If you have walked past the war memorial in Harrogate this month, you will have seen it: a five-storey building wrapped in white sheeting with our name across the front. That is 7 Cambridge Crescent, the soon-to-be new home of Newtons Solicitors Harrogate.
Plenty of people have asked what is going on behind the wrap, so here is a proper update.
A Quick Recap
We bought 7 Cambridge Crescent in autumn 2024. The building had been empty for some time and needed everything doing to it, which is exactly why we were able to buy it. The high-street banks looked at it and saw a development project rather than an office, so they would not lend. The bridging lenders wanted to understand how long planning would take on a listed building and when they would be repaid once the works were finished and the loan refinanced. It took time and patience, but we got there. If it had been straightforward, someone else would have got there first.
In November 2024, I filmed a walk-round of the building as we found it: bare walls, exposed floors, and a view of the Christmas market from the first-floor windows. You can watch that tour and read the transcript in our earlier post, [Step Inside Our New Harrogate Office]. In January this year I said the refurbishment would be the firm’s big project for 2026 and that we hoped to start on site in March.
Where we are in October 2026
The scaffold went up over the summer and the branded sheeting followed. Inside, the strip-out is complete, having removed over 60 tons of waste.
Now, the structural and fabric works are well underway. We’ve already had the first round of joinery, electrics, plumbing and plastering, and are currently working on the air conditioning and interior design.
Working on a listed building means every intervention has to respect the original fabric, so progress is deliberate rather than fast.
Harrogate has Noticed
The scaffolding has done its job as a talking point. On 14th September the Harrogate Advertiser ran a piece on the building, [Well-known Harrogate firm to reopen three storey building near Bettys tearooms], describing the “prominent three storey building facing the war memorial” being brought back into use after months standing empty. It is a good reminder of how visible this address is.
The building has housed many different businesses over the years, and plenty of people in town have a memory of it in one guise or another. We are conscious of that, and it is part of why we are restoring it rather than gutting it.
What the Finished Building will Look Like
The plan has not changed much since that first video. Across five floors, we are creating:
Ground floor: reception and client meeting rooms. This is the part most clients will see. Desks for our support team, a couple of meeting rooms, and a front door that opens straight onto Cambridge Crescent, opposite the war memorial.
Basement: secure storage and the will vault. The basement runs the full footprint of the building with a series of side rooms. The strongroom at the front will hold clients’ wills and deeds. I called it the best will storage I had ever seen when we first walked round, and I stand by that. There will also be a staff gym and sauna.
First floor: the solicitors’ floor. The main working space for the legal team, with the best view in the building across the town centre.
Second floor: room to grow. Further workspace and, we hope, a breakout and social area for the team. Newtons has grown from one office to ten since 2009, and Harrogate needs space for what comes next.
Third floor: a two-bed, en suite apartment, to be used as a company flat.
Why this Building, and why Harrogate?
I qualified in 1995 and spent a good part of my career in Harrogate before starting Newtons in 2009. The firm has had a Harrogate office at Princes Square for many years, and our clients here are some of our longest-standing. Harrogate matters to us.
There is also a business logic. Newtons deliberately avoids the big cities and builds a local presence in market towns and county towns across Yorkshire, Cumbria and the North East. A flagship office in the centre of Harrogate, in a building people already know, is the clearest statement we can make of that approach.
What it Means for Clients Now
Nothing changes yet. Our Harrogate team continues to work from 8 Princes Square, HG1 1LX, and the number is still 01423 789050. When we move, the same solicitors will move with us, and we will give plenty of notice.
We have set up a [Coming Soon page for the new office] where we will post milestones as they are reached. If you would like to be told when we open, the quickest route is to follow me on [LinkedIn] or the firm on [Instagram], where I post site updates as they happen.
Next Steps
Over the coming months, the work is moving through the various fit-out stages. Right now, we are working on installing the air conditioning and the interior design.
I will post again when the sheeting comes down, and the frontage is revealed. That will be a good day. Until then, if you are in town, look up as you pass the war memorial at our soon-to-be home.
Chris Newton
CEO, Newtons Solicitors