Project to modernise conference centre begins

Work has started on a £9.4m project to modernise a North Yorkshire conference centre.

Harrogate Convention Centre attracts hundreds of thousands of delegates from across the country every year, according to North Yorkshire Council.

Councillor Carl Les, the local authority's leader, said the venue on King's Road in the centre of Harrogate needed to be updated to allow it to compete against similar venues.

The scheme aims to create larger breakout rooms, upgrade existing cooling systems to cut energy costs and fit new carpets and wooden frontages.

The convention centre, which was built in 1982 and hosted the Eurovision Song Contest the same year, currently has a 2,000-seat auditorium and 13,000 square metres of exhibition space.

The upgrade follows previous attempts to restore the building, with the most recent shelved in 2024 due to rising costs.

North Yorkshire Council said business leaders in Harrogate felt the building was a "central factor" for the spa town's economy and had been an "important asset" for more than 40 years.

Les said: "We recognise that the building needs to be modernised to make sure that it can continue to compete alongside its rivals in the conferencing sector."

He said the cost of the work was expected to be repaid within a decade through the additional income generated by the enhanced venue, with the work planned to finish in the spring.

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