The winners of the Harrogate Christmas Shop Window Competition have been announced after a record-breaking number of entries.
Bijouled in Parliament Street was announced as the overall winner of the Christmas shop window competition after tough competition across four categories: large shops, medium shops, small shops and charity shops.
Bettys in Parliament Street was the winner in the large shops category, Jillian Welch in Westmorland Street won the medium shops category, Bijouled was the winners in the small shops category and Scope won the charity shops category. The results were announced and certificates presented at The Big Switch On as part of the Harrogate at Christmas celebrations.
The Mayor, Cllr Anne Jones, presented the overall winner of the competition with a silver rose bowl trophy originally presented in a shop window competition in 1957.
More than 106 shops and offices which contributed to the Christmas lights entered the Harrogate Shop Window Competition and the judging of the windows took place on Tuesday, November 14. The Rotary Club of Harrogate organised and carried out the judging which involved 15 Rotarians as well as some of their wives, four Soroptimists, and two students from Harrogate College.
They were joined this year by Ruth Sprowell and Carla Wise, whose mother Val Thompson was an award-winning window dresser for prestigious shops in Harrogate from the 1960s to the 1990s.
Working in pairs, each group of judges scored the shop windows on the basis of illumination, innovation and the Spirit of Christmas. At the end of the judging all the scores were brought together to agree the outright winners and any highly commended windows
Graham Saunders, who organised the judging on behalf of the Rotary Club, said:
We were delighted to be able to take part again this year.
We were pleased to work together with Harrogate and District Soroptimists and include the charity shops using the same criteria as the commercial shops. There are some splendidly decorated shop windows which we saw when we carried out the judging.
We were particularly pleased that shops outside the town centre have taken part and have been successful.
He encouraged shoppers to look at the windows of the winning and highly commended shops over the coming weeks.
John Fox, chairman of Harrogate at Christmas, congratulated all the retailers and charity shops for making that extra effort to decorate their window for Christmas.
John Fox said:
Their efforts give Harrogate that festive feel,” he said. “We are also delighted that once again we are able to present the Silver Rose Bowl to the overall winner of the competition.
The Rose Bowl was originally presented to the Council by the Harrogate Chamber to be awarded for the best dressed window in Italian week in 1957.
Finally, this year the winning window dresser was given a special award in memory of Val Thompson. We’re grateful to her family for their support and enthusiasm.
The winners and highly commended certificates were presented by the Mayor, Coun Anne Jones, together with the President of the Rotary Club of Harrogate, Graham Saunders, and the President of the Harrogate Soroptimists, Nicola Harding, just before the Christmas lights were switched on, on Thursday evening.
Much of the preparation of the shops windows, the organisation of the judging and the announcement of the results has been filmed for a Harrogate at Christmas programme to be shown on Channel 5 in the run up to Christmas.
Results
Overall Winner: Bijouled, 50 Parliament Street
Large Shop Winner: Bettys, Parliament Street
Highly Commended: Richard Grafton Interiors, The Ginnel
Cordings, Parliament Street/Westminster Arcade
Medium Shop Winner: Jillian Welch, 7 – 9 Westmorland Street
Highly Commended: Jespers, 14 Oxford Street
Furnish & Fettle, 10 Royal Parade
Small Shop Winner: Bijouled, 50 Parliament Street
Highly Commended The Cheese Board, 1 Commercial Street
Adage Dance, 24 Cheltenham Pararde
Charity Shops
Winner: Scope, 34 Beulah Street
Highly Commended: Fairtrade Shop, St Peter’s Church, Cambridge Street
Save the Children, 18 Commercial Street
Oxfam, 3 Montpellier Parade
