A Chamber Members Memories of Brian Dunsby OBE
From Robert Whiteley - Ardno House B&B
I was very sorry to learn yesterday of Brian’s passing. I have been thinking back on my time with the Chamber and may I take this opportunity to add to the tributes.
I consider it a privilege to have known this inspirational man since when my association with the Chamber began in the early 2000s.
Photo courtesy of Harrogate Advertiser
My first meeting was a sparsely attended one of less than a dozen at Ascot House Hotel. Mark Lancaster was President and Peter Armitage was Secretary.
It was a time of great change in Harrogate as national chain stores moved in numbers into Harrogate and independents were disappearing. HCTC’s membership was falling, and the bank balance was low. After over 100 years HCTC was in danger of folding and my representation of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society may well have been short lived.
But Mark and Peter had a plan, and I doubt that at the time they envisaged for a moment how successful their proposal would prove to be. A working group suggested that a local company, Perlex Associates, headed up by Brian and Beryl Dunsby be appointed to administer the Chamber.
I had not been involved in the working group and did not know at that time any of the individuals involved in the decision, but as I attended more meetings, I began to realise how important and inspirational it was. The fee that Perlex levied to HCTC was a fraction of the market value of their input, and the results were transformative.
So began my long association with HCTC. Brian asked me to join the Management Group in 2004 on which I served until 2011 including as Vice-President 2007-2008 and President 2008-2010.
It was a privilege to watch Brian and Beryl’s tireless energy, drive and commitment in action and see the Chamber go from strength to strength so that by the time of my last meeting there were regularly 100 attending.
The rest of the Management Group played their part, but we were simply a supporting cast.
Rising memberships and the success of the Yorkshire Business Market enabled HCTC to give financial support to ventures like the Ackrill Business awards, Harrogate Festival and Christmas Lights.
As the venue manager making the practical arrangements I was involved right from the start in the Yorkshire Business Market. It was a fantastically successful event both reputationally and financially for the Chamber, but also for my venue which was showcased to hundreds of regional businesses and thousands of their employees.
I worked closely with Brian on the event each year and had enormous respect for his meticulous organisation and planning which left nothing to chance. Over the years I worked with hundreds of conference and exhibition organisers but none with the attention to detail of Brian.
When I was invited to be President of the Chamber, I saw at first hand exactly how devoted to Harrogate businesses Brian was. The volume of e-mails hitting my inbox night and day showed his unrelenting work ethic.
I regularly attended meetings with Brian, many with Harrogate and North Yorkshire councillors and officers and no time was ever wasted at them. We discussed traffic and transport, planning issues, council engagement with business, Christmas lights, promotion of Harrogate to visitors and much more. Whatever the subject of discussion Brian knew the topic inside out and there was no fobbing him off. He wanted to get things done and rattled cages until he did.
Such was his dedication to the Chamber that it is easy to forget that he was active in many other business organisations, though goodness knows where he found the time.
And by his side throughout was Beryl. He told me that what made their relationship work so well was that she was the numbers, and he was the words. A mighty effective team they were, and my thoughts go out to Beryl, their children and grandchildren, who have every right to feel extremely proud of Brian’s achievements.
The street and building names of Harrogate reflect those who throughout its existence have influenced the growth and prosperity of the town and I hope that a fitting and long-lasting memorial will be found to recognise the devotion, passion and indefatigability of Brian Dunsby.
Kind regards to all at the Chamber who might remember me.
Best wishes to you all.
Robert Whiteley
Ardno House B&B
Lettermore
Ballachulish
Argyll
SCOTLAND
PH49 4JD
