Article by Alex Stead who runs our Harrogate and North Yorkshire office.
Just before the Christmas
break 2011 while
Yorkshire was celebrating the news that the grand depart was
coming to
Yorkshire I received an e mail from Welcome to Yorkshire saying
that they were
having a celebratory dinner to announce the details of the
route. We were able to
match the pantone colour we were given and procure the perfect
Tour de France
yellow sash all in the space of 7 days! They were delighted and we were too!
The dinner itself was held
in Leeds Town
Hall and the chairs we used were Chivari Chairs which did not
require a cover.
The French Dignitaries were all present as was the Deputy Prime
Minister and
other members of the peerage. The event was covered by local and
French
television.
The next big event to mark
the Tour was a
dinner in Ripon Cathedral which was 100 days before the start of
the race. Once
again the chairs we used were Chivari chairs which did not
require a cover.
Once again the event was covered by local television and was
attended by
hoteliers from the area, local sports personalities and various
French
officials. The beautiful flowers were silk and provided by
Country Baskets.
Lastly and possibly most
important was the
Vive le Tour dinner this weekend, which was held in Harrogate's
Royal Hall. This
time we dressed the chairs in black chair covers and the Tour de
France
Colours. The event received no television coverage, but once
again was host to
French dignitaries, members of the peerage and since place cards
were missing
from the main tables I can only guess as to who sat in them.
Both the prime
minister and members of the Royal family were present in
Harrogate over the
weekend. Country baskets again did the flowers.
I am so honored to have
played a part in
one of the biggest events in Yorkshires recent history. Simply
Bows and Chair
Covers Harrogate will remember it always.
