Bettys' Head of Beautiful stars in Christmas documentary

Robyn Cox is known as Bettys ‘Head of Beautiful’. That’s because it’s his job to create our much-loved Christmas window display. But this year there was a twist: his every move was shadowed by a film crew for a Channel 5 documentary, ‘Harrogate: A Great Yorkshire Christmas’.

What did you think when you heard that you were going to be on TV?

Well, we were honoured to hear that they wanted Bettys to feature as part of the documentary. The people that made the show had heard that Bettys windows were famous in Harrogate and we had to be part of it. It meant that our windows this year had to be showstopping!

How did it feel being followed by a film crew?

It was very exciting and nerve-racking - it’s not something that I’ve really done before. The camera is always rolling and you have a microphone on, so you're conscious that anything can be heard. Although we are all very polite at Bettys of course.

What was the most embarrassing thing that happened when the crew were filming?

I don’t think there were any major catastrophies whilst filming. There is always added pressure when you’re on film as sometimes things don’t go to plan and you have to think on your feet.

What was the hardest thing about creating the window?

Our windows for the our Café Tea Rooms are all different sizes and quite narrow, so creating a forest was a real challenge! Our window tells the story of a little boy and girl walking through an Enchanted Forest. There is a great deal of responsibility in creating our windows as they are often the first thing our customers see and everyone comments on them. We’ve been doing beautiful windows for almost 100 years so coming up with new and creative ideas isn't always easy.

What did it feel like when the window was unveiled?

Well, I was tired as we had been working till 4am that morning and I felt quite emotional and surprised on how many people turned up. I was almost shaking. I had the responsibility of opening the blinds ensuring we did not knock anything and they all opened at the same time. I was so excited and overcome with all the comments we had from customers on our social channels to the emails that came through after the event.

Would you like your own TV series?

Haha! Well, that would be interesting: 'A Day in the Life of Bettys Head of Beautiful!'. But sadly some of my time is spent planning and looking at spreadsheets, so I'm not sure how interesting that would be. But I’d definitely like to share more tips, such as decorating your home for Christmas or dressing tables for parties.

Visit Bettys Harrogate before 4th January 2018 to see the window for yourself. Click here to watch 'Harrogate: A Great Yorkshire Christmas' on catch up