Following the Wall Street Crash in 1929, and the subsequent Great Depression, Harrison and her family returned to Yorkshire, living in Shipley, outside Bradford. After leaving school, she worked as a costing clerk in a raincoat factory, but sang in clubs during the evenings. She also appeared with her brother Tom Harrison's band in Bradford. "Unlike their usual singer, I didn't need a megaphone", she said. Harrison began getting bookings in the North of England, and, having been offered an audition by Eric Maschwitz, the then-Head of BBC Variety, she started to broadcast for the BBC North region in 1934. In the mid-1930s, Harrison joined Conri Tait's Orchestra, who appeared at the Grand Hotel in Harrogate.