PLACE NARRATIVE DEVELOPMENT FOR THE HARROGATE DISTRICT

Harrogate Borough Council’s Place Board was established as part of the corporate 2024 transformation programme, with the specific remit of supporting our corporate ambition for the District to ‘build on our heritage to be a progressive and vibrant place to live work and visit’. As such there are a wide range of projects already underway in relation to the Sustainable Harrogate and Destination Harrogate themes which have an external ‘place’ focus including (but not limited to):
• Inward Investment
• Major town centre capital schemes including Station Gateway and HCC redevelopment
• Springfield House Digital Incubator
• Harrogate Business Improvement District
• Events Strategy
• Enabling Quality Place-making
• Strategic and Commercial Asset Reviews

1.2 In addition there are a number of other emerging and existing HBC strategic plans and work areas that have a strong place focus, not least the Local Plan, Economic Growth Strategy, Digital Strategy, Harrogate Town Centre Masterplan, Destination Management work. Beyond the Council there are also a large number of other stakeholders operating within and/or seeking to influence the local place agenda including the public sector (eg NYCC, LEP’s, town councils, government bodies eg Homes England), private sector (eg developers and land owners, businesses, Harrogate BID, chambers, business networks), voluntary organisations and charities (eg CVS, Harrogate International Festival, local residents groups) and others (eg transport bodies, infrastructure providers, educational establishments).

1.3 To achieve the greatest success in terms of place-shaping, there ideally needs to be close alignment, clarity and consistency between the key stakeholders in terms of place ambition and place ‘narrative’/branding. Whilst there are some strong examples of joint working in the Harrogate district, the reality is that whole place collaboration can often be very difficult to achieve. Inevitably some stakeholders may be focused upon a very specific area of interest/purpose/geography, which will inevitably influence their approach, appetite for collaboration and ambitions for the future development of the area.

1.4 A strong, collaborative place narrative should ideally be at the heart of any communication strategy that aims to support the well-being and economic development of the place that it serves.
1.5 Whole place narrative/branding can support a number of key objectives for an area, including:
• Attracting new businesses and inward investment
• Supporting existing business sectors to grow and develop
• Promoting the place as a visitor destination
• Attracting new people to live or work in the area eg people with specific skills that local employers require
• Driving and supporting a particular regeneration project
• Coordinating a strong place message/ambition to funders and investors
• Promoting civic pride amongst existing residents
• Encouraging local people to spend more time and money in the area
Whole place narrative/branding is also important because it can help to:
• Create jobs and opportunities for residents
• Support the growth of the local business base
• Support local services through increased business rates
• Support the visitor economy and a vibrant local cultural offer
• Change the perception or reputation of an area
• Make our places better, which is at the heart of everything we are trying to do
2 Detail of requirement
2.1 Harrogate Borough Council would like to commission a collaborative piece of work to develop a clear and consistent place-based narrative for the Harrogate district; to ensure alignment of place projects, strategies and brands that support the development of Harrogate district as a thriving and vibrant place. The Council will act as an enabler and facilitator to the process which will be driven by collaboration with a steering group made up of representatives from all sectors of the Harrogate district. To this end the Council is seeking a third party consultant to lead and coordinate this work for the district; in two stages:
2.2 Stage 1 - Creation of an authentic place narrative for the Harrogate district.
Please provide a proposed approach and methodology for creating an authentic place narrative through collaboration, consultation and engagement with stakeholders to arrive at an agreed place narrative for the Harrogate district. This approach should include (but is not limited to):
• Stakeholder collaboration and engagement methodologies
• Proposed programme of delivery of place narrative
• Key individuals and resourcing of project
• A minimum of three case studies of previous similar activity and their outcomes. Please link these to references provided.

2.3 Stage 2 – Subject to the steering group reaching a consensus on Stage 1
Development and creation of a visual identity and language that will become the ‘over-arching’ place brand for Harrogate and district and can be used by all stakeholders either alone or in conjunction with their own branding. This must involve discussion with and input from the project steering group.
Please provide details of stakeholder engagement in order to agree the visual ‘identity’.
Required outputs should include but not be limited to:
• Presentation of the Harrogate and district narrative – with images and written explanations of the story and the key messages, words and ideas that can be applied in a range ways to suit different audiences whilst remaining collaborative cohesive.
• Design of a visual ‘bible’ and visual language system including style guides, typefaces, fonts, colour palettes etc in a range of formats to enable a linked brand ‘family’ that can be applied across all media.
• Photography / imagery of the district that illustrates and truly reflects the agreed place narrative and offers impactful ways to highlight the assets; illustrate the key themes identified and effectively represents the aspirations and ambitions for the Harrogate district.
NB. If consensus is not reached by the steering groups then Harrogate Borough Council reserves the right not to proceed to Stage 2
3 The budget for Stage 1 is circa £30,000 and assuming consensus is reached by the steering group to proceed to Stage 2 the budget for Stage 2 is circa £15,000
4 Timescales: Allow a maximum of 16 weeks for Stage 1 and 8 weeks for Stage 2; with the project to start as soon as possible following the appointment.