Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate
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Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate is a Swiss-Yorkshire family company with nine locations in North Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Bettys Tearooms are traditional tearooms serving traditional meals with influences both from Switzerland and Yorkshire. Taylors is a family tea and coffee merchant company which blends Yorkshire Tea. Bettys products are handmade and use high quality ingredients, usually sourced locally.
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[edit] History
The first Bettys tearoom was opened in 1919, on Cambridge Crescent in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, by Frederick Belmont, a Swiss confectioner (the Harrogate tearooms later moved to their current position on Parliament Street). Interestingly, Belmont intended to set up on the south coast of England, but confused by the busy London railway station, and unable to speak a great deal of English, boarded the wrong train and ended up in Yorkshire. But, he decided to stay seeing as the area reminded him of his home in the Swiss Alps, despite his initial disappointment. In the 1920s, Belmont opened a craft bakery in Harrogate, which meant it was possible to open more tearooms, including a York branch. The merger with Taylors of Harrogate came about in 1962.
[edit] Tearooms
There are currently six Bettys tearooms, which all comprise a shop as well as a café. The locations of the tearooms are:
- Bettys Harrogate - Parliament Street, Harrogate
- Bettys York - St. Helen's Square, York
- Little Bettys - Stonegate, York
- Bettys Northallerton - High Street, Northallerton
- Bettys Ilkley - The Grove, Ilkley
- Bettys Harlow Carr - RHS Harlow Carr
Bettys have refused many times to open a branch outside Yorkshire, claiming that keeping Bettys small means a watchful eye can be kept on every detail. Also there was formerly a Bettys Tea Room on Commercial Street in Leeds City Centre although this closed in the late 1960s or 1970s. The site is now the location of a Vodafone mobile phone shop. [1]
[edit] Working for Bettys and Taylors
Bettys and Taylors was recently voted 41st[1] in a list of the 100 best companies to work for compiled by The Sunday Times.
