Beginning with the closure of the underwhelming North Light, and ending with the closure of the much loved Atina Kitchen, 2025 was a year in which Chester continued to develop in a generally positive way.

The positivity began with Chester being voted the most welcoming city in the UK in a survey based on traveller reviews drawn up by Booking.com. The glowing media coverage followed on from Chester’s 2023 award for being the most beautiful city in the world. As noted by tourism lecturer Colin Potts, the awards marked a huge change in the narrative about Chester, a far cry from the 2015 headlines about Northgate street being the 28th worst street in the country.

David Baddiel chose Chester to launch his musical The Parent Agency, and the high profile visitor championed the city and Storyhouse. He told the BBC that there were ” worse places to spend your time and I have spent my time in some of those worst places…I really like the theatre and I really like the atmosphere around it.” Despite a brief twitter spat over a Lego figure’s likeness, David put Chester in the national spotlight once again.

January also saw the popular Paddington Bear statue set off on a tour of the city to venues including Hickory’s, Storyhouse and Picturehouse.

Throughout 2025, the city saw a number of new retail openings, including many independents- with St Werburgh Street welcoming Karigawarla, Thingummys and the Louison Family concept store and Lucy and Yak. The online tendency to bring the city down with false narratives of terminal decay continued, people glued to their devices who haven’t walked down the high street in years. Yes, there were some closures, but not a month went by without a ribbon being cut- so welcome to Chester, Aldous Books, Books on the Walls, Sweaty Betty, Utility, The Pottery Rooms, Bohemia Boutique, Poke Bowl, ABBA cakes, Acai Grove and Bren Brews ( and others I’ve forgotten).

One such commenter was a failed politician I rowed with who claimed Chester was in the worst position it had been in for “60 years”. Another such angry person decided to set up a trolling Instagram account impersonating me but succeeded only in showing off their own lack of insight and understanding.

The removal of the Cross at the end of it’s “50 year lease” generated a fun April Fools. The joke devised by city architect Tony Barton cleverly tied in to the 50th anniversary of European Architectural Heritage Year which saw the Cross restored to its former glory.

April also saw the opening of The Station Tap, a brilliant restoration that vastly improved the front of the train station offering a quality welcome for travellers. This was in contrast to the slow and shrugged shoulders feel about the Transport for Wales improvements to the station itself. The area was further boosted by the addition of a statue of railway pioneer and local hero Thomas Brassey.

The slow revival of forgotten parts of the city continued, with the George and Dragon reopening as a hotel/cafe. The former Revolution was split into a pub and a private hire venue. The ex Artichoke unit on the canal was brought back to life as The Duck and Dagger from the team behind the Coach House. Perhaps next the landowners can have a look at the run down Delamere Street ? It’s boarded up windows and semi derelict buildings were chosen as the backdrop for a character at rock bottom in a scene in the BBC’s sitcom “Such Brave Girls”.

Representatives of numerous city centre businesses, cultural groups came together in the summer for a charity photo shoot: a testament to the vibrancy of the city and the groups and individuals working together to make the city thrive.

Summer included the usual programme of festivities and events including the raft race, midsummer parade, Pride and the casual brilliance ofStoryhouse’s open air theatre. This year their modern day Sherlock Holmes set in Chester recreating the famous Reichenbach fall was a memorable highlight. As the summer sun faded Chester Zoo opened the Reserve, their first foray into overnight accommodation offering luxury lakeside stays. It was a good year for the Zoo with the opening of the massive Heart of Africa zone.

Following a successful festival in the summer, Heritage Chester opened the historic Shot Tower in September for the first time ever as part of Heritage Open Days.

High profile visitor to the the city Kalani Ghost Hunter, brought some pre Christmas cheer to Chester. The American TikTok star heaped heavy praise on the Market and Chester in general, making a return visit later in the year with his father. He said that the Market was “one of the nicest” he had been to and championed many of the food outlets. The debate about the Market/food hall continued to rumble on in the background.

Late in the year, a developer was appointed for the next phase of the Northgate development. With a huge area of land including the old Forum, Market and car park to fill, the scheme is expected to bring 400 new homes to the city centre. Still in it’s early stages, following a detailed consultation process , demolition and obtaining the funding, construction is projected to begin in 2029.

A key development in 2025 was the revival of Eastgate Square, formerly the Grosvenor Shopping Centre, with the owners investing big money with a complete refurbishment of the Christmas decorations and a new tree in the central atrium. Alongside a new seating area and numerous new tenants the centre once again became a positive focus for the city with further improvements planned for 2026 not least the arrival of a new anchor tenant Harrods Beauty, an opening likely to inspire further investments.

In summary, there was much to celebrate in 2025: Charities Soul Kitchen (who teamed up with The Town House for a hospitality training programme) and SPACE both celebrated 10 years of activity and the Hoole based Repair Cafe celebrated their first birthday. Taste Cheshire, pioneers of the Food and Drink Festival marked their 25th anniversary. A special celebration was held at St Mary’s Creative Space for the 30th birthday of city institution The Scented Garden. Family business Chattels on City Road also celebrated an incredible 30 years in business.

2026 promises to be another positive year. The long awaited Harrods Beauty will open in February, bringing life back to the old Browns building and hopefully further revitalising Eastgate Square. Consider how surreal it would be to a reader in 2013 hearing that Chester has an IKEA and a Harrods. The Northgate Arena will reopen after a multi million refurbishment, and the new Archives Centre will open in Hoole. The new centre will be modern and accessible and a brilliant showcase for the history of Chester and the borough. We will hopefully see the demolition of the brick monolith of the old Mecca Bingo ready for a hotel build which will further regenerate the canal area. We may even see movement on the universally hated former Quick’s garage site on Lower Bridge street with “Under offer” signage put up in December. Let’s hope its a good one…