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12
Nov
Harrogate bakery owner says closure 'was inevitable' as last day looms
Monday (November 9) brought the sad news that a family-run bakery that has been in Harrogate for 87 years is closing.
The Stray Ferret broke the news that Higginson’s Bakery, on Regent Parade, would serve its final customer on November 13.
We subsequently spoke with owner Fredrick Brooksbanks about the decision.
Seventeen family members – siblings, children, in-laws – have worked at the bakery over the years, but now there is no one to pass the business on to, and costs have made running it unviable.
The family business history
The shop had been a confectioners since 1889 before Mr Brooksbanks' uncle, John Higginson, acquired it in 1939 and turned it into a bakery.
Soon the site became part of the war effort.
Mr Brooksbanks said:
John was helped by his brother Edward, and they had to keep going to the army camp to prepare food there [during WWII].
John and Edward both went to Bridlington and they opened about 10 Higginsons shops there between them. My mother, Lillian Higginson, she took over this shop with her husband - but he was Brooksbanks, so I'm Frederick Jonathan Brooksbank. I haven't got the name.
His parents ran the bakery, using their five children to help out.
John has worked there for 52 years, initially as a child and then he was persuaded to take over.
He explains:
I didn’t want to work here, but when my father died in 1975 my mum put a bit of pressure on me, because we needed more help in here. I gave in to it in the end. I kept thinking about getting out. I've never managed it.
It sold old-fashioned bakes at great prices.
He recalls how busy it was when he was a child, with "housewives walking up and down with shopping baskets" between the bakery, the butchers and greengrocers all along Regent Parade.
They even had queues outside before they opened at 7am.
But when the old (now closed) Tesco opened on Copthall Bridge in the 1970s business started declining.
Mr Brooksbanks said:
The sale of bread fell and we had to move into selling take away food to survive then. Recently, it's just absolutely terrible really. I've had to go weeks where I didn't get paid, it’s just not worth it. It just isn't a nice job. I mean, the other day I came and there was a rough sleeper on the steps at 5am. There's nobody around, it’s pitch black and I just don't want to do it anymore.
'Closing is inevitable'
Although he’s grateful that some people are actively trying to support local businesses, Mr Brooksbanks said “supporting local businesses and actually being able to make a living at it are just two different things”.
He cites just some of his costs: £500 a month on electricity, £400 a month council tax on the empty flat above the shop, deemed a second home so charged a double rate.
The bakery was sold to a property developer three years ago, but the sale fell through. Mr Brooksbanks says he isn’t sure why but he has now managed to find another property developer to buy it, at a much lower price.
He said:
There were three butchers when I started get out in this area, two greengrocers, it's just totally different now - we can get everything in one place and they've got parking. You can’t park around here.
These places closing is just inevitable though. Consecutive governments say about getting the high streets up and running again. It just isn't going to happen. It's never going to go back to that again. I just think it's something that was in the past.
Higginson's tried to adapt to changing trends.
The future
Despite the changes, Mr Brooksbanks isn’t downbeat. If anything, he’s looking forward to his future freedom.
He said:
I'm two years off retiring, but my wife says, what's the point of trying to get another job? I've neglected my garden, so now I can deal with that. And we've just got a Golden Retriever puppy, so I'll take it on long walks.
We want to go on some holidays because I've missed so many. I've not been on a proper holiday for three years. And you just don't know how long you're going to live, got to make the most of it.
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