlords and local authorities together and set the scene to create public spaces where things can happen and create attractive town centres where people want to spend time in."

Post-pandemic, Scarborough is shaping up as an even more appealing place to live, says Alex, with properties being snapped up, often after competitive bidding.

"The picture is anecdotal, but more people are moving from large cities to settle in our area, people can work from home but hold down a job in Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool or London."

He said the town was facing the same crisis in staffing in hospitality as other parts of the country, and added that some businesses had failed during the pandemic, and perhaps more would follow when VAT and rent bills came to bite.

Alex added the council was hosting job fairs and offering free business support to try to alleviate some of these problems.

But he said there were great opportunities too.

"There has been a resurgence in local tourism, giving us the chance to show people what Scarborough is all about and make sure they come back.

"The change in working practices means remote working is a real proposition - and Scarborough is a really attractive place to live with a high quality of life and the opportunity to live by the coast next to the National Park with affordable housing for professionals.

"This could lead to an increase in our working-age population and attract a high-earning demographic to the town."