It's been an amazingly difficult couple of years for most businesses, howeever, hospitality has been hit worse than most others. Things are looking a little more hopeful for the year ahead as fuel prices continue to come down, which should eventually have a positive impact on the economy. The fact that so many hotels around the country are currently being used to house illegal immigrants, means they are not available to the general public. Therefore the smaller, independent hospitality businesses should benfit from increased booking capacity because of it.

Skipton always seems to fare better than many other places around the counbtry due to its mass tourist appeal and the fact that it attracts mainly the "Grey pound". It was sad to hear that the organisers of the Gateway Festival in Skipton have gone into liquidation and we hope that someone else will be able to take up the mantle as this was a great way to attract younger audiences into town. We hope that it will be revived in some capacity and that further events will be staged.

We are fortunate to still have many big events planned for the coming year and hope that you are all able to take full advantage of them. We wish you all a prosperous and happy 2023!