Chester is named as the 2nd fastest growing hospitality city in the UK! Lets just unpack this a little!

I read an article this week saying Chester has been ranked the second fastest-growing hospitality city in the UK and honestly, it stopped me in my tracks.

It quoted research from Northern Restaurant & Bar, in partnership with CGA by NielsenIQ, talking about venue growth and how the North is “leading the recovery.”

And look, I’m not here to bash Chester. I love Chester. I live and work in Chester. And I have a business in Chester. I’m in hospitality every day. I know how hard it is to keep the lights on, keep standards up, keep staff motivated, keep guests happy, while everything around you gets more expensive and more uncertain. So, when I see a headline like that, I don’t read it as a celebration. I read it as a way of trying to ignore and hide all the amazing businesses that we have lost in Chester and perhaps not paint the picture as true as it is.

Yes, it’s great we’ve got Harrods Beauty just opened. That’s a huge deal for Chester. It pulls attention, it pulls footfall, it adds something new. But let’s not pretend it doesn’t come with consequences. When a name like that lands, it changes the conversation on that row. It shifts landlord expectations. It nudges rents up, because suddenly the benchmark becomes “who can afford to be here,” not “who belongs here.”

And it’s the same with news like The Ivy coming. People hear that and go “Chester is booming.” But again, let’s be real: that’s a chain taking over from another chain. It’s not the same as ten strong independents growing steadily because the trading environment is supportive. It’s not proof that the average Chester operator is thriving. It’s proof that the big players still have the muscle to expand, even when everyone else is fighting just to stand still.

Meanwhile, we can’t just erase what’s been lost. Henry Potts. Sandbar. Bohem. Café Rouge. Da Noi. All Bar One. North Light. Love Shack. Crepe Affaire. And plenty more that people will message me about because they’re gutted a favorite place has gone. That’s not “recovery” to the people who loved those venues, worked in them, supplied them, or built memories in them. That’s grief. That’s jobs. That’s empty units. That’s another independent thinking “why would I risk it?”

The article talks about resilience and stronger loyalty up North, and I don’t disagree that the North has heart. We do. We’re community-led. We’re relationship-led. People back their locals. The data also talks about customers in the North prioritising quality and experience, and again, I get it, when money is tight you don’t go out as often, so when you do, you want it to be worth it. But here’s the reality on the operator side: delivering “quality” costs money. It costs training. It costs time. It costs staffing. It costs ingredients. It costs energy. It costs repairs. It costs compliance. It costs rates. It costs rent. Businesses’ costs are rising faster than ever before and potentially higher than what the average customers can realistically spend, then the only people who can enjoy hospitality are the ones with the deepest pockets. That’s not a thriving scene. That’s a filter.

And that’s the bit I really want people to understand: Chester being “fastest-growing” doesn’t automatically mean Chester is doing well. It could just mean Chester is becoming attractive to investment that can outbid everyone else. It could mean our identity is getting slowly bought out. Chester’s magic is that it’s a beautiful place full of independents. Proper places with personality. Operators who know regulars by name. Owners behind the bar. Local supply chains. Local stories. If we let the city become dominated by brands who can swallow higher rents and higher tax because they’ve got scale, then we don’t just lose businesses, we lose what makes Chester, Chester.

So yeah, I’ll always celebrate new openings, and I’ll always back progress. But I’m not clapping for a headline that paints a picture of a “hospitality recovery” while so many venues are closing, changing hands, or disappearing quietly. If we want real growth, it’s not just counting how many licensed venue applications are being received. It’s asking: how many are surviving past the honeymoon period? How many are independent? How many are employing local people on decent hours? How many can afford to invest in standards without burning the owners out? How many are still here in two years?

Chester doesn’t need to become a copy-and-paste high street to be successful. We need to protect the independents that give the city its soul, and we need to be honest about what’s happening on the ground, not just what looks good in a report. We have to ensure our Media headlines, doesn’t reverse the goal of bringing all parties to the city.