Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate

Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate is a family company based in Yorkshire, England. Bettys Café tea rooms serve traditional meals with influences from both Switzerland and Yorkshire. Taylors of Harrogate was a family company, founded in 1886, which blended Yorkshire Tea and coffee; Bettys acquired Taylors in 1962. The chairman of the company is Clare Morrow, a former journalist.

Yorkshire Tea was introduced by Charles Edward Taylor and his brother in 1883. The brothers later opened "Tea Kiosks" in Harrogate and Ilkley. Bettys and Taylors brands now include Yorkshire Tea, Taylors Coffee Merchants, Bettys Tea Rooms, Bettys Cookery School and Bettys Confectionery.

History
The first Bettys tea room was opened in Harrogate, West Riding of Yorkshire, by Frederick Belmont, a Swiss confectioner, in 1919.

Belmont arrived in England at King's Cross railway station and boarded a train to Bradford as much through luck as judgement, for he spoke very limited English and could not recall the address (or even the city) to which he was supposed to be heading. In 1922, Belmont opened a bakery in Harrogate, which meant it was possible to open more tea rooms, including branches in Bradford, Leeds and York (the latter, the biggest branch, opened in 1937).

The origin of the Bettys name is unknown. The company's website suggests four possibilities: Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, mother of Queen Elizabeth II (which seems unlikely as she did not come to public prominence until marrying the Duke of York in 1923); Betty Lupton, former manager of the Harrogate Spa; the daughter of a previous occupant of the Harrogate premises who died of tuberculosis; or a small child who interrupted a meeting at which the choice of name was being discussed.

The merger with Taylors of Harrogate (founded 1886) came about in 1962.

In 1986, Bettys by Post was developed, initially a mail-order company, but later moving online. In 2001, Bettys opened a cookery school on the same site as their craft bakery, at Plumpton Park near Harrogate.

Bettys marked their 90th anniversary in 2009 with afternoon tea of patisseries, fancies and cakes from the past served by waitresses dressed in period costumes.



Tea rooms
There are five Bettys tea rooms, all of which comprise a shop as well as a café. The locations of the tea rooms are:
 * Bettys Harrogate – Parliament Street, Harrogate (opened 1976)
 * Bettys York – St Helen's Square, York (opened 1937)
 * Bettys Northallerton – High Street, Northallerton (opened 1971)
 * Bettys Ilkley – The Grove, Ilkley (opened 1964)
 * Bettys Harlow Carr – RHS Harlow Carr, Harrogate (opened 2004)

The St Helen's Square café in York was inspired by the RMS Queen Mary cruise liner, and became particularly popular during the Second World War, when the basement "Bettys Bar" became a favourite with hundreds of American and Canadian "Bomber Boys" who were stationed around York. 'Bettys Mirror', on which many of them engraved their signatures with a diamond pen, remains on display at the branch.

In 1962, Bettys joined forces with another Yorkshire business, family tea and coffee merchants, Taylors of Harrogate, who still manufacture Yorkshire Tea and Taylors of Harrogate Coffee.

From 1930 until 1974, there was a Bettys tea room in Commercial Street, Leeds. There was also a tea room in Bradford, on Darley Street, which opened in 1922 and closed in 1974.

In 2021, Bettys Stonegate café closed, with the shop remaining open. The branch opened in 1965, and was run by Taylors of Harrogate before becoming a Bettys in 1999, when it was known as Little Bettys. In 2011, it was rebranded as Bettys Stonegate.

Bettys have refused many times to open a branch outside Yorkshire, saying that keeping Bettys small means that a watchful eye can be kept on every detail.

Publications
The Bettys name is attached to several books, sold mainly through the tea rooms:
 * Hearts Tarts & Rascals, Jonathan Wild
 * A Year of Family Recipes, Lesley Wild
 * Who Was Betty?, various contributors